Light Wash

Light wash strips the majority of the indigo through extended washing, bleach or heavy stone abrasion, leaving a pale blue with visible white in the weave. Acid wash pushes the same idea to marbled extremes by tumbling the denim with bleach-soaked stones. The two share a shelf and a casual look.

The pale ground changes both the read and the wear. Visually it sits at the casual, seasonal end of the scale. It peaks in spring and summer, echoing light shirting and white sneakers, and it fills out rather than slims. Light colors advance to the eye, so a pale jean makes the leg read a size fuller than the same cut in dark. Marks show in proportion to the paleness. Coffee, grass and pen sit on a light wash the way they would on chinos. A dark wash would swallow them.

Durability of the cloth is the quieter concern. The abrasion that lightens denim also thins it. A heavily distressed light wash starts life with fewer wears in it than a rinsed dark pair of the same weight. Hold the knees and seat up to a light source; thin spots that glow will blow out first. Style-wise it pairs with pastels and white and fights dark tailoring, so build the outfit light from shoe to collar.