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Been lurking for a bit but first time posting here. Hopefully I did this right. Cheers TCB 50s / Samurai Heavy Chinos / Blundstone

Slowly beginning my transition to @MJF9 Tender Co. x2 / Columbiaknit / Russell

Not as exciting as Double0's story, which actually got me thinking about learning a craft at almost 30, but still fun nonetheless. Last year my wife & I built a greenhouse for our balcony. We only keep citrus in it, at the moment, might put our pomegranate in there as well one day. Since we got a share in a garden plot end of last year I got into grafting fruit trees & trimming them to keep them healthy, so this is the greenhouse with it's post winter haircut. From back left to front right: Citrumelo, Nasho-Daidai, Yuzu, Sanguinello Blood Orange, Satsuma/Mandarin hybrid (2x), Ichang-Orange & Yuzu (4x, seed-grown). This was after the harvest of our last "bloody" oranges from the big Sanguinello plant, beginning of february, seen here. Those were great, especially considering we are in a newly classified zone 8a, as of December 2024, and not 7b anymore, which get's a bit colder. Usually these are grown in zones 9b upwards, but the greenhouse & mild winter did a great job. Just had to heat it on 3-4 nights, when it got below -7 °C. With all of this, I pulled the trigger on a few rootstocks for propagating of my collection, maybe even put one in the garden plot. I got some trifoliate orange rootstock, put it near the window for a few weeks and waited for the leaves to sprout, meaning it got out of it's winter hibernation. Then yesterday after work I got out my grafting tools and tried my hand at grafting, let's hope it works out. Tried my hand at grafting 1 Citrange & 2 Yuzus, maybe I will try a cocktail-tree in the future.

When i was around 14yrs old.. my dad had a Pools round, he would go around the neighbourhood collecting Pools coupons.. (folks gambling on the results of football matches).. one of the guys who played the Pools was a master pattern maker, my dad was always fascinated by his work, one day this guy asked if i would like a Saturday morning job in the patternshop, sweeping up, fetching the sandwiches, painting / finishing patterns.. Did I ever!.. I got paid £6 for 4hrs work and a pay rise to £8 for 4hrs Saturday morning in year 2... It was awesome!. When i was 16 i did work experience there and the guy who owned the business offered me a 6yr apprenticeship as a master pattern maker when i left school.. i did go to tech college 1 day/wk for a short period but due to my experience, my abilities were probably a bit too advanced for the course.. in hindsight, i should have been a dentist There was 8 other master pattern makers in the workshop all with different skill sets / fields of expertise.. one was a master woodcarver, i worked alongside him for the first 12months as his apprentice, we carved restoration work after the fire at York Minster, mainly the decorative bosses wich fit between the roof trusses in the ceiling.. I think this was their way of familiarising me with hand tools.. These were old school gentleman patternmakers who would arrive at work in a shirt and tie, hair immaculate, waistcoat and jacket, their sandwiches in a briefcase.. (a bit like the faux instagram woodworkers you see today) .. they would hang their jacket on a coat hanger, roll up their shirt sleeves and wear a brown smock over the top.. they were doing it to keep their clothing clean / make it last.. unlike me, i never wore a smock. ...anywho, during my 6yr apprenticeship, i worked alongside each specialty craftsman for 1yr.. we made pattern equipment for JCB and Tarmac, I worked for the MOD, i made tank tracks and prototyped all the cast parts for the Typhoon Eurofighter.. i made cast iron street furniture (i still do) i even made a keel for a racing catamaran In the days before 3D computer modeling, i did a lot of product development modeling, where i would make an exact copy of a Morphy Richards toaster for instance from 3d drawings, before funding for the upcoming product range was made available, they would have a tactile representation of their product made, people could make decisions regarding aesthetics at this stage.. I also developed the Black & Decker Mouse, I spent a year learning how to make fibreglass car body panels and fairground rides.. Topographical model making and such.. but 60% of our work was traditional pattern making / engineering products.. stuff for petrochemical, offshore drilling, pumping systems. The only guy there who didn't wear a brown smock was Tom, who wore a blue boiler suit... he'd previously worked in a foundry as a methods engineer, which is where i get my metallurgy knowledge regarding runner systems / feeding castings.. (nowadays it's all modeled on the computer) at this time i was in the heart of Sheffield's bustling industrial quarter surrounded by Braun Medical, Stanley Tools, Record Ridgeway, Eclipse Magnetic..ect When i finished my apprenticeship, i was the youngest fully time served Master Patternmaker in South Yorkshire.. and 30yrs later, i still am. The company i did my apprenticeship for.. moved into larger premises owned by a multi-national engineering company (Holtec) it meant we got 100% of their work while remaining an independent mastershop.. it was a good move.. but as the older patternmakers approached retirement, the company owner was diagnosed with cancer, his only daughter was in the banking sector so i always thought the business was coming my way.. (so did he) alas, it wasn't to be, Holtec aggressively took over, there was nothing i could do.. they said it was always their plan after the owner retired, it was their premises, 70% of the work was theirs, they offered me a managerial role so i decided to take the remaining 30% of our customer base and left.. within 3yrs the UK arm of their operation was closed. Since 2011 i've been part of a project, to upscale and fully automate a process which was traditionally small scale lab work, it's a means to extract, impurities from crude or natural gas, recycle the impurities while purifying the product.. it was so successful they got a Kings award for innovation, the production is vast.. i started by building single person pneumatic work stations, it worked so it's been upscaled into large scale factory format.. my part of the project was to develop a way of producing the shapes, their part of the project was to upscale so the product is now produced by the tonne and shipped worldwide instead of by the bucketload.. The first meeting we had in the boardroom, it was me and all their hierarchy.. the owner of the company stood up, pointed around the table and said "I can do all of your jobs (stopped at me and said) but i can't do his, which is why he's here" ..

Before wash #2 Pocket bags are fading even faster than the denim itself!

Been lacking on updates, but I snapped a couple of photos this weekend. Enjoying the jeans a lot so far, just not getting much sleep these days.

Despite my earlier, it's sprint night right now...

And another pair of vintage boots. Vintage Cole Haan Country boots. These were a gift from friends. They were cleaning out their father's wardrobe and knew I would appreciate these. Very well made, solid construction. Not quite a cowboy boot but very western. Low underslung heels but no decorative stitching or toe bug, heavy leather but very polished. Slim and elegant like a Chelsea boot. First pair of denim are Mister Freedom Californian Outlaw in deadstock Cone Mills White Oak selvedge. Second pair are a cheap pair of wide leg jeans from h&m.

I’m in it to win it 😤

Stevenson, Sugar Cane, Barbour, 3sixteen, Georgia Boot. Probably could’ve ditched one of the jackets today, but I’m not ready to give up any layers just yet..

My humble western work boots. Not as sleek as my cowboy boots, not quite as clunky as a engineer boot. The fancier footwear gets all the love but these are the real MVPS. These are my rainy/snowy/slushy/wet floor at work/ beaters and they are pretty bulletproof. Thick hard wearing rubber Vibram-esq sole, good grip but great support, and a pretty unremarkable workhorse leather that's starting to patina. Amd maybe the longest wearing heels I've had on boots. They shine up ok but look better dull and dirty. Sedona brand? Made in Mexico. As a bonus, the simple retro rope pattern and shape reminded me of CLINCH, it also gives them vintage vibes.

@julian-wolf feel free to slow down for the rest of us 😂

even though I know the issue is a broken power cable, first the technician has to come today to confirm that, then they have to get the replacement approved by insurance, then it has to be ordered and shipped, then the technician has to come back and replace the part. All of which could take weeks at each step, and the people in charge of fixing it seem to have little urgency to do so. getting a backup has done wonders for my mental health, and I'm making the best of it, but it is quite frustrating and unfair. thank you!

Usual Sunday shananigans... Freewheelers x 4 / @Duke Mantee non-vis / Converse MiJ

It's this time of the year again. Carnival. Or like they call it here "Fastnacht". So we visited a small procession in a nearby village.

Cheat day Denime - Libra Pondus 40s - Duke - RW

Vintage Vanson(white label)/whitesville(no vis)/samurai/red wing/triumph

Looks amazing.. my mum is trying to grow lemons.. sadly they still look like small nobbly limes Sadly not, i'd love an apprentice to pass my knowledge onto.. but i would never recommend it as a career choice.. there is no future in pattern making, 70% of everything i learned during my apprenticeship has next to no modern day application.. and probably 50% of those skills are non transferable to other sectors.. it's all dependent on a buoyant industrial sector and there is hardly any industry left in the UK, even here in Sheffield, the spiritual home of steel making. Just these last few months, British Steel (which incidentally, is a Chinese company) stopped producing steel while they transition from a polluting blast furnace to a more environmentally friendly electric arc furnace, this can only be a good thing but due to lack of planning, they've closed the site resulting in 2800 job losses, the new arc furnace will not be operational till 2030..so we're not producing steel, we're buying it in.. the knock on effect of this has devastated their suppliers, some of whom were my customers, good 3rd generation family businnesses .. it's just been a steady decline since the outsourcing of the 90s / victims of globalisation... few got richer, many got poorer. Secondly.. I've been quoting against machines for the last decade which has driven prices down so i have to work more hours to make the same amount of money.. Lastly, whatever time i spend training someone is time away from my job, when there are 8 other people producing work for 10hrs/day, if one of them spends 5hrs/day training an apprentice, the cost to your output as a company is negligible, but when you only have one person, that 5hrs/day will result in a 50% loss of production.. i'm not making enough money to shoulder it. Ikr.. it's a 20min ride from home so many folks take the Peaks for granted.. when they're out there, they say "my god! this is incredible, we should do this every weekend.. 6mths later "we should go out to the Peaks we haven't done it for ages" .. I could watch boulderers all day @julian-wolf .. folks think it's just about slapping some chalk on your hands and climbing up a rock.. but they'll arrive, with numerous books, they'll find an unoccupied rock, pull out a book, sit down and study routes, pull out field notes and start making notes and sketches of where holds are.. then mime it out.. this is before they've even pulled on rock shoes

It’s a mini relay… with just 2 legs.

It is…and this is one of my favorite words… it is, and this is all it is. it is Pants.

^^ it's a marathon not a sprint gents 😉... actually I think that's what I keep saying to reassure myself after seeing everyone's jeans progressing very nicely @julian-wolf @Broark looking good!

Hahaha... go steady mate... the transition thereafter is to @Maynard Friedman

Wow, that’s such a great story, thanks for being willing to write it all out. Have you met any younger people who’ve entered this line of work at all? Or anyone who you’ve considered taking on as an apprentice yourself? I know computers and automation and AI are being hailed as the replacements for everything, but I’ve always thought that attitude a bit hubristic.. there will always be a need for some of this knowledge to be retained by humans, as your contributions illustrate very well!

Thanks. She’s a great dog. Lovely temperament, very well behaved usually. Just over the top when it comes to excitement for other people and dogs. She’s been good at training, but these two habits are hard to shake. it’s good to hear that yours still has the lovely character when she’s older. It’s great. Since getting her we’ve seen loads of Fox-Reds everywhere. Turns out, we weren’t that original when we picked her!

She's beautiful. We have the same, Fox Red Lab girl - ours is 9 years old, soon to be 10, and still acting and looking like a cheeky puppy, long may that continue!!

I have both the yamane industries ( he added international shipping after I asked him if I could buy a pair) and his dads new jeans and the no1 denim is to my judgement the same denim

What a great story Neal, it’s really impressive. We should do a job swap for a day. How’s your PowerPoint?!

I ended up getting the 51 in the same size as my 47 and they both fit great. I was surprised at how the 51 top block (mostly the hips area) actually feels looser than on my 47's? Rise is definitely smaller, but still comfortable. My 47's feel like higher rise than I *need*, and the 51's are spot on. Waist fits the same between the two for me.

First necessary repairs, this will have to do until I can get a better seam reinforcement. But better to get it early. Simone definitely uses Warehouse or TCB sorts of threads and not Freewheelers threads haha. But I may have to start washing these earlier than I’d hoped.

Thanks. She’s our first dog, 20 months old now. Full size, and acting like a disobedient adolescent recently, hence the lead. But, overall she’s a very sweet girl.

Typical Sunday for me.. Rode up to Burbage Hoped over the road to Stanage Ahhh! Noooooooooo Boulderers out in force enjoying the sunshine.. they had frizbee and everything Up to Stanage Pole and down to Redmires ..around the reservoir.. up to Lodgemoor, through the Mayfield Valley and home ..cleaning my bike with a can of Ting, featuring mud splattered JMC sweatshirt

Freewheelers denim pullover Warehouse 1002 Leepro

deadstock Helmut Lang brown type 3 from 25 years ago, OG-107, Carpe Diem would have showed this off sooner if my regular chair hadn’t broken down. Only just got a backup manual chair to be able to get out of bed. Waiting on bureaucracy to replace a power cable….

Same old vintage Oshkosh jacket Championship RW Vintage M-1951 Vans

Warehouse, Denime, Warehouse, Yuketen

Thank you! I kept seeing the heavy chinos online and I finally popped into self edge to try them on. They are awesome. They feel more like a work pant than a “chino” because of the weight.

https://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a63920658/buck-mason-lee-yokohama-twistin-club-jacket/

@Jurassic Thanks for that, never seen it. Seems l was wrong, looking at the date of the movie (1943) and the new(ish) condition of the jacket, l'm assuming it is an early 40s 506xx (which would've had the larger, post 1935 buttons) although the small thin pleat stitch boxes and lack of tab indicate pre 1936. Could've had the tab removed? Could be the 1936 model, big button/no tab? Also found one or two images of the jeans he was wearing in the movie - typical 1937-42 era 501XX. Now l have the name l will have to look out for it 🙂

Found this not a film I was aware of.

Should've put this in the 'Denim in film' thread but l don't know which film it's from unfortunately. I've seen plenty (if not all) of JW's black and white westerns from the 1930s and 40s but have never seen him in this shot and more importantly for me, never seen him wear a 506xx. The image was borrowed from Vintagebrotherhood on lg, simply titled 'mid 1930s'. The details in the pic plus the date adds weight to this jacket being the small button version (1927-35).

Love this jacket. I can wear it with any pair of jeans in my closet, and it looks... correct. Knowing how fast this denim fades, I'm sure I'll see some fun wear and tear soon.

S516xx. Probably gonna get a wash soon. Can’t remember the last time it had one, maybe even 2023. I have a lot of jackets so none of them develop too quickly but this gets a lot of use in the colder months. It’s a really soft denim these days but started out quite stiff. My favorite part so far is probably the puckering on the hem.

House is progressing nicely. Nice cold crispy day, good for wearing a bit of wool. Jack Russel cardi, Tender shirt, Ooe jeans and RWs

One Ear Brand / Tender / Neat Style / Nicks

T'other day Stussy Brain Dead tee Warehouse 1101 Wild Bunch

Another day in the yard Great Lakes, The Flat Head, Word of Mouth, Russell

FW x 2 / @Duke Mantee not visible / MiJ Converse with thanks to @Geeman... seem to have misplaced my hammer

He's nailing the fit

Ian Dury