Superdutch

shhh...keep it down guys. haha.

Shimokitazawa is still a bit of a hidden treasure. Yes it is full of American Vintage gear but it is also full of great record stores, good food and great little bars.

If i was back in Japan i would definately live there as i only discovered in the last few weeks i was living there.

It has a great vibe, feels like it is far from the hustle and bustle of Shibuya,Ginza etc...and isn't a tourist "cool spotting" precinct like Harajuku. It feels like only the people that are there know it is cool and it is a secret.

You can't go past Footage (13C Burton St. Darlinghurst, NSW) in Sydney. Just around the corner from Our Spot. All they sell is rare kicks. They were one of the few people in Australia to stock the Adidas/Neighbourhood shelltoes. I'd say they would be the best bet for the Supreme Vans.

i dontcaretoomuchforcollabos either!

Until someone busts one out with fucking NASA or something - i am over them.

Who has time to wear pants when they are trying to break in dry selvedge and considering getting a new pair to alternate each day?

Nevertheless - i still like those ol' Carharrt work pants.

Wow! So i guess maybe no one has heard of it or it is really bad! hehe.

I found out during the course of the day that David Bekham wears it - so maybe that is a bad thing???

Has anybody seen much of this brand?

I have seen a few bits and pieces on the internet but not much.

I've heard their attention to details is good...

Let me know...

hmmm...as mentioned above, it is very rare to see a pair without TSUBI written on the change pocket.

All the labelling looks pretty legit - but that wouldn't be hard to get.

Although the quality of Tsubi denim isnt great to start off with, the wash and the rise on this pair look a little wierd, and as others have said, very low price.

As Yen_kid mentioned, i never thought i'd see these faked either. But thats probably because i'm from Melbourne Australia and only expect to see 'luxury' brands faked. I still cant believe the effort these bootlegers go to!

Hey guys, i noticed some of you mentioned the leather patch in particular - why is that?

Just wanted to know how it should look.

I am starting to worry about my own Evisu's even though i purchased them from a reputable stockist - haha - might have to post a pic to make sure!

I wish you guys would stop dissin' alexbigman for trying to bring a little bit of humour to the board.

Sometimes we all get a little too serious discussing the benefits of APC's minimalist utilitarianism and the difference in the cut and fits of Nudie jeans as opposed to Vintage Levis etc...etc...etc...

Satire after all is the most intelligent form of comedy. As if Fashioncore and "tough guy/sxe sound with traditional screamo" is REALLY a genre and those guys really took themselves seriously posing for those photos.

I think alexbigman has duped us all with a classic case of "Great Fashioncore Swindle"!

People, i think i need to remind you of a little movie called "Spinal Tap" to put this all into context.

Yakboy is correct - Ben Davis workwear has been using the gorilla logo for a very long time - The Beastie Boy's "Grand Royal" magazine featured an article back in about issue #2. The Beastie Boys also referenced the Ben Davis "face of the monkey" way back in one of their tracks too (which i can't be bothered looking up right now).

This was all around the time when Mike D had something to do with XLarge (not sure if he still does). So the Ben Davis logo was obviously an influence. There are some old pics of AdRock wearing a yellow tee that read "Very Ape UK" way back in the day which i believe may have been a very early BAPE tee. From what I know XLarge dates back from about '91 and BAPE from about '92.

Early 90s was all about the Apes! This was back in the day when the Beastie Boys were at the forefront of underground trendsetting...

...as for the original and the best ape graphic...that honour would have to go to Lee Scratch Perry and the album cover artwork for his 1978 classic "Return of the Super Ape".

I remember in the 90s a lot of people re-discovered the whole Planet of the Apes aesthetic and how cool it was and it became a real graphic sub-movement in streetwear and hip hop.

Here in Melbourne, Australia there was a hip hop night called Planet of The Breaks and a skate shop called Evolve which use a Planet of The Apes style logo and there was a webzine called emperormonk.com and a UK magazine called Apeman which also used Planet of the Apes references in their graphics.

I know all this stuff was happening quite independently from BAPE (although probably a little influenced by XLarge at the time). It all happened just before the skull had a big comeback.

Nevertheless...the ape beats the shit out of the over-saturation of Coat of Arms style Lion graphics which came after.

I haven't seen much around either but from their advertising they look pretty awful and i'd lump them in the same basket of eurotrash rubbish as:

-Diesel

-Replay

-Miss Sixty

-Energie

and

-Pepe.

When I first came across UNIQLO whilst living in Japan I thought it was just a cheap nasty discount style store. But then realised that it is a great place for basics^and yes they are great for cheap tees, undershirts etc...

I got the feeling in Japan (especially amongst the kids) that it is not a cool place to shop as it is very cheap and unbranded. However they had good polos and even had some pretty cool Keith Haring Tees and cheap clothes in Japan is hard to come by.

I hope they come to Australia as cheap clothes here = bad quality which from what i have seen is the same in the US.

^

^

Aotearoa said it best! But then again i think brother is in NZ where Hip Hop is King!

Anyways - on my way to work today i was rockin Smiff N Wessun's "Da Shinin'" - Nineteen Ninety Now in the house! That shit was so dope - it was back in the days of hoodies, Tims and blunts!

As for a lot of the backpack shit mentioned above - no offence but it is a little played. I am getting back into Wu Tang in a big way, especially Ghostface. Check his skills on the Theodore Unit mixtape!

Other than that - too much US hip hop is a little stale. I have been checking hip hop from other countries for years and it is raw and fresh. Try the following for a bit of a Hip Hop U.N:

- Germany: Absolute Begginer, Funf Sterne Deluxe, ASD

- France: Fonky Family, Busta Flex, IAM

- Australia: Hilltop Hoods, Koolism

- New Zealand - Dawn Raid

- U.K: Rodney P, Tony Rotten, all the GRIME coming out of the UK too.

Don't ever give up on hip hop man, it is the last truly innovative genre of music left...

If i see one more Andy Warhol collaboration i am going to scream!!!!

The Andy Warhol Foundation has put together a proposal that has been going to every clothing brand around the world whoring this collaboration program with Warhol's work. Pay a royalty and you can put it on toilet paper...

It is making Warhol's work boring and overplayed (more so over played than it already was).

I wonder if he would see it as the ultimate work of pop art that his work is plastered over a thousand half assed products or just lazy people who have run out of ideas grasping at the last collaboration straw...

Can someone please kill all collaborations now! All the good ones were done a long time ago...

Is anyone else sick of them?

A.P.C was stocked in Flinders Way (located on Flinders Lane in Melbourne) but the last few times i went they were a little inconsistent. Worth a try though.

Melburn Town Represent!

Australian designers to look out for:

Schwipe - funny, smart ass streetwear label!

Sharpie - On again, off again (probably now defunct) label which had some great graphics.

Tsubi - Still good but becoming a little overhyped.

Mooks - One of the original Oz streetwear brands, sure to make a comebak in 06.

PAM - On point label that manages to stay cool and remain under the radar in Australia.

www.cmonwealth.com has some tees up by a brand called sweat$hop which look pretty cool.

Anyone have any info on this brand? I Googled but obviously typing in sweatshop+tees is going to lead to a wild goose chase!

Website, contact details...anything would be appreciated.

Thanks guys.

For streetwaer, try Mooks in Kuta Square, Kuta and also Jalan Pantai, Kuta and i'm sure there is a Stussy store next door to one of them too. Everything else is straight surfwear!

Thanks Persia,

That clears it up. If it's true, that makes Fafi just a little lame, as i have never seen any other artists getting up and catching fame when their style is such a carbon copy of someone else's!

I think in the old days that was called TOY!

Here in Australia the standard is that you must produce a receipt as proof of purchase. Usually most places give you a certain amount of time (say 3 weeks) that you can return something and get your money back - however, usually original ticketing has to remain on the garment and no visible washing or wearing must be visible.

However, major department stores seem to be very lenient. Sometimes no receipt is even necessary and if you get a slack employee processing your return, some people have even been able to 'return' things that were not even purchased in the store!

Donahue once did a show on this topic in the US, featuring people who made a living by stealing/returning/exchanging all sorts of shit due to very lenient policies.

Obviously it is late afternoon, i am bored and this day is dragging way to long for me to post so much on this topic!!!

Can someone tell me what the story is with Miss Van?

Is she the same person as Fafi or is someone biting someone else's style?

Bar: Shadows at Caeser's Palace.

You lucky dog. I would love to live in Vegas.

I hope locals get to enjoy the debauchery like us tourists!

Nowhere is just really fucking hard to find. I walked past about 100 times till one day a friend personally took me there. When you are around about where the address should be, look down! It is like a hidden concrete bunker with no signage.

However, The Bape store in Aoyama and the Cafe are currently closed for renovations, so Nowhere may be too.