tony_hige

These are great jeans. Unfortunately, I have really long legs and they don't make a pair long enough for me. Great store - so simple, just cubby holes filled with raw and one-wash denim. Did you get a pair?

Anyone with experience with this Japanese Denim?

Saw a mention of this in the unknown Japanese brands denim thread but nothing more.

Went their shop in Tokyo and was impressed with their passion for denim. the girl there was especially great! does repair and customisation i think. From her reaction when she saw my Imperial black raws was like kid looking at a new toy! Fantastic! rare to see a lady with that kind of interest in denim.

even the guys at fabfour were a little aloof...got the feeling that they were just doing sales.

yeah, totally mid-80's...I rocked 'em like that '84 to '86. By '87, I was wearing tapered black Levi's (don't ask me the model # - I can't remember, but I remember buying them at American Eagle before it was a brand and just a retail outlet) tucked into black hightop Reebok's 'cuz it was more metal.

ah...someone beat me to it...

Tuck-n-rolled 501's and converse was my uniform circa '86. Back then, we didn't have the internet or superfuture to ask how to tuck-n-roll jeans...we just did it, and we did it perfectly. I remember how I did it back in the day, but I worry that if I tell you, hella Williamsburg residents will jump down my throat telling me how I did it wrong or something. Fold as tight as you can on the inseam, then roll twice. Okay, let the flames begin...

The 37 repro is one of my favorites. I bought a 36" several years ago, lost weight and bought a 33", then bought a pair for my GF because she dug the quality of them. Note that they are true to the marked size and they don't shrink AT ALL from my experience - when I lost weight, I tried to shrink mine. The backpockets get wrinkly because the lining inside shrinks more than the denim - that's all the shrink you'll get.

I agree with all replies, plus have you seen what work does to jeans? it tears them the hell up - take a look at the photographs of the vintage workwear denim jeans and overalls in the "Found" book - they're ALL tore up and patched and repatched.

Here's my LVC 1947's at roughly six months - gave them a bathtub soak about a month ago, then washed them yesterday (spilled some delicious pho on 'em...much better than ramen...HA! lost some more "asia" points...snap!). Digging the fronts, honeycombs on back not a dramatic as I'd like. Also have the dreaded cuff lines - I've not figured out a way to avoid that. I tried varying where I cuff them, but once a fold gets in the denim's memory, it's hard to get it out.

Nylon - weird name, but some of the best jeans out there. They were based out of Kobe - they went out of business, but they still have a store in Kobe and there still is stock available

Pherrow's - I've mentioned this brand in other threads - they're one of my personal favorites

UES - they've got a store in Daikanyama and Kobe, but OT+E just started stocking them as well

Of course, these brands fall into the whole Amerkaji vintage camp

kuaina in gotanda is good

I like Freshness Burger

Look for the Green Mos Burgers, not the red sign ones. The green ones have the bigger american style burgers with better quality meat and toppings.

Mos Burger is okay...I hate their Japanofied burgers. Nasty. Freshness Burger is good...I'd put it on par with In and Out. But that still doesn't come close to great for me, great as in outdoing the best that the US has to offer (I'd drop my spots, but this is a ramen thread).

While it's a bit apples-and-oranges, I still think Japanese ramen sucks in comparison to Vietnamese pho.

Edwin is good

I had a problem like that once with a pair of vintage Lee's. The denim frayed after the buttonhole stitching broke off, so there was nothing to really hold a new buttonhole. I had to put a small patch on the front and the back, then sew in a new buttonhole. It didn't look so clean, but I always wear a belt so it didn't matter.

Hey thanks for the info. on the RRL slims. If possible, can you post any pictures of your new Pherrow's Lot 466?

Sure...not much to look at, but they get it: selvage, dark indigo (hard to tell from pics, but I compared in the store next to Flatheads, etc, and these were the darkest), actual burr rivets, plain back pkt, very good fit. Some of the Pherrow's have the SB printed on the back pkt - I'm not into those. These were one wash - starched wash as they call it. They're still very crispy.

Tony next to original raw 40s 50s Levis the denim color and texture are real good on both the 47s and the 55s. 55s being dead on in cut denim weight and texture.

I'm not making a vintage comparison when I talk up RRL's. My criteria for what constitutes a great jean isn't really about how faithful a reproduction it is.

I'm in Tokyo right now, and I just went to OT+E - tried on Flatheads, Sugar Canes, Dubbleworks, Warehouse. I really wanted to get a brand I've never owned before, but instead I walked out with a pair of Pherrow's Lot 466. An amazing jean...nobody talks about this brand and in my not so humble opinion, Pherrow's blows away most of the Japanese brands. I already own the Pherrow's with the plaid flannel pocket lining (don't remember the model #) and I've posted those before at the 2 yr mark. The 466 are a slightly slimmer straight leg, no flannel pocket lining - can't wait to break them in. BTW, arcuates and red tabs are EVERYWHERE.

i have to disagree about the burger thing though, jubei--japanese hamburgers are pretty damn good. everytime i go to japan, it saddens my heart that they make western food better than us. their pasta is insane, their burgers are nuts.

tony hige, ramen king is ok. but it doesn't compare at all to japanese ramen.

I'll agree with you on ramen king...just had a bowl in harajuku 10 minutes ago and I got reminded of what ramen is. burgers on the other hand...where are you finding these great burgers in tokyo? I've had good burgers, but never any that compare to the US.

btw, arcuates are everywhere here....

Whoa, I didn't know they were hank dyed. Would you happen to know where the denim comes from? I've heard that the denim is sourced from some mills in Kurabo but I don't know if that's accurate or not.

Kurabo would be a safe guess. It is hank dyed, though - I'm almost sure of that. It's probably also mercerized, and it feels like it's been coated with a slight tinting. I talked about that in another thread, about how my LVC 47's are a bit too blue. For your money, I put RRL Slims above a lot of the Japanese brands that people covet (Full Count, Sugar Cane, etc). I'm not a collector - I don't hesitate to throw jeans up on eBay if I'm not totally digging them. And I swear I'm not shilling for Ralph...the current batch of RRL Slims are just the best out there and I consider myself lucky to own a pair. How's that for an endorsement.

Osaka

Much better than Tokyo. Kansai rules.

I think it's easier to get a bowl of ramen in NYC that compares to JP than it is to get a bowl of pho that compares to Saigon. NYC pho really sucks. But back to ramen, I've always dug Ramen King on like 38th or 39th off of 8th Ave - don't get turned off by the name, you can get a decent bowl of ramen that compares to Tokyo.

1. RRL Slim - amazing hank dyed denim, wears very well. I criticize the fit, but it's better than most.

2. LVC 1947 501xx - 'cuz I've been wearing mine non-stop for five months now. Great fit, decent denim, wearing very well.

3. 45rpm Sorahiko - they age beautifully

4. Pherrow's Stormy Blues - most underrated Japanese denim brand, imho

5. Evis no. 2 - sold mine to Beacon's Closet several years ago after I lost weight, but these aged well and the fit was great

Edwin's Lee 101 repros, Full Count, and Sugar Cane 1947 in a three-way tie for last - amazing denim on all, but I had a problem with all three. Ended up selling all on eBay.

I must vote on one-wash. in my many years of buying jeans, I still can't predict how much they'll shrink. plus, the one wash is a good "tell" on the quality of denim.

did you do that with your holy-grail sorahikos, too?

just curious.

oh HELL no!! but this is a perfect illustration of how LVC gets it almost right. the indigo tone on those 45's is just beyond perfect. the indigo tone on the RRL's I have is amazing...too bad I overestimated how much they'd shrink (or underestimated how much they'd stretch). the LVC 47's are a great fit, great construction, but the indigo tone is just not right. I've actually changed my mind about the Rit treatment - just saw the pics of the 4 yr Flare Glenns, so I'm just going to be patient and commit to let time and french fry grease do their job. but to the point of this topic, coffee and tea sound cool...maybe it works even better if you sit inside a pentagram of candles...but Rit dye does the same exact same thing.

I was actually planning on doing this treatment this weekend to my LVC 1947's. They're fading nicely, but they're a bit too blue compared with my RRL's. Coffee and tea have a mystical ritualistic cache, but I just use Rit dye because essentually all you're doing is overdying your jeans. I mix a little yellow with brown and dilute it more than what the instructions on the box recommend. Give my jeans a quick dunk and they come out with a great dirty tone.

fly first class, always be late, and tip a lot...and never eat the shrimp dim sum at the intercontinental in hk

Heavier denim won't help. It's not the denim - it's the fit: the tighter your jeans, the more likely you'll blow out your crotch. It's the most frequent repair I make on jeans - I posted some pics in another thread on this same topic.

I'm just planning a quick trip there, but don't want to be premature and get nothing but winter clearance sales.

Does anybody know when Spring product hits the stores in Tokyo?