Thorns

You look like you have a wedgie... are they a weird rise?

Friction. Denim on denim.

If Paul says they're authentic and he knows more than I do, I'm not about to disagree, but if they're the same as the ones on rakutan shouldn't they have the same markings on the bottom of the leg?

Haha trust me I've tried. Normally when they say free alterations they'll refuse to take in shoulders. And when they actually will do it, its not done very well.

What would you suggest as far as MTM?

Men's wearhouse doesn't sell below size 36. And yes, its basic, but extremely hard to find.

I'm looking for a three piece, navy blue, two button, slim fitting suit in a size 34. I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist at this point and I stubbornly refuse to go bespoke. I could care less about linings and lapels and whatever the heck. If it meets the stated criteria I want it. Im like 5' 9'' and like 125lbs. Any ideas?

I'm no expert and I've been wrong before, but they look off to me. That selvage line looks too close to the indigo thread. The arcuate looks weak. The fact that the denim is ragged next to the tag... the fading doesn't even look as natural as it normally does. I don't think these are real.

five washes in 13 months is A LOT. Stop washing them: thats whats made the denim soft. And starch the living hell out of them. Then wear them and starch again and again and again.

You're completely correct shinobi

yes, it is

Normally they retail around $285

I think they also turn a sorta weird shade of blue after the wash... like blueberry blue.

I think the jeans I make myself should be in the running. They're beautiful 13 3/4 oz denim and the only price is the time it takes me to sew.

Making the rise bigger without just putting more fabric in is impossible. As for somebodys question about lowering the rise, thats easy:

1. Get a seam ripper and take out the inseam.

2. Turn your jeans inside out.

3. look at the crotch area and mark out how much lower you want the rise... remember if you want the rise lowered an inch, do half an inch on the top and half on the bottom so that your seams don't twist.

4. cut out the denim you marked.

5. resew the inseam and voila. new rise and nobody will know you did it yourself.

If nothing else the arcuate doesn't look right... too sharp or something. However, for 25 bucks, why not?

Sorry buddy, i may have been overly cynical, but i've done a little research and haven't been able to find jack about any denim import law. Perhaps it was a shipping error? I've seen shipments come in destroyed before. I had a bag get torn to shreds once thanks (apparently) to a belt it got stuck on during processing, but it just plain doesn't make sense that customs would shred it.

This thread doesn't make any sense. U.S. customs isn't going to shread a pair of jeans because it wasn't declared. Bullshit.

I have no idea where you'd go for patterns, I made them right from scratch.

I've been cutting up and altering jeans for years, so I had a good idea of the shapes I wanted from the denim and I just sort of 'guess and check'ed my way through it.

lol. Well, looks like I'm not the only person doing bespoke jeans. Yours look great though, seriously. I've just completed only my about fourth pair of jeans, so I'm not nearly at your level of expertise.

My only question is... where the heck do you get your rivets? I'm going crazy trying to find rivets that will work for jeans and it seems like they're just increasingly hard to get my hands on.

With that, I'll post a picture of my first pair of custom jeans...

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f171/thorn111/jeansfromscratch005.jpg

Edited by Thorns on Feb 24, 2006 at 11:55 PM

Oh and as to the special sewing machine, as long as you use 18 gauge needles, you shouldn't need to do anything special to the machine itself.

I do all my own tailoring and I've even made a couple pairs of 100% custom jeans. If you know how to take apart seams correctly, you can do almost anything to a pair of jeans. And depending on where the visible thread seam is (inseam or outseam) it is more than possible to take in the waist.

Hmm... 75 pounds plus shipping could come out to almost $150 US. I'd be interested, but I can get them brand new from fos5 for that much.

With all these stories of jeans ripping or accidents happening, you would almost think somebody would start offering denim insurance or something...

Unbelievable views!!! Tallest building in the lower east side and when you fall asleep on your temperpedic mattress you can fall asleep to the lights of the manhattan skyline. Very hip neighborhood. Highly recommend the restaurant around the corner on Ludlow. Suba is fantastic (if you can actually get a table). I feel some previous reviews have been somewhat unfair as the hotel only just finished construction. The lobby and restaurant are now completed and (obviously) the hotel is now much nicer than it was pre-opening.

SOOOO much! You could spend months in NYC and not go everywhere you want. As for shops, if you want the touristy shit I would recommend walking up 5th ave from like 50th to 58th, it has all the normal stuff like H&M. For more upscale shopping, but still fairly mainstream I would check out Madison Ave from like 60th up (you could even head up to the gugenheim if you're bored). If you want something more boutiquey the best stuff is up to personal opinion, but I would start in the SoHo. Clubs are tough if you're under 21, but I would recommend Avalon... its in an old renovated church. Music is solid and the go go dancers are hot. Theres also some cool stuff in the lower east side (Ludlow St.) but I hear they had some problems with underage drinking and now they've begun IDing heavily. Good luck and have fun!

Edited by Thorns on Oct 24, 2005 at 12:43 AM