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What's Next


Iron Horse

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Cool thread!

Some people have been guessing that '60s-'70s could be next, like you said, though I think that's pretty dangerous territory to tread. After all, it was the fad-like junk fashion of those decades that sunk the West into a kind of casual clothing Hell for decades. Does anybody really want to wear pleated polyester slacks again?

I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. With Tender I'm in the happy position of being able to jump around all over the place historically, and also do totally non-repro technical/design exercises, but I do also really like the stricter repro approach, and the eras that are well-represented have been so thoroughly honed by now that it seems like it would be interesting to try something new. I've personally been wearing a few pairs of 70s/80s/90 US-made jeans from less talked about brands (Ranchcraft, Big Mac, OshKosh, Big Smith, Maverick et al) and really enjoying them. They're made well into the fashion jeans era, but because they were intended as workwear they still have that honesty that I think we all like about earlier jeans, and their repros. The things that are charming about a pair of 50s jeans (selvage outseam, chainstitch, rivets etc) were just ways of keeping costs down and improving strength, and the same can be said for open-end denim, non-selvage wide fabric in the age of quick overlocking, zip flies, polycotton pocket bags. I've been really impressed by how well a pair of 90s Big Mac Industrial 40% polyester carpenter jeans are wearing. They're totally different to earlier jeans, and a completely different proposition to Tender, or any brands that look to older periods, but I've been washing them pretty much 1/wear (poly!) and they're starting to look great. I think as long as you look to work/Western/chore-wear, which can cross eras better than things intended as fashionable, there are some really interesting things around.

 

With all this in mind, I've been working with a partner in Japan on a tiny run of new jeans, which is proving a lot of fun! It's still early stages, and I'm not sure if people here will be all that in to them, but we're hoping to have a very small production of WHOOPER jeans ready sometime in the spring. It's really an academic exercise as much as anything else, but it's allowed me to try some new things, while keeping Tender the way I feel it should be, which is more abstract and experimental, with a broader historical scope.

 

Sorry for the mini-essay. I'm teaching quite a bit at the moment, too, and enjoying working these kind of ideas through with students.

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I do wonder if we've reached peak raw denim status (maybe even as much as 4-5 years ago)? 

 

We have, and I believe the peak was as much as five or six years ago.  

 

Future of selvedge denim, I've been saying the past couple years, it's going to be regular fitting jeans based on 50s and 60s 501s.  They're the classic, modern jean, with no extreme's in proportion or appearance, and capable of being worn with just about any piece of post WWII American casual clothing.  

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there was a big mac pants that e-workers did a couple of years ago which i ended up not getting and have been regretting ever since. would've been perfect for lounging around the house reading about workwear. it was a full on repro with all the og details painstakingly followed, including discreet pleats below the back yoke like in the duckdigger whisky cat jeans. iirc only the zipper was waldes not talon or the other way around because they couldn't source the right type.

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  • 1 month later...

this is the original big mac work pants that workers copied. i can't find the link for the workers repro (can anyone, hoggy?) but it was very accurate/faithful as far as i can remember. the most notable differences as i recall were a lighter weight fabric and a different zipper.

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I like time worn clothing too, right up my alley and as you say it seems stuff that works great for us bigger boys. Although it seems too difficult to sort out, no chances of buying online etc etc.

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Probably need a size 36 in the jeans and not sure about shirts, are they marked S through XL or numbered?

Generally a XXL in IH shirts. Do you have measurements for the jeans and shirts you have from them?

Gotta scratch some cash together but really tempted. Get some photos up Ed!

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We're supposed to tell what's next on the forum or what's next in our area's?

In the forum I hope people jump off the whole mineworker look and mix styles up a bit. But I'm afraid we'll continue with the mineworker look with all the repro stuff everyone seems into the last year.

In my city I think the whole skintight jeans trend is over and people are rather chosing a slim fit over a skintight fit. Also I see more people buying stuff like a pantalon.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A major part of why I wear jeans, which I feel goes overlooked, is the way they fit to your body over time. I don't like wearing slacks for various reasons, one of which is that I dislike how they have a flat, shapeless appearance.

 

The way that a well-fitting pair of jeans fits through creasing at the lap/knees/hem is essential to me, completely aside from fading potential. Additionally, you won't get this from soft, floppy pre-wash jeans, which are similarly shapeless.

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