Overcomer

[dilemmaworker 67]

Hi everyone, new old user here. I took a long break, from around 2010, from this scene and haven't been in the loop until a few months ago when I heard from a friend about a number of emerging Chinese brands. Having looked over their respective Taobao shops one of them stuck out and I bought my first pair of jeans in about five years (not counting APCs I've bought for work).

That brand was Overcomer and I like them mostly for their toned down aesthetic (more Warehouse than Samurai) and also because they made a model we don't usually see, namely 1975 501s. These come in two versions, a regular Chinese denim and a Cone denim. Cone has always been lackluster for me so I went with the former, the Overcomer 051ss, and a pair of APC New Standards and a pair of Flathead 3001s. 

The 051ss come one-wash and in these photos, I've already washed them three times; first a cold machine wash after which they didn't properly dry and took on a bit of a smell. Second cold wash didnt quite do it, so I soaked them in boiling water and that did the trick. For this reason, they're much more blue in these images than when new.

In short, the denim is different than most other that I've seen, because it is very hairy, not that rigid, very tightly woven and because there is no weft showing through they look almost black when new, until you compare them to an actual black fabric, that is. This is very similar to the 551zxx that I've had before, in every respect. The fit is also somewhat similar, though the 551s are a 1960s (1963?) model. I'd say these fit pretty much like a 66 cut. Note, however, that they come very short.

Here's a comparison to my Flatheads:

APC, Overcomer, Flathead. 

As a conclusion, the Overcomers are a level above the APCs in terms of denim and construction, and on a similar level to the Japanese brands that are popular among us here. They have a very small lineup right now and this is their only pair of jeans, but hopefully they'll be producing more.

Some of their lookbook shots:

[aho 677,841]

^Welcome back HJJ! Interesting brand, I honestly need to delve more into Chinese as I haven't owned a pair yet and theres a ton of good stuff coming out of there lately...

[edmond 867,232]

How do i buy overcomer ?

[dilemmaworker 67]

2 hours ago, aho said:

^Welcome back HJJ! Interesting brand, I honestly need to delve more into Chinese as I haven't owned a pair yet and theres a ton of good stuff coming out of there lately...

Good to be back!

53 minutes ago, edmond said:

How do i buy overcomer ?

Taobao. As I am now based in China, I could also set something up if there is enough interest.

[edmond 867,232]

Hjj? Is that you?

[beautiful_FrEaK 1,675,124]

Welcome back!

Gonna check that brand out. I think I saw them on Taobao before

[Flash 251,487]

5 hours ago, dilemmaworker said:

Good to be back!

Taobao. As I am now based in China, I could also set something up if there is enough interest.

good to see you posting again , hope you stick around 

still read your blog from time to time , loved all your posts from Tokyo 

[jigsaw 720,639]

try to visit their shop in Hangzhou last week but i think I'm in a bad timing as they already closed for Chinese new year and they look pretty nice...

[bod 108,895]

Fits look good

[JDelage 5,843]

I've had good experience with the proxy Taobaofocus, FWIW.

[heyheyhey 49,964]

Red Cloud makes tight weave/hairy denim, maybe it's de stijl over there. 

Interesting brand, hats off to any company making "Made in China" mean quality.

[dilemmaworker 67]

From their Taobao:

[serotonin flood 26]

They look pretty cool.  Also how long did the inseam end up after the soaks?

[volvo240thebest 23,978]

they do look good I concur.

there is another new legit Chinese brand I've seen a few days ago on Taobao but I can't find it now. CDP? or CPD? DCP?  they do have three different denim models, a 47 cut a 55 cut and a 66 cut, made with three different fabrics. The 66 fabric looked really good on photos. Damn I completely forgot the name of the brand and can't find them right now.

[edit] got the link

https://shop108530397.world.taobao.com/shop/view_shop.htm?user_number_id=1958089979

peep the denim fabrics, esp the 66, they got it quite right. pity the patches look quite tacky...

Edited January 30, 2017 by volvo240thebest

[sebsakob 124]

How about stretching with the 051ss fabric dilemma worker? 

Maybe you can give us some infos regarding sizing with these ones. Especially the waist and back rise measurements would be interesting for me. Thanks in advance!

[mikkadehachikai 37]

From pics, I find them closer to the quality, construction and the fit to that of an APC than Flathead. I find comparison with Flathead quite generous. But more choices, the better. 

[beautiful_FrEaK 1,675,124]

Any update on those Overcomer jeans? Did someone else took the plunge?

[sebsakob 124]

I did buy the 051ss. Will share some infos and thoughts about them sometime next week...

[dilemmaworker 67]

On 1/31/2017 at 3:31 PM, mikkadehachikai said:

From pics, I find them closer to the quality, construction and the fit to that of an APC than Flathead. I find comparison with Flathead quite generous. But more choices, the better. 

For construction, APCs aren't chainstitched or bartacked. 

For denim, APC uses a denim with a rather shallow dye which gives the impression of being dipped 3 times whereas Japanese brands will do 10+ dips for a deeper color and better fades. 

That's ok because APC isn't trying to do a repro jean and they're target customer only somewhat overlaps with the user base here. I still buy and wear APC but it's a different type of garment. 

Overcomer is different on both points. Construction methods are what you'd expect from a repro brand, and the denim is dyed much deeper. I guess the pictures don't show that as well as they could but I do think they make jeans comparable to a Japanese brand. Due to cut and fading, the best reference might be the Denime guy's new brand. 

Edited February 28, 2017 by dilemmaworker

[alvin_cheong 74]

@dilemmaworker Hi, could I know which part of China you are working at?

 

[dilemmaworker 67]

hi alvin, I'm in Shenzhen.

[alvin_cheong 74]

@dilemmaworker Cool, I'm working in Zhuhai. Maybe could meet up someday?

[dilemmaworker 67]

1 hour ago, alvin_cheong said:

@dilemmaworker Cool, I'm working in Zhuhai. Maybe could meet up someday?

Sure, let me know if you're stopping by Shenzhen in the future.

[holio cornolio 1,315]

I have 3 overcomer pocket tees and the quality is very good. They're a little shorter than the average t, but you can't argue with the materials or construction. I was going to pull the trigger on some jeans but couldn't bring myself to because the denim looked a bit featureless and boring on the taobao page, but I see now that I was wrong.

[JDelage 5,843]

What's a 1975 fit? Looks like mid-rise, wide legs? Like a lower rise 1955?

 

Also, below are the measurements. Could someone tell me which column is for thighs? (Or even better, what each column says?)

(Google Translate is great, but doesn't work for pics...)

Edited March 2, 2017 by JDelage

[Iron Horse 4,831]

Should be the second column.

[dilemmaworker 67]

The 1975 fit is pretty similar to a 1966 to me. Mid-rise, tapered, but not slim legs. 

Waist circumference | Thigh width | Inseam | Front rise | Leg opening

I find the onewash measurements to be accurate. However, you can now get them in longer inseams, so the very short inseam in this chart are not necessarily true if you choose a different length.

Edited March 3, 2017 by dilemmaworker

[JDelage 5,843]

Thanks guys!

[dilemmaworker 67]

There's a guy on Instagram who I think is Overcomer's founder - https://www.instagram.com/brucedu1981/

Stealing some of his pics; apparently he has a bunch of 1970s small es that they look at for inspiration.

 

[sebsakob 124]

As promised here are some photos of my 051ss I took today. All in all I am very happy with the jeans. Pretty good work from the guys from Overcomer!

Period correct details and neatly seam guide. The hardware and denim looks good as well. Will see how they will fade and wear in general...

I did not soaked them until now. Will do that sometime next week. Here are the pre soak measurements for size 33/34 unwashed BiG method.

Waist: 86cm/33,8"

Front Rise: 31cm/12,2"

Back Rise: 39cm/15,3"

Upper Thigh: 32cm/12,6"

Knee: 24cm/9,4"

Hem: 19,5cm/7,7"

Inseam: 83cm/32,7"

 

 

Edited March 9, 2017 by sebsakob