Denim Blunders, Reflections and General Nonsense.

[Double 0 Soul]

Start a "Anyone Remember 2007 - 2014" thread @heyson ..see if you can generate some interest with folks posting up their old denimz, waist size compared to current.. superep for fit pics. We'd all love to see it!

[Cold Summer]

For whatever it's worth, my absolute favorite type of fade is a higher contrast look on a straight/looser-fitting pair of jeans, like you see on holy grail-grade vintage 501xx and such. The tighter-fitting slim fits tend to have more uniform-looking patterns of whiskering and honeycombs, and of course with the added pressure of a slim fit it's just way easier to get dramatic fades.

I always liked the kind of fades SuFu/IG user @nizzel55 got on his jeans. You'd definitely call them high contrast, but they also didn't look like the ridiculous cartoon fades on SE Asian denimheads on Instagram and such. I think the silly looking contrast fades are a combination of factors, including going a year without washing, but often it's on very heavy or exaggerated texture fabrics. The sort of relatively contrasty fades I like are all coming on 13-15 oz denim.

[heyson]

On 9/7/2026 at 10:40 PM, Double 0 Soul said:

Start a "Anyone Remember 2007 - 2014" thread @heyson ..see if you can generate some interest with folks posting up their old denimz, waist size compared to current.. superep for fit pics. We'd all love to see it!

lol not a bad idea 🤔

[PBTony]

I had to get a few jackets tailored so decided to get my 501 stf 1990 hemmed as when they arrived last week they were about 3 inches too long.

I think there was some miscommunication as I was leaving as I had asked if he would use a similar colour thread and he said  "yes yes orginal" but he has kept the orginal hem! 

Nice that I still have the orginal fades though the hem is heavier than usual now 

[julian-wolf]

Bummer, but that does look much more cleanly done than most “original hem” jobs that you see

[ATWM]

Unsurprising but sobering nonetheless

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/opinion/new-york-fashion-week-fast-fashion.html?unlocked_article_code=1.AFE.UD5f.6E9dwziKS_Ww&smid=url-share

[redragon]

https://indigoandasphalt.substack.com/p/your-favorite-brand-from-japan-is-having-trouble-making-denim?r=2j5d3y&utm_medium=ios
3 year wait is brutal…

[Broark]

14 hours ago, PBTony said:

and he said  "yes yes orginal" but he has kept the orginal hem! 

When I worked at a clothing shop years ago we had so many people run into this same issue when taking their jeans to be hemmed.
Must be more common in other lines of clothing (maybe suiting or womenswear? No idea).

 

10 hours ago, ATWM said:

Unsurprising but sobering nonetheless

Hard to wrap your brain around these types of quantities. I've seen some of those photos of the Atacama Desert, it's insane and visible from space.

 

32 minutes ago, redragon said:

3 year wait is brutal…

Sadly I think the writing has been on the wall for some time now considering the aging Japanese skilled labor workforce, not sure we'll ever see the same production volumes in the industry again.

[Cold Summer]

2 hours ago, redragon said:

https://indigoandasphalt.substack.com/p/your-favorite-brand-from-japan-is-having-trouble-making-denim?r=2j5d3y&utm_medium=ios
3 year wait is brutal…

Yikes. What we need is some dumb billionaire to get interested in selvedge and be a patron who can finance the production of new shuttle looms, like how the wealthy patronized the arts back in Ye Olden Days. It's probably the only way that the shuttle loom bottleneck would ever get fixed.

There was a pretty good video by the Wall Street Journal the other day on Iron Heart, which touched on raw denim stuff in general. W David Marx's contribution was, as usual, probably the highlight.

What was most encouraging to me was actually seeing how many young people were involved in the footage of the sewing and other production clips - way better than when I toured some factories and mills in 2013 and it was all old people. Again, I think the biggest issue is the machinery and need for new stuff to be built.

[PBTony]

On 9/10/2026 at 10:58 PM, julian-wolf said:

Bummer, but that does look much more cleanly done than most “original hem” jobs that you see

Yeah kinda bugging me now. I can afford to lose half an inch so I'm going to send off to Son of Stag to chainstitch 

[reallypeacedoff]

Had our boy a couple of days ago, made it home last night!

[MJF9]

@reallypeacedoff hello little fella… welcome to Sufu!! Massive congratulations to you all!! Enjoy the ride…

[heyson]

congratulations @reallypeacedoff! amazing

[Broark]

Congrats @reallypeacedoff!

[reallypeacedoff]

He'll be wearing denim in no time!

220A working overtime!

[PBTony]

On 9/10/2026 at 10:27 PM, PBTony said:

I had to get a few jackets tailored so decided to get my 501 stf 1990 hemmed as when they arrived last week they were about 3 inches too long.

I think there was some miscommunication as I was leaving as I had asked if he would use a similar colour thread and he said  "yes yes orginal" but he has kept the orginal hem! 

Nice that I still have the orginal fades though the hem is heavier than usual now 

My obsession got the better of me so had them hemmed by SOS.

Phew they aren't too short 

[space_cowboy]

Never owned a pair of Samurai's or know very much about the brand, but I found this an interesting watch:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuh2W7LdOZI&t=13s

[Broark]

In recent times Samurai has dropped in popularity here since we mostly are drawn towards more traditional repro stuff these days, but their quality is as good as ever.
Recently I picked up the 15 oz. selvedge chinos in the wide cut and they're fantastic. I was looking for something a little different from other chinos / trousers that I own they fit the bill.
The S2000HXII with WWII inspired details are quite nice as well, they're a good mix of repro details while still holding onto that distinct Samurai DNA.

[Lorcan]

The washi blend 15oz denim they do now looks interesting + probably v breathable/comfy https://rivetandhide.com/gbp/samurai-s310xx-washi-jeans-wide

and the samurai cotton farm stuff is cool. 

[MJF9]

Yup ^^ yup ^…  the 310 cut is really nice… as is the 17oz Zero+ denim. I got a Samurai cotton project long sleeved t-shirt last year - arms are long so need cuffing, but fabric is great, pleasantly coarse. They just need to shorten the length of their type 1s, they really do

[ATWM]

Yep big fan of their chinos here, been wearing my same pair a good bit recently. I have a flannel from them that actually fits me nicely too - actually the only “nice” flannel I have but it’s great. 

An aside but I’ve got a different maker’s  washi blend fabric in a jacket, I feel like that might result in some unique aging in jeans. It’s hard to describe but it really does feel a bit papery. 

[Cold Summer]

I tried on a couple of Samurai WWII pairs in store at Guilty Party a couple months ago, I think one in 15 oz Otokogi and 17 oz Zero denim, and really wanted to like them, the design and denim were awesome, but they were just so ridiculously saggy in the hip/top thigh/rear end and it looked really awkward.

I know I'm a rather skinny guy but their thighs on straight fits is so big on my waist size that most of their fits just don't work for me. It's a bummer that I often have this problem on pairs where everything else like the rise, leg shape below the first 2-3" of the thigh, etc. looks good on me. I know virtually everybody else complains that most jeans are too tight in the thigh, so clearly I'm in the minority here, but it's really annoying to me how it's hard to find brands I like that make a regular rise, straight leg jean with a more flattering/fitted shape through hip and top thigh.

[mlwdp]

Been on a Patagonia buying spree as of late.  Don’t know where to post this on sufu

 

 

 

[reallypeacedoff]

Best thing about Patagonia is they do unlimited repairs so you can buy second hand stuff you like for cheap, with holes if be, and get them repaired for free.

[ATWM]

2 hours ago, reallypeacedoff said:

Best thing about Patagonia is they do unlimited repairs so you can buy second hand stuff you like for cheap, with holes if be, and get them repaired for free.

Not anymore. I think a lot of changes shine Yvon stepped back as many thought there would be. Not expensive but I had to pay for a recent repair of a UV hoodie that had a big hole. Took 3 months too. Had to buy another bc it was my only one and I use it for paddle boarding which I do a lot of in the summers. Can’t buy merino capilene base layers any more last time I tried too, (I had an old one that is almost transparent I wore it so much). All went to plastic and blends. I forget all the terminology but they reformulated some fabrics - talked at length about this with a rep awhile ago when I tried to replace what I had. Wasn’t possible anymore. 

[Cold Summer]

On 9/13/2026 at 5:59 PM, reallypeacedoff said:

He'll be wearing denim in no time!

220A working overtime!

I know I'm a little late to the party, but congrats! My wife and I had our third child in February, it's definitely an adventure and being a dad is awesome.

In 6+ years of having babies and kids, they've been responsible for shockingly few (if any) dirty denim incidents - I had more of an issue with babies spitting up on my tops, which is much less of a big deal (unless you're in a denim jacket/shirt and are trying to go a while between washes.) Be careful that baby hasn't pooped before sitting him in your lap, as that's probably the most likely way your jeans are going to get messy.

Honestly nothing I've done has "boosted" my denim fading like having kids, my jeans fade way better than they ever did before. One word of warning: just be careful about the knees, if you're not mindful it's easy to wear through them way faster, or at least have really disproportionately faded knees that don't look great, in the course of kid life. This prematurely wrecked the knees on a couple pairs in the early 2020s. Eventually I started being more careful and just squatted down instead of constantly going on my knees, and now it's not much of an issue anymore and I don't have to give it much thought.

[mlwdp]

Are IH flannels really worth the price?  I’m often flabbergasted by how much they’re asking.

[julian-wolf]

At Japanese domestic prices, probably not. I like Ues a lot more and they cost about the same domestically

At hyper-inflated international prices? Definitely not

[oomslokop]

On 9/25/2026 at 4:10 PM, Broark said:

In recent times Samurai has dropped in popularity here since we mostly are drawn towards more traditional repro stuff these days, but their quality is as good as ever.
Recently I picked up the 15 oz. selvedge chinos in the wide cut and they're fantastic. I was looking for something a little different from other chinos / trousers that I own they fit the bill.
The S2000HXII with WWII inspired details are quite nice as well, they're a good mix of repro details while still holding onto that distinct Samurai DNA.

samurai like iron heart lowkey sneak in more period correct repro details (shallow front pockets in samurai's ww2 jeans; pocket shape in many iron hearts) that are often overshadowed by their more showy gimmicky redditbait (heavy oz! denim with obscure names!)

[mlwdp]

Not enough or hardly ever any duck cloth in the waywt thread.  Seems like this has died down as of late.