mikecch

^ Hey @Foxy2, true, the shirt is fairly V-shaped and best suited to slim or athletically built men.

I'm not as athletically built as I used to be, and yes, on this shirt the waist is a little tighter than my usual shirts. Not uncomfortable to wear, but it does mean I either wear it unbuttoned, or I'll have to tuck it in. Sitting down does put some tension on the second last button, as you correctly guessed from the button hole shape in one of my previous photos.

Here's a quick front shot - I'm not holding my gut in, and you can see the waist has a little tension - keep in mind I have a T-shirt underneath the shirt, and I'm also wearing a very thick belt with a huge buckle, around the area of the bottom-most button:

Edit:

Regarding the collar height, I actually quite like it. IMO it's a modernized version of the spear-point collar.

I owned a few shirts from the 40s and 50s over the years, and one of the things I didn't like about them were the huge collars (too wide, too high or too long) that tended to look messy and creased after a couple of wears. I definitely don't like big collars with softer fabrics like chambray - the shape cannot be maintained.

This neater, more streamlined collar is more to my liking, but each to their own.

Quick pics while I work on my review~

Next couple of photos taken by Marty at Godspeed:

So far, I've found that the shirt works best for me unbuttoned or buttoned & tucked in.

The fit could be described as V-shaped. For blokes with a bit of gut, the fit can be a little restrictive.

Otherwise, the shirt fits great for larger guys - see the photo below: lots of back and shoulder room, I can actually move my arms around freely, unlike most box-cut Japanese work-shirts.

^ The buckle was a last minute upgrade to the belt. 

@Maynard Friedman -

^ Yeah, a leather worker commented on the same thing on IG. Bill did explain to me how it was difficult to match the exact dimensions given the buckle was hand-forged, so I was lenient about this in the review - it would be another story if the buckle was ready-made or cast-made.

^ haha, I just went in with some expectations and perhaps an investigative agenda. Happy that the Aussie denim scene is growing though; having the LVC range here, officially, is pretty cool.

Another harness belt, but a really special one from Clintonville Leather.

Check out my review for more photos and details:

https://indigoshrimp.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/clintonville-leather-harness-leather-belt-review/

Couple of photos of the Retro fabric at 4 to 5 months effective wear:

^ All the jeans are priced $370 AUD, both jackets (type II and III) at $500. Also a LVC sweater for $220,and a T-shirt at $120. This is just a little bit more expensive compared with American RRP, which is surprisingly steep given the competition from Japan. 

All the denim is now Cone, and the jeans/jackets all made in America. 

Maybe it is because I have been wearing Japanese denim for too long, but I found the jeans a little boring - the fabrics did not have much texture or hand-feel. To be honest, and in my own opinion, I did not find any of the jeans interesting at all (apologies to LVC fans.)

The construct was OK: Nothing special, nothing era specific or vintage-like. I feel Edwin did a better job with the Lee and Wrangler repros back in the day than LVC is doing with their own.

The sweatshirt and the Ts were okay, definitely not at the level of the Japanese brands in terms of fabric or construct, but cost more than the Japanese stuff. 

I applaud Levi's for finally brining in LVC, but the value proposition is low. 

I'd recommend sticking with Japanese denim, unless you specifically want reproduction jeans that are branded Levi's. 

18 hours ago, gabetjh said:

 The jackets are 500. 

Holy crap! 

I'll go and check it out tomorrow. 

12 hours ago, BlackPig said:

IIRC they were selling for $370. I would rather spend my money on Japanese raws.

Yeah, that's a bit hefty, you could buy Japanese jeans locally for that amount. Say what you like about reproductions, denim generalists outnumber reproduction enthusiasts significantly, in an already fairly small market -I'm guessing most folks are like us and would rather by from brands like RJB, etc for the same price. That's not a very smart pricing, unless Levi's were also willing to do a bit more work on consumer education and community engagement. Just IMO of course. 

5 hours ago, okisan said:

My conversations with a Levi's rep one time indicated there really was no plan for the LVC line in Australia. When it did sell it was in a 'capsule' style format, at a single selected location, and in limited quantities. That said, Maple seem to have had it for a while and in quantities that on the surface don't appear all that limited. It all indicates that it's of very low priority for them in this market.

Yeah, I can count the number of reproduction hobbyists that I know of in Melbourne with one hand. Given how many denim specialist stores there are in Melbourne and Sydney, it's probably wise for Levi's not to focus on the artisan denim market until they have something more substantial to offer. 

^ On that note, I'm rather curious about the local pricing! Wonder how much they're selling the midcentury repro jeans for? 

@propellerbeanie I keep a tab on the IG account of a couple of people from Levi's Australia - no news. Maybe this is deliberately low key? 

Kinda weird how the local Levi's people aren't advertising this much. Would love to check this out soon! 

My shirt's at the post office, can't wait! 

^ Definitely. Locally here in Australia - being a big producer of wool and other animal fibres - we have fairly good quality wool socks that perform better and are much more practical for work and sports. My fancy cottons socks only see occasional use.

6 hours ago, Cucoo said:

I agree that it's not okay to "abuse" Indian crafts in this way, I just guess it's hard to impossible to enforce this on a world wide basis...

 

Edit: thinking about it, if it's possible for Parmesan or Champagne and similar products to be protected the way they are it should be possible with Native crafts, probably an issue of the lobbying involved? 

I can't see this happening here in Australia or Asia in general. Outside of North America, there's not enough money involved in this type of goods for people to care, and people tend not to spend much time thinking about racial or indigenous cultural issues unless it affects them directly. 

Italian cheese and French wine, however, I'd argue transcends cultural and national boundaries nowadays and are true global commodities with huge amounts of money and vested interests involved. 

I wrote a thing on Japanese socks:

https://indigoshrimp.wordpress.com/2017/06/13/chup-anonymous-ism-whats-the-go-with-japanese-socks/

P.S. 

To see the finalised shirt or to place an order, see: www.the-rite-stuff.com

Niwa Leathers! The nicest little coaster:

^ Not available in Australian Netflix yet, damn.

^ Outside of Rakuten, Corlection can custom order anything provided the piece is still in production. Exchange rate from USD to AUD will work well for you.

Special run of 3XL (chest sz 44) hooded parkas at Corlection. Loop-wheeled cotton fabric at 12 oz!

Bought the grey and the indigo myself.

We had the Left Field chino contest thread a few years back too - OOAK double indigo duck canvas from Cone.

Yeah, I'm a little bit confused by the conversation. Chinos can be made with twill or plain weaves, whatever fabric we want really. Just a different style of pants from dungarees. Can be just as well made, with the same materials - makes sense the cost would be similar.