VivaMarlon

Thanks guys! Think I'm gonna take them to Railcar, seems like most people here have had positive experiences with them and they're somewhat local for me.

How was it, d-rew? Turnout?

 I did knee down.

Thanks! Considering doing the same.

I know some of you have had your 710s tapered, I have never had a pair of jeans tapered before and I'm sure every pair and person is different.  To those of you that have though, did you have the entire leg tapered or just from the knee (or another point) down?  I know these are supposed to naturally taper down, but I have short legs so I still get a relatively wide leg opening.

Any tips on getting jeans tapered? Looking to get them done somewhere locally (LA area), anyone have good/bad experiences to share, maybe things to stay away from?

Ray Ban

POS shirt

Samurai 710xx

Vans

These look amazing, tapered I'm guessing?

Welp looks like I am in fact moving to Orange County.  I'm chasing a dream I had since I was in middle/high school and accepted employment at Blizzard as a software developer.  Moving out in August.  I guess on the plus side I'll be close'ish to SELA but the downside is cost of living is so high I won't be able to afford to go

Congratulations man! Funny you mention it as I have a friend from Columbus who is also trying to relocate to Southern California, trying to visit her there before she moves and road trip to Chicago cause I've never been to the Midwest. Cost of living in Southern California is definitely higher than that of Ohio, but I think you'll find that it's more affordable several other major metro areas throughout the country, even outside of California.  Wish you the best in your move.

Here's something many in this thread will be interested in.. there is a film coming out, one about Japanese denim and its makers.

World premiere is in San Francisco on August 6th at the Castro Theater: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castro_Theatre

The film is called Weaving Shibusa, trailer will be ready in a week or so.  

Here are the credits to get you hot and bothered:

 

Produced, directed, edited by Devin Leisher

 

Camera and production by Devin Leisher, Erik Motta, and Mehdi ahmadi

 

Executive Producers Scott rodgers, Scott fletcher, Kiya babzani

 

Produced by Kiya babzani, Kevin Steinberger, Yuri matsuoka, Gordon Hefner 

 

Soundtrack by Young Lee

 

Addition interpretation by Kevin Steinberger and Yuri matsuoka

 

Translation by Aki takahashi

 

Featuring

Mikiharu Tsujita (fullcount)

Hisao Manabe (Japan blue)

Atsusuke tagaya (stevenson)

Atsushi Matsushima (clutch, lightning)

Yutaka Fujihara (BerBerJin, fake alpha)

Kazuhiko hanzawa (Marvin's vintage)

Masayoshi Kobayashi (flat head)

Hajime inoue (TCB)

Shinichi Haraki (iron heart)

Etsuko Satou (shinya mills)

Wow, had been looking for information on this recently cause I hadn't seen any updates for a while.  Would like to be able to plan a trip to San Francisco around it but otherwise, hope it comes to LA.

I hadn't heard of Civilianaire but went to their website to see what it was about. Kinda silly that all their selvage denim is valued at $220 but their price is below $60.  Seems they're using that as a selling point as anyone with a brain will know that a brand whose products are actually worth that much would never discount them 75%+, unless I got lucky and just happened to stumble upon the website on a day when they're having some insane sale.

Thanks for all the help guys! I guess I sort of knew that was issue, just want to figure out a way to maybe relax the fabric so it isn't so pronounced. Like I said, it doesn't get much wear in the area since there's not pulling/bending in the shin. Hope it kinda just goes away with more wear but otherwise sounds like that's just how it's gonna be. Thanks again!

I used to not like button fly, it just seemed tedious, but on a nice, broken in pair, the buttons just slide right in.  Buttons are a pain when first wearing a new pair, I've definitely had to use various items to try and stretch the holes about a bit.  No real reason but I just try to stick with button flys now.

You can probably tell from image but it's what I've seen called a chainstitch cuff(?) I thought that was the case too but it seems to happen even when I've tried a single cuff.  Maybe just something I'll have to live with.

Without seeing it, I'm willing to bet the inseam is too long and the excess fabric is bunching up.  Recuff them to a shorter length and see if that fixes it.  

By that do you mean a bigger/wider cuff? I don't think that's the issue cause they're already cuffed relatively high. They're basically at my ankles, don't touch my feet/shoes when I wear low top Vans for example.  I'll try and take a picture of it to explain.

The taper may be too aggressive.

This seems more likely, even though I wouldn't necessarily say it's an aggressive taper.

Not so much about baby-ing my jeans, just kinda don't like how it looks.

This is what I mean, I know it's an odd thing to care about, but it makes for an awkward fit.

This may be a silly question but does anyone have any experience with using a fabric steamer on heavy denim (Samurai 710 if matters).  I'm getting some awkward bunching above the cuff of my jeans around the shin area and I'm wondering if steam will maybe smooth that out. That area seems more rigid than any other part of the jean, I imagine because there's less wear and no bending/pulling in that area.  If anyone can offer any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.  Hope I explained that in a way that makes sense.

Haris, you look straight out of the Sandlot which is a look I hope you're going for cause I'm into it.

Denimio only recently (December, I believe) started giving customers the option of filling out their own shipping form, the two times I ordered from them before that new service, I didn't ask and they didn't offer to "undervalue" my order to go through customs, neither of the two times was I charged taxes/fees/etc. from customs.  I heard of very few people who ordered from Denimio and got hit with customs charges, what that says to me is that it isn't necessarily on them that those orders weren't being met with additional taxes. 

Looking to get Strike Gold 3109 within the next few months, want to give my Samurais a bit more wear before I dive into another pair.  At some point would like to get a pair of Iron Hearts too.

Thank again for all the help, I got a good amount of shrinkage and minimal indigo loss.  Didn't get any weird creases or streaks either. The fit overall is much better, though in some places looks a little warped/shapeless, I think/hope that goes away with wear.

Honeycomb creases basically disappeared but they were minimal even after 6 months of moderate wear, couldn't really explain that.  Even the creases where I had cuffed the hem are gone and as silly as it sounds, I struggle with making a clean cuff.  Glad I gave these a hot wash, definitely happier with the way they fit now.

Thanks for all your advice everyone! I don't think my washer has an Eco option, but I'll be sure to set the soil and load size settings to high and just turn off the spin setting. Going back in this thread I found that many people were saying that Samurai continue to shrink more than others even after a soak or two so I figured I'd give it a try.

Not really an update but just wanted to say that of all the experiences I've had at Self Edge LA, today was just above and beyond.  That's not to say that the other times haven't been great, but the guy who helped me out today (didn't get his name) was incredibly helpful and friendly.  I wasn't/am not planning on purchasing another pair for a few months as I've got a pair I'm working on right now, but I happened to be down the street from the store and wanted to pop in to check out the pair I've been eyeing (SG 3109).  The guy (I'm really sorry if you're a poster on here) was very knowledgeable about the sizing on the pair I was interested in and not only brought me the pair I asked for but also a size larger knowing they ran a little smaller in the hips/waist.  He also brought me a pair of the 5105 cause I expressed interest in the 3105 which wasn't in stock.  He was able to answer all my questions as far as what to expect regarding shrinkage, etc. I felt bad that in the end I didn't purchase the jeans but I can say with absolute confidence that I will be buying my next pair from Self Edge LA.

If anyone's wondering, I loved the 3109 and it will be the next pair I purchase.

Great pair, d-rew! Fading looks very uniform if I that makes sense.  Save for the pocket items, very gradual too.

Wasn't sure if this would go in the small questions thread or here cause it can be a Samurai specific question. I was reading the Samurai fit guide and it said that the best way to get the shrinkage out is through a hot wash, but it also states that washing will cause unwanted creases.  The pair in question is the s710xx, I'd like to get the most amount of shrinkage out of them as I can, but definitely not at the risk of unwanted creasing.  Can anyone with experience give me some pointers?  Before I get the obligatory "don't baby your jeans, they're supposed to be worn hard," I understand that, but would just prefer not to have a pair of jeans with large streaks across them.

El Centro in El Salvador has maadddd fakes it's crazy. Where you from fam?

I'm from and have lived in Southern California all my life, but my mom and dad are from El Salvador and Guatemala, I've visited a few times and have had family visit as well.

That's very interesting! Relating to what Kiya said, about there being fakes of every brand, I've been to Central America and have family there and have actually seen fakes of American brands generally thought to be of low quality and often low cost (Aero, American Eagle, etc.) I imagine there it has a lot to do with the perception of what's popular or "held in high esteem" in America.

Whenever I've had family members visit from Central America, they've been shocked at the low price tags on these items, more so that they are authentic.

Just to give an example from the other end of the spectrum.

Thanks! I haven't been to the store in a while, possibly December when I had the aforementioned Samurais chain stitched, but I can't wait to come in and buy a new pair!

That actually is the correct wording from the old patch from about ten years ago.

 

There's a 95% chance that those were sold in Thailand, where there's a huge market for FH. Maybe also Indonesia.

Just a broader question regarding something I've always been curious about, maybe someone can give some insight into.  Why is Southeast Asia (seemingly) such a strong market for these niche type products?  Not only fakes as are being discussed here, but authentic Japanese brands seem to do well. The reason I ask is because this is also the case when it comes to vintage band t shirts, pretty often when I see a really rare band t-shirt on eBay or other sites, the seller is located in Malaysia.