julian-wolf

Spent a couple evenings this past week tending dye pots of cochineal and red cabbage Both dyes were new to us, so so far it’s just been testing out different fabric treatments & dye additives, with some cheap silk handkerchiefs and some little cotton & linen test strips

Tilley / Tender Co. x3 / Hollows / Russell

Thanks for that. I already have sweaters that I like plenty, though, and anyway they tend to go on the outside of shirts or tees—so I’m not sure that they really play into that conversation.

@AlientoyWorkmachine I’ve really been enjoying them; I’ve probably worn them 3–4 times a week. They’re extremely comfortable, and feel pretty flattering too. They’re already showing significant signs of wear on the thighs, which is a bit of a surprise, having seen how long the woad dyed Type 900 has taken to lighten up. At this rate, I’ll probably be able to post some update photos by the Fall. The Achilles Heel aspect is a turn-off for me, in principle, but I don’t find it to be noticeable on these jeans in practice. The indigo overdye itself is lovely; it’s a little brighter than the woad, and also less consistent. I’ve been leaning into the Tender Co. aesthetic a lot, in general. I have a couple of pairs of non-jeans pants that I wear, but all of my actual jeans have been at least vaguely (and usually not so vaguely) repro style for the last bunch of years, now, so these feel like a pretty big departure from what I’m used to, and from what I think of as my comfort zone. An interesting side effect of wearing these more—or maybe a cause for me being drawn to wear these more—is that, for the first time in years, I’m rarely wearing button up shirts, and am relying in stead on tees and thermals. It’s nice feeling more casual, and it’s definitely more cozy. On the other end of things, I’m noticing my knit tops getting little snags & pulls from everyday life in places where woven shirts wouldn’t. I’ve been speculating with friends as to what middle ground I’ll reach, there.

Tilley / Tender Co. x3 / Tezomeya / Hollows / White’s

It didn’t quite feel fair to describe anyone who regularly buys IH for international MSRP as “normal”… Most of what feel like the nicest shirts on the market, within our little sphere, top out at closer to $250, and many are much less All the same, you’re right that it’s a big jump up from where we were at (or where those of you were at who were always present at the time) 15 years ago

???

Those fit you better than they ever fit me. Very cool pants; congratulations on the score

Tilley / Tender Co. x3 / swag tee / Hollows / Frank’s

That’s a pretty bold expectation, for never even having tried them on… Obviously I hope the best for you—and I’ve seen these jeans fit really well on a wide variety of body types—but it feels like the online measurements say very little, in practice, about how clothes will actually end up fitting at the end of the day, and trying out a new brand for the first time always ends up being a toss up

Finally starting to see a little wear in my Okolehao ranch jacket (by Sun Surf) Really like this thing—worn it a lot over the past 3–4 years

Finally found a Trailblazer in my size + preferred color on Yahoo (paid ¥20k plus shipping) Really really pleased with it so far after a few days

Tilley / Great Lakes / Tender Co. / Hollows / Cane’s / Frank’s

If you think the DD-1004 will be too wide, the 601XXC will be just as much of an issue I’d expect the TCB to be way on the slimmer end for a ‘37 (although I haven’t tried them on personally) Maybe the SC40303, if you can find a pair? Those should be fairly slim…but with a less ordinary repro style fabric

Tilley / Deluxeware / Hollows / rebuilt Cane’s / Frank’s

My partner and I are going to be staying in Italy for 5 weeks this coming April. We're in the phase of starting to iron out concrete plans, and I'd love to get any input from folks who know the country! The rough plan is to stay in Florence for around 10–14 days, then somewhere on the Ligurian coast (maybe Genoa or Levanto) for 20–25 days. At some point we hope to spend 3–4 days in Sicily, as my partner has some ancestry there. Beyond that, we're open to just about anything. Some particular areas where it would be great to get some input: Places that are known for specific crafts, and that still stand up to their reputations. We'd be glad to go out of our way to find good glassware or ceramics or (of course) textiles or leather goods. Other things to do around greater Tuscany? I've spent some time in Florence, but haven't explored the surrounding area much at all. We won't have a car, but are happy taking trains and walking. Restaurant recommendations in Florence, in particular! Really, though, any food related recommendations anywhere. My partner and I met through the farmers' markets here, and are both really passionate about agriculture, fresh food, good cured meats and cheeses, fancy meals, coffee and wine and aperitifs and digestifs…all the things Italy's known for doing well. Thoughts on towns or neighborhoods that would be particularly nice to stay in in Sicily or Liguria? Any cities or regions that would be worth staying in for 2–4 days? We're looking forward to doing a few day trips from our main home bases, but are also open to the idea to doing longer jaunts to any cities that are worth exploring a bit more.

@Mankind on M34-4602151-B That's a 45 rpm sub-label or something, right? Or am I mixing things up

Can confirm Tilley / Sun Surf / Ballpark / Hollows / Cane’s / Frank’s

^ They look like a good size. I def. wouldn’t want them any slimmer through the thighs

JK Superduty S These are just getting to the point of feeling pretty fully broken in, and they’re extremely comfortable. They’re also lighter weight than any of my other PNW boots, probably due to the single piece sole unit and the lack of screws (by my request). Good as hiking boots. Would definitely recommend.

Slow day…so here's a photo dump of some Sassafras action shots. Lots of really good times in these shorts.

@Double 0 Soul Yeah, I'm really pleased with how both are looking. The Sassafras, in particular, have seen quite a bit of very demanding wear, so it's no surprise that they've lightened up a good amount. That said, I'd say most of the fading on both pairs is from sun exposure. See the fly placket in the second photo of the Sassafras shorts, and the inside of the back pocket in the last photo of the Bushmasters—plus the interiors of both—for reference.

In September of last year, I joined an experiment aiming to do ultracold atomic physics with titanium. Traditionally, most ultracold experiments use elements from the first and second groups of the periodic table, which are relatively easy candidates for laser trapping and cooling due to their simple electron structure. In certain contexts, this same simplicity limits the types of interactions that can be engineered in the quantum systems that we build, which makes it appealing to look towards preparing ultracold samples of transition metals. This involves some added complication, and the experiment that I recently joined has been actively working towards generating a magneto-optical trap (MOT) of titanium for around 5 years, now. A MOT amounts to a cold (but not yet quantum-degenerate) dilute gas of atoms at a temperature of around 1 mK, and is the first step in most experiments involving ultracold atoms or molecules. As a point of reference, outer space has a temperature of 2.7 K, around 1000 times hotter. Once a cloud of a few hundreds of thousands of atoms is trapped in a MOT, they can be handed off to other more versatile traps and used toward any number of science goals—but most experiments involve this as a first step. In mid-October, we finally observed the world’s first MOT of titanium. This involves two colors of lasers—one at a wavelength of 391 nm, which is invisible to the human eye, and one at 498 nm, which is a beautiful teal color. It's been a pleasure working with this color of light, both from a technical and from an aesthetic perspective, and it's made the pictures very fun to show off. The trapped atoms themselves are the little teal dot in the first and last photos. For these photos, only around 1000 atoms were present, but they were still visible to the naked eye—which is really cool to me.

Great Lakes / Bubo also seems to have some great options, although I haven’t explored them much. I’d really like to try the PCT shorts, in particular, if they re-release them in another canvas. My one pair are the Bushmaster shorts in a very tightly woven light cotton canvass, and they’re the only poorly thought out / executed thing that I’ve ever had from Freewheelers. The bar tacking (of which there’s quite a bit) is done at high density and with thick thread, which seems to have punched right through the finely woven fabric, weakening it significantly right at all the points of stress. Incidentally, I recently got a pair of shorts from Sassafras (don’t remember the model number) that seem to be made from the exact same fabric, and that seem to have the same issue. It’s possible that this specific fabric is just way more susceptible than expected to this sort of thing, but it still seems like a pretty major manufacturing & QC oversight. Anyway, I have a sort of love / hate relationship with the Bushmaster shorts, as they really are well-designed and have aged beautifully in the short time that I’ve been wearing them. It’ll be a shame when they inevitably give out.

I've got a slew of shorts at this point, but Sassafras are generally my favorite. Here's my most-worn pair, the SF10484. They've held up incredibly well, and I’m really pleased with how the fabric’s aged. (Wet spots on the back are just from the table where I took the photos.)