It’s your chance to win a Brook’s England Bicycle Set worth over £200!
Get a makeover for your bike this Christmas with a brand new Brooks England ‘B17’ Saddle, Saddle bag, ‘Slender Grips’ and ‘ankle strap’, all Meet Bernard colours (green and black of course)!
For you chance to win, all you have to do is share this post/picture and ‘like’ or ‘follow’ us on any of our social media platforms.
The competition will run from Saturday 1st December till Sunday 18th December at 4pm. The winner will be drawn at random on the 18th December at 5pm and contacted via Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest or Tumblr.
The more social media platforms you follow us on/repost the competition picture, the greater your chance of winning. You can retweet, post, like and follow as much as you like!
At meetbernard.com we are very passionate about jeans with our favourite brands being Nudie, Edwin and Carhartt. As you may know, breaking in a pair of new jeans can be a challenge, but once you do, they are like a second skin. Regardless of your lifestyle, your jeans become a log of months gone by. Taking care of your denim is essential especially if you are going to invest in a great pair of jeans and want them to last, however there may be more than you think required to prolong the life of your most love jeans.
Clean freaks beware, the best advice to give about washing your jeans, is to not wash them! Or at least wait 6 months before washing them at all. In fact, scientists have tested the bacteria levels of jeans worn everyday for 15 months and another pair for 13 days and found the bacteria levels in both pairs after washing to be almost identical at a ‘normal’ level.
Before any washing instructions, you should know a little bit more about your special pair of jeans… Unwashed denim or ‘raw’ denim is unwashed denim fabric that has not been shrunk or exposed to water after the drying process. It is typically very dark, and made on old style shuttle looms. Selvedge denim, which is more often than not raw and is priced at a premium because of low production runs, the need to use older equipment and more fabric per pair, and the fact that it is made in higher labour cost countries. However, raw denim overall is more durable, and many raw denim advocates claim to wear their jeans thousands of times before they wear out, thus making them a strong value when you look at the number of wears vs the amount paid.
Even for the more liberal clothes washers out there, there comes a point where you just need to wash your jeans, whether it is due to a smell or the mere thought of the bacteria. We should state that we do not necessarily condone washing raw denim; we instead advise that you wear them for at least 6 months, thereby achieving the second-skin feel.
Typically with blue jeans, the indigo dye cannot be completely fixated onto the cotton fibres so after you wash your denim, you are losing that deep blue/black colour as well as the ridged feel due to starch loss. Hence you want to wash your jeans for at least 6 months prior to washing, but no longer than 1 year, otherwise the crotch in your denim will rip or ‘blow out’. But when you are ready to wash your jeans it is important that you follow strict instructions.
Our research shows that it is best to hand wash your jeans in bathtub if possible… The guys at Rawr Denim produced these videos:
Washing – do not be afraid to machine wash. Keep it at a low temperature, go easy on the detergent and turn them inside out. This will help the indigo dye stay within the denim.
Separate – Due to the natural indigo bleeding during washing, always wash your raw denim separate from other clothing pieces. If you are lucky enough to own more than one pair, then wash them together.
Water temperature – General rule of thumb: the hotter the water, the greater the shrinkage.
Drying – Always hang dry flat. Do not place on a heat radiator, use a dryer, or crumple when drying as it will damage the fabric and ruin the fit, fade, contrast and overall quality.
Spillage – if you ever spill any liquids etc. on your jeans, then try rubbing or dabbing with a kitchen towel. Do not use soap or any other cleaning solution since you will risk losing some indigo dye and create an uneven fade.
Smell – I you find that your denim starts to smell before the 6 month mark, then the best solution is to use a light cleaning spray such as Febreze and hang dry flat (preferably outside for 24 hours).
Hemming – do not hem your raw denim jeans prior to washing as the denim will naturally shrink in length.
Having had a fantastic October (or should i say a Halloween ‘fangtastic’ ) with the weather hitting above 20c at times, we haven’t had much chance to put on our winter warmers. Now the clocks have gone back and I’m sure, Jack Frost will be lurking around, we thought we’d let you know of some Winter highlights.
When it comes to Winter, Penfield is always a safe bet. Penfield’s 60/40 – cotton/nylon combination fabric is perfect for outdoor conditions, because of its tightly woven construction it is classified as downproof and windproof making it as useful in the elements as for every day use. Plus, the jackets look ace. Here’s one of our favourites:
Hoosac Jacket
A heavyweight expedition parka with a thick 360g down fill, the Hoosac excels in extreme conditions.
Made up in Penfield’s hardwearing 60/40 cotton nylon, the parka is both water-resistant and windproof. The detachable and fully adjustable coyote fur hood, combined with an internal waist cinch, allows you to customize the fit and feel of your parka providing maximum comfort and performance in wind, rain and snow. A zip and button up front with fleece-lined hand-warmer pockets ensure that you stay cozy and dry when the temperature drops.
High quality details such as leather cord pullers and the classic Penfield leather arm patch make this well-known style unique and stylish.
The Norse Projects, Agni Knit comes in two colours and features rib knit detail on shoulders and engineered cuffs and hem. The Bright Orange colour works great with a dark jacket and jeans.
Ransom By Adidas Originals
Two new beastly-boots are now online to keep your toes toastie.
Now a staple part of the Ransom collaboration collection, the Persona-Crest; A heavy canvas upper, gusseted tongue and lace locks making it a hard wearing boot, this year they’ve also added a wool lined toe area and put in a neoprene ankle support meaning it also has a comfortable and secure fit.
If this boot was a mode of transport it would be a Sherman tank.
Meet Bernard’s very own photographer, Christopher Lane, helps L.A. Salami perform live as part of The Station Sessions at St Pancras International train station.
L.A. Salami’s debut single is out 26th September on Blurb PR
You can see Christopher Lane’s photo shoot of our Autumn/Winter collection very soon. He’s currently in the studio recording with, Sharma Rahman and producing his own material. If you can get a copy of Ashok’s, Plans – Christopher Lane’s debut album, featuring Florence and the Machine, we highley recommend it!! If you can’t, get in touch with us and we’ll try and sort something out… Or check him out yourself here
