The president and CEO of Levi Strauss, one Chip Bergh, says don't wash your jeans all the time. Wait until they get dirty, is his advice. See a Popular Mechanics article for details.
Puts me in mind of what we did in high school too many decades ago. My cohort liked our jeans dark blue; fading was uncool, so were cuffs. We'd wear our new blue jeans until they almost developed a greasy shine atop the thighs.
As an adult I wear an L.L.Bean heavy flannel shirt tail-out as a light jacket over polo shirts. When it gets dirty, I have it dry cleaned. The flannel nap never mats down and the shirt looks nice for a long time. It's a similar idea.
