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Levi’s defines distressed jeans as “jeans that have been manipulated to give them a more vintage look.” Some put rips and holes in this category, others do not. (I do, for what it’s worth.) No matter your camp, it is generally not recommended to make large, single cuts or slits when distressing denim yourself. There’s a not-so-fine line between distressing and damaging, and that’s it.
How to actually distress your jeans
The “Grinding” Method
In professional laundries, dry processes like sanding and grinding happen before washing, and the same goes for doing it at home. My general advice when self-distressing is to go slow. Start by making small abrasions in the areas where holes or fraying would naturally occur: At the knees, yes, but also the around hems, pocket edges, and button holes. Sandpaper is probably the most recommended tool for this. Cheese graters get mentioned online sometimes; a microplane would work better, I think. My tool of choice is the Little Martin’s baby nail trimmer, which has a rougher attachment for adults that’s effective and easy to control. (A baby shower gift I never knew I needed, I now give one to all my new-mom friends for its intended use, too.) Use it to break or “grind” the yarn, then wash your jeans to encourage those areas to fray; you might not see much until you’ve cycled them, on cold. Air dry, please. Repeat until you get the desired effect.
The “Tearing” Method
The cool (if short-lived) look of a tear being held together by white yarns requires a bit more intention. A Masterclass on this recommends marking where you want the tear to be by using tailors’ chalk to draw horizontal lines (no more than eight) in varying lengths, then scraping (not cutting) along those lines with a kitchen knife or boxcutter. Now is when I recommend washing to agitate the tear and help separate the denim’s white threads from the blue ones. If more distress is still desired after a wash, use tweezers and scissors to pull away and cut the blue yarns only.
The “IYKYK” Method
The more obscure and less mainstream “spur bites” are one of my favorite real-life-inspired markings to see on jeans. Here, the backs of a jean’s hemlines at the heels have a frayed, jagged finish, simulating the damage that spurs might do. To get this look, use any of the techniques described above, making sure to mark each hem–backs only!–a little differently. Spur bites are never perfectly symmetrical.
Of course, if all of this sounds too aggressive or intimidating, simply thin the knees and hems using sandpaper or the baby file, and wait. Do some squats. Parent a toddler. Take a trail ride and wade in a river. If none of this works, live a little harder. Get on your hands and knees in the garden. Holes or not, you probably won’t regret it.
Below, a selection of jeans to shop—from denim primed for distressing to styles featuring varying degrees of wear and tear.
Raw or rinsed
Jeans with minimal wear
Jeans with maximum wear