Denim Blunders, Reflections and General Nonsense.

[Double 0 Soul]

  On 2/28/2025 at 2:24 PM, Dr_Heech said:

Is that on terrestrial telly Neal? I don't do subscription based stuff so here's hoping.. 🙂

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Me neither Charlie.. can't remember the last time i watched TV.. don't know why i even pay for a TV license

The documentary is from 2014.. there is a terrible quality copy on youtube or an equally terrible quality copy on dailymotion with subs.

I'll pm you the link to the copy i watched when i get home.. it's really good!

 

edit- Here you go @Dr_Heech .. this one is ok quality

 

Edited February 28 by Double 0 Soul

[Double 0 Soul]

  On 2/25/2025 at 3:22 PM, Maynard Friedman said:

Resolute washing / fit having previously not.. No, the thought of this makes me cringe

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Turtle neck?.. pair of New Balance?.. like Steve Jobs innit

[Geeman]

https://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a63920658/buck-mason-lee-yokohama-twistin-club-jacket/

[aho]

Friends, break out the NEW STANDARDs, we're stacking again 🫡

https://www.instagram.com/p/DG5YrZHyBpc/

[Jared_Lee]

The Indigo Invitational never let them go. They reward heavy stacking and apparently sanding...

[Maynard Friedman]

Or a combination of both - heavy standing in them

[Double 0 Soul]

This is surely destined for the Pringle museum..

[UkeNo]

  On 3/11/2025 at 9:10 AM, Double 0 Soul said:

This is surely destined for the Pringle museum..

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I genuinely hope the postman crushes that when delivering it.

[MJF9]

That's a bit salty mate!

[Geeman]

Was expecting this before I clicked through 

[Dr_Heech]

  On 2/22/2025 at 5:20 PM, Dr_Heech said:

Picked up this vintage USAF CWU 45P jacket last week for a song and from within the UK so no bullshit taxes or import duties, yay!

Always curious of this type of jacket seen as it has been largely unchanged since it's inception in 1976. Think the CWU 45P took over from the MA1 as the standard cold weather cockpit jacket. This example is a 1978 contract that has the extra vents in the shoulders. Massive Scoville zipper down the front, probably the largest zipper l've ever seen on a jacket like this! Also Gripper/Scoville zipper on the arm pocket. It has seen service although no verified history  - came with velcro patches and name tag removed before purchase., Got a few nicks here and there but knitted cuffs and waistband are solid.

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Pics cross posted from the vintage clothing thread.

Decided to let this one go but instead of selling it my son now wears it (with his hand me down FW47'S) and loves it!

My reason for moving it on are due to me having similar jackets l guess, a similar cold weather jacket - my Buzz Rickson Navy deck jacket (1st model with zipper only) which is thicker and warmer and the handwarmer pockets are more practical. The other jacket being my BR L-2  (American Pad and Textile Co model) which although is more a spring/autumn occasional wearer, it is similar in colour to the CWU-45P has similar higher placed, less practical hand warmer pockets. In fact the CWU 45P is like a mixture of the two. I guess my vintage curiosity got my son a free flight jacket and to be fair it looks a lot better on him.

It's his 18th fairly soon and he's getting his first pair of raw repros!

So proud.

[Maynard Friedman]

What’s he getting Charlie?

My son has a pair of loose tapered selvedge Japanese made Edwin’s that I bought for half price the Christmas before last (so he’s grown into them now) and some half-selvedge straight cut Warehouse (with a kind of bar-tacked orange tab) - no lot # on the patch. I saw them brand new on Yahoo auctions for a very good price and bought them knowing that if they were a bit slim for me, that he would have them.

[Dr_Heech]

@Maynard Friedman He's getting those Lvc 1937 501xx from 2004 that I've had kicking around for years. They are raw without tags in a sz 34x34. In comparison,  he's a waist  27/28" at present but wants some wide baggy levis that he can cinch in at the waist. They're massive on him and too long too but that's the style his crowd are into atm. Hey they were only 65 quid some ten years ago and l bought them to sell (not keen on this model - shallow pockets and 3 button fly - pfft!). When he looked up prices for this model (both Japanese and old American made one's) they are running between £250- £600 retail, which made him happy. Of course l had to explain to him that nobody in their right mind would pay that for lvc but that hasn't taken the shine off at all for him. He's gonna wear them raw for a while first to see how they feel.

Of course before l let him near them, l had to give a small tutorial about exposed/hidden rivets and pre war details, using the raw 37's, raw FW42's and raw Lvc 201's as references. I have also loaned him Paul T's book for further reading 😁

Edited Friday at 06:03 AM by Dr_Heech
To edit obvs

[Double 0 Soul]

I was having a dream about @julian-wolf just before i woke up this morning ..

I was in the local park and i spotted him throwing a stick for his dog but it wasn't his aussie cattle dog, it was the dog from 'The Dog House' which was on TV after CH4 News.. he said that he'd taken a job at the university and was looking to buy a house around the neighbourhood with his partner (who i think was Patricia Arquette from True Romance) .. next thing i was carrying some wooden step ladders back to someone who i borrowed them off in a previous dream.. my arms were aching and i realised i didn't know his address.. then i'm in the local pharmacy (which was a cafe in my dream) with JW and his partner, i was explaining that the average UK salary is £35k.. the mortgage company will base your loan on 3yrs of your salary but the houses cost £400k so you'll need £300k deposit which you will never save up because rent is more expensive than mortgage repayments.. so his partner says "this is why i keep printing short stories about Vicky Keys" (i've got no clue who Vicky Keys is... i googled it when i woke up.. still non the wiser) .. next thing she had an old manual printing press and she was printing the front covers.. which looked like old Y2K Faile graphics.. then i woke up

[beautiful_FrEaK]

Go to bed! I wanna know how it continues.

[Double 0 Soul]

The only reason i've remembered it was because i googled Vicky Keys before i'd even cleaned my teeth

[Broark]

So it appears that Vidalia Mills is no longer, can't say I ever saw much interesting stuff made by them: https://www.gq.com/story/inside-the-fight-to-save-american-selvedge-denim
Sounds like they had some real operational struggles. Hopefully the looms get auctioned off to someone that'll put them to good use!

[youngofthesoonest]

  On 3/14/2025 at 5:46 PM, Broark said:

So it appears that Vidalia Mills is no longer, can't say I ever saw much interesting stuff made by them: https://www.gq.com/story/inside-the-fight-to-save-american-selvedge-denim
Sounds like they had some real operational struggles. Hopefully the looms get auctioned off to someone that'll put them to good use!

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From the get go it seemed like they were super ambitious and I always wondered how they were actually doing...turns out, not so good. 

[Broark]

Unfortunately ambitions without an operational backbone are just undelivered promises. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[ATWM]

  On 3/14/2025 at 5:46 PM, Broark said:

So it appears that Vidalia Mills is no longer, can't say I ever saw much interesting stuff made by them: https://www.gq.com/story/inside-the-fight-to-save-american-selvedge-denim
Sounds like they had some real operational struggles. Hopefully the looms get auctioned off to someone that'll put them to good use!

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I saw this. I’m really bummed about this, but not surprised really. I think the idea was good, the vertical integration, but the market just wasn’t there - or if it was then yea the operation was too messy.

I only ever handled Vidalia denims a few times but to my mind I just didn’t love it, or even like it all that much. I didn’t need it to be White Oak, but I never was able to find anyone making stuff that I liked that also used unsanforized stock. I know I was too picky in some ways, especially as I first got in to good denim by being exposed to white oak and local supply chains. In a lot of ways I really want to get back to that mentality, supporting more local makers/stores etc - but the cost vs availability proposition takes a real adjustment. 

I still occasionally check in with what’s using Proximity stuff, but nothing has gotten me yet, and it’s so limited. Someone let me know when they see a good American maker sew up some good jeans with unsanforized Proximity stock using all cotton thread in a nice cut. Again, I’m too picky, I know.  Thankfully I’ve got about 16 more months (I hope) in my current pair! 

Edited Friday at 06:02 PM by ATWM

[Broark]

  On 3/14/2025 at 6:00 PM, ATWM said:

Someone let me know when they see a good American maker sew up some good jeans with unsanforized Proximity stock using all cotton thread in a nice cut. Again, I’m too picky, I know.

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Honestly I don't think this is being too picky at all! It's a staple (at least in my mind), and shouldn't be that hard of a thing to sell in proportional quantities.
I think the real issue is that the craftspeople are packing up shop, cost of operating is too high or they get burnt out on the constant social marketing grind.
It's quite difficult these days to make a product that you love and devote yourself to while also promoting it in a way that'll be sought after to customer base that's seemingly shrinking. And in my opinion the modern customer base is less willing to spend, since the general cost of living is continuing to grow with no signs of slowing down.
We still see some of these craftspeople in Japan in this space, but I haven't seen many (at least that I'm aware of) in the US in recent years.
If anyone knows of any please feel free to prove me wrong!

[ATWM]

  On 3/14/2025 at 6:17 PM, Broark said:

Honestly I don't think this is being too picky at all! It's a staple (at least in my mind), and shouldn't be that hard of a thing to sell in proportional quantities.
I think the real issue is that the craftspeople are packing up shop, cost of operating is too high or they get burnt out on the constant social marketing grind.
It's quite difficult these days to make a product that you love and devote yourself to while also promoting it in a way that'll be sought after to customer base that's seemingly shrinking. And in my opinion the modern customer base is less willing to spend, since the general cost of living is continuing to grow with no signs of slowing down.
We still see some of these craftspeople in Japan in this space, but I haven't seen many (at least that I'm aware of) in the US in recent years.
If anyone knows of any please feel free to prove me wrong!

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Hits close to home. Social very much changed the career I loved (I would argue it ruined a lot of it, though I know others have a different take), and finding ways forward in it has been a really interesting path. There’s a wide world of stuff we have access to now, but a higher percentage of it than ever is just pure shit - whatever it is you’re talking about whether it’s music, clothes, art, etc. 

There’s arguably also, from an absolute standpoint, more of the good stuff than ever. I don’t want to overlook all the talented people making their thing and doing so with passion. But it so often gets drowned out, and the impetus for creators to be a business also is something that I’ve seen kill far off far too much good talent - but it will just drain you. Some sort of skill in relationship building has always been important for most people, but the landscape is so different now that it’s like you need to be a salesperson/internet marketer first. For me, no thanks. More power to all that can do it and keep their creative vision in tact. 

There’s a cultural critic named William Deresewiecz who has written well about this, now some years back. 

To answer your question more specifically, I don’t know why the hell Raleigh can’t figure out how to make a good pair of repros. I’m sure they can, but clearly they’re not interested. Not that I would cough up the $500 or whatever they would end up asking for them. I know they have some skilled people working there - or at least they did. Or maybe Tellason or Mister Freedom can get it done. Whatever LA factory MF uses, they have people who know how to make a good pair of jeans there. I don’t find the quality lacking at all versus Japanese made pairs for the most part. There are potential outlets. Maybe I’m even missing one that has done it.  

Maybe now that @rodeo bill is stateside he can ponder the potential of such a thing!?

Edited Friday at 06:31 PM by ATWM

[julian-wolf]

  On 3/14/2025 at 5:46 PM, Broark said:

So it appears that Vidalia Mills is no longer, can't say I ever saw much interesting stuff made by them: https://www.gq.com/story/inside-the-fight-to-save-american-selvedge-denim
Sounds like they had some real operational struggles. Hopefully the looms get auctioned off to someone that'll put them to good use!

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Feels like as good a time as any to shout out Huston Textile; I’ve handled a slew of their fabrics and they’re nicer than anything that I’ve seen come out of Cone Mills or its recent reincarnations in the last bunch of years. The Reddit dweebs would have you think that Vidalia was the very last bastion of domestically woven denim, but the reality is that there’s probably still at least a dozen small family-run mills putting out top quality product. There’s even plenty of smaller, more boutiquey / fashion-oriented brands putting out jeans & jackets that are made in USA / Canada top to bottom—they just don’t have any interest in catering to the repro crowd, or don’t perceive there as being enough of a market to warrant it. Go to any crafts fair in a borderline hip city and you’ll see at least a couple very cool (if non-SuFu-approved) options.

[ATWM]

  On 3/14/2025 at 7:26 PM, julian-wolf said:

There’s even plenty of smaller, more boutiquey / fashion-oriented brands putting out jeans & jackets that are made in USA / Canada top to bottom—they just don’t have any interest in catering to the repro crowd, or don’t perceive there as being enough of a market to warrant it

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I’ve probably seen a good amount of this, but yea - I haven’t seen (much) that I really wanted to actually wear. And that’s the thing in the end right? I don’t need repro jeans specifically, but it’s tough finding something that has the same charm and potential. Honestly, perhaps the biggest hurdle is finding cotton thread construction. From a business standpoint, I can see why they don’t do it. Probably a slew of complaints from customers not finding its traits desirable and not worth the durability tradeoff. I think if I didn’t care about that, my options would expand. Not that I need any right now. Maybe I haven’t looked hard enough yet - maybe that will be my goal next year. 

[jkbrwn]

  On 3/14/2025 at 7:49 PM, ATWM said:

I’ve probably seen a good amount of this, but yea - I haven’t seen (much) that I really wanted to actually wear. And that’s the thing in the end right?

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Amen. I live 20 minutes away from Railcar. I have taken a few pairs of jeans to be hemmed there at this stage and they're good. Appropriate cotton thread colour matching, a nice chainstitch, nice people. But their jeans own garments are... kinda meh. They also stock Naked and Famous and they're similarly meh. Just do nothing for me.  Which is a real shame, as I'd love to support a business down the street from me but their own clothes leave me feeling cold.

[Broark]

Good shout Julian, I had forgotten about Hutson.
I guess my ramblings are more directed towards the repro world (selfishly so), I just miss the days when we had Roy making stuff. There’s nothing inherently wrong with what MF, Tellason, etc. are making, they just don’t have the same small independent maker feel. I’ve seen a small handful of people on IG making stuff, but most of it seems to be pet projects. I guess I just selfishly want someone to be a Slash Overalls or Lb Denim / rebuilt of the west. 

[beautiful_FrEaK]

You mean someone like Word of Mouth?! 😉

Would be nice if Simone would get some unique denim as well.

[Broark]

  On 3/14/2025 at 9:02 PM, beautiful_FrEaK said:

You mean someone like Word of Mouth?! 😉

Would be nice if Simone would get some unique denim as well.

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One of the only that I’ve seen so far! I’m really enjoying the contest jeans, I’d definitely be interested in another pair whenever he gets some different denim.
Also if we’re including the EU makers, Superstitch in Paris seems to do some interesting stuff with their MTO jeans. They’ve moved the rest of their production to Japan.

[ATWM]

  On 3/14/2025 at 9:02 PM, beautiful_FrEaK said:

You mean someone like Word of Mouth?! 😉

Would be nice if Simone would get some unique denim as well.

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I definitely have had that same thought, would be happy to buy again. I really do like these jeans a lot.

Would love if he had his own denim, maybe tailored towards his favorite / most popular model. That would put it over the top for me. Candiani makes nice stuff, maybe he could work with them? Who knows. Probably too much of a stretch for an operation of his scale so far? 

[Double 0 Soul]

A new Phlegm piece went up a couple of days ago.. i though i'd leave it till Sunday before riding down there.. less chance of any cars obstructing my photos.. sadly, there was still a stupid metal thing parked in the way!

Post industrial, city living.. the clothing / trainers are not drying on washing lines, they're purely decorative

.. rode past this'un on my way home

Edited 6 hours ago by Double 0 Soul