Article: DU 201: How to Buy Your First Pair of Raw Denim Jeans
DU 201: How to Buy Your First Pair of Raw Denim Jeans
Summary
Buying your first pair of raw denim should be fun. And if you make three decisions in the right order — weight, fabric, fit — you'll end up with a pair of jeans you love. Start in the classic 11–13oz range. Choose 100% cotton selvedge. Buy to a gentle hug on day one — snug but not painful — and let the fabric relax into you over the first few weeks. Rise is the one dimension that cannot be altered after purchase. Get it right at fitting.
Q&A
What weight denim should a first-time buyer choose?
The classic range — 11 to 13oz — is the right starting point for almost every first-time raw denim buyer. It breaks in relatively quickly, wears comfortably across most seasons, and develops genuine fades over years of wear. Critically, it gives you a clear read on fit without the additional variables heavier denim introduces, setting you up well for future heavier pairs. Going too heavy on your first pair is the most common mistake first-time buyers make.
How should raw denim fit when you first try it on?
The right fit on day one is a gentle hug — snug but not painful. Not a death grip, not a loose handshake. Raw denim stretches and relaxes significantly over the first few weeks of wear, particularly in the waist, hip, and thigh. What feels firmly snug at purchase will feel like a second skin within weeks. Buy too tight and you'll be uncomfortable during break-in; buy too relaxed and the jeans will be too large once the fabric settles.
Which dimension of fit cannot be altered after purchase?
Rise — the distance from the top of the waistband to the crotch seam — is the one measurement that cannot be corrected after the garment is made. Everything else (waist, hip, thigh, hem length, taper) can be adjusted. Rise that's dramatically wrong in either direction will make a pair of jeans unwearable regardless of how good the rest of the fit is. Getting rise right at fitting is the single most important decision in buying a pair of raw denim jeans.
What is crocking and how do you manage it?
Crocking is the transfer of surface indigo from raw denim onto other materials — light-colored clothing, leather goods, upholstery. It happens because indigo bonds only to the surface of the yarn rather than penetrating to the core, so excess surface indigo rubs off with friction. Crocking diminishes significantly after 10–20 wears as the surface indigo stabilizes. Until then, keep new raw denim away from anything you don't want dyed blue.
What is the difference between ready-to-wear, custom size, and bespoke at FITTED Underground?
Ready-to-wear uses FITTED Underground's in-house patterns — refined over a decade — cut and sewn in Brooklyn, with free in-store alterations and free hems. Custom size uses the same designs cut to your exact measurements for $100 more than RTW, eliminating fit as a variable and making reordering straightforward. Bespoke is built entirely from scratch — your fabric, your hardware, your cut — and is the most personal thing FITTED Underground makes. All three are made in-house at 108 Bayard Street in Williamsburg.
Test Your Knowledge
Click each answer to reveal whether it's correct.
1. What is the recommended weight range for a first-time raw denim buyer?
A. 7–10oz — lightest weight for the easiest break-in
❌ Incorrect. Below 10oz you're largely outside the territory of raw selvedge jeans — the fade potential diminishes and the weave structure changes. This range is better suited to shirting and summer jackets.
B. 11–13oz — the classic range
✓ Correct. The classic range breaks in quickly, wears comfortably year-round, and develops genuine fades. Crucially, it gives you a clear read on fit without the extra variables heavier denim introduces — setting you up to nail fit on future heavier pairs too.
C. 14–16oz — for the most dramatic fades
❌ Incorrect. 14–16oz is excellent for a second or third pair, but the longer break-in and heavier hand add complexity that can distract from the fundamentals on a first pair.
D. 17–20oz — the authentic raw denim experience
❌ Incorrect. Going too heavy on a first pair is the most common mistake first-time buyers make. 17–20oz is heavyweight territory — demanding to break in, best for fall and winter, and properly the domain of experienced enthusiasts.
2. What does the right fit feel like on day one for raw denim?
A. Completely comfortable — like your favorite broken-in pair
❌ Incorrect. Raw denim that feels completely relaxed on day one will be too large within a few weeks once the fabric begins conforming to your body. Day one should feel snug, not relaxed.
B. Painfully tight — to allow maximum stretch
❌ Incorrect. Buying painfully tight means weeks of discomfort and a fit that may never arrive at what you wanted. The right fit is snug but not painful — a gentle hug, not a death grip.
C. A gentle hug — snug but not painful, with room to relax over weeks of wear
✓ Correct. A gentle hug — present, warm, slightly snug, but not the least bit uncomfortable. The waist will expand by close to a full inch over the first few weeks. What feels firmly snug at purchase will feel like a second skin by week three or four.
D. Slightly loose — raw denim shrinks on first wash
❌ Incorrect. Sanforized denim shrinks only 1–3% — not enough to justify buying loose. And raw denim expands with wear rather than shrinking further. Buying loose means a poor fit within weeks.
3. Which fit dimension cannot be altered after purchase?
A. Waist
❌ Incorrect. Waist can be taken in by a tailor — it's one of the more straightforward alterations on a pair of jeans.
B. Inseam length
❌ Incorrect. Inseam length is easily adjusted — hemming is one of the most common and straightforward alterations, done in about 15 minutes at the FITTED Underground workshop.
C. Rise
✓ Correct. Rise — the distance from the top of the waistband to the crotch seam — cannot be corrected after the garment is made. Everything else can be adjusted. Rise that's dramatically wrong will make a pair of jeans unwearable regardless of how good the rest of the fit is. Getting it right at the fitting is the single most important decision in the buying process.
D. Thigh width
❌ Incorrect. Thigh width can be taken in by a skilled tailor. Rise is the one dimension that cannot be meaningfully corrected after the fact.
4. What is crocking?
A. The stiffness of raw denim before break-in
❌ Incorrect. Stiffness before break-in is simply a property of untreated denim. Crocking refers specifically to the transfer of surface indigo onto other materials.
B. The transfer of surface indigo from new raw denim onto other materials
✓ Correct. Crocking is the transfer of excess surface indigo onto light-colored clothing, leather goods, or upholstery. It happens because indigo bonds only to the surface of the yarn, leaving excess dye to rub off with friction. It diminishes significantly after 10–20 wears as the surface indigo stabilizes.
C. The puckering effect at the hem caused by chain stitching
❌ Incorrect. The puckering at the hem is called roping — a characteristic effect of chain stitch construction. Crocking refers to indigo transfer onto other surfaces.
D. The gradual fading of indigo at points of friction
❌ Incorrect. That's the fading process — the gradual revelation of the white cotton core as surface indigo wears away. Crocking is specifically the transfer of that surface indigo onto other materials before it wears away.
← Previous: DU 106 | ↑ Denim University | Next: DU 202 →
By Eric Steffen
Founder / Maker
FITTED Underground
Before we begin, a quick reminder — have fun. As much love, care and devotion we give to our raw denim — and I've devoted my life to it — at the end of the day, it's only a pair of jeans, and we shouldn't lose sight of that. This is a guide to help you make a wise choice. Take what you like and leave the rest.
With that disclaimer — let's dive in!
After everything covered in the 100-level — raw vs. selvedge, sanforized vs. unsanforized, weight zones, the anatomy of the garment — you might think buying your first pair of raw denim jeans requires a research project. It doesn't. We in the raw denim community have a talent for making things sound more complicated than they are, and this is the moment to cut through that.
Buying your first pair comes down to three decisions, made in the right order: weight, fabric, fit. Get those right and everything else — the brand, the details, the hardware finish — falls into place naturally. Make those decisions without guidance and you'll likely end up with a pair that's either too demanding to enjoy or too generic to love.
This article walks you through all three.
Decision One: Weight
Start here. Not with brand, not with price, not with which mill wove the fabric. Weight.
As we covered in DU 104: Denim Weight Explained, denim weight — measured in ounces per square yard — determines the break-in experience, the seasonal wearability, and the pace and character of fade development. And for a first-time buyer, the answer is almost always the same: the classic range, 11 to 13oz.
Here's why. The classic range breaks in relatively quickly — within weeks rather than months. It wears comfortably across most seasons. It develops genuine, beautiful fades over years of wear. And crucially, it gives you a clear read on fit without the additional variables that heavier denim introduces, which will help determine your correct fit for future heavier pairs.
The most common mistake first-time raw denim buyers make is going too heavy. They assume that because it's raw denim, being hardcore is the point — that a 17oz pair worn through a Brooklyn winter is the authentic experience, and that starting lighter is somehow cheating. It isn't. Your raw denim journey can absolutely begin in the classic zone. The goal of a first pair is to dial in your fit perfectly, understand how the fabric behaves, and develop your first fade. Once you've done that at 11 to 13oz, moving up to 14oz, 16oz, or beyond is a natural and well-informed next step. If you get the fit right at this level, you'll likely get it right at the next.
At the lighter end — below 10oz — you're largely outside the territory of raw selvedge jeans, and the fade potential diminishes. At the heavier end — 17oz and above — the break-in is genuinely demanding and the seasonal wearability narrows. Both have their place. Neither is the right starting point.
With that said, if you're excited to have the full raw denim experience, stiffer break-in period and all, by all means start at the weight that feels right for you. Just know that there will be a little more uncertainty with regards to fit, especially in the early stages. This guide is less important than following your gut, and most importantly — have fun!
Decision Two: Fabric
On cotton composition: 100% cotton is the traditional choice and our strong preference at FITTED Underground. No synthetics, no blends — cotton ages cleanly, fades with full character, and doesn't introduce plastic fibers into the wash cycle or the environment. Our direction is increasingly toward 100% organic cotton selvedge specifically. The fabric we believe in most is the kind that was made carefully, from field to loom, without shortcuts.
Stretch blends — typically 1 to 3% elastane blended with cotton — exist in the raw denim world and are worth knowing about. They offer more immediate comfort during break-in, and for buyers who are genuinely uncertain about the raw denim experience, a stretch blend can be a reasonable on-ramp. But the fade character is different, the aging is different, and the long-term relationship between the garment and the wearer is different. We guide most clients toward 100% cotton, and that's where we're headed as a brand.
On color: Most first-time buyers start with dark indigo, and for good reason. It's the canonical raw denim experience — the deep, almost-black blue of fresh selvedge, fading gradually over months and years toward something lighter and entirely your own. But it's worth thinking about your broader denim wardrobe from the beginning, even if you're only buying one pair right now.
The framework we use at FITTED Underground is four fundamental colorways: dark indigo, light indigo, black, and a fourth — grey, green, brown, or something more personal. Those four pairs cover most situations and most moods. The dark indigo pair has a natural arc — it will fade over years of wear into the light indigo position, at which point it's either achieved legendary status or it's time for a new dark pair. Either outcome is a good one. We'll cover this framework in full in a future article on building your denim wardrobe — for now, start with dark indigo.
Decision Three: Fit
The most important decision and the most misunderstood. Two mistakes dominate first-time raw denim buying, and they pull in opposite directions.
The first: buying painfully tight in anticipation of stretching out. The logic is understandable — raw denim stretches, so buy small and let it expand to fit. The problem is that if you start too tight, you'll be uncomfortable for weeks and you may never get the fit you wanted even after the stretch occurs.
The second: buying so that it feels perfect on day one. Also wrong. Raw denim that feels completely relaxed and comfortable on first wear is raw denim that will be too large within a few weeks once the fabric starts to conform to your body.
The right fit on day one is somewhere in the middle — and it has a name. A gentle hug. Not a death grip, not a loose handshake. Think of it like a hug from an aunt you haven't seen in six months: present, warm, slightly snug, but not the least bit uncomfortable. That's what you're looking for when you pull on a new pair of raw jeans and assess the fit.
Here's where to pay attention, dimension by dimension:
Waist: Should feel snug — noticeably so, but not painful. Expect the waist to expand by close to a full inch over the first few weeks of wear as the fabric relaxes. Buy with that expansion built in.
Hip: Also snug. Will expand by approximately a full inch as well. The relationship between waist and hip is the most important fit consideration in a pair of jeans. It's significantly better to be slightly snug at the waist and relaxed on the hip than the reverse. The waist should hold you — like dancing with a partner who knows what they're doing, who holds you at the waist with quiet confidence. If the hip is too tight and the waist is too loose, the jeans will pull and gap in ways that are difficult to correct.
Thigh: Snug, with at least a half inch of give expected as the fabric breaks in. Don't panic if the thighs feel firm on day one. They'll open up.
Front and back rise: This is the dimension most buyers underestimate and the one that's hardest to fix after the fact. The front rise should sit comfortably at or near your natural waist — not digging into your hip bones below, not climbing excessively above. The back rise should meet your underwear line or come up a half inch above it. Both will stretch by close to a full inch with wear, so what feels just right on day one may feel generous within a month.
One note on pitched rise — something worth understanding before you buy. Many people, men in particular, prefer a rise that's slightly higher in the back than the front. This gives you coverage when seated without the front of the waistband climbing into your belly. Our jeans are built with a slight pitch already, and it can be made more pronounced through a custom size order. If you've ever felt like your jeans sit strangely when you sit down, pitched rise may be part of the answer.
The dealbreaker: Rise that's dramatically wrong in either direction. Too short in the front and the waistband digs and pulls. Too high in the back and it's uncomfortable and unflattering. Rise is the one dimension we cannot alter on a ready-to-wear pair — which makes getting it right at purchase the single most important fitting decision you'll make.
Everything else — waist, hip, thigh, length, taper, inseam — we can adjust. If the hem needs to come up, we do it on the spot at the workshop in about 15 minutes. Other alterations are turned around within a week, all at no charge. And one rule of thumb to carry with you always: it's significantly easier to make a larger pair smaller than a smaller pair larger. When in doubt, err slightly generous in the top block and let us adjust from there.
A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Buy
Sanforized vs. unsanforized. The fit is predictable, the sizing is straightforward, and you can focus on the experience of raw denim rather than managing shrinkage variables. Save unsanforized for when you understand what you're working with. → DU 103: Sanforized vs. Shrink to Fit
When to wash. Let the fabric begin to conform to your body first. The early creases set the foundation for the fades to come. A few weeks of regular wear before the first wash is a reasonable starting point.
The break-in. What feels structured and slightly resistant on day one will feel like a second skin within a few weeks in the classic weight range. Trust the process.
Where they'll relax. Particularly in the waist and seat during the first few weeks. This is normal, expected, and part of how raw denim works. The gentle hug of day one becomes a comfortable embrace by week three.
Indigo transfers. Keep new raw denim away from light-colored clothing, leather goods, and upholstery until after about 10–20 wears. Indigo transfers (and fades) because it doesn't bond to the fibers like other dyes — some of it sits on top of the fibers. This indigo transfer, also known as crocking, diminishes significantly once the surface indigo has had a chance to rub off and stabilize. → DU 106: Denim Dictionary
What We Recommend at FITTED Underground
At FITTED Underground, the two fabrics we recommend most consistently for first-time buyers are the Easy Rider and the Standard Issue. The Easy Rider is an 11oz Japanese selvedge — supremely friendly from day one, soft enough to feel comfortable almost immediately, and a genuinely beautiful fabric that develops lovely fades over time. For buyers whose priority is comfort, this is the one. The Standard Issue is a 13oz fabric that balances comfort and fade potential — it has more structure, more character out of the box, and a slightly more dramatic fade trajectory. For buyers who want both comfort and serious fade potential, this is the one. Between those two, most first-timers find exactly what they're looking for.
One of the things we've built at FITTED Underground over ten years and thousands of fittings is a system designed to meet you wherever you are — in terms of budget, timeline, and how much you want to be involved in the process.
Ready-to-wear. Our in-house patterns, refined over a decade of real fittings on real bodies, cut and sewn in Brooklyn from fabrics we believe in. If you wear a standard size and want a premium pair without the wait, this is where to start. Free in-store alterations on anything we can adjust. Free hems online. That's our guarantee.
Custom size. Same designs as ready-to-wear, cut to your exact measurements. Only $100 more than the ready-to-wear price, and it entirely removes fit as a variable. If you've struggled to find jeans that fit in the top block — waist, hip, seat, thigh — this is the path that solves that problem permanently. Once your measurements are on file, reordering is a few clicks. Four to six weeks, with expedited service available.
Bespoke. Your fabric, your thread, your hardware, your cut — built from the ground up. This is where FITTED Underground started in 2014, and it remains the most personal thing we make. Four to six weeks, expedited available. The last pair of jeans you may ever want to wear.
For custom size and bespoke orders, we need your measurements. The easiest way to get them is to come into the workshop at 108 Bayard Street in Williamsburg. Appointments are free, take about 30 minutes, and include a proper fitting, a fabric consultation, and the chance to handle the denim before you commit. If you have a pair of jeans that fits you well, bring them — we'll cross-reference the measurements. If you're not in New York, we offer a mail-in measurement service and video consultations. Full details at fittedunderground.com/pages/how-it-works.
What Comes Next
Your first pair is chosen. Now the question becomes: how do you understand your own measurements well enough to communicate them clearly — whether you're ordering online, coming into the workshop, or eventually stepping up to a custom size? That's DU 202: Your Perfect Fit.
← Previous: DU 106 — Denim Dictionary | Next: DU 202 — Your Perfect Fit →
Core Curriculum
Complete the core curriculum by reading these essential classes.
- DU 101 — What is Raw Denim?
- DU 102 — What is Selvedge Denim?
- DU 104 — Denim Weight Explained
- DU 201 — How to Buy Your First Pair of Raw Denim Jeans
- DU 204 — How Much to Spend on Raw Denim
- How It Works — FITTED Underground
Eric Steffen is the founder of FITTED Underground, a custom jeans and raw denim workshop at 108 Bayard Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He has been making jeans by hand since 2014. Denim University is his attempt to share everything he's learned — about the history, the craft, and the culture behind the world's most enduring garment.
