Madewell Secret Denim Trick {interesting}

Every once in awhile, Madewell's "madewell musings blog" blog offers really interesting insight into their inner workings. Their "Shh…a jean secret our denim team swears by" post is one of the more questionable ones:

Shh…a jean secret our denim team swears by:
Though it may sound strange, we say don’t wash your jeans. What to do instead? Pack them in a plastic bag and freeze them for a day or two. All unsavory elements will disappear—and your beloved blues won’t have faded or shrunk in the process (like they would in the wash!).

According to some fans on Madewell's Facebook page, this tip is only good for selvedge or raw denim. Also there seems to be some conflicting views on this tip's usefulness. Below are some excerpts from fans:

• "Surprisingly works really well! Works with smelly shoes too. Getting the bacteria under the freezing point kills them and ta-da! No more smell!"
• "Putting them in the freezer is a way to continue a natural wearing down process to achieve the most genuine wear marks possible with fade this is not caused from soap or washing-machine irritation-intended to preserve the fit entirely as they mold to your body over time. It neutralizes the odors, kills bacteria and will leave the jeans fitting like you put them in, just really cold and less smelly. It does not matter if they are raw or selvedge. Selvedge denim is just regular denim that was cut on a different/special loom- which makes the washing differences irrelevant. People origianally began doing this to preserve raw denim to not shrink them or ruin the saturated dye. Which is the common goal here."
• "Here's the thing though, freezing bacteria and viruses doesn't kill them. It preserves them. Hence why they freeze specimens in labs."

This "secret" sounds kind of gross and unsanitary. I always wash my pants *and* jeans when I first get them from a store (and even online). Call me old-fashion, but it just seems like the right thing to do. (Actually, if I am particularly paranoid that day... I put them in the dryer on the rack with the heat on for 40 minutes. Then I wash them.) But who knows, maybe this is another way to "clean" jeans???

While on this topic, for those who pursue this technique... How do you explain the random pair of jeans in the freezer to the other members of your household? I can imagine a small child excited to get a cool refreshing popsicle during the hot Summer months, surprised to find instead nothing but Madewell's latest denim line on preview in the freezer. ;)

What are your thoughts on this washing-not-so-much-denim-technique? Do you personally employ the tip? If so, how are the results? Would you recommend this washing alternative for jeans?

Sneak Peek: Madewell Spring 2013

Madewell posted two images of their upcoming Spring 2013 line over at their blog (click here). Lot's of bright hues to make sure the Winter blues go away.

 

It is always fun to see what items are "around the corner". Although, it is hard to think about wearing pastels (or t-shirts) as the days start to get chilly.

Incidentally, all these items could easily be included with J.Crew's November 2012 catalog color palette. Which makes me sad. Why? Because the November catalog should be filled with rich reds, pine greens, golden yellows, and royal blues. Sigh.

What are your thoughts on Madewell's sneak peek? Are you interested in any of the items? Or is it too early to think about Spring of next year, when Winter of this year is still coming. ;)

Madewell Musings Blog Has Arrived!

A big "thanks!" to IRL who let us know that Madewell has a new blog (named Madewell Musings) and it is up and running (click HERE to check it out).

According to the about, the blog is:

If you’ve ever been to one of our 24 stores, cruised madewell.com or checked us out on Facebook and Twitter, you probably know that we’re jeans makers. If not, we have something we want to tell you: we’re jeans makers—and have been since 1937—so we know a thing or two about what makes a great pair. We also have covet-worthy dresses, amazing leather boots, tees you’ll want in multiples and the most perfect chambray shirts you’ll ever wear. We like to think of ourselves as your best friend and personal stylist—all rolled into one.

And now, we have a blog. This blog. We call it Madewell Musings because it is an extension of our in-store newsletter (yep, also called Madewell Musings), where we not only highlight our favorite styles and trends of the month, but also like to let loose and have a little fun. Since we’re obsessed with music, you’ll always find a monthly playlist of our favorite tunes. Or you could find a little dictionary of common surfer-dude lingo. Basically, anything goes. So when we wanted to start a blog, we invited some of our favorite editors and cool-girls-about-town to join in the fun (in addition to our own behind-the-scenes posts, of course). We think these women are so Madewell, and have a hunch you are too.

My initial thoughts:

• Overall, it's nice. The layout is similar to that of (their sister store) J.Crew's Blog.
• Sad that you can't really give feedback since it is a tumblr blog. At least their Facebook page allows for that.
  
• Love the "Meet the Bloggers" feature on the side bar.
  
• Lastly, I hope they will consider adding the JCA blog's link to their "Link Love" section.
  

What are your thoughts on this latest move from Madewell? Do you think a Madewell blog will help Madewell understand its customers better? Will you check it out?