Jeans by 3Sixteen, Photo: 3Sixteen

Whether you're a newbie to the raw denim game or just re-upped for a fresh pair, breaking in your jeans is never easy an easy process. In fact, we'll go ahead and say putting on a brand new pair of raw denim can be downright painful. And with so much info out there about breaking them in the right way (whatever that means), it's hard to know what really works best. That's why we turned to three denim experts—Andrew Chen of 3Sixteen, Matt Baldwin of Baldwin Denim, and Paul O'Neill of Levi's Vintage Clothing—for some sage wisdom about the distressing process. With their tips, you'll be faded in no time.

Jeans by Levi's Vintage Clothing, Photo: Haven

How do you break in your raw denim? Is there anything you can do to speed up the process?

**Matt Baldwin: **For me, it starts with the fabric. I love finding something new about the break-in process each season. Then comes fit. I try on jeans and find the size that fits perfectly, and then I purchase one size smaller. Dry, 100% cotton denim expands anywhere between one inch to 1.5 inches over a three month period of daily wear. From there I machine washing a few times before my usual first daring repair, and then continue to cold wash and hang dry throughout the denim's life.

Paul O'Neill: I tend to approach it a little differently than other people. First, I buy my jeans correct size in the waist (rather than size down) and a little longer in length (one or two inches). Then, I'll wear them for a few days before climbing into a warm bath in them and soak for 20 minutes. Once soaking is over, I slip out of the jeans and let them dry in the sun. This shrinks the jeans to your body shape. Because you were wearing them while shrinking them, they should not shrink smaller than your waist. I tend to check them when nearly dry and put them back on and stretch the waist out by squatting in them if needed.