Leaderboard

First wash after roughly 2 months. I admit I have neglected them after getting the Denime 101

At Last 147 and 677J / Big Yank by Anatomica / Duke Mantee / Viberg

Bought the super smooth fullcount wide jeans. On sale too. first time wearing them, I like them papa nui, RMC, fullcount, vans

Update on some 51s I’ve had for awhile and a fresh pair of 51s I picked up not that long ago a size down. Particularly enjoying the fades on the button fly. Almost have a back pocket rivet poking through. A few more spills skateboarding and I should be able to send out some sparks!

Union Special / Bubo / Vanishing West / Russell Really not used to wearing jeans this slim, these days

Ok, so here they are, washed a time or 2, the one on the right has been worn more by me. Labeled CR07, paper tag. The fit is just perfect, and it’s my favorite type 2 I have. I believe it’s the xx2 denim, but correct me if I’m wrong.

Colimbo Full Count 0105 TwoMonkeys The Colimbo House of Richeld sweat shirt has a boxy and relatively short vintage fit. The sleeves crease nicely and it has the Spalding like cuffs (not sure, what the term for that is).

Freewheelers Ironalls / Butcher Products / Belafonte / Buckweat

Probably ordered them during the war and they’ve just arrived

Walpier Buttero, Cobra, Turquoise and brass hardware

Momotaro 0901 size 32, worn on and off since 2015 (when I had them tapered slightly). They’ve been my dog walking jeans for the last 2 winters and are now heading for the bin as the crotch is falling apart, having already been repaired. I’ve really enjoyed this pair and at 15.7oz, they’re the heaviest weight jeans I’ve owned.

I've been playing around with my macro lens to shoot close-ups of my son, so I thought that it would be fun to take some macro shots of my DD-1001xx 1947 out of the wash. I got these minimally worn secondhand last September. The color is really beautiful in the sunlight, although the crotch has seen better days after a couple quick repairs. Originally, I was a bit lukewarm on the pre-distressed leather patch and buttons, but they look pretty nice and fit in much better now with significant wear. Back pocket, front pocket, and belt loop shots feel closest to color in true life. \

No denim today. But these cargo pants are made by Yamane. Obviously, the prototype was the flight equipment suit of the OG-107 era.

Thought l'd share - pinched it from Matt @Rivethead. S501XX probably.

Doing loads of Larkin Poe belts is good … right? Hermann Oak, black studs, hand embroidered cloth overlays

I also found this killer MP era bluebell repro.

Another wallet - new configuration La Perla Azzura - Tamponato Lux, hand buffered leather Cash compartment, 3 card slots, 2 hidden compartments and 2 ID compartments

Back home, backlit Tilley / Bubo / Hollows / Vanishing West / Frank’s

Stan Ray wool mix shirt Warehouse T Warehouse 1000XX DSB Kamakura socks

@Broark They just had maybe 10 pairs of jeans for sale leftover from Inspiration; most sold in the first few minutes I guess. There were also a couple of the canvas hunting vests on display (not for sale), and one in a lightweight denim that they said they were gonna be starting production on soon (!). Incidentally, Ryo was wearing his 507XX and I asked if they were planning on making more at some point; he said hopefully yeah

Sad news out of Japan as Toshikiyo Hirata, founder of Kapital, has died. One of the highlights of my trip to Japan was visiting Kapital shops across the Golden Route. I admired the brand’s aesthetic, but didn’t think it would fit with my personal style. While a lot of the stuff they produce is too wild for me, most everything they make is high quality. My wife and I had a blast trying stuff on and purchased a few of their tamer, more basic pieces. The man had a vision and his contributions to denim and fashion are undeniable. RIP Hirata-san

Couple of comparison shots of the 03s worn for a bit and the new 01s which have not been washed / worn yet. The 01s use the same denim but the "A-grade" variant, so a little less irregular (not that the denim used on the 03s is very irregular to start with). The 01s are on the left, the 03s are on the right.

I wouldn't want this thread to unravel... but it's like going into a 30s repro thread (if one existed) and saying what's the point of adding a cinch and suspender buttons to the jeans, or a 50s thread and asking for a 25cm rise instead. Or looking at the latest TCB 1890s repro and questioning why there's only one pocket... If the manufacturers are doing a repro, then if what they're copying has wonky-ness then I'd expect them to replicate that. It's just a feature of the time. When the bloke above snips off the extra thread and gets some wear into the jacket, it'll come up looking grand imo. I'm a sucker for a variety of denim jackets... so happy to embrace the repro features... I am always taken by how the industry does reinvent and evolve itself with new versions or repeated versions of repeated versions... the new 1942s, the 1890s, the... will it ever end... hopefully not... long live Sufu!

New in, Fob Factory F198, size 33, one wash and unworn. I’m not sure what year these were made but they feel old and have a slightly musty odour and plenty of loose threads (which I’ve been removing), which is something I’ve found on some of my pairs from the 90s and noughties. I’m not sure about the weight either but they feel about 13-13.5oz. Colour’s a bit darker in real life than my crappy photos. Notable features: World Jeans International buttons (very matte) Scovill rivets, unbranded at the front Offset rear belt loop ‘F’ on red tab Storage crease on crotch! Measurements (BiG style) Waist: 32” Front rise: 12” Back rise: 15.5” Thigh: 13.5” Inseam: 34.5” Hem: one is 8.5”, one is 8.75”

My Denime 232 Type II arrived from Celluloid today. Here are the pre-wash measurements: Size: 42 Pit-to-pit: 23" Shoulder: 21.5" Sleeve (shoulder seam to cuff): 27" Body Length: 26.25" Some quick photos in the pre-wash state, including fit are below. I will update with post-wash measurements and more detail shots when I get a chance (along with some macro shots of my other jeans hopefully). Same thing happened to mine after a machine wash and dry - very warped and jerkied (actually not quite as bad as it looked at first glance)..

These also became a nearly everyday companion this winter and will likely be something I wear into the warmer months as they are so lightweight. Again the fade is so hard to capture. Unlike anything.

Here are some close-ups of my TCB 50's that I've worn since last August in rotation with my WH 1001xx. They are relatively slow fading, but some electric blue highlights are showing through in the slubbier and higher wear areas especially in the sunlight. Like the WH pair, the color of these is beautiful in natural light. The color of the front pocket stitching and back pocket corner feel truest to real life - my son was starting to fuss during these so I had to compromise on finding proper exposure and white balance on a few.

More Larkin Poe-esque stuff J&FJ Baker oak bark, silver plate buckle and antique nickel studs

An end-of-the-winter wear updates on this one. It has become my favorite jacket yet. Perfect fit and the denim is lightweight so I can layer for mild weather. I ended up wearing this jacket daily. The color and texture is so hard to capture on this denim. Looks almost unbleached with a warm but gray tone.

Rest in power, Hirata-san. https://www.yokogaomag.com/editorial/kapital-founder-toshikiyo-hirata-passed-away

In thinking about this, I also consider the brands’ sewing machine operators.. I know that many brands here focus on extremely accurate reproductions, but perhaps this late trend to amplify stitching ‘errors’ is an emergence of the latent artistry of the sewers themselves. I know for myself as an artist, if you put me down in front of a flower and ask me to draw it, I’ll tend to over-emphasize the curviness of the leaves and the shading of the petals over all else. That’s my own deviance from realism that I’ve found emerged subconsciously from my own artistic practice over the years, and it’ll surely be different from that of the next artist who comes in to draw the same scene. I think you can make a strong case that the sewing work done for these brands is more like factory work than like art, but I do wonder if in designing these repros whether the people assigned to come up with the sewing pattern don’t relish the chance for a little extra wonkiness, their creative touch in an industry that for the most part seemed quite a bit more rigid in its techniques. Totally not basing this off anything, just a speculation!

Inspiration 01s just arrived, will get some photos up comparing them to the 03s.

Here is the 232 post wash and dry. Fabric is still very stiff and relatively smooth with a small amount of coarseness by hand. Color has a grey cast. Size is 42. Pit-to-pit: 21.8" (5% shrinkage) Shoulders: 19" (12% shrinkage) Sleeve (shoulder seam to cuff): 25.25" (7% shrinkage) Length (back collar to hem): 24.2" (8% shrinkage) Sleeve length here makes me question whether I could make the TCB No.2 jacket work with 1.5-2" shorter half shoulder + sleeve length

Now that the sun has finally started to break through the perma-cloud cover over London, I thought I'd throw away my old, worn-out green/orange Delphins and replace them with this orange/aqua pair. Hopefully they’ll put a spring in my step for Spring!

^ Nice Broark. Love Ooe. Saw Ryo and Hiro yesterday at S&S Oakland. Picked up a new turkey red bandana (larger than their last run). Will probably give it to my wife as men pushing 70 can look like turkeys wearing red bandanas.

Post

It was FW choice. Sushi doesn’t agree with the ‘wonky’ stitching for much the same reason I do. It did exist, it always had, albeit new factories and therefore new operatives (as Doc rightly says) caused some issues which subsequently settled as those operatives gained experience. Control standards were certainly lower because Levi’s were coining it in with increased output but as with every process a level of equilibrium is established. I just think brands are looking for extreme examples to make their mark. In any event FW didn’t see any reason to ask a high quality factory to produce low quality work so there was only a nod to the ‘wonkiness’ … that from the factory owner.

Photos of 1942 501XX from Hellers Cafe. Just a random comparison post as l don't have these photos to hand and it takes me ages to fire up the old laptop, and l can't be arsed to keep going back through these pages to find the images. 1937 1st ever pocket flasher, used between 1937 and March 1942 vs 1942 2nd pocket flasher, used between April and December 1942.

^^^^Also don't forget only one factory going into WW2 (1942) and at least 3 factories coming out so alot of new and untrained machine operators and a change in the new, more simplified design of the 501xx for skilled/trained levis employees to have to rush through for service industries.

understanding very much discussions above; good luck with the socialisation; takes a village to raise the child... (or via Lev Vgotsky; it is through others we becomes ourselves...) 1960s finnish army surplus (m62) / lvc 1870s / pecos

Top to bottom - MF, SC, Ooe, FW, Lofgren

I got so much satisfaction out of making that last pair of jeans that I told my brother I wanted to make a pair for him for his birthday. Been drafting the pattern the last couple weeks and finally got it where he wanted it. He's got a little bit more weight in his gut and thighs than I do so it was a good exercise in modifying patterns. Also bought this 1960s New Home (Janome) 532 zig zag machine off Marketplace for $50. It could hardly turn when I got it, so over a few days I doused it in kerosene a few times a day to de-gunk it. That did the trick so I oiled it up, put belt on it, and now I can do bartacks. It doesn't love going through belt loops but if you floor it it will get enough momentum to power through. Also some (admittedly poor) pictures of the denim my brother selected. He wanted a crosshatch slub so I found this stuff on Big Z. More updates to follow!

^ sized down for that famous Sufu fit!

Loved my Csf S501XX when l got it back in 2016 but it didn't have any wild wonky stitching at all apart from the pleat stitching maybe but l still thought it was quite subtle. The Denim and cotton stitching gave it that aura of the Real deal though and l'm glad l still have the 41 and 44 WW2 jeans. The FW1942's are actually based on pre-WW2 501's and they were a kind of test sample materials- wise (eg new denim and copper coated iron) but still pre-war in terms of quality construction not under any necessary constraints or pressures. Hopefully FW will convey this in their reproduction of them although l'm under little doubt as l've preordered both.

Saint James - Duke - SC1946 - Alfred Sargent

I personally ask Hoosier to sharpen them for me. I like to have them draw blood for a while. Hahaha

Maybe this is overly cynical, but I don’t see it as a total coincidence that so many new, low-volume one-man brands are popping up right during the craze of wonky-stitched WW2 jeans. When it comes down to it, just as in the case of the original Levi’s, wonky jeans can be made more easily and more quickly by less skilled machinists. I appreciate the more optimistic take that in many cases it might be a conscious design decision or an artistic liberty, but in more than a few cases I’d bet that it’s just an excuse for someone who’s really not ready to be selling jeans to the public to do so under the guise of reproduction.

I’m not sure I agree with this. The cinch/suspender buttons/number of pockets, etc were functional/design features of the jeans in certain eras and would have been standard across all pairs produced by a company (such as Levi’s). Obviously there may have been slight variations where one factory may have made still added a crotch rivet or cinch after others had stopped, etc. Wonky stitching wasn’t a functional/design feature, it was an accidental quirk simply due to untrained/inexperienced machinists and possibly poor QC. I’m sure there were thousands of WW2 pairs made with perfectly good, straight stitching and conversely quite likely a number of pairs from other eras with bad stitching, loose threads, etc (although these may have been more likely to have been picked up by QC). The wonkiness is simply a feature of some pairs that repro manufacturers have chosen to focus on, which, even if commonplace was not standard or deliberate at the time.

Kapital, Sugar Cane (not visible), Ooe…and Blundstones which aren’t my fave but the default choice for shitkicking in the mud season here.