Why are old denim jackets so dark?

[LTDAVIS]

Something I noticed from viewing denim jackets from around the 30s onward is that they are much darker than modern denim at least the average jacket. I don't know about pants l. Why is this?

 

[Jon Crow]

Something I noticed from viewing denim jackets from around the 30s onward is that they are much darker than modern denim at least the average jacket. I don't know about pants l. Why is this?

Indigo dying techniques maybe, I have a old pair of reproduction 1902 Levi's jeans look good with suspenders, they're very dark also, one of my fave pairs

 

[Observe]

Denim back then was usually not treated with any washes like modern denim, so the indigo was darker on the finished product. People probably generally washed their clothes less back then too, which would keep the denim darker longer.

 

[Jon Crow]

Denim back then was usually not treated with any washes like modern denim, so the indigo was darker on the finished product. People probably generally washed their clothes less back then too, which would keep the denim darker longer.

Washed theirselves less also, smell them before you saw them haha

 

[navetsea]

Is a new vintage denim staying dark? After all these years, from my own few years old raw denim the dye is also get oxidized overtime, it changes into a lighter shade just being exposed to air and perhaps indirect UV radiation, perhaps if the denim is kept in enclosed dry dark place it might keep its initial darkness for decades maybe

Here is an example of 9yrs old raw denim unwashed, the jacket is a mockup of my leather jacket thus rarely worn and never been washed, i have it on a clothes hanger in my room, the tab however i keep it in my drawer in darkness and perhaps less oxygen too, you can clearly see how far the jacket has faded evenly over near a decade while rarely being worn and mostly kept indoor.

 

[Aloysius]

Tbh I don't quite understand this. There is still plentiful dark denim even without getting into enthusiast stuff.

 

[Jon Crow]

Tbh I don't quite understand this. There is still plentiful dark denim even without getting into enthusiast stuff.

My wife last Christmas bought me a pair of Japanese made high waist selvedge raw denim jeans, colour is pretty good

 

[Aloysius]

You don’t even need to go Japan for that. Levi’s and Wrangler, probably Lee too, sell raws as part of their standard lines.

 

[Jon Crow]

You don’t even need to go Japan for that. Levi’s and Wrangler, probably Lee too, sell raws as part of their standard lines.

Yes these were not those brand, even though I have Levi's Selvedge, this store was in Spain

 

[Aloysius]

Yes these were not those brand, even though I have Levi's Selvedge, this store was in Spain

I’m not arguing with you. Just wanted to reinforce that I don’t understand OP’s point that dark/raw denim was only found in the past.

If anything certain darker dyes came about much later.

 

[Edward]

I think it's one of those perception things - like the notion that all men in the thirties wore a spearpoint collar shirt, or that brown suits / leather jackets look more authentically vintage - both notions I've heard voiced at events. A combination of that and modern fashion. Back when jeans came in one flavour: deep indigo - and it got lighter as they were washed and worn with time. In more recent decades, that dark colour became deeply unfashionable with the rise in popularity of stonewash, bleached, and all the rest. It's experienced something of a revival in recent years - partly the vogue for vintage styles, partly that it plays well to the contemporary notion of "dress jeans" (still a concept that baffles me, but it is undeniably a thing). I expect a lot of folks thing of it as a more "vintage" look simply because when you see the images from back when, when that was the standard way jeans came and you didn't get stonewashed and all the rest available OTR, the jeans are all like that. Perception - same as brown suits were never as dominant then as often seems the case now, but because they've not been really in fashion since the 70s, they seem more "vintage" as they stand out more.

 

[navetsea]

that legendary type 2 worn by martin sheen was generic medium blue , my type 2 is much darker in comparison

 

[Jon Crow]

I’m not arguing with you. Just wanted to reinforce that I don’t understand OP’s point that dark/raw denim was only found in the past.

If anything certain darker dyes came about much later.

Me either, yes dying techniques good ones still exist, they're still dying indigo

 

[navetsea]

I wonder if you were to buy a raw / dark wash denim jacket and jeans at the same time and wear it as denim on denim tux, and wash them at the same time too, which one will fade first the jacket or the jeans? between sun fade (i think the jacket get more exposure to sun) and abrasion fade ( I think the jeans will get more abrasion from activities) which one will fade indigo faster?

 

[Will Zach]

^^
Jeans. I think abrasion takes off indigo faster than uv, but I guess it also depends where you live and how much UV the jacket would be getting.

 

[navetsea]

^^
Jeans. I think abrasion takes off indigo faster than uv, but I guess it also depends where you live and how much UV the jacket would be getting.

seems like that is the norm indeed, maybe has to do with activities too, but 2 of my 3 denim jackets have fades from morning walks, and my jeans so far only have fades on the center rear belt loop, maybe because the sun here is really on top

 

[Will Zach]

Yes, I was reading about these fadez competitions, it seems guys from Indonesia and Thailand always have the best fades the quickest, but people are saying that jackets are more difficult to fade than jeans. I am wearing my 23-oz Wingman as underlayer when biking trying to get fadez.

 

[navetsea]

Yes, I was reading about these fadez competitions, it seems guys from Indonesia and Thailand always have the best fades the quickest, but people are saying that jackets are more difficult to fade than jeans. I am wearing my 23-oz Wingman as underlayer when biking trying to get fadez.

I think (probably a speculation) since main transportation moda here for youngsters or teenagers are mopeds or matic scooters, there are so many days they are exposed to elements even sudden downpour and hot sun, and dusty wind and traffic pollution, I think those are the major elements of quick fading, while in my case from walking, I hardly get any fade on my jeans, and more on the upper part of the jacket like shoulder and upper back area, and the outer side of the collar. same with dark tees or shirts we have here, all get sun fades on the upper part, that's why I hate wearing black since in no time it turns into anything but black.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

I think the answer to the OP's question is more modern denim is washed to look like worn in denim vs. Old denim that came raw and had to be broken in and washed by the owner. This stuff still exists, it's just not the main choice for denim anymore. Plus, even with raw denim there is a variety of shades.

Could also just be black and white photos making the denim look darker

 

[Edward]

I think (probably a speculation) since main transportation moda here for youngsters or teenagers are mopeds or matic scooters, there are so many days they are exposed to elements even sudden downpour and hot sun, and dusty wind and traffic pollution, I think those are the major elements of quick fading, while in my case from walking, I hardly get any fade on my jeans, and more on the upper part of the jacket like shoulder and upper back area, and the outer side of the collar. same with dark tees or shirts we have here, all get sun fades on the upper part, that's why I hate wearing black since in no time it turns into anything but black.

Abrasion definitely comes into it. Really dark indigo jeans were still a relative norm when I was under ten (74-84), and I remember my jeans - and those of all my cotemporaries - used to fade and whiten at the knees long before they wore out, just from playing and crawling round the floor all the time. Doesn't happen that way now I'm old and spend a lot less time down there.