ColonelAngus

It's cool to compliment a man on his shirt or shoes such as where he got it from, etc. but it's too weird to compliment another man on his jeans (IMO). They can take it that you're hitting on them or looking at more than their "jeans", similar to how you would compliment a woman on her jeans to focus on her body.

If another man complimented me on my jeans unless he's my tailor or the salesman selling me the jeans, I probably would be weirded out. I love denim as much as the next person but I'm not complimenting a man on his denim.

That's just my opinion though.

I disagree. I think it depends on how your comment comes off. If you came up to a guy and said, 'hey, are those PBJ's?' he might answer you and not be weirded out. The only time I might comment on anyone's jeans is if I recognize the arcs but that's about it. TSG, PBJ, IH, Full Count all have distinct arcs that only denim nerds would know.

Didn't mean to open a can of worms, but it's good to see we all feel strongly about it one way or another. At the end of the day, it's truly a niche within a niche within a niche, and I personally never even see extreme denim heads, sufu types, or IG posters with frequency, and I live in a big city. So, people will continue to wear whatever they wear and for whatever reasons, and we'll continue to do the same within variations of each other. My only hope is that we continue to push each other to learn and explore more because this "hobby" wouldn't be any more interesting if we all flatlined and stayed the course. 

I think it's good to talk about stuff like this. Being an obsessive denim enthusiast tends to bring out the nitpicker in us all. I live in a relatively big city as well and hardly ever see anyone wearing the brands we're talking about. But then again, I don't get out much so that has a lot to do with it. If I saw someone wearing a brand I like I might actually be inclined to say something. it's too easy to single out IG users and make criticisms.

Coming back to SuFu after being away for a few years, this seems true to me.

A genuine question: Is it better to be "hip" and popular, or pedantic and weird, when it comes to clothes? I am not sure one is more authentic than the other, it is only choice and perspective, IMO.

I think most people would consider wearing 1940s reproduction clothing to be weird. Same applies to 21 oz jeans. Or not washing your pants every week.

If we start judging others based on choice in clothes or approach towards fashion, or even how they use social media, then I don't think we are being very authentic people by any measure.

Aren't we supposed to be rugged and hard-working men in workwear, with a free and easy attitude?

that's it exactly. as tiring as it may be to see guys wearing the same thing we have to remember that it's a 'look' and something a lot of people relate to. It could be a matter of comfort or simply enjoying higher quality clothing that will last longer. we all get fatigued with this look but I think when you're following 100 or more denim enthusiasts on IG it's kinda hard not to experience denim overload. I'd rather see some dude wearing selvedge jeans because he's discovered a better alternative to crappy mall brands than seeing a guy who's trying to be a Gap model and doesn't know sh*t from shynola. I don't think it's particularly useful either when we treat raw denim (or whatever) as some exclusive club. From my experience I rarely see anyone wearing selvedge/raw denim, if at all. We're an incredibly small minority, so even though IG is inundated with raw denim posts we have to remember that these are people from around the globe and not some podunk town in the middle of nowhere.

one minor pet peeve of mine regarding IG is when someone makes a point to post pics of brands that are US made and then is seeing wearing a pair of Grant Stone/Made in China/Alden knock offs. I get it, GS is a cheaper alternative to Alden but just barely. I thought the whole point for some of these guys who are into heritage brands was to promote American companies that they like who make stuff here as opposed to being made from the tears of 10 yo children.

I wonder if there are IG users that turn brands down? If you're a denim nerd and wear stuff like IH, PBJ, The Strike Gold, etc, and some shitty brand like Civilianaire comes along and says, 'hey, we'll pay you $$$ and send you free jeans if you feature us on you IG,' what would you do? I don't think I could feature a brand if I wasn't genuinely interested in their stuff

I try not to hate on RgT, I have several of their pieces, but I don't get the love on IG.  I'm moving on from them as a brand, there are better stuff out there regarding price, fit and quality.  

I own 1 piece from RgT and honestly have not had any desire to buy anything else from them aside from a pair of their jeans. At this point I have more denim than I need so I'm good for years to come. Despite my aversion to some of their stuff I try not to hate on them either. I also don't get the brand fanatacism, but again, those simply boil down to personal tastes and who the hell am I to question what brand someone chooses to wear?

The slim/tight jeans look with Red Wings is really widespread on Instagram but there seems to be a shift from RGT to Shockoe Atelier lately. At least from the guys I follow. Although I am also not sure how much of those guys with 10K+ followers are sponsored by some brands.

i've noticed too the shift from RgT to Shockoe Atelier and even Katobrand, often from those IG users with 10K followers.

fwiw, I think the denim/boots/flannel look only represents a small microcosm of the fashion world, one which I happen to like. Yes, I do sometimes get fatigued seeing the same guys wearing nothing but RgT but likewise, there are those who are going to be brand loyal for whatever reason. what i'm aware of more than anything is that IG users are proud to wear US made/Japanese made/quality hand-made goods and that's the takeaway for me. I don't think any of them are intentionally trying to look like everyone else but are saying to the world, 'hey, I care about the companies I spend my money with and you should too."

take my comment with a grain of salt, especially since I know nothing about women's fashion, but to my eye heels look better with tapered jeans. But, I think heels could work in your case....guess it depends on what you're aiming for.

I'm guessing this 'one-man makes pants' type of operation is difficult to break even, and the income is probably not as steady as other lines of work.

I haven't yet owned a pair of Ande's jeans. Looks like, sadly, I never will.

I agree that it's probably very difficult to run a one man brand, especially if you're overseas and don't have a large distribution network, if at all. If Ande's jeans were in stores he'd probably do ok, but i'm speculating here. I'm still kicking myself for not buying a pair when I had the chance, but my finances wouldn't allow it.

Hope to see the Ande Whall brand come back one day!

 

Good luck with your new employment Ande!

I hope so too, that is of course assuming he doesn't sell off his sewing equipment. It'd be nice if he still offered to sell his jeans on the side and continue with the brand in some capacity. who knows? maybe he just needs a break from the denim game.

Already gone. Not big into black denim anyway. Guess it wasnt meant to be

I think they look good on you. I've never been able to buy jeans that are smaller than my waist size with the hopes that I can squeeze into them. I tried it once and it was a painful experience just trying to get the button fly fastened.

normally i'm against Kickstarter denim brands, but I wonder if Ande could benefit from a Kickstarter page to boost sales and get more visibility? It's a bummer to hear he's gonna close up shop because Ande's jeans are one of the few pairs i've been meaning to check out as funds permit

I have a pair of 1109's that hardly get any wear. Odd fit for sure.

Yea i am trying to return it and get a smaller size. Hopefully they will accept a return and/or exchange. Really bummed out about it. 

the sleeves, shoulders and chest all look too big. what size did you get?

would a hot soak/wash help with shrinkage? i'm assuming the Geishas are sanforized, correct?

Hate this hipster japanese brandarketinf shit just hate it

For someone who hates this brand you sure do spend a lot of time in this thread. I think you're secretly trying to tell us you love this brand

Again, maybe i just don't get it, but i think I'd be bummed if my company was being shittalked 24/7. And if I was interested in buying jeans, hearing a brand shittalked would make me NOT want to buy them. 

 

Publicity is good if it's neutral or positive

But for every person that hates Tanuki there's another that either likes or is interested in the brand. All of the dislike for Tanuki stems from their marketing, not the quality of the jeans themselves. I have no desire to buy a pair of their jeans because of the many options available to me, but I don't dislike their brand because of how they portray themselves either.every brand in existence has a 'story'....good or bad.

I find it interesting that you guys keep complaining about the marketing claims but still fall for it. The fact that you wanna know who's behind the brand means their stunt just worked. You thought about the brand more than you did about 100 other denim brands that launched ever since. By now we can agree that their jeans are solid and we still talk about it. So to sum up, that's good marketing because you create awareness and attention - which is pure gold in marketing terms - for the brand. Even Ed's delusional ranting about fucking mothers, Tanuki jeans and people disagreeing with him in general is good for the brand. And let the record show: I like their cuts and fabrics but couldn't care less who's behind it all.

Agreed. The haters that hate this brand hate it so much they keep revisiting this thread to bring up how much they hate Tanuki. You can't buy this kinda publicity

that was a picture of the geishas (with 20 wears and no washes yet); not sure about Baldwin Ten but I looked it up and it says those are japanese denim too.  very different weight though (16oz geishas vs. 10oz baldwin ten) so maybe it's a weight thing; being more active in the geishas because I feel like they are heavy enough to take it

I'm wondering if it has to do with the weave as well. I have a pair of 12.5oz Gustin Cone Mills denim that faded incredibly fast and then a pair of 14.5oz N&F Left Hand Twill that took forever just to see fades. I'm currently wearing a pair of 14.5oz Leon Denim which is made from low tension denim from Collect Mills and these are proving to be tough faders. I'm already over a month in and the only fades I can see is in the rear, but just barely.

I feel like my geishas have faded just as much in 20 days as the Baldwin Tens did in 8 months it is very satisfying to watch.

 

 

Are your Baldwins made from Cone Mills Denim? I think it's interesting that Cone denim fades so fast, whereas, other denim is not.

PBJ deep indigo type 2

3sixteen blue crosscut flannel

Gustin American Standards

Leon Denim

Elko flannel from Edgevale

fwiw, I have the 3sixteen ST-140x brown weft 17oz denim and think they look pretty cool.

What’s your guys take on colored weft?

 

I have to admit I’m not a fan. I prefer the standard (bleached) white weft. I also like the natural cream color or light brown tone of unbleached cotton but heavily dyed weft yarns are not to my liking.

 

Indigo x indigo or indigo x black still seem to be very in vogue with brands and many of the more modern brands offer them (see Tanuki as an example which as a relative young brand also have an indigo x indigo denim already in their line-up).

I think colored wefts are ok but it depends on the color. I like what i've seen from N&F and especially dig PBJ's cobalt weft denim, but yeah, the purple face denim is uglier than sh*t. Not for them but not against them either.