roy6

(Oh, except Markus, Chris, Paul & I actually get no special advantage in judging, as D proposed, we all declined that).

Does anyone remember who was the last person to receive his jeans (paul or pomata I think) and what date he received them? It'll be each contestant's responsibility to take their final submission photos as close as possible to the anniversary of the receipt of the jeans by their original owner, but then I figure we should all wait to actually post our submissions until everyone has passed one year (hence my question) - rather than having sporadic final-entry posts over the course of however many weeks. I suppose we should make a deadline for final-entry posts - let's say one week after the last contestant finishes his/her year.

After the final entry deadline has passed, I say we allow a week for everyone to PM (or email) his/her votes for their 3 favorites (reminder: voting for almostnice is prohibited; voting for rnr is allowed but comes at the cost of -1 vote for yourself).

For the sake of clarity, here's the plan as I understand it:

- In the week after the last person finishes his/her year, each contestant submits her/his 5-picture final entry

- in the following week, each contestant (plus any former contestants who stayed involved) PMs or emails me with their top three choices for "winner"

- I post the votes for public review (yay transparency! I learned something from living under a dictator president!). Factored in to this will be a handicap/advantage for the Four Founding Fathers.

- top five vote-getters' posts are somehow sent to the four judges

- [...]

- judges tell us who is the prettiest girl at the ball.

[- if almostnice wins, all other contestants commit ritual suicide]

- ROY emerges from the aether with a prize for almostnice the winner

D-katz was good enough to take on getting this organized (since Chris, Paul, Markus & I were so lax in doing it) and as I recall we all either agreed to let him do it and with these rules, or we all agreed to it by omission. There was plenty of time to speak up before the contest ended, which it now has for everyone but, I think, theClerk & PaulT, maybe Fre-co?

If you are done, post your pics. When Paul gets his posted, everyone else should have had plenty of time to photograph and post theirs, so maybe that can be the cut-off date?

Can we please refrain from pre-emptive accusations of favoritism on the parts of other contestants or judges? I'm choosing to trust everyone in the contest.

TG, I think it's safe to say that you're going to win for longest lifespan of ROYxCones. They're still gonna be in wearable shape for the 10 year ROYxCone reunion!

I am a big fat loser on that metric. Booo

Oh, daniel.

With the other contestants voting for the final five to present to the judges, looks like it would eliminate the possibility of someone who didn't really participate winning. i can't see most people here voting for someone who hasn't posted their updates, no matter how good their jeans look.

bring it...

Every page until the judging is complete.

If i am being forced I suppose I don't actually have to RSVP, but I will attend.

Lovely shot.

Just install some old sewing machines in that school and teach those kids to make jeans. I'm sure they'll benefit more from the vocational training than religious education. Oh hang on, they're just children, I'm sure Levi's wouldn't want to exploit cheap labour or break any employment legislation...

Wait and see if Newtie Gingrich gets elected. Then, maybe...

Additionally, that bathroom sign is in a hippie restaurant on Haight street. Typical hippies. It's all well and good for them to say that, because of course they're them. If someone else said that to them, they'd have a fit and organize a protest against oppression.

Kind of like what you do here for free.

LOL

Too right, Paul. Usually the most interesting LVC items don't sell. I think the '20s mackinaws, one of their finest pieces, is on deep discount now at the shops. Seems like their beltloppless 501 models always end up in the sales too.

Is the writing on the wall then? Increased prices and quantities, lackluster sales for many items, possibly decreasing quality in some of the new 501s, further off-shoring and brand-wide signs of downsizing.

I wonder if LVC will end up as a handful of items sold alongside the regular Levi's fare. Like LVC when they began, except produced in China or Tunisia instead of on Valencia street.

At any rate, I'm finally accepting that LVC will never be what I personally want it to be, a top-tier innovative company that domestically makes extremely high-quality small batch items comparable with the productions of the better Japanese firms.

Secret Santa present:

i want to know how i can start my own port-a-potty decorum biz here in Hampton Roads?

Easy- import a bunch of competitive, overly-rich people with too much time on their hands. I know where you can find some, if you need some help with that...

^Waiting to hear from Medine on that.

IHBW- Those are the ruins of Sutro Baths. They were the largest manmade swimming facility in th US when the were built in the late 1800s, and were pretty impressive:

The building burnt down in the 60s, but it had been neglected for some time before. The building in the background is the Cliff House restaurant, for great views and mediocre food. It's between ocean Beach and the Presidio, on SFs coastline.

^My leg is over, so I'm lifting my 10 char rule.

What do you want to know?

I think we make the mistake of assuming that we are the average LVC consumer. Odds are, 4 out of 5 LVC buyers aren't concerned about buttons, pocket bags, cinch hardware, a completely historical cut, etc. I'm sure that most LVC customers are more fashion than history oriented (all you have to do is look at all the pre-distressed stuff LVC produces), and simply buy an LVC product because it gives a look they're going for. We all have ideas and hopes for what LVC could and should be, but I think if we set the bar too high, we're only going to continue to be disappointed. Accept the brand for what it is, or move on to Sugar Cane, Warehouse or SDA.

What company, overall, has done the best job of reproing historic Levi's (and other brands of the era)? Evis/evisu, Warehouse, SDA, etc.

Yes. Sad to see some other heritage brands, like Filson, contracting some work out to overseas. Filson does make their core items in their own factories, at least.

The death knell for me with LVC was seeing those (ugly, even) knits pop up last season with Made in China tags.

Over.

i can't argue with that. that is my gripe with LVC; fits that are all over the place, varying degrees of authenticity, denim quality varies depending on year of mfg and model, varying quality of hardware. when it all comes together it is great, but it's almost like panning for gold and sometimes you get made sorry. i wish Levis would focus on consistent fit and quality; it could only help sales.

Never heard it put more succinctly.

No. And furthermore:

Done! (10chars)