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Denim Blunders, Reflections and General Nonsense.


cmboland

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Happened to me as well. And when it did I stopped scouring the internet for cool shit and just started buying sale shirts from Bonobos with cool prints and a good fit (for me), with admittedly shitty fabric and maybe questionable production practices (don’t know this last point one way or another; never looked into it). Whatever, don’t want to spend $300 on a shirt that doesn’t fit or doesn’t get me excited about wearing it.  Haven’t skimped on jeans though, but like you said I know what I like and what works for me so not much more to discover.

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Not sure I’m quite ready to move to Bonobos yet, but I just don’t see that much interesting stuff from the brands a lot of people are into in this niche lately. Or I at least am a bit more discerning about what I actually spend my money on. I’m always trying to find smaller new Japanese brands that spark my interest. 

And thanks for the wine suggestion, I’ve always been more of a beer guy (Jester King takes a lot of my money, got a fridge full of their beer at home) but maybe I’ll give a bottle of that a shot. 

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1 hour ago, Broark said:

Anyone else ever find themselves in a stylistic rut of sorts? I don't see much that I'm really compelled to buy these days.
I wear the same like 5 to 10 shirts/t-shirts almost all the time, and a pair of Roy or Ooe jeans daily. Nothing else does it for me these days.
Sure when something new from Roy or Ooe comes out I'll buy it from a collection standpoint, I know what I like. But outside of that there's not much that does it for me.
Maybe it's time I take some time off from the forums or something. :unsure:

maybe you're still finding your style. on this forum and denimbro i've seen you've already bought so many things within a relatively short space of time and most of them are pretty much of one look/style. to get that spark going again could be a simple matter of trying on different looks/styles, go nuts, might not be enough to buy just one or two different-looking items, even if it's a weird hat!

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I think you could be right @oomslokop, I just need something different. And you’re right, I have bought a lot of the same thing/style over the years and I think now I’m just looking to try something different. I’ve been looking at some Tender stuff lately, that could do the trick. 

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12 hours ago, Broark said:

Anyone else ever find themselves in a stylistic rut of sorts? I don't see much that I'm really compelled to buy these days.
I wear the same like 5 to 10 shirts/t-shirts almost all the time, and a pair of Roy or Ooe jeans daily. Nothing else does it for me these days.
Sure when something new from Roy or Ooe comes out I'll buy it from a collection standpoint, I know what I like. But outside of that there's not much that does it for me.
Maybe it's time I take some time off from the forums or something. :unsure:

It comes and goes, some years I'll buy nothing, others I'll a bit nuts when I find something I like. In the last year I've moved back to looser fits, but still in the "artisanal workwear" wheelhouse. I especially like EG Workaday line, which is basically designed to be a half size too big. Also into some Italian brands like 1st Pat-RN and President's that have trim but not tight silhouettes and truly great construction/materials. I'm actually down to 2 pairs of denim, mostly wear fatigue pants for daily wear. 

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Every time I go shopping, either online or in person, I end up with another pair of running shoes. I don't want to pay up for anything good until I'm at a better weight, and I've got no time for buying poorly made stuff....

My asics Kayano collection is FIRE!

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On 6/11/2018 at 7:51 PM, mpukas said:

I just posted this comment on the Heddels article about organic cotton; 

 

This is a rather poorly written and under researched article. There's some factual correctness, but there's also myths, mis-understandings, and incorrect info. Big Organic is a mega-billion $$$ industry, and there's prolific use of propaganda and fear mongering to promote and protect the industry. Organic is a complex and polarizing topic, and it can be difficult to separate facts from ideology.

This linked article is well written and researched by someone in another branch of the fashion/apparel world. Even though it's 3+ years old now, it's still relevant and consistent with what I currently read elsewhere. The article sites sources of data and provides links for further info. 

https://fashionhedge.com/2015/03/12/the-truth-about-organic-cotton/ 

 

I've been meaning to bring up the topic here for some time. I used to be pro-organic. Some years ago I decided to do some reading/research/listening outside of the organic echo chamber, and I found much info that has made me completely change my tune about organic. In fact I'm quite disgusted by some of the propaganda and fear mongering tactics Big Organic uses to promote it's industry. 

I'm not intending to start a political or ideological argument about conventional vs organic. I am interested to know of real factual data about cotton. The only pair of jeans I own that I know are of organic cotton are the Samurai 16th anniversary S510OG 16oz AK. They're one of my favorite pairs and one of my favorite denims, but I don't think that because they are of organic cotton that has anything to do with it. I feel there are many denims that are made with high-quality conventional denim that are extraordinary. Any other clothing that I have that is made of organic cotton is indistinguishable from something made with conventional cotton. 

If there are in fact benefits from organic vs conventional cotton, then I'd surely be open to supporting it, but I've yet to find anything to convince me. 

Hi mpukas,

I come almost nine months later, but I have to intervene; the article you linked is pretty misleading and slanted.

 

I’m not sure what you mean by “benefits from organic” cotton, but I’m going to try explaining why organic cotton is so crucial.

 

Firstly, I admit that not everything is idyllic in organic farming, and there are some misconceptions for some people for sure, but organic farming is not a scam – even when “big”.

The person in the article, when it comes to organic farming, talks about “a fairly young practice”, about “an imperfect science”, and when it comes precisely to organic cotton, talks about “a good initiative”… “but it is not going to save the world”.

Well, it's the world upside down. In the history of humanity, it’s what we call “conventional agriculture” that is a fairly young practice and an imperfect science. It depends on the type of crops, but organic farming was the only way we got until roughly 100 years ago. The conventional agriculture as we know it, soared really after WWII – mostly intensive farming with the use of pesticides.

What is more new is the conjunction of intensive farming competitiveness applied to organic agricultural methods.

 

Now, some facts:

 

The article is citing the WWF: “The use of genetically-modified cotton varieties has increased in recent years reaching 20% (67.7 million ha) of the global crop area in 2002.”

Sure… 2002… for an article written in 2015.

Well, I have some news to tell: genetically-modified cotton is ultra dominant, it represents more than 90% of the global cotton production. On the other side, organic cotton represents 1% of the worldwide production.

This means that if you buy some cotton clothes that don’t have an organic certification, you can be pretty sure it means you got 100% genetically-modified cotton.

 

Now, what is genetically-modified cotton?

The other name of this ultra dominant cotton is “Bt cotton”. They added a gene, that permits the cotton to produce an insecticide – Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that kills bollworm.

 

It’s certainly difficult to understand and assert the hazardousness of genetically-modified cotton from a biological point of view.

However, from an economic and legal point of view, its hazardousness is indisputable.

It would probably not convinced everyone if I called Bt cotton “the sorcerer's apprentice cotton”, but if I call it “patented cotton”, because it’s what it is, I hope to have a solid point.

 

Every year, cotton farmers around the globe have to buy cotton seeds, Bt cotton seeds, and because they’re patented, can cost a lot more to the farmer. In India, for instance, it can be almost ten times more expensive than non genetically-modified cotton, because of royalties. (Patented doesn't necessarily means GMO, but it’s a bit the case here.)

But this isn’t over, when you grow GM cotton, you enter a system and you have to buy and use the whole package. This package consists mostly on one side of the patented seeds, and on the other side, of a lot of pesticides; pesticides that are of course patented and absolutely necessary to have a good crop. Ideally, with Bt cotton, you use less insecticide than non-GM conventional cotton – because it’s already secreted by the plant itself –, but you still need to use others insecticides for others insects, and you still need to use herbicides – some say you have to use more herbicides compared to non-GM conventional cotton. This seems pretty frequent when I search: less insecticides but more herbicides.

 

But calling this GM cotton an imperfect science would be a euphemism.

The not so funny thing is that the Bt cotton is often less and less effective over time because insects gains some resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis. This means you have to use more and more pesticides trying to save the crops. It has happened all around the world. The economic consequences for the farmers can be very serious, moreover the farmers are in a vicious circle where they’re absolutely dependant of these patented products (seeds and pesticides).

 

There is also the contamination issue; non GM crops get easily contaminated by GM crops – because ultra dominant, not because they’re GM, meaning that some cotton varieties are in danger, it’s killing diversity and traditional or ancient varieties, which is crucial from a security perspective in agriculture. In most areas of the world, non GM cotton is threatened by patented cotton. If I remember correctly it has already been declared illegal to have patented stuff if you didn’t pay for it – I remember at least this from Mexican maize and Monsanto willing to take legal action.

 

We are loosing hundred of varieties because of this economic system – among others things –, varieties that have been crafted for thousand of years by mankind by crossing and genetical selections. It already happened 200 years ago with American cotton in India, but now, it’s far worse and more global.

All this in favour of a few corporation that want to sell a simulacrum of nature.

 

When we talk about cotton, it’s quite deceitful to sum up the problem with the simplistic opposition between conventional and organic agriculture and creating confusion with the ideas of synthetic pesticides and what is allowed or not in organic methods – organic cotton is in no way comparable to conventional cotton in this regard.

 

It’s the harsh truth, when you think “cotton”, you have to think “GM vs organic cotton”.

I don’t remember seeing a manufacturer indicate that his cotton is non GM; there are exceptions, but most of the time, buying non-organic cotton means buying proprietary technology.

 

Obviously, organic cotton is also a business; some lies have probably been told by some companies – but I don’t know of any concrete example.

But big and long-term lies, corruption and manipulation are on the other side. Conventional agriculture doesn’t need propaganda, it’s just here, ultra dominant, relying on money mechanics to last.

I very well know that what I wrote is slanted, too.

 

But one thing is sure, if you see “big organic” in the cotton field, what is Monsanto/Bayer for instance? The big money – where it becomes power – is there.

Organic cotton is probably the last bastion of real cotton.

 

Some links/sources:

 

About Bt cotton resistance: (just search Bt cotton resistance” on Internet to get plenty of information)

In India:

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/bt-cotton-has-failed-admits-monsanto-68749-2010-03-06

In US:

https://agfax.com/2017/07/21/cotton-bollworm-bt-cotton-resistance-showing-up-from-north-carolina-to-texas-dtn/

 

About Bt cotton royalties, on a state-level:

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/India-Cuts-Monsanto-Seed-Royalties-for-3rd-Time-20190311-0007.html

This is what working with nature looks like now. And this is nothing compared to the farmer-level, where it can be far worse.

 

Burkina Faso abandoned GM cotton and said this cotton had poor quality:

https://www.dw.com/en/burkina-faso-abandons-gm-cotton/a-19362330

Also, Fair trade is incompatible with GMO, because of economic dependency; some (most? all?) fair trade organizations clearly banned GM cotton.

 

Information on cotton, from a GM point of view:

http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/53/download/isaaa-brief-53-2017.pdf

 

Information on cotton, from an organic point of view:

About water consumption comparison (interesting about the “blue water”, “green water”…):

https://textileexchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/TE-LCA_of_Organic_Cotton-Fiber-Summary_of-Findings.pdf

Comparison on what is allowed or not (I admit that “hazardous pesticides” is subject to interpretation, but there are more sources that exist) :

https://textileexchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/TE_Preferred-Cotton-Matrix_Production-Systems-1.pdf

Organic Cotton Market Report 2018:

https://textileexchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018-Organic-Cotton-Market-Report.pdf

Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production(also linked in the “article”):

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b68d34f550b446a41ff8e909c9f225fd&mc=true&node=se7.3.205_1601&rgn=div8

We can see what synthetic means: Alcohols, soap-based things, oils seem a lot less complex than glyphosate (which is used in conventional cotton agriculture). I’m not saying everything on this list is intrinsically good.

I could also respond about this study in soybeans, but it’s getting too long.

It’s just a start. I did not tell everything – but I know so little at the same time.

I’m open to discussion.

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On 3/21/2019 at 6:01 PM, Broark said:

Anyone else ever find themselves in a stylistic rut of sorts? ... 

Some one else here posting something similar a couple/few years years ago. My thoughts now are similar to then - it's not uncommon to get burned out on nya hobby when we get too consumed and hyper-focused. It's healthy to take a couple steps away from it for sometime, focus on something else, and then come back with a fresh perspective. You, personally, have an amazing collection, and I suggest you reflect on the awesome pieces you've collected, both individually and as entire collection. 

Personally, I too wear the same thing almost every day. Literally. THE. SAME. THING. It's comforting up to a point, but then it gets boring. I don't post WAYWT pic because they'd be all the same outfits. And, I feel my style isn't up to par. 

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I'm still obsessed with  jeans. Tees, shirts, and jackets too. But mainly just jeans. At the moment, I'm frustrated that I don't have a pair that really fits me well, looks good (to me), is functional and comfortable. I've been wearing my IH 888-NT's (UHR denim) for the past several months mainly because they're comfortable. But I don't think they look that good on me. The GF doesn't like them. 

I'm also so frustrated with the JP brands obsession with making dysfunctional front pockets. Of the pairs I have, Tanuki are prolly the best; Samurai and TSG are ok; IH are not very good - 888's are better than others; TFH/RJB are the worst. WHR Steer Ryder (Lee repro's) were terrible. Roy is quite good. By far the best are Levi's 511 (very different than 501's) - best pockets so far, and they're a slim, stupid-tight fit on me. When @Broark mentioned in the CSF thread that his pockets are not useful, that's a deal breaker for me. 

I'm just gonna get a pair of Levi's 502 Premium stretchy jeans and STFU... :huh:

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Looked into any Wrangler repros? Since I started wearing these 11MW Cane's I've been blown away by how much more functional the slash-style pockets are than standard jean pockets. Even compared to my Roy jeans, which like you've said are quite good, the difference is night and day. (Besides, unlike the Roy jeans, these have useable rear pockets as well.)

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I do not understand why jeans makers have so much trouble with the front pockets. It's not hard at all to make the pocket opening a deeper cut. There is absolutely no disadvantage to doing this. 

If I ever make my own denim company, big front pocket openings will absolutely be a selling point.

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My favorite pockets tend to be my Roy jeans. Ooe, Warehouse and Boncoura are also good. Just a tad short but still usable unlike my CSF. But the CSF have a reasoning behind it (historical accuracy). 

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Gotta say these Instagram influencer ads are getting ridiculous. I saw a post on my explore just now by Robindenim and he’s advertising for a fucking mattress company? Come on. How lame can you get?

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6 hours ago, Broark said:

Gotta say these Instagram influencer ads are getting ridiculous. I saw a post on my explore just now by Robindenim and he’s advertising for a fucking mattress company?

We all need something to fall back on...

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