Denim Blunders, Reflections and General Nonsense.

[shoreman]

18 minutes ago, SuperJackle said:

Yeah I hear ya, their prices have slowly been creeping higher in the last 3-4 years too. 

bah...maybe I'm just getting older and looking for things to complain about. haha. 

[mlwdp]

Wrong thread.

Edited March 7, 2017 by mlwdp

[mrman]

One thing the japanese have over american brands is proprietary fabrics if that is of interest. RgT just got their own, what about 3sixteen, Railcar etc?

[Maynard Friedman]

3Sixteen have their own too, from Kuroki mills, not sure about anyone else.

[Cold Summer]

Up until now (with RGT joining them with their new proprietary denim) I think 3Sixteen was the only small western brand to use their own custom Japanese fabric.

[kiya]

10 minutes ago, Cold Summer said:

Up until now (with RGT joining them with their new proprietary denim) I think 3Sixteen was the only small western brand to use their own custom Japanese fabric.

PRPS was the first small western brand to produce their own custom denim about 15 years ago.

But in this newer generation of brands 3sixteen was definitely the first.

[JDelage]

There are a number of denim jackets with more useable pockets. For starters, some brands have type 3 jackets with hand warmer pockets and Sauce Zahn in China has it with both hand warmer and inside pocket (as a side note, there's no reason why a type 3 with hand warmer pockets should not have inside pockets too). Then you have the IH shirt jackets, IHSH-76 and -99. Then you have a number of ranch / work jackets.

One that I'm looking forward to seeing more details on is TFH's zipped jacket:

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/2nd/item/fh-f-dj002z/

It looks pretty cool ...

Edited March 8, 2017 by JDelage

[Iron Horse]

You could also look at Lee Storm Riders with pockets, plus the added benefit of blanket lining.

[Cucoo]

Sizing aside (personally most Western brands don't fit me that great since I'm not that tall or broad despite the beer gut) I like denim jackets although yes, the lack of usable pockets can be bothersome at times. I put up with it because in my opinion handwarmer pockets a) just don't fit the design of classic denim jackets and b) shortness of the jacket allows full usage of jeans pockets anyways. I also think adding inside pockets and storing more than paper thin smartphones would add too much bulkd and destroy the lines of the garment, like when you're stuffing your suit jacket inside pockets, it just looks stupid - when I need many pockets I just wear another jacket, like an M65.

Trucker / Rider jackets have their place in my wardrobe but there's things that can easily prevent you from wearing one, like needing more pocket space or maybe even wearing a shirt that is just a tad too long so you need to avoid the Torero look ^^

[Cold Summer]

The Flat Head jacket looks great. They've had some great designs over the last few years, I'd love to try them on in person if I had the chance - but I'm a little skeptical they'd fit how I want.

I've always loved the look of Lee jackets. Wish that they had a nice selvedge option available right now.

[Cucoo]

Well there's a Lee 101 Rider jacket in Japanese Selvedge, I had one (sold it after I got my current Mr Freedom "Cowboy" jacket). It's sure a nice enough jacket if you want that particular style. Iron Heart also does a Lee type jacket. 

[ColonelAngus]

On Tuesday, March 07, 2017 at 10:38 AM, Cold Summer said:

The pine ranger jacket looks awesome, who's carrying that? I see Snake Oil is already sold out of it.

Yeah, I feel the same way about a lot of this, especially since stuff from Western brands seem to fit me a lot better than Japanese ones, in most cases. On the other hand when I wear my Samurai S710s I really enjoy the little things that really make Japanese garments special, so I don't think I'll ever completely write them off in favor of western stuff.

I do like the Iron Heart CPO shirts, especially after seeing how well Nizzel's shirts have faded. Seems like that would be a good fit too, would be a nice option to consider once my FH shirt is really busted up.

I think Blue Owl Workshop also has the ranger jackets. 

I'm still not completely sold on RgT's stuff. I've got their waxed canvas jacket but nothing else of theirs really jumps out at me.

 

 

[Cold Summer]

Actually ordered one yesterday when they went up on RGT's website!

For me, jackets are by far the best thing RGT sells. Not super interested in their jeans or shirts, but the design and fit of their jackets is really appealing.

[JDelage]

On 3/7/2017 at 4:26 AM, Cold Summer said:

When you think about it, denim jackets don't really make much sense. I liked the look of the Type II until I actually got one and realized how hard it is to actually use the front pockets, which are strangely spaced far apart and hard to actually access. Most denim jackets don't have hand pockets or a usable chest/inner pocket that will accommodate your average smartphone. On top of this I'm not real crazy about some of the details (the pleats on the Type II, the V-shaped vertical lines on the Type III.)

You might like that Wrangler: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/denim-jackets-new-or-vintage.82667/page-3#post-1969382

[mrman]

When looking at the new RgT offering, I find them bland, too minimalistic, when compared with eg. 3Sixteen ss17 lookbook

[Cold Summer]

The new 3Sixteen collection looks kickass. Guess it kinda remains to be seen but for me 3Sixteen's outerwear doesn't work for me because the sleeves usually aren't long enough (the shirts, on the other hand, are just right.)

[ColonelAngus]

i've kinda fallen off the 3sixteen bandwagon. I like the fabrics that they use for their shirts but their fits are inconsistent. I have 3 of their crosscut flannels and they all came under spec and have essentially shrunk down to a size medium with a cold wash/hang dry. I've also grown to dislike their signature yoke, which to me takes away from a classic look. nothing against the quality of their stuff per se, I just need consistency.

[Cold Summer]

I've got a bunch of their flannels in Medium and they fit pretty close from one to the next (though my light blue one from 2014 is a little bit smaller than the more recent ones.)

The thing about flannel shirts is that if you're using different fabrics from season to season like 3Sixteen does, it's incredibly difficult (if not impossible) to get sizing consistency because each fabric has different shrink/stretch properties. You can use the same pattern for three different shirts and they all fit differently because of how the fabric shrinks.

When I worked at Flat Head they'd always try to adjust the pattern after getting a sample, but even then it's a bit of a gamble. It's easy to bash on companies like FH or 3Sixteen for inconsistent sizing, but it's just in the nature of the fabrics they work with. All this stuff considered, I think 3Sixteen actually does a pretty good job keeping sizing consistent on their flannel shirts.

[ColonelAngus]

1 hour ago, Cold Summer said:

I've got a bunch of their flannels in Medium and they fit pretty close from one to the next (though my light blue one from 2014 is a little bit smaller than the more recent ones.)

The thing about flannel shirts is that if you're using different fabrics from season to season like 3Sixteen does, it's incredibly difficult (if not impossible) to get sizing consistency because each fabric has different shrink/stretch properties. You can use the same pattern for three different shirts and they all fit differently because of how the fabric shrinks.

When I worked at Flat Head they'd always try to adjust the pattern after getting a sample, but even then it's a bit of a gamble. It's easy to bash on companies like FH or 3Sixteen for inconsistent sizing, but it's just in the nature of the fabrics they work with. All this stuff considered, I think 3Sixteen actually does a pretty good job keeping sizing consistent on their flannel shirts.

I see your point but I don't know that I agree with you. IH makes flannel shirts very well and I would say they're the best in the game right now. They have lightweight shirts to midweight to ultra heavy flannels and anecdotally, they have incredibly strict quality control. I only have one UHF flannel from IH and it's right on spec. I can't recall if 3sixteen's shirt fabrics are once washed but IH's are, so it takes the guesswork out when a customer worries about their shirt shrinking a half size. This is why IH has a loyal following and why they continue to be the standard bearer in the denim community. I'm just saying that from my own experience 3 out of 3 shirts being under spec is bad and has made me stop buying from 3sixteen.

[1fookntitefd]

^ I own about 7 ironheart shirts including UHF, work shirts, etc... and I can say for a fact that they are very consistent with regards to sizing.

[SuperJackle]

That's why iron heart costs so much. But I'm not about to pay that much for a shirt. 

[serotonin flood]

I love my shaggy flannel from 3sixteen.  It's super soft and has a regular yoke 

[ColonelAngus]

1 hour ago, SuperJackle said:

That's why iron heart costs so much. But I'm not about to pay that much for a shirt. 

Believe me, once upon a time I would've agreed with you 100% but once you get over the sticker shock and see in person how great their product is it becomes a little easier....just a little. I'll admit that it's hard for me to spend $300+ on a flannel shirt, but after trying several mid-tier brands and not being truly happy with my purchases I decided that it's better in the long run to go for quality over quantity, even if it means spending a little more. The difference is that I have to spread my purchases out and limit myself to to 1 or 2 big purchases per year versus 4 or 5 smaller purchases that were on discount. If money were no object i'd buy IH all day everyday, but i've got bills to pay and a family to take care of just like everybody else.

[BrownMetallic]

With regards to denimjackets, 15oz is my max__ anything heavier is just too constricting.

The best fitting I've ever tried on was a friend's FH a few years back. 'Regretted not taking when he offered to swap w/my  SC40400N__ w/c I eventually sold anyway.  

Currently, I got the SDA type1 & Momo type2 in "Copper Label" denim. Former has regular cut w/c can be layered w/ medium weight sweater/hoodie underneath ... the latter is cut slimmer+longer,  worn over shirts&knits x midrise jeans.

Edit: Got the wrong photo up for the SDA [below's the correct item]

Edited March 12, 2017 by BrownMetallic
Add pix

[Flash]

anyone notice a decline in quality from some of the brands talked about here ? 

one that i have had experience with is McCoys , there ballpark sweats were ( imo ) the best around for many a year but after buying there 40's style after hooded sweat a few months back i was anything but impressed by the quality of the fabric after a handful of wears and one wash , the fabric looked great when i first got it but after the wash it went really " bally " ... id expect that from a cheap £10 sweat but when paying the prices that McCoys are asking i think we would all expect better , maybe this was a one off but it still sucks 

[Max Power]

Sad to hear that. Im wearing my ballpark hoodie at the moment and agree that its quality is awesome. Its about 4 years old now and still looking and feeling great. Wouldnt expect rmc to decline in quality, they used to be one of the best out there.

[Flash]

these comments are just coming from the most recent ballpark hoody i have purchased , all my other mccoys stuff is tip top 

[Iron Horse]

Well, RMC has a new boss, and that's all I will say about that. 

[Broark]

Interesting, so Tsujimoto isn't running RMC anymore?
Wasn't aware of that. My Ballpark sweat from a few years ago is great.
I'd still love to get an RMC M-65 some day, hope the quality doesn't drop in the future.

[aho]

Do tell? I thought his son took over?