SUPERDENIM SMALL QUESTIONS THREAD (Use instead of making new threads)

[space_cowboy]

Chicago is a great a city! Although according to our government, we're currently under siege... Plenty of nature stuff in the surrounding areas if you can past the lack of elevation.

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

43 minutes ago, Broark said:

Yup this drives me crazy too, May though...who knows when.  We have had years when it's 85F / 29C on Thanksgiving or even Christmas day.
I'd much rather be somewhere with more distinct seasons.

Oh wow don’t even get me started on winter heat waves. I feel personally betrayed when they happen. 
 

I would prefer it as well. But it’s as you said, relocating is hard. We’ve lived here our entire lives, plus our families have been very helpful and supporting with our daughter. 

[Broark]

7 minutes ago, Hopethisoneisnttaken said:

I would prefer it as well. But it’s as you said, relocating is hard. We’ve lived here our entire lives, plus our families have been very helpful and supporting with our daughter. 

I've been here for 15 years (longer than I've lived anywhere else actually), moved for university with no family nearby so I'm used to being kind of on my own.
My wife on the other hand has never lived outside of Texas, so it's a bit more of a challenge for her to leave than it is for me.

[ATWM]

Yep - the family or community aspect is key. While I do like where we live I doubt we’ve had ended up here without family proximity as a major consideration (were an early help with our son). It’s hard to just up and go anywhere. I’ve spent extended time in some of the most amazing places (2 extended stays in South Island in NZ, for example) that I thought I would want to move to only to realize that amount of distance from the important people is actually a total nonstarter for me. We even had a line on a sustainable way to move there, couldn’t do it. Maybe eventually, ha.
 

Also agreed on climate pref being related to how you grew up. I actually feel like I like the climate here more than most who grew up here, so part of it might just be my comfort with gloom  

[youngofthesoonest]

My wife and I were sure we'd stay in San Francisco for the long haul after living there for almost 20 years but a combo of having a kid right as lockdown happened in 2020 and living in a house that the city government made nearly impossible for us to make improvements even though we owned it had us looking for more space for less while also being closer to family and somehow we ended up in a small suburb an hour out of Los Angeles....

We've been here 4 years now and while I can appreciate a lot about being out here especially with kids (the joy of finding parking easily wherever I go out here is incredible) but there is a feeling of disconnect with the rest of the world out here. We have to be way more intentional about seeing things, seeking out activities/events/etc, vs when we lived in the city and there'd be stuff happening all the time that was easily accessible or people around us letting us know about things going on in the city that we'd be interested in. Now we're far out enough that we dont even get any ads for a lot of things happening in Los Angeles. If I turned off my phone for a week, it'd really feel like time stood still out here.  

We've talked a lot about how the moment the kids get older and move out, we're selling the house and leaving....although that's probably at least 15 years from now 

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

6 hours ago, youngofthesoonest said:

but there is a feeling of disconnect with the rest of the world out here

This here sounds like a dream come true to me. But I’m guessing it’s exactly the opposite for you?

[youngofthesoonest]

11 hours ago, Hopethisoneisnttaken said:

This here sounds like a dream come true to me. But I’m guessing it’s exactly the opposite for you?

haha I guess so. I do thrive off of the energy of being in a big city as opposed to being in a quiet little town. I also realized that in a bigger city, it's easier to keep to myself when I want to because in general people do their own thing and are always moving along. In a quieter place, I feel almost more exposed and people seem more eager to get into your space. 

[evisu8858]

Anyone got much experience with hemming brand new raw denim? From what I understand it should soak etc. beforehand otherwise things will shrink weirdly.

Could you share the general method/any tips?

[Maynard Friedman]

Don’t overthink it. The only thing you need to care about is the length shrinkage. The brands we love on Sufu are hemming hundreds of pairs of raw jeans every day.

[Double 0 Soul]

As above.. unless you’re buying raw denim that you want hemming before they ship?

If yes.. you need to find out if they do a o/w version.. find out what the o/w inseam measures.. let’s say it’s 1.5” shorter than the raw version.. in which case, just add 1.5” onto your desired inseam, just be aware that the jeans could shrink by another 0.5” or so with future washes.

[evisu8858]

Thanks Maynard and Double, much appreciated!

[UkeNo]

Can anyone recommend some Toys McCoy Retailers that are, shall we say…Custom's friendly? 
Thanks 

[beautiful_FrEaK]

@UkeNo

https://rodeo-japan-pine-avenue.com/en-de/collections/toys-mccoy

[Alec Leamas]

2 hours ago, beautiful_FrEaK said:

@UkeNo

https://rodeo-japan-pine-avenue.com/en-de/collections/toys-mccoy

Seconded. I have used them with much success.

[Geeman]

Thirded..

[Alec Leamas]

Has anyone had a situation where on one proxy site it says the "seller doesn't deal with proxy sites", but then on another it says nothing like that and you can seemingly order from that seller?

I have seen an item on FromJapan that has that notice, but then on Buyee it does not.

I'm wondering whether when I order it on Buyee it will just cancel after they attempt to buy it for me.

[ATWM]

I can’t say I’ve seen that specifically however I’ve had an issue where an order was cancelled and I was able to take the proxy deposit and put it back on my credit card, so I didn’t have money parked with (I think it was FromJapan) that I had to spend. Make sure you can do that, then I don’t think there’s much risk.

[indigoeagle]

1 hour ago, Alec Leamas said:

Has anyone had a situation where on one proxy site it says the "seller doesn't deal with proxy sites", but then on another it says nothing like that and you can seemingly order from that seller?

I have seen an item on FromJapan that has that notice, but then on Buyee it does not.

I'm wondering whether when I order it on Buyee it will just cancel after they attempt to buy it for me.

Yes, that can happen.
I think, FJ couldn't order at Beams, but for example ZenMarket could.

[Alec Leamas]

1 hour ago, indigoeagle said:

Yes, that can happen.
I think, FJ couldn't order at Beams, but for example ZenMarket could.

Thanks that's useful to know - this specific item appears to be from a private seller so I thought it odd that they wouldn't allow one service but would allow the other.

I do wonder what the seller end of all this proxy stuff looks like - I'm used to selling items to an actual person, who asks questions about the item and at least appears as though they will personally enjoy it. Selling to a proxy service must be a very different proposition!

[Alec Leamas]

1 hour ago, ATWM said:

I can’t say I’ve seen that specifically however I’ve had an issue where an order was cancelled and I was able to take the proxy deposit and put it back on my credit card, so I didn’t have money parked with (I think it was FromJapan) that I had to spend. Make sure you can do that, then I don’t think there’s much risk.

Yes, great point, having money bound up in one of the platforms would be a nuisance for sure!

[okimoto]

I had a similar experience recently with an item not able to be purchased through Buyee and was able to purchase it through Zen Market. Strange how this works

[Lorcan]

I think the proxy services have some automated system with keyword/ phrase scanning that then flags certain items/ sellers? But probably isn’t always accurate. Or necessarily consistent between different proxy services.

this seems to happen with CITES as well- items overzealously flagged when they don’t actually contain fur or exotic leather (but maybe have some related phrases in the description) - but aren’t blocked on another service (although fromjapan normally let you submit an unblock request with CITES stuff).

[Alec Leamas]

16 hours ago, okimoto said:

I had a similar experience recently with an item not able to be purchased through Buyee and was able to purchase it through Zen Market. Strange how this works

This is encouraging thank you!

10 hours ago, Lorcan said:

I think the proxy services have some automated system with keyword/ phrase scanning that then flags certain items/ sellers? But probably isn’t always accurate. Or necessarily consistent between different proxy services.

this seems to happen with CITES as well- items overzealously flagged when they don’t actually contain fur or exotic leather (but maybe have some related phrases in the description) - but aren’t blocked on another service (although fromjapan normally let you submit an unblock request with CITES stuff).

I have also seen this! I wondered whether some badly translated kanji was the culprit for some jeans and tops being labelled with warnings about alcohol and/or batteries.

[Cold Summer]

I would love suggestions on putting together a home-made jeans repair kit. Name: what are some recommendations for common thread/gauges/etc.? Any particular type of needle that works well for denim home repairs?

I've tried to fix broken stitches before in the past - my most common denim repair issue, by far - with very little success using an "off the shelf" sewing kit from the store, with tiny gauges of thread and needles that seem ill-suited to the job. The thread doesn't have to be cotton (though I'm a cotton stitching purist, using poly thread is often best for repairing high-stress areas.)

[CSL]

I find this Dual Duty thread works well enough and blends in pretty well. I would imagine there is specific thread for denim repair but this is close enough for me.

The smaller needles from this kit are about right for denim. Just make sure you get one with a sharp end (some upholstery needles have blunt ends).

The plastic loops are for threading the needle.
 

[Lorcan]

I used buaisou indigo dyed sashiko thread repairing my TCB 50s and sewing chainstitch embroidery patches on my Denime type III and was very pleased with the result. I used the (thin) unevenly dyed ‘murakumo’ version. Also one of the few things from Buaisou that won’t require selling a kidney to afford (although Daruma-ito brand sashiko thread is the same thing without the fancy dye job)

[mondo]

^ I've been using (plain) indigo dyed sashiko thread for repairs, too – mostly for crotch stuff, but it goes well on more visible spots. For years now I've been unravelling indigo threads from an old roll of Cone denim, but it's a bit of a chore and yields short fibres. Relegated to special occasions only.

[NilsLW]

I've found a poly/cotton mix thread to be a good compromise when fixing broken stitches on jeans. They fade slightly but still doesn't break as fast as pure cotton thread.

[Alec Leamas]

I've never managed to find any decent weight thread for repairs, always using really narrow (?) and it never quite looks right.

Does anyone have any EU / UK recommendations on where to get decent "heavy gauge" thread from?

(I'm assuming heavy gauge is what I'm after, and ideally one orange and one lighter yellow roll)

[NilsLW]

Another question, do any of the japanese brands offer an OG late 60s-early 70s sherpa trucker jacket repro?