Denim Blunders, Reflections and General Nonsense.

[ATWM]

On 1/25/2025 at 3:00 AM, Double 0 Soul said:

Nice^.. reminds me of Fuct tees.. but it's wasted on most of us

reminds me of this - a little history https://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2019/05/23/discussing-history-fuct-current-streetwear-market/ 

i remember my local shop carrying it, but never crossed into owning one of them. 

Edited Monday at 09:54 PM by ATWM

[Maynard Friedman]

[Double 0 Soul]

I had a couple of Fuct tees in the early to mid 90s.. the Goodfellas one (not sure what happened to that) and the Subway one with the guy holding a gun and the cowering dude with the big fro.. i wore the latter to such an extent (being a sweaty skateboarder) the underarms were akin to the texture of a wax jacket.. when it came out of the wash, they were so stiff and cardboardy they hurt my pits!

He's^^ done well to maintain a living off the brand without selling out (if that was his objection).. but who's wearing Fuct these days? .. it's easy enough to create a cutting edge label for teens and 20somethings when you're a cool af 20 something yourself.. your customer base likes the things you like.. not so easy dressing 20 somethings when you're 50+.. i'd look even more tragic wearing a 90s era Fuct tee than i currently do wearing 'superdenim approved middle-aged dad uniform'

Supreme was cool af in the mid-90s before it blew up, it was underground, high quality, MiA.. apart from Slam, i only knew one store who stocked it so if you wanted a box logo hoodie in the 90s you would have to get the train or drive to a different city.. whereas nowadays, anyone with enough cash can have anything they like.

The trajectory (or lack of) regarding some brands is crazy, It wasn't that long ago that North Face who would share retail space with Rab, Lowe Alpine and Mountain Equipment.. making the transition from outdoor gear (with forays into mountaineering kit) into streetwear collabs .. but what followed was a swift decline into what can only be described as a standard part of school uniform for the normcore kids.. those parents of yore who would have bought their kid a school jacket from C&A are now buying their kids a North Face jacket!?

$$$s aside.. I bet he's glad Fuct didn't become affiliated with Hypebeast culture.. i often wonder what happened to all the hype-kids..? if they were 20 at it's peak in 2005-8, they will be pushing 40 now with kids and families of their own.. i'm sure they're not sat around the breakfast table in faux-fur leopard print supreme cap and purple camo bapehead hoodie.. have they just migrated onto mature hype brands like Rick Owens, Balenciaga and Palm Angels or have they reverted back to the highstreet..?

You forget how lame mainstream fashions was in the 90s.. if you look at audience members in old episodes of Jerry Springer or Oprah the clothing and hairstyles were beyond conservative.. or over here, Bullseye is a perfect example of what the normies were wearing back them.. what the polyester fuck!

As ubiquitous as the hoodie has been for the last 30yrs.. before the mid-90s, here in the UK.. folks didn't often wear hooded sweatshirts, the older generation still don't.. (i haven't owned one for 15 years) yet under 50, the hoodie can probably be found in 90% of peoples wardrobes.. anywho that's my incoherent musings for today..

I'd better get some work done!

Edited Tuesday at 10:47 AM by Double 0 Soul

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

1 hour ago, Double 0 Soul said:

i'm sure they're not sat around the breakfast table in faux-fur leopard print supreme cap and purple camo bapehead hoodie.. have they just migrated onto mature hype brands like Rick Owens, Balenciaga and Palm Angels or have they reverted back to the highstreet..?

I think it’s probably the later. Seems like it anyways. 

[mlwdp]

4 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

I

$$$s aside.. I bet he's glad Fuct didn't become affiliated with Hypebeast culture.. i often wonder what happened to all the hype-kids..? if they were 20 at it's peak in 2005-8, they will be pushing 40 now with kids and families of their own.. i'm sure they're not sat around the breakfast table in faux-fur leopard print supreme cap and purple camo bapehead hoodie.. have they just migrated onto mature hype brands like Rick Owens, Balenciaga and Palm Angels or have they reverted back to the highstreet..?
 

About 4 years ago during Covid, I put up some random FUCT camo camp hat for sale on eBay.  It sold for $180.  There’s still people buying the brand but it’s mostly the youth.

[Double 0 Soul]

Wow! but saying that, i spent insane amounts of money on random shit during covid, just to counter the boredom.

[ATWM]

5 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

I had a couple of Fuct tees in the early to mid 90s.. the Goodfellas one (not sure what happened to that) and the Subway one with the guy holding a gun and the cowering dude with the big fro.. i wore the latter to such an extent (being a sweaty skateboarder) the underarms were akin to the texture of a wax jacket.. when it came out of the wash, they were so stiff and cardboardy they hurt my pits!

He's^^ done well to maintain a living off the brand without selling out (if that was his objection).. but who's wearing Fuct these days? .. it's easy enough to create a cutting edge label for teens and 20somethings when you're a cool af 20 something yourself.. your customer base likes the things you like.. not so easy dressing 20 somethings when you're 50+.. i'd look even more tragic wearing a 90s era Fuct tee than i currently do wearing 'superdenim approved middle-aged dad uniform'

Supreme was cool af in the mid-90s before it blew up, it was underground, high quality, MiA.. apart from Slam, i only knew one store who stocked it so if you wanted a box logo hoodie in the 90s you would have to get the train or drive to a different city.. whereas nowadays, anyone with enough cash can have anything they like.

The trajectory (or lack of) regarding some brands is crazy, It wasn't that long ago that North Face who would share retail space with Rab, Lowe Alpine and Mountain Equipment.. making the transition from outdoor gear (with forays into mountaineering kit) into streetwear collabs .. but what followed was a swift decline into what can only be described as a standard part of school uniform for the normcore kids.. those parents of yore who would have bought their kid a school jacket from C&A are now buying their kids a North Face jacket!?

$$$s aside.. I bet he's glad Fuct didn't become affiliated with Hypebeast culture.. i often wonder what happened to all the hype-kids..? if they were 20 at it's peak in 2005-8, they will be pushing 40 now with kids and families of their own.. i'm sure they're not sat around the breakfast table in faux-fur leopard print supreme cap and purple camo bapehead hoodie.. have they just migrated onto mature hype brands like Rick Owens, Balenciaga and Palm Angels or have they reverted back to the highstreet..?

You forget how lame mainstream fashions was in the 90s.. if you look at audience members in old episodes of Jerry Springer or Oprah the clothing and hairstyles were beyond conservative.. or over here, Bullseye is a perfect example of what the normies were wearing back them.. what the polyester fuck!

As ubiquitous as the hoodie has been for the last 30yrs.. before the mid-90s, here in the UK.. folks didn't often wear hooded sweatshirts, the older generation still don't.. (i haven't owned one for 15 years) yet under 50, the hoodie can probably be found in 90% of peoples wardrobes.. anywho that's my incoherent musings for today..

I'd better get some work done!

I should have been this crowd, I guess? I was perhaps a few years too old, but it all looked pretty ridiculous to me when it was happening. I was a little punk but it had a totally strong whiff of sellout vibes even at that point - and there were people who got excited about it blowing up and people who were pretty put off by it. The Fuct founder's point about skateshops hits pretty well - so many of them now seem like they want to be these sort of high fashion adjacent stores with some decks, but they just lack the whole spirit of the ones before. I know things always change but I'm bummed it's gotten that way for kids who don't have much to spend and need a place to have respite for the afternoons - the old ones were literally hang out spots - with couches, videos going, even drinks and snacks etc - as much as stores.

Supreme wasn't really that respected in the circles I ran in, and never really got that way. Strangely, from my vantage point it was never even a serious skateboard company (I know many would argue this tooth and nail). Same with Fuct, honestly - no one really wore that shit, save some rollerbladers! But whatever. I was more of a Drawls / XYZ / Droors fan in the mid/late 90's - Four Star was also huge as a clothing brand that didn't make hardware, but it was associated with Girl/Chocolate and Eric Koston and all those dudes. And of course Alien Workshop and Toy Machine were some of my favorites. Funny about North Face too - when at was at university in the early/mid 00's it had already well jumped the shark, being the uniform (paired with uggs) of the entire sorority scene. 

I don't love how hoodies look much of the time but will always keep some around because the warmth/comfort factor is undeniable!

[Double 0 Soul]

Yep, i certainly wouldn't consider Supreme a skate brand more like the early days of streetwear.. post sportswear era.. same for Stussy, Silas ect..

From our (UK) perspective.. It was cool af for a very brief period.., maybe up to 2yrs after launch.. the hype thing never happened for us because it needed the internet / mobile phones to exist which we didn't have..

[mlwdp]

19 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Wow! but saying that, i spent insane amounts of money on random shit during covid, just to counter the boredom.

Yep someone wanted this hat really bad 😂

 

[Double 0 Soul]

 

How are y'all feeling about the way you currently dress?... back when i was 20, i'd consider myself cutting edge.. i dressed like a cutting edge 20yr old, none of my clothing was easy to obtain or bought without careful consideration (i certainly wasn't shopping at Top Man) by the time i was 30, i dressed like a cutting edge 30yr old.. ie- 1940s Japanese repro sweatshirt, 1940s Japanese repro denim and old timey, handmade 40s era repro boots.. again, nothing one could buy on the highstreet. Coming here 15yrs ago, we were as cool as fuck but i've been stuck in this fucking loop of a rut for what feels like forever... we've all got old and the cool sufu style of days gone by is now just considered dad-wear

 

The answer used to be 'just buy more stuff' which i did, but i was always bought stuff in our same 'repro' style which by now was already becoming pretty washed.. my journey through fashions was always organic and linked to my lifestyle.. when i was a young teenager, i would buy jeans from Bankrupt clothing, the brand was often irrelevant, as long as they fitted and looked dope, followed by (amongst others) >X for fashion / going out rave club wear, >skateboard / BMX jeans, Girl, Droors, Silas ect.. >vintage Levi's.. >LVC and finally JP repros all within a 15yr time span.. then my journey through fashion just stopped.

 

JP repros are everything i ever want in a pair of jeans, they look great and fit my criteria perfectly.. i'm not looking for anything else  but my god am i fucking bored! ! !

I looked at waywt probably 3 times last year and zero times this.. some handsome dude in a well worn pair of repros, a nicely fitted sweatshirt and a scuffed up pair of boots would make me go all gooey inside.. now it just makes me sigh..

We can never move on from this.. the brands are feeling it too with their imagined 1940, 41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59 and so on, repros.. they've milked the style for everything it's worth.. i can count on one hand how many threads i currently read and 3 of them have nothing to do with clothing.. so is this it now for me.., i'll still be wearing this same old 'stuck in 2009' shit when i'm 60?

 

You might say just go buy some Techwear, Gucci or Maison Margiela for a change.., but i'm not that shallow that i would just buy into a brand that i have no affiliation with, it has to be part of my lifestyle.. i'm not the Gucci type, i'm just a bored sufuer..

[exaptavist]

@Double 0 Soul

It's all shite mate, and obsessing over clothing, obsessing over anything really, ruins the nature of it anyway. 

Whatever happened to just sticking on a pair of Pepe and actually going out to have a bit of healthy illicit fun. 

Selvedge denim, goodyear welted shoes, it's all banal now to the point of cringe.

Least you're not wearing Freewheelers, I'd have to really insult you if you were. 

We need a different forum mate, where clothes are incidental to actually doing shit ( ...and nobody mentions bloody Freewheelers  )

Edited Tuesday at 06:07 PM by exaptavist

[jkbrwn]

I had a four year denim hiatus during COVID and was wearing primarily pretty oversized everything and basically only bought Engineered Garments/Needles stuff. Started wearing jeans/'heritage' Japanese stuff again in September and honestly feel great about it. It was like coming home. I bought my first pair of proper jeans - Edwin Greensville's from Interstate in Covent Garden - in 2009 when I was 16 and dressed that way until the start of COVID. It just feels right to me. The boxier fit of Japanese clothing fits me better than anything else I've ever worn.

The other stuff started to feel too trendy and my current wardrobe feels a bit more classic and timeless. Maybe a bit dad. And I'm okay with that.

[smoothsailor]

Cutting edge boomers, that’s what we are.

being cutting edge in your 20s30s maybe 40s is kind of a natural thing. If you’re cutting edge that is.

cutting edge in your 50s might be a bit to much cosplay.

You just needed to be cutting edge to land where your at now, just roll with it

[Double 0 Soul]

It’s just how this place rolls @exaptavist .. we’ve had a FWs thread for years and nobody ever contributed, Duke came along with a bit of enthusiasm and everyone bandwagond it.. we’ve had periods when the SC thread was busy.. same with WH.. Field of Dreams theory 

[exaptavist]

I remember when I was in my mid teen's I had a pair of Jaguar brand trainers. No idea about their story, I doubt that there even is one, and I am not going to bother to look.  And I didn't need to know back then, either.  And I scribbled over them with a marker, "Go Go Jaguar Nuclear".  Happy days, in my Jaguar Nuclears, who cares what brand baggy jeans and some scruffy oversized top.  Pockets full of lint and maybe crumbs of hash. 

Years later, working, not earning much, had a budget of £30, any item of clothing, didn't matter what, but max out £30.  Internet sales, TK Maxx, again, who cares what brand as long as it wasn't something gaudy, and didn't fall to pieces when I picked it up.  No indigo uniforms, navy was boring.  Colours at random, jumbled coherence, best fun I ever had dressing,

Then. Superfuture. Threw all my jumble sale outfits away, it wasn't approved, it wasn't made in Japan, it obviously wasn't quality! 
Except, it was just fine, and adhering to some forum approved perspective of what was deigned acceptable completely killed the fun of clothes shopping.  And I still mourn some of those cheap pieces of clothing I dumped at the recycling bin.  And I definitely think group think kills flair. 

Be original in your cheap clothes, look after them and be yourself.  There, much better.


...


That said, I am currently debating the relative merits of buying an 800 Eur pair of Dimissianos and Miller boots. 
So I am quite the hypocrite. 
But, I'll be the only man on the forum with a pair of Dimissianos and Miller boots, so there's that.

And anyway, it means I'll have no money for anything else, which will mean it suits the vision of buying something so expensive it hurts and therefore has a meaning of its own right.

Edited Tuesday at 07:24 PM by exaptavist

[ATWM]

Forgive the sincere response, it's really all that I'm capable of.

But I guess I see it a little differently - I was never too interested in the idea of cutting edge, in fact for years I enjoyed skateboarding in whatever hand me down gap and american eagle clothes that came my family's way, and only over time by hanging out in skateshops did I sort of go that way. Even at those shops I just wanted to find stuff that I felt "myself" in, whatever that means - stuff I was drawn towards tended to be more subtle I guess. In this way, I'm not dressing too differently than I was 20 years ago, which for some is sad and for me is something I'm content with, but it also just happens to work with the other facets of my life (most of the time, I can put on a suit if I need to).

I just have mostly better versions of the same stuff - and that's why I like some of repro makers, because that's where you get the best versions of the basic stuff. I know the sort of consideration that went into it, and can appreciate it for that, but it's not much of a signal of anything other than ordinariness to most others. I have learned about and come to appreciate some of the more out there stuff, but it still is stuff that I feel "myself" in. Scare quotes because I don't put too much stock in that whole notion - I guess I don't really identify much with how I dress - or rather, it's something I find is fun to take an interest in and learn about, but I don't think it goes much beyond that for me. My deeper values or interests have tended to lie elsewhere. I think the closest it gets to having to do with values is that again - the jeans and sweatshirt, denim jacket etc is something that tends to disappear in public. It's ubiquitous - sort of a non-thing. Keen people can see it's maybe a nice version of a non-thing, and that's always fun, but in general - at least where I've lived, the way I've dressed has more or less been a non-statement - or for anyone who knows me, I've been in versions of the same thing forever. It's not really much noticed. Even back in my younger skating days I usually had the more anodyne versions of whatever was out there.

I've never felt a huge need for a lifestyle to match up with clothing though. For context, I ran a marathon in surf shorts because that's all I had, and I couldn't be bothered to buy proper running shorts - finding them ridiculous looking and a waste of money. 

None of this means that I don't care at all what people think, it's just that if I find something I like and am comfortable in - it's pretty much case closed. The only thing I'm really not so chuffed on is that I still feel I've got a few too many things and not enough wear in some of them, so I've slowly been trying to whittle it down to the things I like the most and identify what's best for my daily uses. 

But um @exaptavist I do recall @Double 0 Soul posting a pic in his well worn Freewheeler 47's some time ago with recognition that they were indeed something solid. I'll admit, out of the repro brands, I do find FW the best, simply because they go the longest most reliably without having to repair busted ass threads or darn the crotch (good patterning!), both things I'm annoyed to do and have done with every other pair! 

I do agree that group think can kill flair, but like, we all came here because we really liked the most basic, ubiquitous garment on the planet.

 

[exaptavist]

... coming back to this later ...

Edited Tuesday at 07:23 PM by exaptavist

[Cold Summer]

I'm happier with my style than ever, I hope I'm still dressing like this for the rest of my life, and at the expense of repeating my previous post on this thread I get the most enjoyment from wearing my favorite clothes over a longer period of time. I really don't care about the trends, and the whole perpetual preoccupation with youth and refusal to accept getting older/embrace maturing strikes me as an anomalous trait of modernity and the advertising-driven youth culture fixation that's had a stranglehold on western culture since the 1950s or 60s.

I find myself much more inspired by my grandparents' generation, who managed to age with dignity, than Boomers. It is probably this, and the sense that I have a system of values and priorities deeply out of sync with current times, that makes me drawn toward styles inspired by the 1930s or 40s, rather than because I'm trying to appropriate the romanticized allure of the factory man, cowboy, or some other archetype. In short, the way I dress is a reflection at least to some extent of what I believe and value. For instance, I feel no attraction to streetwear or techwear not just for aesthetic or tactile considerations but because they seem to be a sartorial embodiment of a sort of urbanized worldview and sense of priorities at odds with my own. Another, weirder possibility is that dressing a certain way is actually the cause of my changing worldview. This is admittedly a bit silly, but it might play some small role.

Okay, I have ranted enough for one day, I will see myself out now.

[Double 0 Soul]

57 minutes ago, smoothsailor said:

Cutting edge boomers, that’s what we are.

Speak for yourself.. i'm a cutting edge Gen X'er

15 minutes ago, ATWM said:

But um @exaptavist I do recall @Double 0 Soul posting a pic in his well worn Freewheeler 47's some time ago with recognition that they were indeed something solid

Yep.. def one of my top 3 of all time.. think i bought them in 2012 before the populartity uptake.

Lovely pair of jeans!

Edited Tuesday at 07:37 PM by Double 0 Soul

[Double 0 Soul]

43 minutes ago, ATWM said:

I've never felt a huge need for a lifestyle to match up with clothing though. For context, I ran a marathon in surf shorts because that's all I had, and I couldn't be bothered to buy proper running shorts - finding them ridiculous looking and a waste of money.

Bit different for me.. i work in a workshop, i need to wear workwear, i can't be wearing a fancy suit or some spikey-ass RO get up.

[oomslokop]

post covid perhaps being used to only wearing shorts at home i start wearing only shorts out as well, and whatever tops ive already got, mostly tender shirts, local metal/hiphop crew tees, sometimes i would wear my keith lo bue caps (got a new one should update in the chapeaux thread), mf veste ouvrier when out in freezing malls, and my trippen booties (wearing these with shorts are what they were made for), still adhering to my adage of wearing expensive drip and looking like a bum *no viz

Edited Tuesday at 08:43 PM by oomslokop

[Double 0 Soul]

6 minutes ago, oomslokop said:

 'expensive drip'

been chatting with my teenager?

[Double 0 Soul]

Talking of 'demonito's closet' ^

Can we get @edmond back?

[UkeNo]

4 hours ago, exaptavist said:

... coming back to this later ...

Me too

[aho]

I too had a period, let's call it 2016-2022, when denim was put on the back burner for more comfortable items like stretch waistband Uniqlo slacks and easy pants (styled with outdoor/tech wear), but also came full circle. Things got a bit too cosplay and stale for me if I'm being honest. Now I'd say I sort of just mix everything, with a focus on comfort, but have to admit that paying attention to trends and mixing in some of those "fashionable" items has kept things more fun, if not admittedly more capitalist lol. For example, I don't think I've ever loved a belt as much as my OUR LEGACY 2CM belt. I still mix in the odd Arcteryx jacket etc. for practicality (spend a good amount of time outdoors), but maybe layered with some army surplus, reverse weave sweatshirts, and some Alden's to clean it all up. But yeah, I'm definitely happier with my outfits now and have basically settled on this "look".  

[Double 0 Soul]

When i lived out in sticksville.. one of the guys who went in the local boozer.. we'll call him Ken, cos that was his name.. he had shoulder length scraggly grey hair, bald on top.. he wore a metal tee.. often Saxon or Iron Maiden.. snug fitting, washed out typ3 over the top and a pair of washed out snug fitting Levis with a bit of a podge hanging over the top.. dude obviously reached his peak in 1979 and never managed to move on.. this was 2008.

That's what we are.. the next generation of Ken's

 

..as i say, i'm not looking to change my style, i can appreciate trends vicariously through my offspring, i love my collection of jeans and i have enough clothing to last me another two lifetimes but for as long as i can remember.. i've always been absolutely obsessed by clothing and footwear.. even when i was a junior school kid aged 8 or 9 i would catch the bus into town just to look at the sneakers i couldn't afford.. whereas now i feel bored shitless by clothing and the only reason is.. i've been into the same shit for the last 20yrs.. bit of a paradox i suppose..

[MJF9]

I wear what I wear because I like it. That's always been the case… from being a young lad with a very keen interest in clothes and how they fit and feel.... and there's no sign of that stopping.  I couldn't give a shit who likes it or doesn't, nor where I get fit ideas from – they all come from somewhere. There's been some great (and less great) stuff on Sufu over the years and notably on the internet (looking at you Instagram) – I’m grateful for it all.  But let’s face it, the jeans and jackets I (we) wear might have been made by FW, SC, Denime or (select one from many many brands) within the last 20 years or so, but they’re repros of jeans from c80 years ago i.e. not exactly new ideas anyone can claim rights to.  It’s all borrowed, unless you were primo, which non of us are old enough to be! 

On Sufu, we’re a cast of 25 or so regular posters, up to maybe a crowd of maybe 50 on a very good week – brand or fit popularity in this micro-world is an irrelevant ‘so-what’ in everyday life.  In northern Enger-land, in real life, I can recollect hardly anyone (maybe a few people) wearing the gear I wear.  Mavis on checkout 9 hasn’t got a scoobies.

If you're confident enough to carry off your clothes - and I apply this to anyone of any clothing genre and any age as I don't see barriers - then that shines through and good on yer. I certainly don't like all choices but I don't have to and, vice-versa, neither does anyone else... now that would be odd.  

Ahhhh so this is why it’s called the General Nonsense thread!

Long live Sufu! 

 

Edited Wednesday at 07:27 PM by MJF9

[Dr_Heech]

^nodding my head in agreement *head nodding emoji*

[CSL]

So far I’ve not grown bored of the heritage workwear thing.

I do recall getting bored with the vintage rockabilly uniform back when I was into that - gabardine shirts, pleated pants, suits, and such, probably due to my gradual disillusionment with that scene. Funny thing was, once I’d emotionally disconnected from it, on my occasional sporadic interactions with that world, I found I was having a much better time than I ever used to, and now I don’t mind mixing in that style of dress sometimes.

But then again, from the mid 1980’s on, cuffed selvedge denim jeans were most definitely a part of that look, and I could never imagine wearing anything denim that wasn’t that. I will say that I started to find the basic Levis 40’s/50’s pattern kinda boring, so when fancier, more whimsical looking, turn of the (last) century waist overalls type jeans became available, I was captivated. Now I’m happy wearing either one.

I’ve occasionally thought to myself, should I get some kind of neutral, contemporary cut suit of clothes (appropriate for certain occasions…) but then when I look at people wearing that stuff it just looks like shit to me. Uncomfortable  low waist pants, pockets pulling, generally unflattering silhouettes. Maybe it’s just the particular set of goggles I’m viewing through but there it is.

Edited Wednesday at 07:54 PM by CSL

[smoothsailor]

Yes, yes and yes