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I've just updated my WH 506 flipbook with before and after wash photos ..here are some more post-wash photos besides

Rain kind of day...

JMM Blluemade an oldie from Ooe Yofukuten-melton wool vest duke belt word of mouth contest jeans clinch Gary boots thanks to @Broark for helping me find this vest

Tucked or untucked I can never decide M&S, TCB 50s, Clarks

Oh yes! Pure gold there, Duke. But seriously as I'm sure you know, I was referring to compilations from 78rpms from the days when there was no such thing as an album. That being said though, at some point 'Albums' of 78rpms did come into the picture. These were in a gatefold book form containing 2 or more 78s. I'm not sure what year such a thing came into existence. I suspect classical albums were available in the early 30s, often utilizing the 12 inch 78rpm format.

UNIF Fuzzy sweater Denim vest People Power Phillipines Yellow Revolution T Vintage studded belt Wide leg sevedge denim from...Target! 1960S ACME Thunderbird boots

Shoes that look stagnant with time Got these some years before the pandemic, feels like nothing much change at all. Seriously very hard wearing leather (bison), fitting for a "work" shoes.

Bought this wonderful 1920‘s chambray shirt. Amazing quality.

Ooe SOA03 and an incredible belt from Duke

Baracuta, Warehouse, 3sixteen, Chucks

had Nicks do a full beeswax treatment to my roughout boots. Very waterproof now and they look great

Beautiful boots. Perfect shape, great heels...but a minor quibble: those look like traditional semi round, almond toe or maybe a J or toe. Snip toes look "snipped" with a blunt tip and d Tony Lama has a very blunt structured toe on their snips. Unmistakable in profile. These are just a few styles. There are dozens of name and shape variations by both region and maker.

You have to decide who you are first. The answer flows from that.

EMS don't charter their own flights, they pay airlines to piggyback your goods in the spare cargo space of commercial flights.. therefore your items pass through the customs facility at Coventry (before they're collected by Parcelforce) which is fully automated, much like the drop box in Decathlon where you just clumsily dump an armful of items in the box and 3D scanners pick up the barcode / QR and weight. If it detects a customs fee a sticker is applied.. everything passed through this machine, there is no way to avoid it... FedEx, DHL et al.. use their own customs facilities.. i've never had any luck avoiding their fees either, i'd assume in this day and age, if Decathlon run a 3D QR scan, FexEx would too.. but maybe it's a bit more like the mailroom from Elf

Right. US tends to be slacker on the customs & tax end of things, but yes, Japanese sales tax and some surcharges from the proxy are there for sure. The thing I've liked about it is being able to accumulate items from different stores & then having them mailed in one package.

Yeah - keen eye there... the steam engine broke down on the way home though... but was I prepared... changed straight into my Leepros, saddled up and rode home... yee-haw!! 😁

Were you driving the train?

@Well27 There’s a shop here in the town I live that has a penchant for this style… I can say that the labels they carry are great, and if you’re looking for interesting fabrics, dyeing techniques, laid back loose vibes they may be worth checking out. To name a few: Taiga Takahashi, EG, Herill, Auralee, Camiel Fortgens, Monostereo, Niceness, and as previously mentioned by @ATWM Cottle and Story Mfg. (and, yes, prices are out there…). I don’t own any pieces by these brands as they don’t really resonate with my ‘style’ (or lack there of, honestly), but I certainly appreciate what they’re doing.

@Well27 Buaisou is also worth a look

@Well27 I’m a big fan of both Tender and (some of) Kapital, but part of what makes them what they are is that there are not other makers with the same style. The other brand that is more in the denim world is of course 45R, but internationally quite pricey, so I’ve avoided. A lot of (Western) stores that carry the Kapital etc are the best bet for other makers in that realm - some are Story Mfg., A Kind of Guise, Arpenteur … there are more. I’m not a big fan of them though, or rather would rather Tender or Freewheelers. A very nice workwear inspired French brand is de Bonne Facture. Pricey but sometimes more easily available, and all or mostly made in France - I like some of their stuff and have a some of their trousers. A few others I like (again, for select stuff…I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of the overall vision) are Blue Blue Japan and Cottle. Cottle is expensive to the point of laughing, so I haven’t looked for a few years but always sort of liked the approach. My other favorite is Inis Meain - specifically for wool and linen - some of the best knits I’ve come across.

Ranting moi?

I’m assuming you are thinking about removing one of the pleats? A good tailor should be able to do this but it’s definitely not a simple job … belt loops and waistband need to be (partially) removed and it might even require opening up the side seam. Maybe it’s possible to dart the pleats? Or maybe have the seat adjusted? In any event if you have a tailor to go to then just ask what might be best.

amazing shirt! @House md

Thanks! Fair point regarding the toe as well - I can’t decide if they’re a classic J or a snipped J (the toe tip seems to taper a bit more than a standard J). Regardless, the caribou is very supple and comfortable. I’m a 13 B (these are 14 A) so shoes are always tough and I’m pleasantly surprised how many long and narrow classic cowboy boots are out there for reasonable prices in my size

Vintage Cal Cru 50/50 t shirt with Superman iron on and flocked letters. In the late 1970s this iron on was ubiquitous. I received one on a light blue tee at Marriots Great America sometime in the late 1970s. That tee was eventually sacrificed to make a Halloween costume. Originally produced for Superman : The Movie this sparkly slab of nostalgia was a stiff sweaty experience. And since the fabric underneath would shrink up over time the iron on would eventually bubble and wrinkle. Some clever lad decided to personalize this example with some sweet flocked red letters. Good call, Jay.

One of my very favorite finds ever and perhaps one of the most historically significant. 1980s People Power Unarmed Forces of the Philippines T shirt. The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, were a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. The nonviolent revolution led to the departure of Ferdinand Marcos, the end of his 20-year dictatorship and the restoration of democracy in the Philippines. Just a reminder that sustained non violent protest and strikes are some of the only actions that have ever toppled an authoritarian regime.

Vintage Stedman brand 1989 Betty Page t shirt 50/50 poly/cotton t shirt XL The art is by Steve Woron but seems to be vaguely inspired by Dave Stevens' Rocketeer comics. Another massively oversized t shirt. This started out life in my best friends collection but somehow I ended up finding it in a box wrapped around a die cast model of a Delorean. Didn't wear it much due to size.

Parcels from Japan to Ukraine are usually shipped via EMS. However, the process is a bit more complicated than for other countries. Typically, all shipments are flown to Poland. From there, they are transported by truck to Kyiv, and this part of the delivery is handled by the Ukrainian postal company, Ukrposhta. Upon arrival in Kyiv, the parcels are sent to customs, which clears them for further delivery and applies a duty if the declared value exceeds the set threshold (150 euros). The duty is paid at the local post office upon receiving the parcel. Delivery via DHL, etc. also happens occasionally, although very rarely. The route is roughly the same, but the overall delivery time is significantly shorter.

It depends on the customs facility rather than the carrier.. EMS don’t care if you’re charged or not, they’re only paid to courier the item from Jpn to the Canadian border.

HS2 or 2HP?

Budget Hs2 no? 😉

London

What could be more worrying.. i've noticed a recent trend with Japanese retailers or bike parts to simply refuse to ship items when you select English language.. Unfortunately, we cannot ship ******* overseas. Due to the weak yen, These products are more reasonable to buy from Japan. However, from the perspective of overseas' ******* distributors, the retail price in Japan is so low that it is no longer fair to the overseas market. Lets hope purveyors of fine denim goods don't develop such a strong moral compass

My thoughts were confirmed: Omoto Denim is run by the guys from Japan Blue and is targeted at the Western community.

Posting these here for posterity sake (good light currently)... Feels like the brand has gone downhill since Toshikiyo-san passing & their majority stakes bought by LVMH, pissing off Jon also definitely bad move on Kiro's part. Recently had a chance to visit their Sapporo outlet & there is nothing compelling anymore, really feels like they are stagnant creatively now....very sad...

The 'Album Experience' was a little different for me as almost all of mine were compilations of 'singles'. That being said, I did enjoy, once I'd got to know a particular LP, the cadence of how one song followed another.

Tender shades / The Vanishing West ‘47 506xx / Power Wear x Motor Psyclone / new from Duke / contest jeans / old TFH kicks

Happy with how these have shrunk. Washed at 40, low spin. Great weather for drying jeans too. Waist has shrunk 2 inches. Inseam 3 inches. The denim is a vibrant blue which I was expecting with the 60s. But it's also quite neppy which I wasn't expecting so chuffed about that. Might put a reddit post up with all the measurement photos at some point.

FW wwii type 1 FW 1922 jeans

Rockets are getting a much needed wash so I’ve been in my TCB 50s and SC41001 instead Ebbets Field/J Press/TCB/Tony Lama Here is a better shot of the boots along with some bonus TCB roping and train tracks. They’re caribou Tony Lama gold label snip toes, probably from the 70-80s

66s have arrived from Bears today. Will shrink them in the wash this weekend. I was worried the rise might be a tad to short but they are measuring 12 inch FR and 16 inch BR for 36 size so think will be fine. Waist is big and hopefully will shrink 2 inches but prefer to have them a bit loose and wear a belt anyway. Liking the wee extras with these. Probably will use that tote bag a lot. Impressed so far

Post-wash (maybe no. 4?) The way these are fading is funny. I agree with the building consensus that they seem to have shed a lot of indigo right at the start and then slowed down to a much more normal rate, which I appreciate. That said, something’s still different. Almost all of my slimmer-fitting jeans end up with pretty much the same pattern of whiskers, and these still have very little to speak of in that department. Meanwhile, the outer-most yarns covering the hidden rivets are already wearing through (one of my favorite bits of aging on any jeans), which usually takes years for me. Maybe it’s the jeans, or maybe my lifestyle has just changed in the past year in more ways than I’ve noticed. I'll be really interested to see where they end up. Two issues showing up so far, one very minor and one less so: The yoke seam wasn’t folded great during construction (or maybe there just wasn’t quite enough allowance), and it’s opening and fraying a bit near the right outseam; and and one of the hidden rivets has come partially undone. Rivet failures have always been a real pet peeve of mine, since they’re supposed to be the last thing holding the jeans together, and a hidden rivet failure is all the more frustrating since it’s not one that’s straightforward to replace at home. Not a huge deal, in the end—it’s not like the pocket’s going to be falling off anytime soon—but it does feel like a shame.

Track day... for him, not me 😉 Although I think I'm more knackered than Junior MJF9 with all the adrenaline...

FE: Acronym J93-GTPL FW 2122 Full Pack Size: Medium (oversized) Color: Backer Gray Price is $475 shipped to CONUS only venmo/zelle add 4% if you prefer PayPal invoice. Condition: 8/10. Worn carefully above 5X with no tears, holes etc. some minor blemishes on the front pocket but not too noticeable while wearing. Could possibly come out with a wash.

This is the latest 1101 with a new denim worn just enough to show the fading. This denim feels more true to a Big E 501 than previous versions where a 1930s banner denim was used on a 60s/70s Big E model. This denim really reminds me of what I’ve seen on 70s Type 3 jackets, and I wish I picked up one of the Warehouse models

Paired my SC1945 jacket with my Resolute 710...they feel like skinny jeans 😅