Japanese Denim Pt 2: Nudie Grim Tim Organic Green Used Selvedge

For the second part of this review, I’d like to talk a little bit about selvedge. When the Japanese started making denim, they used old fashioned narrow looms which made a narrow strip of more tightly woven fabric. To the edges a different coloured fabric (usually red, but other colours were used) was attached. This was to prevent unravelling. As Levi’s and other brands started to mass produce jeans, a wider sheet of fabric was used and this led to a drop in the quality of the jeans.


This strip became known as a self-edge or selvedge and neatly finished off the jeans and became synonymous with “cuffing” or “turning up” your jeans and completed the look of the raw jeans, which set them apart from the more mass produced brands.

The subject of this review is the Nudie Organic Green Used Selvedge. What is so striking about these jeans is the wash. A definite break from the regular Japanese denim which typically came with a raw unwashed finish. They have a sandy overtone to the fading and this fading looks far more authentic than other distressed jeans which, to me, look very manufactured. They have a proper, vintage worn in look with orange stitching and steel rivets.

This is my first pair of Nudie and I absolutely love them. If this is the kind of jeans they make then I will be buying a lot from them in the future. The quality is so superior to everything I’ve tried before. The heavy gauge denim weighs in at 13.5oz which gives rigidity making them “break” nicely down the legs, but they aren’t coarse. It seems that with the washing comes a softness which only comes with wearing jeans over a long period of time. The wash itself is a sand blasted washed Indigo. Deep and rich. This level of craftsmanship is truly astonishing and I can tell that a lot of love and attention went into making them.

The fit is Grim Tim. It’s a regular slim fit. I usually wear Diesel Thavar in a size 32 and I was advised to size up for Nudie. I ignored this and got my usual Diesel size. The upper block is slimmer with a nice slim fit around the hips and butt area with a good pocket placement and a low rise. The thighs have a little more room, but due to sizing down they actually fitted pretty darn good! The lower leg is slim with the leg length being about 1″ shorter than Diesel, coming in at exactly 32″ making these as true to size as it gets.

When I started this fact finding mission about Japanese denim, I wanted something that was a cut above the rest. I buy premium denim with Diesel all the time and I wondered could Japanese actually be better? The All Saints ones were nice and better than other All Saints jeans, but not as good as Italian denim. But these are what I was looking for. Simply amazing. Every time I pass my wardrobe I want to wear them and I constantly think of reasons TO wear them. They are perfect for casual wear and look perfect with some Chukkas and a check shirt. Available from the lovely people at Cultizm.com or Nudie online store.