Frost

Best thread on SuFu.

Did you just reference Barney's Version? Ha, I must be dreaming... Good taste as always, volvo!

Interesting point dwilson, but I would argue that if that was their plan, it didn't really work. I think their "Summer Outfit/Fall Outfit" contests on instagram are much more successful in advertising different brands, especially considering that they also use some of the pictures in their actual store. I think these created a lot more awareness than the PBJ contest.

 

The PBJ contest certainly achieved an initial buzz, and because the jeans were in a popular fabric and cut, they managed to sell a lot of pairs. In that aspect, it certainly was succesful. I don't think it was in other aspects, and certainly wasn't as enjoyable for the community/participants as it could have been.

 

But enough about PBJ, this is the Samurai thread. We can take it over to the general thread if you guys want to discuss it more.

I don’t really get this reasoning.

 

Only if they say they have to sell 200+ jeans to make enough profit to warrant a good price for the winners. Otherwise the best contests I saw usually had around 30 contestants (except the old Warehouse 660 contest). From the PBJ contest you hardly noticed much (at least me). On reddit are some contestants and the main platform was on Denimio? This way only the people involved get to know what’s happening. Personally, I prefer a contest on a free forum like Sufu or the like where you can fallow the evolution of the jeans and the journey of each contestant continuously in the same thread.

 

In the end they produced 150 jeans and the Geisha denim is barely documented. It’s like a whole new denim to most people. In a popular cut, perfect conditions for a great contest. But it’s Denimio’s decision and if they don’t want this it’s their choice.

 

I really think the PBJ contest could have been so much better. You only ocassionally saw updates of the jeans pop up on different sites (here, reddit, etc.). Almost NO ONE posted regular updates on the dedicated Denimio page for it. I think almost no one regularly checked the pictures there, there was no great way to talk about them, and again, no one participated. When it started out, I had planned to do weekly updates, but quickly fell back to doing only monthly. And even then, I don't think there were many people other than me doing that.

 

If they hadn't done a couple of mini-challenges along the way, I think there would have been even less pictures. As it is, the bulk of the pictures came during the final week when we were asked to submit our final pictures. I think two out of three finalists only uploaded about 20 pictures or so (10 of which were the final update). I'm NOT trying to say that they didn't deserve to win, I just thought it made it seem kinda pointless that I did regular updates, because I was expecting the contest to be more like the contests over here. I participated because of the community feeling a contest (usually) provides and not because they offered great prizes (I didn't think I would win, I don't fade fast), so I was kinda disappointed how the whole thing played out.

 

I agree that the Geisha would have been an interesting contest and I'm sure Denimio could have managed some good prizes. The PBJ contest only got the grand prize of a trip to Japan because it reached more than 200 participants, otherwise it would have just been gift cards etc., but even that would be perfectly okay in my book.

 

So yeah, I don't see why they wouldn't do one with the Geisha (except if they have another contest planned already), but even then, I'd think a small SUFU contest would see much more participation than a big Denimio contest. Just my two cents.

SPOILER:

 

The buttons are one of my favorite details, the black paint will slowly chip away...

Yeah, that's probably the reason, but it still seems fishy to me.

 

I mean, isn't it the shop's responsibility to correctly mark the packaging for international shipments? Given the customer full control over that seems very weird (you can actually describe the item, determine value, etc.) and I don't think it would fly when someone at customs called up Denimio and they simply replied "Well, we let our customers write whatever they want on the invoice..."

Sizing difficulties aside, I agree with what some people said already - the shirt is really missing an additional button IMO.

Yeah, if you hate a brand, why would a collab change that? Even IF the collab is done to 90% by another brand, why should I throw money at a brand I don't like? It makes a lot more sense to buy the other brand directly. Hence why bradl's comment is funny and makes sense.

So, you guys are saying that I SHOULD start that alcohol thread..

That is an absolutely fantastic idea for a gin calendar. So far, I had only seen the "standard" ones, with a different Gin (or whatever drink you like) in each door. Slowly adding the different botanicals should be a great experience and makes me want one.

 

With seeing all this gin and remembering MaxPower's whisky cabinet, maybe we should start a liquor thread...

I can still get excited about denim, but I am a lot more picky nowadays when it comes to clothing. When I started out, everything seemed great and exciting, but now there are specific asthetics and styles that I prefer, which seems like a natural evolution to me.

 

I also love a lot of other stuff that wouldn't be discussed here and would fit more on the Stylezeitgeist forums, but I currently don't have enough cash to buy fancy designer stuff anyways!

 

So, yes, still interested in denim, but I can feel my interests diverging and drawing me to other places, which is totally fine.

 

As for music, here's my current top 3 bands:

 

 

Fuck it, non-noisy:

Fully agreed. I think there are several factors that contribute to the success of TCB and the loyalty the brand experiences from many users around here.

 

1) It's a quality product.

2) You deal with Inoue directly.

3) He makes an afford to accomodate his customers (altering length / making adjustments).

4) He seems to have a pretty specific vision.

5) The brand is quirky (cats!) but not as "in your face" as SDA for example.

6) Customers are regularly featured on his blog, which kinda fosters a "we are in this together" mentality.

 

I'm sure there are several more reasons, but I think these are some that underline why TCB has such a following. I mean, I don't even own any TCB pieces (although I have handled them and they are great), but I still feel extremely sympathetic towards the brand and the TCB threads here are probably the topics I check the most.

 

Back to the topic of brand loyalty:

I wouldn't say I am loyal in the sense that I am exclusively buying ONE brand in particular, but when I have a good experience with a brand I of course lean towards buying from them again.

 

There are a couple of brands though that I really love and from which every release at least peaks my interest or makes me want to throw money after them. These would be PBJ, Eternal, and Tricker's.

^I'm sure you'll love them Broark. The fabric is really something else, and Indigo/Indigo looks great. Hell, I've been wearing mine non-stop for a whole year and it's still a tough decision every morning whether I'll put on the PBJ or my new Denime...

Update on my 66XX after a bit more than a month. I haven't been wearing them consistently, having occassionally rotated them with my PBJ. If I had to guess, I'd say three? weeks of actual wear. There's not much to see, but I still thought you guys might be interested in some pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't have a good camera, but you can still see the hairiness and the lovely, different shades of blue, in the close-ups...

That toe box is absolutely perfect Volvo! The shoes look freaking great. Soon Inoue-san will not only talk about your beard, but your stylish shoes as well.

 

Eternal

LVC

PBJ XX-012

Converse Jack Purcell

 

Too lazy to cuff today..

 

Momotaro

Gitman Vintage

Denime 66XX

Tricker's

i got the seamen jumper and the tbc 50 jeans today.  the jumper is amazing!  feels like i am wearing a smoking jacket.  all i need now is a glass of whiskey and a cigar.  the buttons on this jacket is something else!     

 

Well, get on it man, we want some stylish fit pics of everything TCB...

 

All you guys with your TCB suits are making me jealous!

Man, now I want a PBJ shirt. Both the polo and the western look pretty amazing.

 

Chubacca: Maybe patching the elbows with a different denim could look cool? Dunno though.

^^ I don't know how tall you are/how much length you need, but my Barns Outfitters Loopwheel Hoodie is plenty long for me (175cm, 60kg, size M).

hey!

 

i am looking for a light 10-14 oz. selvedge overall/bib, anyone knows about a decent one?

 

i have seen the TCB version, and i don't like the denim, reminds me of Lee's jelted denim, or flat USN denim.

i know that Pike Brothers do a BIB, but I'd rather die than buy their stuff.

Iron Heart once did a 21 oz version, its gone, would be too heavy anyway.

 

thanks ahead!

 

Hey Nemo, I know it's a bit late but I just saw that KAPITAL offers a 12oz overall. So if you're still looking you might want to check it out.

The William Gibson MA-1 is one of my absolute favorite pieces. Maybe some day I'll have enough cash to spare to justify buying it.

 

YMC

Denime 66XX

Tricker's

^When I went to my local store a lot of people asked me if I had hemmed my Denime too short because I'm not cuffing them anymore. They immediately thought I made a mistake instead of thinking that I didn't want to cuff and "show off" the selvedge anymore. So the vanity and trend aspect is still going strong at the moment I think.

I'm gonna jump back a bit to the discussion of brand identity, experimentations and banner denims. 

 

I don't really care which road a brand takes, I can thoroughly enjoy and geek out about special releases but I also like the idea of a backbone that is the company's pride and joy. What I think is important is that brands have a clear vision of who they are, what they stand for, want to produce and do just that no matter what.

 

We've seen bad examples of wavering brands in the denim business too but I relate it even more to the music festival scene in Sweden. It basically died for a while because the festivals lost touch of their identity and all went to compete with the same kind of bands, same kind of set-up and pricing. Some of the festivals that died are making comebacks now, obviously downscaled A LOT, but with a huge focus on its core and idea that made them great to begin with. 

 

The denim business needs diversity but most of all it needs brands that stand firm in their belief. That's the kind of brands that will continue to have their support and survive whether we're past the denim peak or not. 

 

Fascinating point Bobbo. Brands (which I'll use as a term to include the festivals as well) are always torn between staying true to their core and evolving to attract new customers. It's a hard task, because every change obviously includes the possibility of diluting the waters enough to scare the core people away People are relucant to change, always yearning for "the good old times", and are extremely posessive of things lke that. They feel like their brand has betrayed them personally if any change happens that they don't like.

 

And I think this is even more dangerous in the field of raw denim, especially many brands that we here are interested in. As you say "the business needs diversity but most of all it needs brands that stand firm in their belief". I think we feel so strongly about this because our interest in denim is deeply rooted in the "good old times" - we want denim that looks like it's from the 50's, we want the vintage details, the vintage cuts. We are firm believers in this and ready to crucify a brand that's not up to our standard.

 

So for a brand to stay popular with the core audience, it has to stay true to it's core ideals and the history of denim. It is no coincidence that MOMOTARO has two different brands as well - Japan Blue & Soullive. These two are much more experimental than Momotaro. Of course, on some level we know that they are the same company, but it's still a good idea to keep the brand images seperate because it keeps from dilutng the core idea of the original brand. If you say you don't like Japan Blue for their modernized cuts or whatever, you can still feel comfortable to buy Momotaro. Or compare TFH detailing with RJB etc. Hell, check the Denime thread when it comes to brand loyalty. Didn't b_F himself say that Denime was now a "soulless company"? Yet he absolutely loves the products from the Shins era etc. and is a big fan of that stuff. For him, Denime have strayed too far from their original vision. (b_F: If you're reading this - this is not meant as a criticism, it was just an interesting example that popped into my head.)

 

And this is a core problem for our hobby: Many of these brands are severly limited by this, I think. It's very hard to walk the line between innovation and heritage, especially in a "genre" that is so fixated on the heritage part.