Iron Horse

It looks like shameless self-promotion is back again, so in that spirit, Heracles pre-orders are open for next month!

https://the-rite-stuff.com/products/the-rite-stuff-heracles-work-shirt-indigo-pre-order-for-april-2020
 

New details include a longer collar, wider pockets, narrower back placket, and less taper to the waist. 
 

Pictures here with the Pacemaker pants in Sun Tan and the Wild Frontier Goods Blackburn belt.

6 hours ago, Hopethisoneisnttaken said:

If I’m not wrong he only bought 10% of the jeans. He went 90/10 with another guy. Or at least that’s what I got from the auction video. 

Interesting, the jeans have a minority stakeholder. Anyone know if they’re doing an IPO?

Yep, it’s by me, thanks guys!

9 hours ago, AlientoyWorkmachine said:

@Small Potato

I think your English expressed it quite well and thank you for your perspective. Those practices are funny, if also sad - but just show insecurity (and marketing savvy, unfortunately). It sounds like CSF has much more in common with Supreme and other hype brands than they'd like to admit. 

A lot of newer brands in recent years, especially the Tokyo “cool guy” brands, come from the streetwear scene and their approach to denim/heritage is definitely influenced by that, i.e. no online presence, secret shops that you have to find, staff that deem whether you’re worthy enough to shop there, etc. 

And yet people still fall for it.

The CSF dumpster fire stinks more by the minute!  So glad I never got into them. 

@dudewuttheheck, have you looked into either FW or Sugar Cane jeans? I think you’ll find their 47 models might suit you more, IMO.

4 hours ago, dudewuttheheck said:

I'm thinking about selling mine still... can't decide right now. Will probably not wear them for a little bit until I make the decision. Some of me is thinking that they're just jeans, but part of me also knows this will be in the back of my head when I wear them. At this point, I think I've won the bad timing awards having waited this long just for this to happen... and for my tab to be missing. Even if he was legally in the right (and I don't think he is) it would still be a dick move and to me, that's the worst part. It's just so incredibly selfish. 

Anyway. Here are some fit photos of the size 34 46 pair while I make my decision. 

Don’t want to sound like Ed but they look a bit small in the seat IMO. That’s how my TCBs fit and I never did get over the wedgie fit.

Yeah I talked to denim seeker and he says he deleted the book and doesn’t seem keen on sharing it for the time being. That said I think legally he’ll be more than OK, I don’t see him being successfully sued for this.

He posted this FWIW:

I saw that on Instagram but it’s unclear why Konaka claimed that; something about using photos from eBay listings that CSF went on to win?

Edit: It’s been clarified and it was along the same lines, just not eBay but a different auction house. Either way, not a legally sound move at all by CSF, AFAIK owning an item or photo doesn’t actually transfer copyright ownership. 

On 8/18/2021 at 12:17 AM, ColonelAngus said:

*beats dead horse*
please, for the love of God, stop with the flat lays on IG. There’s nothing that screams I’ve run out of ideas more than a flat lay. Also, dudes that take staged pics of themselves kneeling to adjust the cuff on their denim must be launched into a hornets nest.

*rant over*

VEB inadvertently created quite the monster didn’t he.  I didn’t mind when he did these types of shots back in 2014 or so, but it seems like so many aped his style. 

12 hours ago, conqueror said:

props for listing the size you're wearing and your height/weight. it's maddening how many stores still don't do this.

Yeah agreed; a bunch of Japanese stores do it so I’m used to it, to the point of it being a no-brainer.

2 hours ago, JMS said:

Beautiful stuff as always. Those Lofgren's are fantastic as well. 

Thanks! I wear the natural CXL derbies when it's hot out, also have a pair in black on the way.  

Hey guys, I’ve opened up pre-orders on my new Bantam short-sleeve work shirt in 5 oz. Japanese selvedge cotton-linen chambray in both indigo and ecru version:

https://the-rite-stuff.com/

The ecru version is arriving a bit later because the mill will have to specially make more of this fabric for me, perhaps those down under won’t mind though!

Although the Bantam is 1930s in styling, short-sleeve work shirts were not generally sold before the post-WWII, unless marketed as sport shirts with sport collars, so if guys wanted a short sleeve they would cut down a long sleeve:

A slightly lower back yoke this time, based on a 1920s catalog I have:

The acorn pockets are often thought of as a later Lee invention but I’ve found examples from 1920s catalogs of this pocket shape. That said, Lee did popularize them with the Chetopa shirt:

1937:

Star-pattern urea buttons, made in Japan, are based on 1920s originals:

Original button on a 1940s Tuf Nut shirt I have:

On 4/28/2021 at 8:15 AM, mpukas said:

I'd rather err on the larger side than smaller side, especially w/ any pull-on boot. 

This is sound advice IMO.

10 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

A couple of brothers from Spain founded it, they employed the women in the village to make workwear and sold it by travelling village to village on the back of a donkey. They imported denim from the US, eventually investing in their own looms and producing Lois denim in 1962...apparently

 

Fantastic illustration by Moebius though.

Asia is making moves toward cashless as well, we have Apple Pay, Line Pay, paying with your commuter card, and others, but it will be a long while yet before it happens seeing how many small businesses are still cash only. 

I think places like the US will also hit a stumbling block with the strip club issue. How are guys going to tip their favorite dancers? Or make it rain? I suppose they could swipe their NFC wrist implant at a machine and get stripper Monopoly bucks that are only good in the club, but it’s a pressing matter.

On 4/3/2021 at 6:06 AM, JDelage said:

Where xan I buy metalic buttons like this, please?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/962173259/victorian-buttons-metal-painted?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=vintage+lot+metal+buttons&ref=sr_gallery-2-35&organic_search_click=1

Livestock auction, San Angelo, Texas, 1939

On 3/24/2021 at 2:26 AM, rockon99 said:

Quick question. 
How much room can I have in the toe box (beyond the tip of my big toe) in Alden Indys (Trubalance last).
  

I just received a pair, one half-size smaller than my Vans size, and they feel comfy width-wise, but I’m worried the shoe is breaking in the wrong place because of the extra length. I think I could stand to go down a half size, but don’t want to dupe myself. 
 

 thanks

When I was a kid and we'd go to the shoe store or department store to buy shoes for me, the salesmen there, aside from always using a Brannock device with those thin disposable black socks, would also press down on the end of the shoe to make sure there was about an inch of space between the end of the big toe and the front of the shoe. Some people call this the rule of thumb; that is, there should be as much empty room as the width of your thumb. Some people prefer a half inch of space there, but it seems to me in recent years that there's this trend in the heritage/amekaji/etc. community for people to size down too much on their shoes and boots as much as possible to avoid any semblance of heel slip, roominess, etc. 

Not an expert on the '60s, but in recent years I've read up on the differences in how laundry was done pre-1950s after noticing the difference that very hot, even boiling, water makes on washing jeans and how vintage jeans showed the same characteristics. Plus, there were the different soaps, and stuff like fels-naptha being used, not to mention stuff like water softening or lead pipes and potential effects.

Anyway, it seems laundry soap formulas kept changing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laundry_detergent

Quote

"Until the 1950s, soap was the predominant surfactant in laundry detergents. By the end of the 1950s so-called "synthetic detergents" (syndets) like branched alkylbenzene sulfonates had largely replaced soap in developed countries.^[6][7] Due to their poor biodegradability these branched alkylbenzenesulfonates were replaced with linear alkylbenzenesulfonates (LAS) in the mid-1960s. Since the 1980s, alkyl sulfates such as SDS have found increasing application at the expense of LAS."

Maybe you need soap with linear alkylbenzenesulfonates? Also perhaps a wringer washer, and sun drying.

This is next-level ASMR:

Back when I was at Heddels we ran a piece on this:

https://www.heddels.com/2017/04/of-price-and-yen-the-effects-of-japanese-retailers-selling-abroad/

tl;dr Japanese brands with overseas retailers have, in some cases, long-lasting relationships with them, but if everyone that was scared off by Rakuten flocked to Denimio and OD instead, said retailers would no longer sell enough to justify carrying those brands and the business relationships would wither. At least that's what I gather.

Interestingly, I'm not sure I've ever seen Denimio give an interview on the subject; has anyone else? 

22 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

I bet he was waisted when he typed it..

Someone missed the second part of the "Write drunk, edit sober" edict!

I love the "no poseurs allowed" disclaimer with the unintentional typo pun:

- This is for real vintage denim enthusiasts. If you don't know about antique/vintage 501, please don't order. You will waist your money.