chicote

I wanted to share a post made by Jonah of Blackbird Spyplane, who I had the pleasure to meet on our motorcycle trip through the Bay this summer and have been really enjoying reading since. His blog and paid newsletter cover topics throughout the fashion world, primarily focusing on smaller-'artisanal' brands, which places them somewhat adjacent to us here, at least ideologically. In a recent newsletter that I want to discuss a bit, he asks: Should clothes never go on sale? Jonah outlines several reasons for his position -- that sales are often contrived marketing tactics by larger luxury brands who can overinflate their base price most of the year and then trim during 'sale' season, a game which smaller brands with smaller margins have trouble playing; that clothes coming in and out of "season" is an arbitrary distinction that pushes people to make unnecessary purchases for the sake of helping clear stores' inventory; and that lower market prices for clothing fuels the race-to-the-bottom epitomized by fast fashion, where workers and the environment are endlessly exploited in an effort to maximize the bosses' bottom line. An additional point that I have spent some time reflecting on comes from Daniel Garrod, a designer for the brand James Coward, who Jonah interviewed for the article: “Maybe there’s a brand you like that costs a lot,” he said, and when sale time hits “you decide to buy in and get yourself a piece, but it’s not your choice piece, and — as much as any object can create a sense of fulfillment — you don’t feel fulfilled by that object at all.” This is a striking and relevant reminder to me because it's something I have felt somewhat often in my time as part of this community. As someone who has worked at or around minimum-wage for the past decade, I feel it's necessary to either budget for weeks to get a piece that I want, which often rules out jumping on the really excellent low-volume brands like Ooe, Roy, At Last, etc., or to find my clothes secondhand, which often leads to the exact situation Garrod describes above: you compromise on the exact piece you're after to get something more accessible, and aren't able to form a meaningful relationship with the piece you ended up with as a result. I'm curious what your experiences are with this issue, whether or not you agree with the points made in the newsletter, how you factor things like price and availability into your purchases of specific brands, and would love to also hear which items you have that feel meaningful to you in a way that justifies the cost and effort to procure them.

@sensy that's amazing!! i remember a couple years ago you saying you planned to make yourself a pair of boots and were teaching yourself other leatherworking skills along the way... i really admire your dedication, and the skills you've learned really show in how cleanly that boot turned out.. looking forward to seeing the next one!!

@reallypeacedoff where I am in the states they go for 2-300 in working condition, some online prices may exceed that, but this was one of Singer's most popular and enduring models so you shouldn't have trouble finding one locally with a bit of searching. There are a few variations of the 201 (as with most Singers), so it's best to make sure you do some prior research to make sure you're getting something that will work for you. Here is a good resource for them. The 201-2 is my personal preference as it has a potted (integral gear-driven) motor which provides more torque and stability than the standard belt-drive motor, but maintenance on these motors can be a bit more complicated. There's also an aluminum version that came out in the 60s that cuts the weight of the machine by 15 pounds or so lol. But the 201 itself is a great heavy-duty domestic machine that can definitely handle most denim-related work you'd want to do. Highly recommended!

That's a perfect fit @MJF9, pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you!

Any recommendations for indigo-dyed sweatshirts? I'm looking for a boxy fit, dark dye, and prioritizing warmth as much as possible. I had looked at Strike Gold but was disappointed to see they seem to have increased the length of their new run of sweatshirts dramatically. Thanks in advance!

So strange, repros of repros. I noticed that there's a brand selling reproductions of Rising Sun Blacksmiths on ebay currently, as well as a couple other models.. red tornado i think was the brand? Anyway, seems like a similar approach. I was tempted for a moment, but something about it felt strange, not to mention workers must not be getting compensated well at $90 a pair. It did make me wonder, though, about some of the larger and more popular repro brands here, eg. freewheelers, toyo, warehouse. I've been curious to know what their production processes are like, how many employees they have, and so on, seeing as they turn out a relatively large number of new pieces every season, completely dwarfing smaller brands like TCB and the like. Even brands like At Last seem to have huge catalogs, and someone has to be producing all of it--anyway, just a side curiosity that spun out of this discussion of these new repro-repro brands.

Wow, amazing!!!

Wow, that is truly amazing Duke! Are you doing all the stitching by hand or have you got a leather sewing machine? I’m patterning a new leather bench seat for my truck at the moment, but the thought of all that hand stitching is daunting…