Today’s Fade Of The Day focuses on a self proclaimed dad-jean, sent in by Papa McGrath in Birmingham, England (that’s Mark McGrath to his colleagues and all you strangers of the internet alike). Mark’s miraculously done very little with these jeans over the four years he’s had them. Refraining from washing the for the first year of use is just about the most strenuous thing he’s done with them. He’s merely….walked in them. That’s right, be it taking the dogs around the block or himself to do a bit of shopping or just to the pub, that’s all he’s ever really done in them.

And for his meager efforts he’s got a killer pair of jeans! He’s got a wide dynamic range of indigo retention to near complete fades in the front, with some near white stretched and nicely defined whiskers up top. Around back we see a tip-top wallet fade and the start to some honeycombs, however being that this is a straight leg jean those ‘combs may never shine though quite like what we see up front. That said, the 15 washes this jean has had in the last three years has had a role in the indigo loss to the jean and interestingly enough the back of the jean has taken on a very nice electric blue which the front still hasn’t achieved. Even without honeycombs back there it’s still evolved quite nicely.

As well, it should be noted, some jeans fade and the loss of indigo (and areas where it is retained) becomes the focus, with not much else grabbing the eye. With this pair the quality of the denim has really come forth as the pair has been worn, highlighting the texture particularly.  All around, a nice pair indeed, Mark! Erm, I mean, Papa!

3sixteen+ 11BSP Raw Denim Jeans

• Fabric: 100% cotton selvedge denim
• Fabric weight: 18 oz.
• Fabric source: Japan
• Made in: USA
• Fit: Straight
• Additional Details:
  • Unsanforized
  • Pure indigo dyed warp yarns
  • Japanese cowhide patch
  • Japanese hardware
• Available at: Self Edge for $335