AlientoyWorkmachine

been awhile. these warehouse (1003xx 1946) haven't been out much lately but the freewheelers are getting a wash. SC blanket lined jacket.

It’s the end of the road as far as I’m concerned. It’s not necessarily obvious at first but it becomes so over time.

That cut was awful - they fit me like a glove from top to bottom. Not much relaxed about it. First pair of jeans I ever got from overseas - and the pair that inspired me to look to repro denim for better patterning.

I haven't been for some time now - not since a year after the earthquake, but the city I've spent the most time in outside of the U.S. has been Christchurch - 9 months over two visits. It still feels like it would be another home of mine in a sense. The south island is an amazing place. I'm in a smaller (well, more medium sized) town now too and much prefer it to the big cities. Priorities change.

I really love this way of thinking. I keep trying to set rules for myself that I think are too strict for practical life - like buy nothing all year - but this seems a little more attainable. I actually used to follow something closer to your rules more. My first pair (and second, and third) pairs of good jeans were Raleigh Denim, when I lived near the shop and met the owners and the producers multiple times. The problem is they started asking for stupid(er) sums of money, the cuts were stuck in 2010, and the brand, let's say, veered from my interests. Once they got past $300 before the crazy inflation hit, and the products didn't have the charm or the pattern of the Japanese makers I couldn't do it. My first pair (and second) pairs of good boots were Oak Street (still kicking, in good shape) because I met Nick (Horween) and toured the Horween Tannery in Chicago when I used to work in the city as a photographer for a good while. Didn't meet the boot makers but met the leather tanners and the bootmakers being in New England seemed pretty good. After the tour I decided to spent the money on boots - the most by far I'd ever thrown down for an article of clothing, only due to a good year (freelance is all over the place). Now living in Michigan my only option would really be Detroit Denim. I wish them well, but I don't love what they're doing. This past year was my worst in a long time in terms of purchases but I'm letting that go because the year began under incredibly trying circumstances and it was better than hitting the bottle, or any other number of ways people cope with traumatic stuff. The upside is that I have no good reason to buy really anything any time soon - other than business or formalwear - which I rarely need and do not at all enjoy. Maybe I'll give something like this a spin for 2024.

Usually with OA the rule is to size up 2 from normal, not one. I tend to be between 29-30 depending on brand and cut and my OA's (01) in 31 shrunk to pretty snug in the waist (but stretched out easy) but great everywhere else. I took a 32 with the 03's for a (hopefully) looser, slightly oversized fit. My guess is the waist will shrink but barely stretch back out due to lack of tension on it - but I don't think I'll see them for a few months to know. This is to say, I'm in a similar spot where I think 2 diff sizes will work for me.

Sure - but one does not pay for that. I never said cultural value doesn't exist - only that as an "intangible" it is a standing to divorce actual product from cost of production when coming up with msrp. It's no different than what the luxury brands - that often offer an inferior product at three to five (or more) times the price of some retailers referenced on this forum - trade on.

"Cultural value" is the biggest way any brand tries to mark up the shit out of their products. I won't say it's not actual value, but I will say it has no correlation to the cost of labor, materials, and logistics. It's horseshit when factored into msrp. That doesn't mean the Aldens are objectively overpriced - that's in the eye of the buyer - but if there is similar labor, materials etc in another shoe then you can figure Alden is likely goosing their msrp by more and trading on their name, and it's up to an individual if they want to pay the extra if the last is really perfect for them, or if they really want the name or whatever. It's why LVC is such a ripoff imo, unless, for whatever reason, as some have argued, the cut is just magic for you when nothing else is. The leather itself on the pair reviewed is enough to turn me off - I'm not much of a boot guy but I hate that sort of finish and it really does look cheap imo.

Never heard of it, but sans judgements, the facts in that video are interesting, and definitely don't make me regret never purchasing Alden. Not that I will ever spend that much on any shoe anyways. Where do you think the bias lies?

Get it darned yea? Still plenty of life there.

That sort of echoes something I've tried to be more deliberate about over time. Most of my career I've really lived pretty simply and I wouldn't have dreamed of spending $200 on jeans. Not before I'd saved for retirement, paid loans, rent, and made sure I was eating well first. There was more, but this was not a priority. I'm still certainly motivated by sales by I try not to be, and have been better at it the past few years. It's better to have one piece you really like than a bunch you're meh on. But also, on some level, the idea of loving a certain piece is a little silly, because you can learn to love them. Some pieces I have were sale pieces I felt meh about and over time they really grew on me. Nothing, or very little, is perfect. The more you know about what's out there, the less satisfied you are with what you have, too. I have better clothes than I'd ever dreamed of but very few of the pieces have reached the level of something that is really one of my favorite articles I've had. Some are getting there, with time, but I only got my first pair of nice jeans in 2016. When I was on less money my wardrobe was mostly stuff I felt "meh" about because that was all I really knew, it was affordable, and if I saved I was saving for travel, or other sorts of things, and it was totally fine. If clothes never go on sale we're gonna have to start making sure minimum wage is a living wage, otherwise we're taking an ideological stance that I think disproportionately affects the less well off, like many of these things often do. They sound good in theory but only work in a markedly remade society, imo. And I don't think that society is feasible for various reasons.

Thanks. I guess I'll have to do the work and go look at measurements to make sure. I actually prefer a taper. I'm a 40"ish chest to a 30"ish waist, so anything that works better with that is fine by me. It's more the length that becomes the issue.

I'm not a big guy by any stretch but my proportions are not as typical, and it's always seemed to me that TFH shirts would just be unwearable - I need the sleeve and body length of a small/medium and the chest/shoulders of a typical large. It's one reason I favor jumpers/sweatshirts, and can sometimes get by with boxy mediums for jackets if I deal with somewhat snug chest and shoulders but the cut of TFH look to be just look impossible for me - like I'd need to get something sized up so much - if I didn't want that chest popping, pit hugging look - that the sleeves would be comically long. Is that the wrong impression?

I don't own a lot from TCB but their sizing through a catalogue in general has struck me as quite mysterious - and it's the main reason I haven't bought much - I would only ever go stuff I feel comfortable oversizing (my only purchase from them was a pair of 20's and black 30's - both oversized on purpose, both came in just a touch smaller than anticipated - so it all worked out). It's almost as if they base their sizing off the garment they are reproducing and start from square one with every piece, rather than try to reproduce similar fits they've made prior.

I just go by the website in particular. Any store demonstrates the way they get their measurements. The big thing for me is if the thigh is measure directly at crotch seam or like 10 cm down. Most seem to do the waist as lay flat x2.

This is, or rather, mostly was my field - I do hope to return to it a bit more at some point (though I couldn't hope to make work like those above). A living is still nearly impossible for most people doing most of the important work like this. It's not really so different from trying to be a poet or a painter. The people who make work generally string together some assemblage of jobs that go directly against the mission they have in their pictures, or they have other good fortune in life. Thatcher and Reagan were terrible for the middle class. Reagan was quite literally demented for most of his presidency, anyways. We are still struggling with his legacy today. I am grateful for each and every person who sets out to do this work anyways, the world would be much poorer without it, even as the photographers generally already are. @Double 0 Soul The one thing I collect (intentionally - as opposed to jeans, which I try not to) is photo books - looks like the Cohen one you have there is a bit pricey these days. I thought I might pick up a cheap used copy, but that won't happen. A quick search says I can't even track down Murtha's books. I will keep an eye out.

I mean the magic of the cinch (for me) is that unless you way overshoot the size, a belt isn't really necessary.

I was pleased to see one of the greatest living American artists in general to be wearing a fresh type 2 recently. https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/andre-3000-attends-the-gq-men-of-the-year-party-2023-vip-news-photo/1798190093?adppopup=true Can anyone identify?

^ I much prefer over Warhol

@AnOldFolkSong I’ll get around to it at some point. Still not worth it. Yours have definitely had a rougher 4 months than mine. I’m in a Fellowship year at the university and these are my unofficial fellowship jeans, so not exactly physically hard wearing, they’re only just starting to get some character and barely. Also, only 2 hand washes and hang dries.

Nah. Sleep on it for 4-6 months. This is a time when the whole world wants you to buy stuff you don’t need, and tries to convince you otherwise.

^ those look good. How long have you been wearing? Mine have 2 hand washes at this point but are far from this. Granted I’m only about 4-5 months in, still they seem to be on the slower side. It’s such a great fabric though.