Paul T

23 hours ago, volvo240thebest said:

 

In november I also took delivery of a new flute, it's somewhat of an holy grail because it's made by the best living flute maker doing these kind of instruments. the flute was ordered back in 2009, the maker never replied to me when I sent my order enquiry back then, two years ago his son emailed me to say that his father forgot to reply me but placed me on the infamous ten years waiting list.. so here's a pic of some very expensive firewoood for your perusal..

 

 

 

Oh that's lovely, so happy for you!

I got my Fender Jazzmaster back after being on a waiting list for a year, but that one definitely wins. Who is the maker? Is it rosewood, if so can you tranport it internationally or will you have to smuggle it down your TCBs?

the 505 and I suspect from others were redesigned by a SuFU stalwart from the old days.

That sounds correct. Are those the washed pair?

there was both a raw and washed in 2000, here are my old raw paid. I had a washed pair too... and somehow managed to lose them.

 

On 12/4/2018 at 10:02 AM, Maynard Friedman said:

Here's a useful LVC fit guide, courtesy of Aeroleather.

That is a great guide. They did a pretty amazing job of actually sizing each pair correctly and picking out the vibe.

I would resent the fella for looking so cool and handsome in every shot, were it not for the fact that the photo of him in the 1947s reveals he has a strangely warped and deformed right leg.

8 hours ago, NonJazarenko said:

When you say you see "jackets like that" in just about every town, it's all relative. A mass-produced Chinese jacket with synthetic/polyester lining would probably work fine and can be had at the Goodwill for cheap. If you find Levi's Shorthorn jackets for $50 at your local vintage market and you are so inclined, you might consider buying them up and flipping them on eBay.

I mean vintage 1970s US jackets by various manufacturers, a staple of so many vintage stores. They don't go for a lot at all.

3 hours ago, Pedro said:

What size is your Sherpa? Is this a 4-digit pricetag at full price?

That is an awsome jacket.

Do you guys not have jackets like that, going for $50 or $80 at the local vintage market? I gave mine, essentially identical, to the charity shop a couple of years back as I was short of shelf space for coats. To my recollection, I see these in just about every town I've ever visited.

14 hours ago, Maynard Friedman said:

You would think it would (or should) be - the story is that Levi’s only introduced the zip to appease the East coast market - and would the denim have changed between 1954 and 1955? However, you’ll need an expert rather than a Levi’s pettifogger such as myself to confirm. Calling Paul T ...

I'm pretty sure it's a different denim, it definitely looks different in the flesh.

On 11/26/2018 at 12:09 AM, mlwdp said:

I've been meaning to ask this but for the Sugar Cane thread since both brands are under Toyo.

Is the denim made by Buzz really just Sugar Cane denim but with the Buzz tag on it?  I've haven't seen anyone review their denim on here or in the WAYWT thread.  

For example:

https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/auc-cream-r/item/m43023onewash/

I'm sure someone here will know more, but if we're talking about the fabric itself, there's usually an overlap; Nihon Menpu make the flagship Sugar Cane fabrics, and make many (perhaps most) of the Buzz Rickson ones too. But my impression is that either brand is made in various factories.

Whoa, that is delicious.

Looks very like the Levi's leather Cossack, but trimmed down beautifully... looks even hipper in duck.

Looks lovely. I"d bet it is Sanforized if they state 5% shrinkage. Normal is 10%, Sanforized is supposedly 3%, and most of my Lee Sanforized, which is either Nisshinbo or Kaihara, has shrunk more than 3 per cent.

22 minutes ago, Pedro said:

OK, I don’t know enough about what makes a “popular” denim. Is it a measurable quality that indicates good weave or dye? 

When I look at those photos, nothing jumps out at me as problematic. Can someone tell me which details I should be looking at?

thanks

I'm probably one of the key people (or maybe just the oldest) who doesn't like the 47 denim as much as the 55. But it's only really a subtle difference and of course all the denims vary from year to year, due to variations in the cotton crop etc etc etc.

On my pairs, the white of the 47 weft seems to peek through more than on, say, the 55. The warp yanrns on the 55 seem thicker. Those on the 47 are thinner, and have more slubbing. The fading on the 55 looks smoother, but has more mid-tones.

It probably won't come across in pix, especially as my hands seem to have been shaking. (Maynard will hopefully be along with an appropriate, or even inappropriate, joke soon).

Here's the pair together, 55 on the left, 47 on the right. Obvioulsy the 55 has been washed a few more times, but you can see it looks a little smoother.
 

Now, this is the 55. See how it looks fairly smooth and even?
 

In comparison, on the 47, you can see lots more white dots, with the weft showing through. Plus a few fine vertical slub lines. The diagonal twill line seems less prominent.

In addition, when they're at the same kind of stage, the 55 seems to have more mid tones, it fades to a lighter blue, whereas the 47 seems to fade just to white.

They look quite different a way away, as well as close up. I will try and find an older shot I took to compare the shape of each.

But as you can see, the difference is pretty subtle, they have an overall similar look which is quite different to Japanese denim - apart from SDA, which to me has a very similar look indeed.

Ah yes, here's the 47 vs the 55 shot. These are probably at a couple of washes each. Note how the faded bits of the 47 go white... those of the 55 go pale blue and white.

9 hours ago, Pedro said:

All personal speculation below:

If Cone is sending the looms to the auction block then I wonder who will be highest bidder? 

A Japanese buyer?

One would think the historical significance & sentimental value of those looms could still be commercialized?

-pedro

Pedro, you could be right. All the chat I had with ex employees was a year ago, maybe the situation has changed since then. I really wish it has. But I did get emails a few months ago from someone who seems to have bought some looms and in turn wants to sell them on, and was looking for buyers.

If i get time, once my imminent deadlines are over, maybe I'll try and a Cone,  A Year On follow-up.

5 minutes ago, lance said:

I have a pair of NWT 47s tagged 36 x 38 I've had for a number of years. The denim is beautiful, deep twill with an interesting nep and deep indigo color. The button is numbered 4170. The tag states that the denim is 10 oz but it feels heavier, possibly because of the deep twill and the fact that they are raw. The inseam length is unusual at 38" (37" actual). Made in the USA of USA cotton. Is it likely that these were made of Cone Mills denim at the White Oak plant?

           

          

 

Yup, those will be Cone.

1 hour ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Good points Paul, but would it really be prohibitively expensive to extend the Mexican Cone plant, install a springy wood floor and transport the old looms there on lorries from the White Oak plant? Especially when considering the savings they have made and revenue generated from closing it down/selling it off? I don’t know and may be way off the mark but I’m simply speculating. I also assume they would need some prior agreement or commitment from LVC to continue to use denim supplied from Cone before considering anything like this.

I think Cone is desperately short of money, so I think it's unlikely, and I did hear they were simply selling off the looms. It wouldn't make economic sense to set them up only to supply Levi's, and I think the demand from other sources would plummet, the moment you lose that made-in-USA cachet. I do hope I'm wrong, though.

Is the Cone overseas "very likely to continue to produce selvage" your own speculation? Becuase Cone overseas has entirely different looms. I've heard no reports the shuttle looms are going to another operation, and it would be very expensive to do, so as noted before, it's most likely they'll source from Kaihara, who produce most of the current Sanforized denim, and previously supplied Levi's Japan. It's complicated, though... the yarns for LVC were produced from another Cone operation I think, so it's even possible they could send the yarns to Kaihara and we'd see very little difference in the resulting fabric.

I was told by someone now high-up at Levi's that Kaihara have had a back-up range of fabrics ready to go for at least a decade... because there's been a worry that Cone would collapse for  20 years now.

On 11/19/2018 at 3:31 PM, mpukas said:

I should have said that I see often implied that heavy denim produces sik'er fadez than lighter-weight denim. I don't find that to be true. There are plenty of examples of lighter weight denim (12-16oz) that fades beautifully, either high-contrast or vintage-esue. 

The main difference is that heavier denim has thicker, ropier yarns all around. Some of the key champions of heavy weight denim, eg Ironheart & Samurai, like heavy repetitive slub in their yarns, too. So the fades do end up looking very different.

I don't like that Samurai look in general after the first couple of months because there's little variation, it's all gritty and high contrast. Whereas the slubby yarns that Full Count use look less contrasty, as the slubs are physically smaller. But of course some denim in lighter weights will have that gritty look, too, depending on the yarn design.

3 minutes ago, bacton said:

Tried to snag a pair of raw 66s but I noticed it says the fabric is imported. Such a bummer. Was hoping for some cone denim.

Looking at the site it says the whole thing is 'imported', right? I think that's a mistake. Operative word being think. the UK site still says they're Cone.

30 minutes ago, theotherchrislewis said:

A bunch of MIJ Leepro Storm Rider jackets have recently dropped. I pre-ordered a blanket-lined with the corduroy collar off Rakuten (the shop also had the plain denim version too). Code on the sticker says 'STORM RIDER 1119-289' (reverse side is white with 'THE ARCHIVES' on it). Mine (42) is soaking now, will post up some measurements in the next few days.

 

Very exciting, looking forward to this. They should actually be Sanforized so you don't have to soak, but I have known some of that fabric shrink.

On 9/26/2018 at 1:07 PM, Maynard Friedman said:

What sort of fabric are those made from, doesn’t quite look like a standard denim to me. I like them but they have something a bit True Religion-esque going on!

the concept is actually from Levi's; Rikke Korff (Sp?), who came up with the twisted Engineered range in the 90s, followed up with the Type One: with extra large stitching, tags, etc. It was a great idea, I still have one pair. A few people lifted the idea, Miss Sixty (remember them?) did it with their jackets, then True Religion cheapened it and based their whole brand on it.
 

3 hours ago, bartlebyyphonics said:

...also, sorry if dealt with elsewhere: anyone on here have thoughts on the difference between the fabrics on the '44 and the '47?

They're quite different. The 44 is more like the 55 and 1915, dark and inky. The 47 fabric seems to have a lot more of the fill yarn coming thru and doesn't seem to have those nice greeny-turquoise mid-tones as it fades. It's fine and the cut is nice but personally it's my least favourite Cone.

BTW @bartlebyyphonics I remember now, your 1890s are nicer, they're the Cone, mine are the earlier Kurabo. So you're way ahead of me in the cool stakes... at least until I start on those 1880s natural indigo.

they do look nice. My 1890s are a fair bit more drainpipe-y, I feel. I hammered down the back pocket rivets on mine. They're finally starting to look worn after about 12 years as I only wear them in the summer, then the TCB 20s contest happened.

(They're the bottom pair here, 201 right, 1901 top).

this is my original type 3... just failed to sell it for £29!

(PM me for a deal... need the space).

 

Great that you've posted news of this. THanks.

when I get a mo I think I'll update the lot on loomstate for future reference.

thanks for the kind words. I can't find the actual catalogue... which means I can't check if they use the LVC branding in Japan. Anyways, here are some of the others.

SOrry, the software has scramled the order but these are the early ones. Note the '702'... I can't remember the actual story but I think this is a mythical 30s pair,

... the the TCB pics are one pre-wash, and a couple from what I think was the first major machine wash this weekend.