1 Year of Wear: The Pike Brothers 1948 Heavyweight Roamer

The 19 oz. Roamer Is A Slow Fader

I’ve finally buckled; after almost a year of constant wear my Pike Brothers 1948 19 oz. Roamers are starting to hum a little. So, they’ve had their first wash. Since getting them last December, I’ve worn them as much as possible, switching only to my lighter LVC 505s or my 11 oz. ’37 Roamers for the hottest days of the summer. I gave the jeans a pre-wear soak for shrinkage and to get the starch out of the fabric, but that’s it.

My Wash Routine

The heavyweight Kurabo denim took a fair bit of breaking in. Even tackling the button fly was a battle of wills in the beginning. The jeans almost wore me for a while. But, it’s been worth it.

The jeans have gradually softened up – I’ve got some lovely whiskers around the pockets, and my wallet pocket is just starting to show signs of wear. Clearly with heavyweight denim you’re in for the long haul.

Wash or Dry Cleaning?

Now, Pike Brothers suggest that you don’t wash these babies at all, instead favouring dry cleaning. Some hardcore denimheads might raise an eyebrow at simply bunging them in the washing machine with a bit of detergent, but that’s exactly what I’ve done. Turned ‘em inside out, put them in a cold wash, and hung them damp. Done.

Denim this beautiful deserves to be looked after and I simply don’t see how dousing it in chemicals at the dry cleaners will help the longevity of this fine Kurabo fabric. If other items in your wardrobe are dirty, you wash them, right? As Matt Wilson argued in his recent article on washing denim, it makes no sense to spend serious amounts of wedge on premium denim and then not look after it.

I love seeing how selvedge denim evolves as much as the next denimhead, but not at the expense of smelling like a bath shy farm hand.

A Favourite Among Fans of Old School

The ’48 Roamers are tough jeans. If, like me, you want your jeans old school then the classic fit is spot on, and denim is evolving wonderfully. They are my go to pair and will doubtless serve me for a long time to come.

If you’d like to get your hands on a pair, you can get them from Pike Brothers at the price of €199.