Skull Jeans by An Alchemist

[Satya]

^^

wondering how will that brown skull fade..

[bolor]

[iGIT]

two people asked me questions about my skulls today. i think its a sign that i should wash them...

[Guest devil.beside.you]

skulls @ 3 months

[Guest devil.beside.you]

srry double post

[jun41]

What the fuck do you carry in your pockets? M&M's? Peanut Brittle? What is that? More pics please.

[champion666]

skulls @ 3 months

a skull and crossbones in your skull jeans. i get it.

[Demonsblood]

Hey guys, so whats the deal on skull denim? its partially sanforized? I'll receiver my skulls in a day or two...any first steps I should take before I wear them like soak?

[toufu]

no soak. just wear em.

[Biff15]

no soak. just wear em.

what he said...

minimal shrinkage if any...

[gonegonegone]

definitely soak and get rid of the starch. the inseam will shrink at least 1" too!

[iGIT]

I would say soak too, when i first bought mine i soaked them and noticed that the inseam did shrink and the waist shrank a little bit too.

[mackie]

second/third on the soaking. they only shrink a little, but it makes a difference and gets the starch out.

[Demonsblood]

Oh, may I ask what is the reason for ridding the jeans of the starch? Doesn't it form creases using the rigidness for the starch? Anyways, I am here to learn!

[blosom]

some people dont like the starch as it makes the jeans stiff, getting rid of it makes the jeans softer, nicer, imo, and gets the little bit of shrinking out the way, creases will set in themselves, starch or not, also starch will wear your creases out real quick

[appfaff]

Oh, may I ask what is the reason for ridding the jeans of the starch? Doesn't it form creases using the rigidness for the starch? Anyways, I am here to learn!

sometimes the huge amount amount of stach can break down the integrity of the jeans, and aid in the early occurances of rips, especially in the crotch. That's what I was told.

It's up to you tho.

[beautiful_FrEaK]

and rips and ckracks on the combs

[Guest devil.beside.you]

Oh, may I ask what is the reason for ridding the jeans of the starch? Doesn't it form creases using the rigidness for the starch? Anyways, I am here to learn!

Allow me to break it all down for you

the starch makes the denim stiffer -> stiffer denim means more rigid creases which of course leads to denim fading (fading caused by friction of the creases)

On the other hand, the starch DOES make the denim more brittle as well.

In other words, the most contrasty fades will come from stiff rigid denim. Denim will still fade well after a wash, but not as well as the denim would with the starch.

Either way, you should always soak in a regular basis for the health of the denim, esp the crotch area. I partially soak the denim on my skulls once a month (this will cause increased fading, but ill take that over a crotch rip)

[snuff_daddy]

does soaking affect the durability of the 100% cotton thread? some people say theirs ripped easy and some say they never had a problem w/ thread coming loose

i assumed it is all just from wear

[blosom]

soaking strenthens the thread.....

[Demonsblood]

thanks you guys for the information! Does soaking lose the creases that I have started making? So basically if wore it for 1 month then soaked it would that be a good path to proceed...or soak before or soak at 6 months?

[aeglus]

I never gave my 5010s a soak, finally washed them 4 months in. Creases remained, combs still lined up perfectly. I guess mine stretched back out while they were drying because they didn't shrink much at all. Sad that I can't really wear them anymore, but some 5507s should be coming soon. Can't wait to wear those, but I think I'll give them a soak first.

[Hendodo]

^^plz post pics of the 5507s when you get them

[finalfire]

got a new pair of 5507 sz 31 about to hit the supermarket, just giving you guys a heads up

[iGIT]

Skull jeans are heavily starched, its actually painful to wear at first if you don't. your honeycombs will cut into the back of your knee. That is what happened to me when i first got my skulls. Don't worry about them getting soft after a soak. Just dry it out in the sun and they'll be just as stiff as they were before.

[huynhs87]

So I got 5010xx in 32 and they were way too small, and now I traded them for 34s and I like the fit. Stiff and ball crunching.

[aeglus]

Skull jeans are heavily starched, its actually painful to wear at first if you don't. your honeycombs will cut into the back of your knee. That is what happened to me when i first got my skulls. Don't worry about them getting soft after a soak. Just dry it out in the sun and they'll be just as stiff as they were before.

Skulls are like that abusive husband that hits you because he loves you.

[givemefive]

A rivet on the pocket came out.

This is simply unacceptable. That and the unequal stitching down the inner leg.

I posted that in March and got neg repped. It rather pissed me off but even my attitudes towards the jeans have changed since then. It has sucked being out of the pair so long but now that I can wear them again I'm stoked.

I ended up emailing Kiya and he said I could have them mailed back to Fab Four or I could get a discount on another jean. I wasn't really looking for anything and I had just bought some new jeans from him but I took up the discount option for future review knowing how long Fab Four could take.

Anyways, I emailed Fab Four and emailed them pictures explaining the occurrence.

I sent a very simple English email and Japanese machine translated copy.

This is what I received:

Dear John xxxx-san,

thank you for your inquiry.

of course, we are happy to repair your 5010XX

we would you like to know the situation of damage first of all.

so, could you send us the photograph?

and please tell us the country and the region where you live.

we might advance the method that doesn't send to Japan.

because, the shipping cost is the responsibility of the customer.

and, the shipping cost is not come cheap...

If you would like to know anything more, then please contact us anytime.

Best regards,

FAB FOUR

Then I sent pictures and said I could probably find someone to fix them locally:

Then I got

Dear John xxxx-san

thank you for your reply.

OK, we will send the original rivets by the air mail.

you will receive it in about a week.

please wait until then.

So a couple days later this showed up in my mailbox:

Inside was a small poster type lookbook and some other papers and two brand new rivets.

I went to a tailor that said they could do it and when I came back the next day they told me they had broken one of them and they did not wish to procede. ugh These guys: http://www.yelp.com/biz/manuels-custom-tailoring-san-jose#hrid:FIwpPl05R8tu9agnlEPXDA/src:search/query:tailor Don't go there.

So I called some more places but none of them had any idea what I was talking about. I soon got busy with school and had to lay it off for a while.

So like 6 months later I'm back at school and not busy. I call these guys: http://www.yelp.com/biz/ricardos-tailoring-sunnyvale#hrid:NqQbq-Emv3oOI5mSUs8s5A/src:search/query:tailor and they say they can do it.

I take the jeans in with the rivet and the nice man behind the counter is gone seemingly ever. After a while he pops back up and says he's finished. The rivet isn't on there perfect, the washer top part is ever so slightly bent but it will certainly do the job. He says there is no charge.

look at that beautiful patch and hair! those belt loops with raised middles are so hot

And finally the uneven stitching (The hems and some other stuff are off too but it gives them character:

And some thoughts:

The skull denim is freaking ridiculous. I love it. I am going to have to get some 6x6 indigos some time soon.

The fit is so cool. The top block is fitted, yet breaks in well. Its nice and slim but the knee down is straight so they don't look skinny.

The prices have gotten so high its absurd, but the product (Japanese artisan jeans in general) are so unique its impossible to turn down.

Each brand has their own flaws and nuances.

[givemefive]

The rivet came off with less than a month of wear. I had probably put the jeans on less than 10 times. That is why I was ticked.

I don't care that its not even. I just think its curious.

I get a bit of leg twist too. Not as much as my shrink to fit jeans like Eternals though. Post pics though? just keep unrotating them every couple hours? Eventually they might un twist, who knows.

[aeglus]

Honestly the flaws in Skulls are part of why I like them. They've really got character compared to some other denim that I've handled.