Jeci Chao has been wearing her Viper X001 Railcar Fine Goods jeans for a good while now. On-off of course but enough to break the jeans in. She did not soak the jeans directly but started to wear them raw. The Vipers come in raw form so for those not used to raw denim, the jeans might feel a bit weird. If the jeans feel like cardboard, the best way to adjust the denim is to give the jeans a soaking. This usually sheds off an inch or two here and there and often really improves the fit. So, being that this is a new brand and we are also curious about the shrinking of the jeans, we gave the size 27 Vipers a soaking last night.

Off to the pail the jeans went…

(same pail that Maxwell likes to sit in)

The resulting indigo-loss/bleed was rather minor but the water did turn yellow from all that starch.

The jeans were hand dried over-night outside and this afternoon when I took the jeans in, they were tough like cardboard, again. The jeans did not stand on their own, but it was not far from that.

So how did the jeans turn out?

Let’s dig up that measurement tape and check out before and after measurements for size 27 Railcar Fine Goods Viper X001.

Pre-soak:
Waist: 30″
Front rise: 8″
Upper thigh: 9.5″
Back rise: 13″
Knee: 7.5″
Leg opening: 6″
Inseam: 33″

Post soak:
Waist: 29″
Front rise: 7.5″
Upper thigh: 9″
Back rise: 12.5″
Knee: 7″
Leg opening: 5.5″
Inseam: 32″

The jeans adjusted pretty nicely and to quote Jeci Chao, “the jeans feel tough, but fit.” As simple as that.

The shrinkage was not that major, but the soaking was not “boiling” hot water and only lasted for about a 45 minutes. The idea is to wear the jeans out first and leave some room for shrinkage caused by the first actual wash. The denim did shrink from 0.5 to 1 inch across the jeans, and the fit is even tighter. Although the jeans are bound to stretch back after wear. The jeans look good and will be treated with plenty of wear now. For more information and orders, feel free to contact info@nordicdenimhouse.com.