dudewuttheheck

15 minutes ago, goodrain said:

Love when the day of the week is in another language

I was over the moon when I found out that it had a Kanji date wheel. It's definitely staying on that setting now  

Got a cordovan strap from Pigeon Tree Crafting

Himel

N&F

Hollows

Stevenson Overall

Brass/Clinch

6 hours ago, Broark said:

Just gave my 1946’s their first wash, I went old school this time and hand washed them in the tub. I was worried about losing much more inseam length and I also just kind of wanted to hand wash a pair as it’s been a long time since I’ve done it. And if these jeans were around in 1946 they likely wouldn’t have been washed in a washing machine, so I’m gojng for the historically accurate washing method. 

That last part is just me bullshitting,  I’ll post some pictures once they’re dry!

Interesting timing. I just gave my 1937's their first wash as well due to spilling some pasta sauce on them. I did a cold tub soak and lost almost no indigo at all and they smell fresh as a daisy. It makes me wonder why I was always so afraid of washing my jeans in the past...

Man, I really wish they were hi tops...

A couple of shots with my A2

@aho yup that's the one!

Here are my terrible shots from the Grand Seiko boutique:

15 minutes ago, aho said:

^I'm told it's "tomorrow" in certain time zones; Care to share that LE image? 9F GMT?? 

That's not the one they showed me. It's a limited edition hi beat, sorry. 

Thanks guys! I can't stop staring at it

8 hours ago, aho said:

^Can't afford it, but do appreciate the slimmed down case for the new pepsi. For some reason it's actually not as difficult to source the "hot" releases out by me, or at least you don't have to get on a waiting list. AD's are more than willing to let you buy on the spot or notify you as soon as they come in, but maybe that's changed in the past 2 months. New power reserve is a bonus too!

I might've even considered the smaller black bay, but at this point I'd wait for more colorways since they're surely coming. Would've also loved the Tudor pepsi GMT in the smaller case size option, but give that one a few years too.

Now...just waiting for all the Seiko/GS reveals!

I went to the GS boutique to get my bracelet adjusted and was treated with one of the new releases. I took pictures, but swore I would not post them until tomorrow. It's a real stunner, though. Perhaps even nicer than the Peacock IMO.

My watch finally fits!!

Globe Specs, Himel, Full Count, Freewheelers, Clinch

@mpukas from what I have read, quartz movements are less sensitive to shock and are more durable in general, but I am no expert. 

For me, it depends on the specific quartz movement and the purpose it serves which is the same for automatic movements. Personally, I view an in house quartz movement as superior to a non-in house mechanical movement. The battery may have to be replaced, but you have to service mechanical watches as well.

In the case of this watch, the quartz movement makes sense due to the purpose it serves. Then again, I'm obviously biased because of the watch I just purchased.

Also, for what it's worth, I quite like the overall design of that Victorinox.

@Broark those are some real stunners! No, I will not be wearing the gloves  I just had them on to take the initial pictures. This one will be my every day watch, so it will not be babied at all.

@aho that is a stunner! Did you pick it up?

I finally got mine and boy did it not disappoint

Fair enough, I guess. The ironic thing is that synthetic fabrics are more durable anyway.

20 hours ago, FreeCharlesManson said:

just browsed through this whole thread instead of studying... 

Your time was well spent  

2 hours ago, mpukas said:

I have found poly-cotton thread to be far more durable than all cotton thread. On my Samurai jeans w/ cotton thread, I've had threads break due to wear exposure within a couple of weeks. On IH jeans w/ poly-cotton thread, the same areas have taken either 10+ times longer to break or have never broken. 

An issue I've mentioned some time ago re: denim durability (this was regarding Oni in particular) is that Japanese denim is woven for character, not durability. Yarns are spun with mixed fibers at low tension, and the fabric itself is woven with low tension, both to achieve slubbiness, neppiness, irregularity, etc. - all of the things denim heads wax on and on and on and on about.... and complain about Cone being too boring and dull because it doesn't have enough character. It's this character, if you will, that makes the denim less durable. Durable fabrics use tightly, evenly spun yarns and tightly, evenly woven fabric, in addition to more durable fibers other than cotton. 

It's really ironic to me that Japanese denim is woven to recreate the character of old Cone denim, yet Cone denim was woven to be durable as possible and the irregularities were a result of the weight and actions of the looms causing the wood framed floor to bounce. If those looms were installed on a concrete slab-on--grade floor, there wouldn't have been as many if any irregularities. 

Re: crotch blowouts, I still do not understand why it happens to some and not others. All I can come to is that it's a combination of fit, denim and activity. I do think tighter fits lead to a higher chance or greater severity of blowouts. The only pair I've had a rupture in is my IH 634-XHS that where too small when I was in good shape during the time I was wearing them. And, it was only at the left leg at the top of the inseam. I presume it was mainly due to getting into my car (an SUV), and I could feel the stress/stretch every time I lifted and extended my leg in that manner. Of course it could be due to other movement patterns as well... 

A lot of Japanese denim is not woven to look like old Cone denim, it's woven to be it's own, interesting entity. 

Also, some older Cone denim or at least American denim was less consistent. Look at what Conner's Sewing Factory is doing. You can clearly tell that their WWII denim is less even than their post-WWII denim.This is meant to accurately recreate the differences between these two eras of denim production because the Levi's denim produced during WWII was less even and consistent. The Flat Head, RJB, Samurai, PBJ, Oni, Momotaro, Tanuki, and many more do not try to reproduce Cone denim at all. That is a gross overstatement.

Also, 10 times more durable seems like an overstatement. Maybe that's true for you, but I have had poly cotton threads brake on me just as quickly as cotton threads in some cases. It does not mean that I think cotton thread is equally as durable, but it's not always a massive difference. I think washing and getting the right size are much more important factors.

5 minutes ago, Iron Horse said:

Another big issue is washing regiments.

It's no secret that the loinal region isn't the cleanest on Earth, and sweats a lot. Regular washing is key, and in my recent experience, regular hot washing is better. Case in point (and I talked about this on DB): last year I picked up a used pair of Sugar Cane jeans off Yahoo Auctions JP for the little lady. The jeans in questions are pretty darn faded, and have obviously been worn hard for years. And yet the crotch shows absolutely no signs of tearing or blowing out. Judging by the fried patch, and very white weft and pocket bags, the previous owner had clearly hot washed them often. The average Japanese denim head seems to wash his jeans about once a week, no differently than you would a pair of mall Levi's.

tl;dr wash your jeans often to prevent crotch blow outs.

That's a good point. I definitely do not wash my jeans enough which very likely at least partly explains my issues with crotch wear. Those jeans she wears are amazing, btw. 

1 hour ago, mlwdp said:

Viberg is making sneakers now.

I said this in a blog post and on Instagram and I will say it again. These are disgustingly ugly and are the poster child for how far Viberg has strayed from their roots and in my personal view, how far they have fallen. I will assume they are making money, but I genuinely believe that this weird, more fashion-oriented approach they are taking will not work out in the long run.

I've had more issues with my raw denim jeans in terms of crotch durability than I did with any of the cheaper pairs of jeans that I wore before, even though I wore much, tighter fits back then. While I can't be certain, I believe that part of it has to do with the stretch fabrics used. While we love 100% cotton, poly-cotton is supposedly more durability for sewing threads. It's possible that the cheaper poly-cotton and cotton blend fabrics used to make cheaper sweatshirts and shirts may actually be more durable while the stretch fabrics help lower stress as well.

In other garments, however, my experience has been that our 'heritage work wear' clothing or whatever you want to call it has much higher levels of durability. My RJB sneakers' soles look hardly worn in the same amount of time worn that I had to replace a pair of Vans. My RMC A2 leather jacket has held up far better than the fake leather jacket I had years ago (I know this is not an apples to apples comparison). My Clinch engineers have held up far better than the boots I wore in the past as well.

I don't really expect my jeans, shirts, or sweatshirts to last any longer than cheap equivalents, but I do expect my leather products to last longer.

1 hour ago, JDelage said:

Have you been following the new Iron Heart watch made by Pinion? I don't know anything about Pinion. Not a bad looking watch but it seems premium-priced to me ($3,500, hand wound movement).

That is far too high of a price for a watch with an ETA movement in it. I do like the general design of the watch, however. Also, isn't that watch from 2014?

My AD in Japan said they will have my watch and ship it to me on the 11th  

4 minutes ago, JDelage said:

Did you order it from Japan? It's taking its sweet time...  

Yes I did. It saved me quite a lot of money while still being able to go through an AD. 

It was a pre-order, though. It's supposed to be released sometime this month, but I don't know exactly when.

10 hours ago, Aries said:

Yeah stitching is incredible @dudewuttheheck. Geez that Himel jacket, your wardrobe is insane.

My RMC is only an A2, so you get to enjoy staring at their beautiful stitch work a lot more with your J-24L!

Thanks, I love Himel jackets so much

Beautiful new watch @JDelage !! I'm hoping mine gets here soon.

Definitely a very enjoyable read! I wish I had gotten into quality clothing at such a young age.

That McCoy's jacket is beautiful, @Aries! The stitch work is so tight, isn't it?

Forgot to post pictures of my newest Himel jacket.