yung_flynn

Denime Lot 220A (from Son of a Stag) Denime 220a from BF - zoom-in of coin pocket TCB 60s (from Redcast) TCB 50s (Redcast) - I checked my own pair and the photo is true to life TCB s40 (Redcast) Sugarcane 1947 (Redcast) Warehouse DD-1001xx 1947 (Son of a Stag) - even the stock photo shows big creases on the pocket coin pocket. This is clearly an outlier from all the others that I scanned. The triply crossed directions from coin pocket to pocket bag to leg probably creates a huge amount of friction which is how even a factory wash gives such pronounced creasing in that region. Standard run Warehouse 1001xx (SoaS) - directions are actually different than the DD version. The coin pocket denim is parallel to the main pocket bag denim and both are perpendicular to the leg. The stock photo doesn't show anything like the puckering/creasing/lightning of the DD model either. Both use Banner denim so that feature must be related to the non-denim construction aspects. WH DD-1001xx 1947 (my own pair) - true to the stock photos; lightning/creases accentuated by a couple more washes and much more faded than the rest of the denim; slightly different shape than BF's but they go in a roughly similar direction despite the denim direction of the coin pocket being reversed compared to 220a

I think that you are right about it being a construction feature. I think that the denim direction and maybe the coin pocket placement is key. The denim direction in the coin pocket vs. the underyling pocket vs. the leg is something that I've never really looked at in any detail before. So I took a peek at stock images of various TCB models, Denime 220a, and my pair of DD-1001xx. For the TCB 50s, 60s, and Denime 220a, the direction of the coin pocket denim is parallel to the rest of the pocket and both are perpendicular to the rest of the jean. For TCB s40, the coin pocket direction is perpendicular to rest of the pocket and the rest of the pocket is parallel to the leg (so coin pocket is also perpendicular to the leg). For WH DD-1001xx-1947, coin pocket is perpendicular to the rest of the pocket and the rest of the pocket is perpendicular to the leg (so coin pocket direction is parallel to leg). I think that this contributes to the exteme lightning fades of the WH - you can even see puckering in the stock photo of the WH 1947 coin pocket. Interestingly, SC 1947 is not the same as WH 1947 though, as the SC 1947 is more like the Denime and TCB 50s/60s. The coin pocket creases/fades for the DD-1001xx-1947 and Denime 220a are both in the same physical direction, but they are opposite directions with respect to the direction of the coin pocket denim though. Apologies for going super off-track, my curiousity on this point got the best of me.

The coin pocket especially caught my eye. My DD-1001xx are not quite faded yet except for the coin pocket which has nearly identical lightning strike fades as your 220a. Different denim though as the DD-1001xx is the 13.5 oz banner denim.

I'm a small-waisted (31"), tall guy. I feel like I've seen some leg openings on tapered fits right near 6" which makes my eyes water as I imagine trying to slide my size 13 US feet through that hole. Even in the best of cases (Samurai S211VX comes to mind), most "relaxed" tapered fits converge to a rough facsimile of a classic slim straight with an annoyingly tight leg opening. The thigh of the "slim tapered" Cat's Drive, in my size at least, is wider even than the Oni and PBJ "relaxed tapered" cuts. I snoozed too long on the TCBs though and their pre-order ended

Out of curiosity, is the relatively slim fit of the Cat's Drive jeans true to the fit of Lee 101B's of the era (late 40s)? My only point of reference is my pair of loosely-adapted Leepros (pastiche of 30s-50s details I think) from RRL, and those are also very slim with a generous rise - slimmer even than the TCBs

The Cat's Drive are interesting in the sense that the thigh, knee, and leg opening don't seem to quite scale proportionally with the waist. At my size (31 or 32), they seem reasonably like a slim straight and actually a bit wider than a modern 501 in a comparable size. They're wider than WH 900xx through the leg too. The TCBs seem like they size smaller through the legs at larger waist sizes though. I still wish that the knee and l.o. were a touch bigger, but I might still consider rolling the dice on them. The front rise is still very generous at my size (bigger even than WH 1001xx), which solves my biggest issue with many slim straights (proportionally ass > thighs > waist)

I'm a 12D in the loafers and 13B in the mocs. Rancourt customer service helped with sizing. Brannock is 13B. My feet are a bit wonky though - both are almost completely flat and my left is a full brannock size shorter than the right - so take my advice and experience with that in mind. Their lasts seem to work well for my feet which can be a challenge. Both were only about $120 new at their pre-sale too and at that price I can't complain, nicer than most options in that price range. Paying the full $320 MSRP may have been a different story though. I agree with your thoughts on the shell though. If I'm going to pay for shell, I'd rather just grab the Alden LHS. Rancourt's are a bit rough and ready in styling in my experience, which isn't a bad thing for chromexcel and some of their moc-styled option but sort of defeats the purpose of buying shell for loafers. I'm not a huge fan of Rancourt's full strap and weltline loafers. The extra couple of hundred dollars for Alden is definitely worth it for those. I do like their more rugged offerings though (boots, mocs, beefrolls, etc.). I live in a more rugged place though, so the moc stylings work pretty well here.

Currently it's not quite so cold yet and the lack of boots is not a big deal, so I'm getting buy with loafers and ranger mocs from Rancourt. Both are nice. Most of their shoes (and both of my pairs) tend to be chromexcel, same with Grant Stone, so they do crease easily but that's part of the charm to an extent for me I work in a lab though, so I have to wear safety shoes for a portion of the day anyway.

I personally don't have any Alden Indys, but the people that I know who do have them like them. I agree that current MSRP is a bit hard to swallow, although the pop-up on eBay with some frequency closer to $350-400. If I'm going to shell out on Alden shoes, I'd prefer their LHS loafers. Rancourt (also MiUSA) and Grant Stone make quality and reasonably similar style boots as Alden closer to the $350-400 range. All 3 of these brands use similar Horween leathers as well so they're not skimping on materials quality. Rancourt boots can be had for closer to $200 if you can wait out for their pre-sale (definitely one in late summer, maybe in late winter too but I can't remember). Lead times are long though - I'm still waiting on my pre-order pair of Byron boots from August. They should arrive this month and I can post a few photos when they do.

It's a bit of a bummer that the body and sleeves on the storm rider aren't a couple inches longer, especially considering that their other jackets and shirts are some of the few that I feel would be reliably long enough for my spindly frame. It would barely hit my waistband and my wrist bone. The measurements for the matching jeans look on point though - almost identical to my ideal measurements. They're pretty tempting, especially considering that they are Leepros and have enough a nicely long inseam.

Non-denim day - more of a milsurp professor look. Polo Peacoat, J Press shaggy dog sweater, J Press bengal striped broadcloth shirt, Buzz 1941 chinos, Rancourt beefroll loafers. Better Close-up of shirt and colors

At that price, those are a pretty good deal. At the end of the day, broguing aside, they’re not much different in design than Allen Edmonds or Alden Indy boots which both fit perfectly well with denim. AE even sells brogues boots IIRC, so they definitely have a place in the Ivy denim canon. You’ll not find Indys at that price point even used either and these are probably much easier to obtain in Europe

I'd pass on them as well. For about the same price, you could get Indy boots from Alden or shell cordovan (Porter) boots from Rancourt. For half the price, you could get non-shell (Byron) boots from Rancourt. Any of those would match a range of Americana stylings and probably would mesh better with your denim collection than the more Euro brogued Trickers. Rancourt ships internationally (not sure about Alden) and their customer service is very helpful on sizing advice, on par with TCB in my opinion. They also have a pre-sale once or twice a year, where a lot of their shoes and boots are >50% for delayed manufacturing and shipment, a la TCB. Their loafers and Mocs are great as well, although clearly a different vibe than boots.

Has anyone ever run across Denime's 5-pocket Bedford cords - their white tab Levi's 517 repro? I found a pair secondhand in roughly my size and I'm kind of curious after sizing out of my existing 5-pocket chinos. The listing has poor photos though and minimal details.

Full Ivy style Vintage Ralph Lauren Oxford/WH DD-1001xx 1947/Rancourt loafers

I have the Duck Digger 1947 version of the 1001xx and love them, except for the short inseam which forces me to wear them Hayashi-style. The denim grows on me every time that I wear them. They also seem like incredibly fast faders, especially in the knees (and I'm not even a dad for a few more months). Creases feel like they set very quickly too. The patch for the normal 1001xx is a bit more tasteful than the weirdly cooked patch for the DD version. The stitched down and illegible red tab is a post Levi's lawsuit workaround. You probably could pop out the outer tab seams to make it more like the Levi's tab if you prefer.

Maybe search for stone colored chinos. That seems closest to the shade that you are looking for. You might want to take a look at the M1 chino from Jack Donnelly. Like Buzz, it's a WW2 style chino with similar measurements to the Original Spec chinos, although less of a faithful repro. Not sure if the khaki color is quite the shade that you are looking for though

Not the strictest of Leepros (not even marketed as such), but the details on this pair of RRL denim feels heavily influenced by vintage Lee 101

Columbiaknit rugby/Ralph Lauren Oxford shirt/Warehouse DD-1001xx 1947/American trench socks/Rancourt loafers A couple more bonus pics from the last few weeks J Press Aran sweater/TCB 50s/Rancourt ranger mocs Harley of Scotland Shetland sweater/Brooks Brothers Oxford shirt/Samurai S211VX/Rancourt ranger mocs