raWorkshop

TallyHo--this is actually something I've been wrestling over in the past couple of days. I'm not really sure what the goal of Japanese appropriation of American fashions are--are they trying to be American in a way by adapting American fashions, or are they creating something uniquely Japanese in appropriating and creating differentiation in their product, or is it a combination of these two, or something entirely different? I'm not really sure if it's adaptation, appropriation, or innovation--I would tend to say that the answer lies somewhere in between.

This thread is a goldmine, btw. Thanks to everyone for helping me direct my research. However, I'm having a hard time finding reputable sources talking about the history of denim in Japan--as in, I know that Japanese companies import looms and Edwin jeans has been selling/importing jeans for a really long time, but I hardly can use sufu as a source--where can I find a reputable source for these things? So far, the lack of hard information has been something I've had a lot of trouble with.

Well, on some level, they're both consumer based societies, both the US and Japanese need pants, and repro denim is badass so in a lot of cases I'm sure it's just that simple. I don't know that you'll find any research, but if you email the companies (especially if you try and use some Japanese) I'm sure they'd be thrilled to give you their account.

Edit: Can anybody point me towards a good article about wabi-sabi?

Hmmm seems pretty solid, I honestly don't know enough about Japan to offer a critical reply though. Good thread.

Thanks!

But you did understand I do not make them myself by hand? I design and develop the product, and they are produced in a small atelier.

Ohhh, I just assumed from the label. Still, I'm learning what a pain in the balls the whole process is, so good on you anyways.

Not the right thread but whatever...graduating in about two weeks and about to spend all my grad. money on denim...hahahaha

When you're about to graduate in two weeks and spend all your cash of sewing machines and steam irons and a new denim pattern.

179 EU?

With that price it's going to be hard to stand out.

With all the minimalistic raw denim labels out there, with hardly anything to set them apart, is there really any room for another? Feels like you guys are 5 years late to the game.

Anyway, I would love to have my own denim workshop, if it could work out. It's really cool to be able to do what you love whilst making $$$. Business AND pleasure...

This is the way a lot of business will be from here on out, with the internet enabling niche manufacturers. You don't need a massive market share when you make them by hand. Welcome to the superfuture.

Keep it up Benzak.

Let's not forget that "the 50's" repro clothing aims to emulate didn't even exist in America. The 50's was a fucking toxic decade of continued imperial policy, shitty race relations and disgustingly untempered suburban sprawl/expansion.

This debate also has a lot to do with the windows of perception we're using. It's one cult of "aficionados" absorbing the products of another cult half way around the world. If you think the average Japanese person gives a crap about 160 dollar jeans, you should probably reconsider. The fact that a lot of it is coming through the internet, where you can support any hypothesis you can dream of, doesn't help.

It's just an aesthetic that has a cool pallet of design, existentializing it is something of a waste of time. Trying to pin repro clothing down in some culturally deterministic way doesn't really work beyond the fact that there's a somewhat higher appreciation for artisanal stuff in Japan. Repro clothing is the product of a small ass chunk of a huge ass country and "culture" (which has no real definition by the way, look up Don Mitchell for more on that), don't force meaning where there is none.

Sounds great. Anymore pics of the workshop? And what's this DD+1 business?

I did about a thousand of these things a year ago.

Plain is best

It is a chance to rebel without really mentally rebelling, it just gives the perception of rebellion through dress.

In social theory, British Cultural Studies especially, a lot of this is referred to as "spectacular subculture" (spectacular as in spectacle, not superhomo like ourselves). You should also look at who in Japan is wearing these. Youngish I'm assuming, but what are the other important demographic infos? Working class? Educated?

There's a super good article about this sort of perspective called "Posing threats, striking poses" or something, by Dick Hedbidge I believe. It's about British subcultures but the lessons are more or less the same.

Yo I see that custom back pocket stitching, up with the pics!

I've been sitting in the sauna lately instead of running to get a sweat going. Is it safe to sit in a sauna for 10 / 15 minutes 5 days out of the week?

This also won't do other great things like warm up the juices and tendons in your joints so they work better. Ask my knees how they know!

I've been so good about lifting but I can't afford the time and money to cook all the time, eat right and still graduate :confused:

Search estate sales in your area, hopefully some old granny will kick it and leave you something like [url=]http://cgi.ebay.com/Singer-Sewing-Machine-Model-15-91-GEAR-DRIVE-MOTOR_W0QQitemZ160327646600QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item160327646600&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50 this[/url] which is basically a mini industrial machine. The stitches should be beautiful.

Keep up the good work!

There's an indigo sniffing dog at the front of his gated community. No plebes, no jews, no jeans.

Republican pundits denouncing a visual cultural cue without a thorough intellectual analysis of what's actually wrong? Mind blown.

Americans dress sloppy because we have so little facetime social interaction. If somebody looks down on you for your clothes you just walk back to your car in the fucking parking lot and go home. There are certainly bigger things wrong with America than denim, so ubiquitous that a raging critique is laughable.

Yo ducksauce great job, those are pretty MF x rock and roll

Oh gross. I'm excited.

Cross posting from home-made thread. Made these back in August, worn ~ every other, couple washes. Sorry about the 50mm shits, I had to borrow a camera.

Pocket corner reinforcement

Finished these the other night

But these are the last pair I'm going to post in this thread. It'd be disingenuous to post my next few projects in the home made thread

Keep an eye out.

Wear pics!

Pocket corner reinforcement

I meant, is that the measurements I'm supposed to give my tailor, as in, knee and opening, or do I give him other measurements, such as mid thigh or something?

Bring them in with you, the tailor will probably have you put them on, pinch/fold them until you say they look good, mark it off and then just do it according to the mark later. If you trust them you can just tell them the measurements you want at the knee and hem. Be sure and tell him where you want the knee measured from (as in how far from crotch).

How is the internet supposed to know what you want? Jeans aren't that hard, just decide and do it. No committee necessary.

Oh yeah, how you handle the hem matters shit tons too. I'm not good with hems yet that I can hand roll hems (Ande Whall has been on this tip for a long while). Steaming, folding and pressing hems again screws organic looking roping too.

I wouldn't expect Gordon to provide that much info, industrial sourcing is world full of secrecy and wierdos.

used to play paintball for the north east paintball magazine "deadbox". everything was sponsored except for our guns. won a few tourneys, played psp and nppl a couple times. i used to love it, but the magazine closed and so did we. going back to paying almost $100 per practice was just not worth it. i try to check whats going on in paintball once in a while, but it seems like its dying? no one can afford paintball anymore.

The game totally hit a technological wall. The guns got as fast as possible, the fields got as small and the rounds as repetitive. No heart, only sweaty poor technician concept.

Makes me nostalgic for the pump days I never even lived through.

what exactly is the type of thread used to put jeans together? Seems to be a heavier more durable thread than your usual run of the mill kind.

There's nothing really special about it, it's just usually thicker. Thread can be measured a couple ways, but consider the TEX scale. It goes from 0-100 and measures the weight of the thread over a given distance (much like oz/yard on denim). So the weight doesn't exactly mean thickness, but there's a clear correlation. Silk thread might be TEX 10, threads you might use on a shirt are usually like TEX 30. Thread for jeans is going to be around TEX 60-70.

All cotton is authentic and not good for durability. All polyester can look fine or look really freaking tacky. Cotton wrapped poly or nylon core thread is a good compromise on looks and durability.

Contrary to what you might read on the board, chainstitching isn't really the deciding factor in roping. Using all cotton thread that hasn't been sanforized (preshrunk with steam in the factory), and using unsanforized denim matters a lot more. The thread shrinks, the denim shrinks, and because denim is weaved at 4:3 Warp:Weft, it angles off and achieves the roping look.

I'm writing this from memory, so if anybody knows better please post up and I'll edit.

Used to play, thinking about picking up a pair of PPG's (PGP's?) to dick around with friends.