World of denim shops

[Maynard Friedman]

You could always go in a different direction and embrace the ‘successful younger man’ look:

- By day - dress like a contestant from The Apprentice or the TOWIE cast at a wedding

- By night - dress like a Love Islander or Premier League footballer after training

[Duke Mantee]

14 hours ago, busterthehuman said:

What's something a US shop doesn't do that you'd like to see? 

Which shop?

[Duke Mantee]

1 hour ago, Double 0 Soul said:

I'm probably well overdue a change of direction in my steeze..

As soon as you start thinking about it you’re fucked … that’s the problem with the navel-gazing approach to choosing your daily outfit. Just leave it well alone, you’re doing fine.

[Maynard Friedman]

When I retire, style-wise I’d consider the Michael Portillo route. I especially like the man-on-a-train-in-India look.

[Geeman]

Red trousers? 

6 minutes ago, Maynard Friedman said:

When I retire, style-wise I’d consider the Michael Portillo route. I especially like the man-on-a-train-in-India look.

 

[Talan]

51 minutes ago, Maynard Friedman said:

When I retire, style-wise I’d consider the Michael Portillo route. I especially like the man-on-a-train-in-India look.

That's a great idea. First of all, the clothes in India are very simple and standardized, a piece of fabric underneath, a simple shirt on top. A piece of fabric, a dhoti, or lungi, costs one  to two US dollars, a week of practice to learn how to wear without fear of loosing. Another couple of days to learn how to fold in half the length. A shirt costs a little more, maybe four or five dollars, for the same money you can have it tailored by a local tailor from fine homespun cotton cloth. Shoes in India are fine too, flip-flops cost two or three dollars, and the chances are that once you take yours off at the entrance to the premises (in India you have to take your shoes off at the entrance to the store, office, temple etc.) you will walk home in someone else's, all shoes look about the same.

[Cold Summer]

I'd like to see more shops focusing on straight fits instead of goofy "lifter's cuts" and Instagrammy, ultra-slim heritage workwear stuff. I want to see more weird Japanese stuff around here, like russet and crepe soled Red Wing 8866 pull-on boots instead of ubiquitous Iron Rangers and moc toes, more down vests, weird vintage workwear hats, that sort of thing. I saw this stuff all the time in Japan but never see it from the occidental denim nerd community, which is really a lot less inspired by Japanese style than it fancies itself.

Personally I don't care to change or evolve my style beyond Japanese Americana. I'm perfectly content to dress like this indefinitely.

[Maynard Friedman]

Unfortunately, we are more the accidental denim nerd community.

[Double 0 Soul]

3 hours ago, Duke Mantee said:

As soon as you start thinking about it you’re fucked … that’s the problem with the navel-gazing approach to choosing your daily outfit. Just leave it well alone, you’re doing fine.

 

This is part of the problem, we're like a little support-group reassuring each other that we still look cool even though we're 10yrs off trend, like Ken and his cronies "yeah you still look cool Ken because you look like i do"

I can't remember the last time i chose an outfit Mike.. i wear the same shit till it needs washing and then choose..

When i was younger i used to seamlessly transition from trend to trend.. always taking a little bit of the last style with me to the next.. never even considering sticking with the same steeze, certainly not for 20yrs ffs!

Part of my problem is, i currently have no social life so i'm only looking at sufu, vintage shops, Yahoo ect so my style has become focussed on the denim world for so long now i'm feeling like Ken

[Maynard Friedman]

Embrace your inner Ken and start calling Sarah ‘Barbie’ until this mid-life clothing crisis is over.

Seriously though, why are you looking for a new trend/style? When I see someone sporting a ‘similar’ sort of style of clobber to mine, after a quick scan I’m normally reassured that they are in fact a budget version and I remain silently (and morally) superior. That’s generally enough for me these days! 

[Duke Mantee]

11 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

 

we're like a little support-group reassuring each other that we still look cool

Whoa - slow down tiger! I never said you look cool …

 

 

[Duke Mantee]

1 minute ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Embrace your inner Ken and start calling Sarah ‘Barbie’ until this mid-life clothing crisis is over.

Seriously though, why are you looking for a new trend/style? When I see someone sporting a ‘similar’ sort of style of clobber to mine, after a quick scan I’m normally reassured that they are in fact a budget version and I remain silently (and morally) superior. That’s generally enough for me these days! 

That’s mostly the whole thing - you wear jeans, a sweat and sneakers - it’s just your jeans are authentic repro made on vintage machines, your sweatshirt is loopwheeled and your sneakers are vulcanised … the rest of the world doesn’t know what it’s missing. 

[Double 0 Soul]

10 minutes ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Seriously though, why are you looking for a new trend/style?

I'm not.. i suppose i'm just disappointed that ive stuck with the same style for so long.. that's what happens to other/less cool people

Edited January 28, 2022 by Double 0 Soul

[unders]

Not to get all existential, but cool and style comes from within, an attitude. Sufu is living (or dying ) proof of that. Double denim isn’t cool but you lot pull it off by the bucketload - the WAYWT thread is testament to that. 

The most on-trend outfit worn by someone looking awkward as hell, knowing they can’t pull it off - that’s lame. 

Edited January 28, 2022 by unders

[MJF9]

3 hours ago, Duke Mantee said:

That’s mostly the whole thing - you wear jeans, a sweat and sneakers - it’s just your jeans are authentic repro made on vintage machines, your sweatshirt is loopwheeled and your sneakers are vulcanised … the rest of the world doesn’t know what it’s missing. 

But Duke, how do you actually know?  Have you seen something that non of us have (most probably)??? 

[busterthehuman]

18 hours ago, JMS said:

@busterthehuman offer Japanese prices. Lol. The upcharge is terrible in most instances. 

That would be cool. Isn't the markup usually due to shipping / tax costs or something? Not 100% sure myself.

12 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Personally i would like to see them do less, the market is completely saturated...  i've always spent what i consider a f**k'load of £££ on clothing but i've never followed mainstream fashion (when i was a teenager, i dressed like a teenager not a 1940's denim-dude) over the last 15yrs ive spent a lot of time scouring the internet for something a little bit out of the ordinary..  i consider i work hard for my disposable income therefore i want my clothing purchases to make me feel special which is hard when everyone else is wearing the same shit.. for the first 10yrs of sufu we all looked quite different even in our bigger cities but since the heritage boom i only have to walk down to our local shops and i see quite a few folks following the same style albeit cluelessly.. i never wanted to be part of mainstream culture but i find myself here and what's the alternative.. loungewear? even the vintage shops are still churning out a 90's re-hash.

Once Marks & Sparks start selling Japanese selvedge denim.. you know it's game over

Maybe, but in my city there's maybe two stores that carry the clothing I like, and don't really offer my favorite brands, hence why I have to buy all of my stuff online. Though I get what you're saying. The market isn't what it used to be, it's definitely different now, and a lot of people are more keen to what we love, which inherently makes it less special. Although maybe I'm an outlier, as I wear mostly militaria and 1930's-1950's workwear. You will not see an average person doing that at all - hahah

[busterthehuman]

8 hours ago, Duke Mantee said:

Which shop?

Maybe I worded it wrong, but any that comes to mind I suppose.

[Duke Mantee]

4 minutes ago, busterthehuman said:

Maybe I worded it wrong, but any that comes to mind I suppose.

It’s just some are good, some less so - much like many other places. Within the context of the ‘denim-world’ by far my worst online shopping has been with UK and US retailers but bad experiences aren’t very common

[Duke Mantee]

39 minutes ago, MJF9 said:

But Duke, how do you actually know?  Have you seen something that non of us have (most probably)??? 

What? Images of Maynard? Don’t be ridiculous 

[Maynard Friedman]

18 hours ago, JMS said:

@busterthehuman offer Japanese prices. Lol. The upcharge is terrible in most instances. 

UK shops just take those US prices and swap the $ sign with a £ for an even better customer experience! 

[busterthehuman]

23 minutes ago, Duke Mantee said:

It’s just some are good, some less so - much like many other places. Within the context of the ‘denim-world’ by far my worst online shopping has been with UK and US retailers but bad experiences aren’t very common

Oh got it - I always prefer to shop in person, I'd say. I've had bad experiences with a lot of online retailers, but mostly over seas, so I get you. I suppose my question is more towards the physical locations.

17 minutes ago, Maynard Friedman said:

UK shops just take those US prices and swap the $ sign with a £ for an even better customer experience! 

That seems to be the case doesn't it 

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

Kind of related and kind of not, but I recently visited 3 different denim shops in person after a long time(3 years?) of shopping strictly online, and I realized that the online experience has become much more interesting and easy than going to a store in person. Mostly in the sense where when I’m browsing online everything is much easier to inspect and isolate. If I come into a shop without a certain object in mind it’s much harder to find stuff you like than it is online. Off course the whole trying it on and finding the correct fit in person is second to none, but the general “visiting a store and picking up an item you hadn’t planned on” is much more comfortable online. 

[mondo]

5 hours ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Seriously though, why are you looking for a new trend/style? When I see someone sporting a ‘similar’ sort of style of clobber to mine, after a quick scan I’m normally reassured that they are in fact a budget version and I remain silently (and morally) superior. That’s generally enough for me these days! 

This is so true... apart from one occasion where I was loving myself in my A3 fashioned from a 50s Belgian brushstroke camo shelter half, and behind me at the local aquatic centre I hear a voice: "hey man, nice hat" – to discover a dude wearing an A3 made from an impeccable piece of 40s Mitchell camo that he had made himself... well. Like a showdown at a beat, I was outclassed so the only course of action available was to request that he make another for me.

[AlientoyWorkmachine]

8 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

 

This is part of the problem, we're like a little support-group reassuring each other that we still look cool even though we're 10yrs off trend, like Ken and his cronies "yeah you still look cool Ken because you look like i do"

I can't remember the last time i chose an outfit Mike.. i wear the same shit till it needs washing and then choose..

When i was younger i used to seamlessly transition from trend to trend.. always taking a little bit of the last style with me to the next.. never even considering sticking with the same steeze, certainly not for 20yrs ffs!

Part of my problem is, i currently have no social life so i'm only looking at sufu, vintage shops, Yahoo ect so my style has become focussed on the denim world for so long now i'm feeling like Ken

Oh man. Fwiw - I like a lot of the stuff I see here (hence why I'm here) but I hope no one is hanging their hat on being cool. I mean for real, some of the stuff here is downright comical to outside observers. You just do what you're into is all, and this weird corner is a place where there is some overlap of that. I have no illusions that this corner of the internet would be any "cooler" than...<insert classically uncool/nerdy tradition here> - I mean the whole idea of jeans being associated with cool has essentially been marketing and nostalgia that hardly correlates with actual lives led during a given time. That said, I actually don't think there is much "on trend" like there used to be. There is fashion pluralism these days - everything can be in style so long as you wear it well. Seriously - it's harder to pin down real trends now than before from what I see. 

The nice thing about jeans really is that you can really get into them, but they also disappear to anyone who doesn't care about them because they're so ubiquitous. A way to be into fashion while not looking like it, to my mind at least. Also, not wasting time trying to decide what to wear - they encourage you to just wear them and get on with your life. But if it feels good to switch it up then do that. Change or don't but it matters not. Clothes do not make the man - I'm a firm believer they're just (socially necessary) costume. If one gets too much of oneself from their clothes I think they're missing some stuff, no? 

While methinks you're possibly stressing too hard I feel your last point - covid has fucked things mightily in this way. Hopefully our worlds all open back up some sooner rather than later. 

[oomslokop]

from having been in denim forums for almost a dozen years now i've seen a lot of people who it seems to me first learned how to dress acquired an interest for styling from these forums, like they didn't come into this bubble with a style that they were comfortable with/into already. hence the abundance of smorgasbord lewks made up of all the best quality/accurate repro stuff that mostly made the wearers look like confused mannequins dressed by drunk parents. 

when i came into sufu i was already set in my own style (for what it's worth) and was only here to research/find my perfect pair of jawnz (i wrote a long treatise about this very subject on denimbro). of course there were times when i was sucked in into wanting to dress like a dead miner/brit eaton but that phase soon passed. 

there are brands like tender which for me allowed my long-held but rarely satisfied vision to dress like a bum dressed in yohji (but with more colours) to be pursued/experimented with.

otherwise, i still dress pretty much the same as i did when i was sixteen except i can't button up any of my jeans anymore.  

[Double 0 Soul]

3 hours ago, AlientoyWorkmachine said:

While methinks you're possibly stressing too hard I feel your last point - covid has fucked things mightily in this way. Hopefully our worlds all open back up some sooner rather than later. 

Worry not Alien's i'm not stressed, you haven't known me for as long as some but  regarding stuffs like being stuck in an era/not being cool anymore.. it's all a bit tongue in cheek really.. i like to stimulate a bit on conversation when the forum is having a slow day.. it often works some folks who take themselves too seriously have got a bit offended in the past but not here..

[AlientoyWorkmachine]

6 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Worry not Alien's i'm not stressed, you haven't known me for as long as some but  regarding stuffs like being stuck in an era/not being cool anymore.. it's all a bit tongue in cheek really.. i like to stimulate a bit on conversation when the forum is having a slow day.. it often works some folks who take themselves too seriously have got a bit offended in the past but not here..

Understood. I know it didn't used to be this way but currently Sufu denim is possibly the least offensive place on the internet I know of, so a little bit of salt n sass wouldn't hurt. I personally like a forum with a bit of critique/self-awareness - in the early days on all the forums this was much more common. I think Instagram killed it all with people just going for likes everywhere. Dissent would not be tolerated. Barf.

[Cold Summer]

It seems like a lot of people who were denim nerds a decade-plus ago got into techwear, so I guess that's where you go if you want to "move on" from denim, but I don't get it at all. I like my cozy, broken-in cotton clothes. I don't want to dress in clothes that look and feel like they were made on a space station. Going from White's to $731 ugly hypebeast sneakers copped from a reseller, that would fall apart after six months of continuous wear, seems like a depressing downgrade. The techwear stuff is great if you spend tons of time in the elements, I guess, but most of us aren't climbing the Himalayas. It seems to mostly be worn by guys sitting in front of their computers who fantasize about a sudden downpour as they parkour across a dreary cyberpunk urban landscape with a different electronic gizmo in each of their thirty seven concealed pockets.

Personally, I want the denim nerd heritage style to be uncool. I want people to think I'm a square and a weirdo for dressing like this. Being on trend is lame. I'd rather just relax and enjoy my clothes. The predominant trend amongst the younger folk seems to be "dressing like Champion is paying me to wear their pajamas in public," so perhaps my denim pants will make me conspicuously uncool sooner rather than later.

Edited January 29, 2022 by Cold Summer

[Double 0 Soul]

I think there's a lot of pent-up frustration in the tech ninja world, they always seem to be bitching at each other

[Double 0 Soul]

1 hour ago, Cold Summer said:

 thirty seven concealed pockets.

Maybe Acronym x Freewheelers should do a collab for a reversible jcket