tony_hige

this is a joke, right?

really, you'd go to OT+E if only one store? their selection is ok at best..staff is very friendly (but isn't that pretty universal in japan?) curious as to why OT+E?

They just have all the brands I like: Pherrow's Stormy Blue, Warehouse, Flathead, Dubbleworks t-shirts, plus a bunch of other stuff I dig like good repro belt buckles from studded belts, good jackets, etc. I always end up dropping a bundle there, and actually wearing the hell out of the stuff when I get back to the states instead of eBaying it (those items that look bananas in Japan, then ya get back and wonder why you bought it). There's another store near there called Smart that has pretty much the same stuff that I like a lot, too.

First off, forget addresses...the address system in Japan in ass-backwards, and knowing the address of a store will not help you. On the other hand, Japanese folks are very helpful once they figure out what you're looking for (and unless you speak Japanese, that can be tricky) and will draw maps for you. And the superfuture maps are crucial. My advice is to be open to brands you may not have heard of. I'm partial to Denime because they offer a number of different fit specs - they have several stores around Tokyo, but I usually just hit up the Denime in Men's Isetan in Shinjuku, which is on the superfuture maps. I also dig UES in Daikanyama...it's in an alley behind Hollywood Ranch Market. I also like Pherrow's Stormy Blues, which you can get at OT+E, which is one of my favorite stores in Harajuku. Ueno is cool, but I've never scored there, and I think a lot of the stuff is factory seconds, but I could be wrong. If I could only go to one store, I guess it'd be OT+E, but why would you go to Tokyo and go to only one store? Shopping is like a sport there. If you have flexibility and aren't locked into your travel plans yet, think about Osaka - Osaka is off the hook for denim and denim related stuff. And all the good stuff is a one mile radius area in Shinsaibashi.

whats the difference? and which should i get?

okay, so I guess I'm saying get the RRL's, but I to do it again (and I probably will) I'd get my true waist size and leave a little extra in the inseam 'cuz they're not gonna shrink much weft-wise. also, it's a good consumer vote against litigious arcuate hoggers.

snus!! I'd be addicted to that stuff if I lived in Sweden!

as for US vs. Japanese LVC '47's, I posted a review yesterday. I bought a pair of US 47's at the Levi's store across from Bloomingdales in NYC in April 2006. I bought an identical pair at the Levi's store in Shibuya about a month later. I'm very anal about denim, and other than the kanjii on the care label I could discern no difference at all. I ended up eBaying the Japanese 47's because I'd already been wearing the US ones and I needed the money.

if you want to debate, I'd put the LVC 47's up against the RRL Slims - I have a pair of each and I'm curious which one people like better. personally, the RRL denim blows away the LVC - the tone, the fading, the handfeel. but the fit of the LVC is better than the RRL, which is why I'm wearing my 47's right now and my RRL's are hanging off a hook in my closet.

That's the most common spot for jeans to wear out first. I repair my own. I like to use denim for patches - other materials are too weak, and I don't like iron-on patches because I notice that, because of the hardness of the adhesive, jeans will tear around the iron-on patch area. I have a pair of jeans that I use to cannibalize denim off of. I patch from the inside, then do a mending stitch using thread that matches the color of my indigo threads. Here's a pair of 1966 Levi's 501's (real 1966, not LVC) that belong to my girlfriend (and she didn't blow out the crotch...she got them already beat to hell and blown out) that I repaired last year. Check 'em out.

I bought a pair of '47's at the Levi's across from Bloomingdales uptown in NYC last Spring, then bought another pair of '47's from the Levi's store in Shibuya a couple months later and I swear they were exactly the same. And I'm REALLY anal about denim quality, and I have been burned in the past by LVC (several years ago, I bought a pair of LVC '33 bucklebacks in Berlin that were made from the crappiest denim). The current batch of domestic distribution 47's are good - I eBayed my Shibuya 47's and have been wearing my domestic 47's off and on until October, then every day after October, washing them a couple weeks ago for the first time, and I'm very happy with them.

I think it's a rockabilly guy who started this line with the intent of marketing to the rockabilly crowd. I think they had a problem a couple years ago with a bunch of their product getting stolen straight out of the factory and then sold on eBay. They're well made, but the detailing is a bit too over-the-top with ace o' spade rivets and stuff like that.

BOOTSY = shortened version of bootleg; fake, cheap, counterfeit. "them evisu's ya got from thailand are bootsy" also used for "wrong" ex: "she did what? man, that's bootsy."

I thought it was an SF thing, 'cuz the girl I heard use it a lot is from there, but I don't know.

I have a couple pair of the hair-on-hide backpatch cowboy repros from the Edwin shop on Mejii Dori near Omotosando. The denim is a lighter weight, but so is vintage lee denim. And my experience was that they didn't shrink at all - they truly are sanforized.

F***ing awesome!

i always have a hard time removing rivets. how did you do it?

I have this upholstery tool that's like a cross between wire cutters and pliers - I don't know what it's called.

Yes, that easy. And any variation in the size of the hole is insignificant. If you're in NYC, go to Steinloff and Stoller - the lady there can change rivets in a matter of seconds.

i'd no idea removing rivets was so easy - as far as attaching new rivets goes it's simply using a rivet press?

were there problems caused by different sizes of the holes (in the denim)? would this be a problem if attempted with worn jeans - might the wear have enlarged the holes?

Tandy Leather sells copper burr rivets and a handsetting tool, which you really need to lock the burr down onto the rivet. If you just pound the rivet down with a hammer, it will look okay, but the burr won't be seated down tightly. Tandy's website sucks - I would recommend just calling them. Compleat Sculptor sells chemicals that can age copper and other metals, assuming you want to do something like that. As for buttons, I've had luck at places like Steinloff and Stoller around the garment district in NYC - I'm sure if you search around, you can find an online source or a local source (you're in luck: http://www.steinlaufandstoller.com - look under dritz metal goods). Also, I noticed in another post you were asking about possible selvage denim at Joann fabrics. If I were you, I'd first get a very good pair of jeans and analyze them to the smallest detail. Then I'd get some cheaper jeans, like just some 501's or something, take a seam ripper and careful take them apart. You're also going to need to figure out how to do a chainstitch. Somebody told me they thought Singer sold a consumer model that had a chainstitch feature - I haven't confirmed this, but if that's true, that's an option much cheaper than getting a Union Special. Good luck with your project.

interesting touch, tony. how long did it take you to change all the silver hardware on the APCs (bar the buttons of course)?

Milling the coins down to rivets took me a day. Actually removing the nickel rivets and replacing them with the yen rivets only took a matter of minutes.

for this reason, I'm a big fan of companies who sell jeans in the one wash state...which tend to be Japanese companies. I've been buying raw jeans since...well, since the time when you had little choice but to be raw jeans. in all my years of experience, I still haven't figured out how to predict shrinkage and stretch factors. got a pair of rrl's that bought a little big and wore raw religiously for six months only to wash them and found that they didn't shrink nearly as much as I thought they would...haven't really worn them since. now, I've been breaking in a pair of '47 LVC's that I'm afraid to wash. disappointed? welcome to the club...now you too can obsess over fits and vinegar and salt washes and starch and scotch brite and smearing french fry grease, etc etc etc etc

UES, Pherrow's Stormy Blues, and Nylon are in my top three underrated denim brands

...and good luck googling Nylon - just gotta go to Kobe for them...

UES, Pherrow's Stormy Blues, and Nylon are in my top three underrated denim brands

Thanks everyone for all the positive feedback. Yes, I have replaced rivets before, but this is the first time I made rivets. I don't know if Tandy ships overseas...they probably do, but that's a question for them. I thought about pennies, but if I was going to do that I'd have to get some real old indian head pennies or something. I just liked the artwork of the ten yen. I miked a regular copper burr and the ten yen and remember noting that the difference in thickness was about the same as six sheets of paper. I did smooth the edges with an emery cloth while the rivet was still chucked into the lathe.

I only like copper rivets on jeans. I had been digging the fit of the APC New Cures, but I had held off buying a pair because a) no selvage on the side seam, and those obnoxious nickel silver rivets. I finally broke down and got a pair. The lack of selvage was okay because I wasn't going to cuff them anyway, but the rivets drove me crazy - I had to replace them w/ copper rivets. So I got this idea to make rivets from Japanese 10 yen coins. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I visited my parents, and with my Dad's help I made the 10 yen rivets and replaced all the rivets on my APC's. I only had four 10 yen coins left over from a recent trip, so I had to be a little crafty getting six rivets out of them. To create the washer part of the rivet - the burr - I drilled holes in the coins and chucked them into a metal lathe to turn them down to a 3/8" diameter. I then just paired them with copper rivets that a got from Tandy and pounded them down by hand. The following photos illustrate the process.

Tandy Leather sells copper rivets plus a handsetting rivet tool pretty cheap - the tool is like $10, the rivets are something like 75 for $10. The #12 size is perfect for jeans. The shortest they have is 1/2, so after you set the burr you have to clip off about 1/4" or 3/16" of excess rivet w/ wire cutters before pounding it down. They've got a website, but I don't think they advertise the rivets on the website, so you may have to call.

Hey, I just read your other post about jean fits - I would recommend any of the Japanese brands for the same reason I don't recommend them to a lot of people: they tend to run roomy in the legs. But with Full Count, 45rpm, etc, you'll be getting the best denim out there. My personal philosophy is that I'm not a collector - I'm just looking for the one perfect pair and sometimes you just accumulate jeans on the way there.

Yeah, my very first post when I signed up on SF was a posting of a pic of my 45rpm sorahiko's that I bought in Oct 2003. I'm not much of a collector - my weight fluctuates and my taste in fit changes, so I just eBay old jeans that I don't wear anymore. Replay used to offer raw selvage jeans (like in the 90's sometime) and I had a pair that I wore forever that I now use to cut denim for patches - in fact, the patches on my sorahikos came from those jeans. IMHO, 6 months is a good start, but they don't really get good until maybe a year of solid wear. Right, wearing down raw jeans is a trend, but for me the seed of that kind of patience just comes out of being lazy and dirty. Until about three years ago, I think I only bought one pair of years a year, and I'd just wear the hell out of them.

I'm impressed...you've done your homework. I'd be interested in how the project progresses since I've always dreamt of doing something like this.

How about this for a graphic design project (pulled from what I actually did this week): you work for a streetwear denim brand and you have just created three new jean fits, so now you have to create three different hangtags that graphically represent each fit. while there should be a common thread of your corporate identity throughout all three tags, from a merchandizing standpoint each hangtag should also look different to represent each fit to the consumer. this also makes things easier in production as well. besides the graphic elements on the tags, you'll also want to think about your copy: want will you call each fit? will it be a somewhat clear descriptive word (Slim Fit) or will it be vague (New Cure fit). just an idea.