FeloniousMonk

They're still holding up beautifully at a point when most jeans I wear start to need some crotch reinforcement, despite having a pretty tight fit. The poly-core stitching undoubtedly contributes to their durability, but somehow this mid-weight denim just holds up better than one would expect.

Plus the details! I'm a weirdly big fan of the hammered rivets (visible in the coin pocket shot above) that lie very close to flush and tarnish in an unusual way due to the flattened male rivet. And the paper patch has become one of my favorites out of my collection due to how the image wears away and cracks with wear and washing.

Finally, a shot of the fly buttons from back when the denim was nearly-new. You can see all the hair that came out with the initial soak/wash. The buttons also have a nifty pebbled texture that contrasts with the smooth raised lettering and wreath patterns. Still seems to be among the more under-appreciated jeans brands out there, despite the attention that their other pieces are getting.

This thread has been quiet for too long, so I want to post a little appreciation for the Stevenson mainline denim and what their stitching quality can do. There's only about three months of wear in my 714s, so there's not much overall fading to show, but the denim is already showing a delightful character with a wide array of colors from the deep aqua-tinted indigo of the mostly-untouched to some bright blues in the more washed sections and greenish-blue-grey in the most worn sections.

Most of all, I'm impressed by the roping they get despite being all single-stitch. I'm not quite sure what sort of tension they have to apply while stitching the pockets and hems to get this effect, but it's really remarkable how evenly the tension is applied and how the roping pops everywhere.

Plus a couple close-up shots of the denim, both where whiskering is just starting to show up under my left pocket (where I keep my phone) and some initial train-tracks. The depth of color is hard to capture with an iPhone 5 camera, but these are the closest I've been able to get to the true variation under sunlight.

Looking forward to the Japan photos, Aho! Bobbo's recent trip made me just want to drop everything and fly out there.

Yep, it's been a bit of a lull lately. Lots of work, not too much fun times to share, and not much denim progress either. Took tragically few photos on the business trip in Stockholm/London, but will get a few up in time.

The jeans are just carrying on, staying surprisingly dark even as the thighs show some serious streaking and whiskers are starting to become visible. Still comfortable as an alpaca hammock, and such an easy pair to throw on each morning.

I'm moving apartments this month-end, slowly shifting things to my girlfriend's place, so hopefully they'll have those sweat fades by September.

Anyone have any theories about letting denim "rest" between wears? As in, and I'm not sure how much truth there is to this, people claim rotating pairs of shoes gives them longer life because the shoe gets a chance to dry out from moisture and bacteria.

A bit of daily rotation does seem to help, and it's part of why I always keep at least two pairs of jeans in rotation. When I tried wearing one pair every day, they felt like they needed a wash almost every 2-3 weeks even in the fall/winter. It's not so much that they would start to smell (though that definitely could happen), more that a pair of jeans getting worn too often starts to get stiff and a little scratchier from the buildup of oils, salts, and grime in the fabric. If I've got two pairs in rotation, I tend to wash them about every two months in the fall or spring, so they're getting closer to 4-5 weeks of wear before hitting the same point.

In NYC July/August, all those average times between washes roughly halve.

Also not quite sure why this helps, but hanging the jeans up outside in the sun and a breeze seems to keep them even fresher for longer. This may all be placebo effect, but they do seem to stay comfortable and clean a bit longer if I hang my jeans out on the fire escape for an afternoon while puttering about the neighborhood.

Are these tight in the thigh and crotch for everybody?

I got the straight tapered rather than the tight tapered, and sized up 2 relative to my "normal", so they're not too tight. The rise is definitely lower than I'm used to, which makes the crotch feel a little tighter when moving around.

Mikecch: Thanks, I didn't know a finish on leather skin could feel like that. I think my Roys have a similar heavy finish over the leather, to allow for the really detailed and deeply colored image printed on it. It'll be interesting to see how it ages and if it takes any conditioning with time.

The patch looks almost exactly like Babyson's. I just soaked these jeans in my bathtub at a pretty cool setting, the water was probably 20-25 degrees celsius, since I didn't want them to shrink too much before the initial break-in.

Really nice review, and those photos beautifully capture the amount of weft show-through and visual texture of the denim.

I'm a little surprised at how positive you are on the patch. When I soaked my pair, a somewhat plastic-y top layer that has the gold foil print separated from the true leather patch underneath, and it still feels a bit bubbly and uneven on the surface. Might have to take a picture of it to see if anyone here can identify what precisely happened.

Damn, those are getting to look beautiful, and it's only been about 7 months! They're gonna be Springsteen-level faded by the end of this year.

[dropping the knowledge]

Thanks! Didn't know they were the mill behind those fabrics, though I had noticed the similarity across a number of the highest-end hank-dyed natural indigo denims used by different brands. Always helpful to get more of the history.

Favourite fabrics are either from RJB or the Nihon Menpu natural indigo denims.

Who tends to use the Nihon Menpu natural indigo denim? Is that also a Sugar Cane exclusive, or are they the mill that provides the super-slubby hank-dyed natural indigo denim that is in the special edition PBJ-AI jeans and a few others?

About the world tours: What size are you mate? Doesn't hurt to stack tours if you're wearing another size than the 32 and 30 that is currently seizing the globe. That would only bring more activity and liveliness. Personally I love the all the tour stuff and happy to finally contribute to it.  

Heh, well that's the problem, I wear size 31 in most jeans. Of the ones I would be likely to put up for a potential world tour, it would probably be the Roy Big Bro 2 (size 30), the Oni Kabuki Selvedge (size 31), or the Boncoura 66 (size 32). Those each seem sufficiently rare that they would be the most interesting for people to check out.

You're definitely right about the collection building due to seeing and appreciating all the nice points about different jeans. Each pair has something exemplary about them, something I really enjoy every time I put them on. It'll be fun seeing how they all evolve (however slowly).

Full collection:

Ande Whall SR11 Mustang (too slim, but can't bear to let them go)

Kasil Workshop X Earnest Alexander (ditto, my first pair of raw jeans, and first pair of jeans I wore in over a decade)

Flat Head 3012

Momotaro 0605 (18 oz)

Momotaro X Blue Owl Natural Tapered solid black jeans

Ooe Yofukuten OA02XX

Ooe Yofukuten OA1702XX

Stevenson 714 Valencia

Barely worn or brand new:

Boncoura 66

Full Count 1101

Oni 575 (22 oz kabuki selvedge, 527 fit)

Roy Big Bro 2

Strike Gold "Wavy Standard" straight tapered

Sugar Cane Okinawas

Ugghhh, I've let my collection get too out of control lately. Sold off about 5 pairs in the past year or so, but those were the slim cut jeans that had the most wear yet weren't very comfortable. Even worse, I would promptly replace many of them them with new jeans in a roomier cut.

Flat Head SE05BSP got replaced by a pair of 3012s

Ande Whall Black Mustangs were sold, replaced by the Blue Owl X Momotaro 10th collaboration in natural tapered (still want to get some Ande Whall caribous soon, as I imagine those will be close to the perfect fit)

Oni 22 oz Kabuki denim in the skinnier 517 fit were sold after a full winter of wear, then replaced by the same pair in a 527 fit

And that's not getting into all the completely new acquisitions.

It's great getting to build a collection, and I think eventually I'll rotate across a large number of jeans. It'll be nice to have a wide variety of pairs with a few months of wear and different reasons I like each one. But I also want some pairs that are truly beaten up and worn in, and since March this year I've only been wearing my Ooe contest pants and the Stevenson 714s to try and get both to that level. Yet that just means the unworn pile keeps growing, making me feel guiltier about the collection...

It's enough to make me want to do a world tour with one of my rarer, barely-worn pairs. There's just too many happening right now to throw another tour into the mix.

Four months in, Whoo! Things are still going quite slowly with these jeans - they probably only have 2-3 months of effective wear due to alternating them with my Stevensons, and have been washed about four or five times including the initial soak/wash.

Definitely seeing some of that same amazing vertical falling from slub threads here and there on the thighs, plus a generally sweet electric blue color in the more faded areas. I'm just amazed at how dark the rest of the denim has remained. Usually after 4-5 washes, I feel like most denims shift from the super-dark purplish indigo color to more of a dark blue shade.

Also interesting, it feels like this denim has generated less whiskering in the top block than my other jeans at a similar stage. Aside from the spot where my keys and my phone produce bulges in my pockets, and a bit of fading on the button fly, the rest of the top block is almost uniformly dark. Weird, but I guess that matches the worn pair we were shown before the contest - really light and nicely textured denim on the thighs but almost no contrasting whiskers across the top block.

This morning in the sun before work:

Interesting... I wonder if they measure the front and back rise to the bottom of the waistband rather than the top? That would account for their rise measurements appearing to be roughly 1" shorter than what you are saying.

I mostly need top block room in the hips and upper thigh, as opposed to lower thigh / knee, so it sounds like this pair might work, especially when I compare Corlection's measurements for these to the 3012s that I know fit me well. Will give them a try if they ever get size 31 in stock again. Otherwise, I'll just have to keep hoping someone makes an RJB collaboration with a straight tapered fit, which fortunately seems to be the fashion these days.

Those are a beautiful pair of jeans, albeit quite flashy. Been looking for a pair of RJBs that could fit me (generally need a bigger top block and some taper rather than a full straight leg). When I first saw this special edition, the measurements on Corlection's site put me off because the thighs looked too small and the rise looked too low.

When I saw in your review that you said these had a roomy top block, I went back and looked at the website measurements again and compared them to the Flat Head 3012 measurements they have up. Suffice to say, it looks like their thigh measurements are nowhere near the BIG or Self Edge-style measurements for the 3012, so I reckon they could be far off on these jeans too. (if the thighs on these really are only 0.25" smaller than the 3012s, then they should be a pretty excellent slimmer fit for me)

However, is the rise really as low as the measurements on the site suggest? I.e. something like a 9-10" front rise and 13" back rise post soak at a size 30-32?

The front pockets are not notably large or small. Definitely deeper than the short-pocketed brands like Full Count or Momotaro pockets, and big enough to accommodate an iPhone 6 in my size 32 pair with full range of motion. The jeans do seem well-cut to allow easy access to the pockets, too.

Have not found any other western stores aside from Drake's and Alpha Shadows that sell them, only a few Japanese stores with websites of various levels of usability.

Here (London branch): http://www.atelierandrepairs.com/pages/repairs

They have a Union Special too.

Thanks! I won't be in London long enough to get anything tapered by them this time around, but will be staying nearby and I'm interested to check them out.

That 66 model looks surprisingly more tapered than I would have expected. Excellent! Really looking forward to seeing a pair in person soon.

Thanks for the review, always nice to see more info on these harder-to-find brands.

I have quite a few pairs of 50s jeans which are perfect other than the leg opening, so rather than sell them and buy new pairs, I get them tapered. So far I've done this my LVC 37, Sugar Cane Okis and Momo 0901. I'm sure there'll be plenty more to follow.

That's a really good point. How have you been getting them tapered? I never wear the pair of Okis I own, and probably rarely ever will so long as they have a really large leg opening. But at the same time, I don't know if my tailor would do a good job tapering something like hefty denim.

I really like the restaurant Lilla Ego. One of the chefs is from my hometown Oskarshamn. It's a really popular so maybe it's already fully booked. You can reserve a table on their website!

Ahhh! That place looks fantastic but they are closed for the summer (til Aug 16th). Everyone seems to love them, from what I can see online.

... Next time

Good question. How about something typical of Sweden (could be traditional, could be more contemporary)? If I'm in the country, might as well get something unique, that no one else can do as well.

It looks like I'm going to be in Stockholm and London later this month for work. Anyone have recommendations for a nice dinner in Stockholm (it'll be just me, and I've got one night there) or things to see aside from the major tourist spots in London?

Two top food highlights:

The short-order cook at Millie's is a master. Great touch on the griddle, it was seriously impressive watching him churn out 5-6 dishes at a time and keep everything cooking perfectly. Diner food may not be much to look at, but these were the best chilequiles I've had by far.

And uni risotto at Kinjiro... Oof. So rich, so satisfying. A really fantastic meal, and not that bad of a price for the quality of everything.

Then, just a few days after arriving back home, a nice time laying under trees in Central Park made too tempting of a target for some birds. These poor jeans had to get washed yet again.