chicote

And a denim-clad worker in Diego Rivera’s Pan American Unity, shown in the entryway at San Francisco MOMA:

Some amazing photos from the Agricultural History Project museum in Watsonville, CA. Mostly dated from 1900s-1930s. I would imagine there might be higher-resolution versions of some of these out there, but this will do for now. In addition to these, there are hundreds of hand-painted vegetable box labels, ingenious homemade farm machinery from the 19th century, and at least a hundred tractors from the early 20th century, which are being painstakingly restored one by one into running condition. A truly amazing place that I highly recommend visiting.

Did anyone on the forum end up getting a pair of the Good Luck jeans? I am really intrigued by them, but also really broke & hoping to live vicariously through someone else who’s had a chance to wear them in a bit… plus, maybe I could be talked into selling some other pairs to fund one if it really seems worth it 

This whole conversation is why I have never really understood the denim contests where you’re allowed to wear whatever denim you choose. In a perfect world, factors like the speed of a given fabric’s wear would be taken into consideration, but in reality I feel like winners in these contests had often made the “strategic” choice of a very fast-wearing fabric that gives them an advantage over someone who might want to wear a pair of SDA or Evisu. It’s also something I appreciate about contests like the Devis, which I recall was a notably slow fader, and paid off in the appreciation people had for the commitment that went into getting those jeans well-broken in. 

^Its true… a few months ago I was out w my partner, we were getting tacos at a late night truck in town, and the guy in line behind me (a tall, somewhat tough-looking man in an undeniably well-curated outfit) compliments my engineer boots. I turn and look at HIS boots and wow, can’t even remember what they were anymore but I don’t think I could hide the impression they made on me. We spoke about the construction of the soles and then about our pants and so on for a few minutes until it was our turn in line to order, and when we got our food and moved on my partner looked very thoughtful, then turned to me and said (paraphrasing), “wow, I’ve never had such an in depth conversation about my clothing before… not even with my sewing teacher… at first I thought he was flirting with you… is that what it’s like on your little forum?” 

No kidding mike, really excellent craftsmanship there!

Those look great @spidereye. Will you use them for riding your motorcycle or just dress wear? They seem really versatile and like they could go either way.

Nice repairs, those are amazing! I love the 50s fabric.

Those do look really nice, the denim is very different from other wwii denim I’ve seen, really a bit different from other denim I’ve seen period, though I’m not really familiar with ooe. Anyone have any insight on it from what they know / can see?

Maybe we should all take turns guessing the brands instead!

Those are absolutely amazing @Dr_Heech, thank you for sharing

That’s a good point, it can happen with all kinds of brands, even luxury ones. I used to have a decent Kapital collection of pieces I got all for under $50 a piece online - that would have been 8-10 years ago or so. Now you can’t  hardly find anything of theirs for much under retail! Same with the brand Sassafras, who I always thought was really cool and underhyped back in the day, but I guess people have caught on now…

^Yea, absolutely. I’ve never heard that term used, but an easy example is workwear like Carhartt. Not even ten years ago, you could find dozens of pairs of them stuffed in alongside Dickies and other classic workwear at thrift stores all over. The double knee pants were pretty much standard issue for most construction work, and the jackets, overalls, etc just as popular in other trades, and their prices reflected that; even new pairs were something like $30-40. Now, you go to buy a new pair of Carhartts and not only do they cost like $80 but you have to race thousands of other ppl to the checkout like it’s a Supreme drop or something! Not to mention the fabric is way thinner and usually has stretch in it… but that’s a different topic.

I’m not entirely sure how supply chain issues figure into the fashion gentrification topic specifically, but I do know they’re a factor in manufacturing quality, in the sense that multiple industries (automotive is a relevant example from my life) have relaxed their manufacturing tolerances in response to not having enough workers or having huge turnover and insufficient training. Loads of people for the past few years have been getting brand new vehicles or replacement parts that don’t even work out of the box, or the quality is so poor that they break or break down within weeks or months. And I know it’s the same in many, many industries besides this. What boggles my mind is that so many of these corporations having “supply chain issues” and running their companies permanently short-staffed have been turning out record profits since the pandemic started. and yet they can’t afford to give their workers raises that are anywhere close to keeping up with inflation! but again, another topic…

On 6/29/2023 at 3:44 PM, vlad_III said:

 

I have no say about anything regarding Freewheelers construction, but in my experience sewing almost exclusively with old half-turn machines the photo you shared is pretty much exactly how I finish seams myself. Looking closely at the stitch path, it appears to me not to be a true reverse stitch but rather a narrow triangle. When I’d finish a seam in this way, I’d stitch slightly off my line for the final stitch, turn the garment 90 degrees, go one stitch forward, then turn again and stitch back into my original line. That is, to my unprofessional eye, at least, what this photo looks like to me. But I am open to being corrected! Just wondering if that possibility might clear up the issue.

Thank you so much mike, I’ve ordered some black meisi linen thread, really appreciate the advice!

Just came back from a few week-long motorcycle trip down the pacific coast to big sur. I’m waiting to develop some pics but will have them up later. In the meantime, here’s the carnage on my jacket:

The left sleeve tore open suddenly somewhere on the Oregon coast - that’s my next project. On the first week down, the small coin pocket in front lost all its stitching and was held on by just the button; then the right pocket stitching deteriorated and the stress sadly tore the leather slightly at the pocket opening, which I’m gonna have to figure out how to fix (can you bar-tack leather?); then the left shoulder seam split about three inches across and got re-sewn on the road in central california. Those are the perils of riding a motorcycle in an 80-year-old jacket, I guess. I was using some old cotton thread we packed to do the stitching on the road but feel like something more durable is in order now that we’re home again. Any leather workers have any suggestions on a good (black) thread to use?

These last couple are so beautiful and distinctive, you are really developing a unique style and executing it flawlessly. I’d love to see some more full-length shots of these newer pieces if you get the chance in the future!

That’s a really nice one, love the sepia-tone colouration. I bet it looks really great on.

Black jacket & blue jeans is classic for me… not as sure about the reverse, but why not? i ran into my friend this morning wearing a blue denim jacket with black-n-bleach patterned loose 505s… it was a great outfit as far as im concerned!

I might have shared tracks from this album before but have been sucked in again these last few long hot and slow summer days… extremely sick blues and related music from Mali. The whole album is on youtube here. enjoy!

Congrats julian! hope you get some time off to go celebrate with a quark… i mean pint…