Sugar Mountain

You will notice more shrinkage in the waist and the length than with the hem. Of concern at the moment is that you've only soaked your jeans. I speak from experience here: you need to wash them with agitation to get as much of the shrinkage out at this stage before you begin to wear them. Put them through a machine wash with a lower rpm spin (no tumble dry). The jeans are tough and can take it without losing any colour or crispness.

Nah, I've gotta have the handpainted gulls. Black would work though.

Some thoughts on Iron Heart...

I used to be a bigger fan of the brand than I am now. I suppose part of this was trying out a few different styles of denim before arriving on what I have enjoyed for the past few years and partly because I also live in a hot and humid place where that heavyweight gear is completely unwearable. 

I still dig their 21oz flagship denim and think it looks great really faded and worn in but the other denims don't have much appeal at all. The finishing, with the goldenrod stitching especially, is just not my cup of tea. I can't understand the attraction of wearing jeans that remain uncomfortable for months on end as you break them in. These are clothes and not a ''project'' that should cause pain.

I do think that the brand can successful introduce lighter weight fabrics into its denim stable because people enjoy the signature cuts and the quality of construction. At present, the vast majority of what they offer is still the made from extremely overbuilt and heavy fabrics. The flannels I think are actually the brand's strongest offering and the colourways are often really nice. However, once I knew that Flat Head cuts worked on me, I never looked back. The IH messageboard culture and the ease of purchase through IH-UK definitely fuels that insane over-consumption where people are copping three versions of the same shirt and then posting giant lists of all the gear they own. 

Regarding the motorcycle branding: in Japan, this is still very much the case. Go into pretty much any shop of the other denim brands in Tokyo or Osaka and the staff will have no clue who IH are. It's still primarily sold to bikers from what I can see and advertised in Harley Davidson magazines and at bike shows. Giles has been on board since 2005 (only two years after incorporation), so IH International is not exactly a new thing. The designs are still all by Haraki and made with the same utility in mind as they always have been. However, they do churn out a ton of product and I'm surprised there is the consumer base for that volume. Hats off to them though, it's not an easy business and they have been very successful.

Cheers Ben. Strange, but I'd describe this shirt as cut a little more like a TFH workshirt but with western detailing in the yoke and pockets. It doesn't have as much taper as the short sleeve chambray western I just picked up or the older flannel western I have.

That Evisu offset belt loop is one of my favourite details. More importantly, that friggin' marbling... Just beautiful. If HK wasn't full of people wearing shockingly ugly Evisu International, I would likely swoop on a pair of these.

It would be pretty interesting to see a side by side comparison between the Canes and the Buzz jeans. Lazy of me, but I had assumed they were the same denim but with different details and a tweaked cut.

I for one am looking forward to seeing how that pair above turn out - definite potential for grail status. I passed the six month mark on mine the other week and damn if the 1947 aren't just one of the best models of jeans on the market. Totally love them.

The fabric is the same as used on the 1947s. Without checking, I think it's 14.25oz. I'm wearing my '47s at the moment and it's a great denim with a classic texture and depth of colour. You'll be making the right choice by getting that Type II.

Nice jacket, but you've gotta work on your photo locations.

Good fit. Love the dog as well - needs a belly tickle.

Overall fit looks really good though. Told you it would!

Woah...

If your maid's from Indonesia, she might run away with your slimmest fitting Flat Heads...

Mr. Tamanahara is great. I cornered him in Take5 a few years back, saying "Hey, it's you from the Lightning Denim Book!". The resulting conversation of sorts was me speaking broken Cantonese to Benny so that he could ask the questions in Japanese to Tamanahara. International denim-geeking at it's finest!

^^ A-Pink: I fucking love that you're wearing a full outfit of K-Pop merch at the Pronto Carnival. Kudos.

I never imagined that people would buy a jacket that they couldn't button up, but hey... I would always fasten the middle button at the very least and I don't mind the tux look either. It's how it was worn back in the day.

I have a feeling Thailand is basically bankrolling the Japanese repro denim industry right about now. All of the major players are directing a lot of time and resource in Bangkok's direction.

I've just seen photos through Iron Heart of the Pronto Carnival and also really want to go - seems to get bigger and better each year. Much shorter journey time for me so I have little excuse!

Another vote for Warehouse. If you get your sizing right, I don't think you will be disappointed with either the fades, construction or overall quality.

Remember as well that the changes you see manifested in Superdenim trends over the years have not occurred in a hermetically sealed environment. The early years of Sufu featured a more streetwear-influenced aesthetic that mixed APC or Diors with JP street brands like Wtaps and then Nike SBs and this mirrored more mainstream street fashion. Over the years, there has been a wider move in men's fashion trends towards a conceivably more ''authentic'' and rugged look typified by beards, flannels, boots and yes, selvedge denim. This look has even made it to adverts for Clarks shoes and mobile phones and is everywhere you look on Instagram. Many of us are essentially rocking a much more refined and premium version of this general aesthetic - as much as I'm loath to admit it.

But the environment we see on Superdenim these days is also the result, as I've said before, of a much more diversified range of options for discussing raw denim on the internet. Generally, the interest on here is for the core of Japanese brands that embody a vintage-ish style and draw influence from American work and casual wear 1940-1970. The crowd is more mature than it used to be - you rarely even see somebody getting negged anymore - and people are finding what works for them in terms of cut, fabrics and washing routines for their jeans. All good things.

For me, it's all about aesthetics and identity. I want the wear on my clothing to be a reflection of my lifestyle, like a roadmap of the places I've been and the things I've done. I want to communicate to other like-minded individuals my commitment to an ideal and my rejection of disposable mass-produced clothes. In this art form, my clothes are my medium, and to that end, Japanese raw denim is just awesome to work with. 

I just do it for the chicks and the fame.

Classic timepiece. Looks well lived and loved.

To add a little to Ben's post: Flat Head flannels, as with the rest of their shirting, have a huge amount of depth and complexity to the fabric and the weaving. You can honestly spend a good deal of time studying the ways in the which the patterns are created and what must have gone into designing and producing such a fabric. I have several TFH flannels ranging from the lighter weight Native Check (a masterpiece), to a heavy winter flannel that I wish I could wear more often. All of them stand head and shoulders above most other brands. For flannels, I think only Iron Heart can compare in terms of quality of execution but I much prefer the cutting and details of TFH.

^ The 1001 is almost certainly my next pair of jeans once I've worked through my SC 47s. I also tried them on in Daikanyama and loved the fit (surprisingly because I didn't two years ago in Osaka!). The fit is a slimmed down, more tapered take on a late 40s style and they are made from the WH Banner denim, which is based on a 1930s Levi's banner and made from three US cottons. The cut seems really versatile, like it would work with everything from work boots to low top sneakers.