Denim in Distress

I really really wanted to have a list of jean recommendations from Abercrombie, but let’s instead use this opportunity to talk about what I avoid in denim.

Whiskering is the effect of fading lines on jeans to mimic the creases you get with years of wear. Good whiskering is slightly chaotic and definitely not symmetric. Each "whisker" tapers to the corners, and it arcs slightly. It’s supposed to look natural, not planned.

Your most used jeans will naturally develop this distressing, and we can see it in these vintage jeans. Look at the area below the pockets, straight across the jeans, from right to left. On your body, it's where your legs meet your hips.

When a person walks or sits in jeans, this area folds up sort of like an accordion or a fan, except in random, soft folds:

Bad whiskering is regular and straight. In bad whiskering, these distressed lines form a pattern that’s so equidistant it mimics a notepad:

As for denim shirts, ready-made distressed shirts rarely succeed. Let's look at vintage examples for how denim shirts age authentically:

Compare to these brand new distressed shirts, what do you find as an instant tell?