Real Japan Blues - Jeans & Shirts...

[Cold Summer]

Those are looking awesome. Seeing some pics of this denim taken in the same way as your FH 3005, you can really see the differences between the too.

The RJB Zimbabwe fades to a pale powdery blue color with a grainy variation that's different from the 3005 denim that's more of a bright aquamarine sort of fade. Both of these seem quite distinct from the grayish fade of a lot of repro brands' denim. I've noticed that pre-war vintage jeans seem to have a more aquamarine sort of fade in some cases. If I recall correctly, Kobayashi was aiming for the dyeing techniques of this era, so it'd make sense.

[itsbenhere]

Thanks guys! I washed them a decent amount. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you really how frequently it was because it was more irregular, but I'm sure more frequent than once a month. As usual, flat head and rjb denim responds very well to frequent washing!

The main thing that I love about FH/RJB denim are the super bold streaks. I find that very unique compared to all denim brands, bold but not quite so ridiculous that it looks over-engineered.

[SuperJackle]

I’ll have to get some pics up of my 105 from back in 2013. I cannot believe it’s been 5 years. Holy shit. Anyway, I had them tapered a bit from the knee down by railcar, and lost a few pounds so I had them back in rotation last winter. Evo seems about where yours are, Ben. Nice work btw. 

 

Edit: pics added

 

 

Edited September 14, 2018 by SuperJackle

[itsbenhere]

Holy shit, I really thought those were my jeans. Crazy how similar the whiskers are and the overall look. Those look great!

[SuperJackle]

10 minutes ago, itsbenhere said:

Holy shit, I really thought those were my jeans. Crazy how similar the whiskers are and the overall look. Those look great!

Mini contest this fall? Haha you’d win for sure. So damn hard for me to stick to one pair. Took me five years to get this far 

[FeloniousMonk]

Right around a year of wear, and they keep lightening up more and more. The indigo seems to be falling off faster in the past couple weeks, so maybe they'll be up for semi-retirement before too long. The new RJB denim really is gorgeous, I especially love how the white-blue areas look on the extra worn sections at the knees and wallet.

[lance]

Beautiful Evo, FeloniousMonk!

[1fookntitefd]

On 12/30/2018 at 6:49 PM, FeloniousMonk said:

Right around a year of wear, and they keep lightening up more and more. The indigo seems to be falling off faster in the past couple weeks, so maybe they'll be up for semi-retirement before too long. The new RJB denim really is gorgeous, I especially love how the white-blue areas look on the extra worn sections at the knees and wallet.

How many washes?

[FeloniousMonk]

@1fookntitefd

Probably around 10 washes, maybe a little more. I tend to wash the jeans I’m wearing heavily every one or two months.

With the RJB jeans, I didn’t like washing them too much early on because the vertical falling is so extreme. Each early wash would bring out some light streaks in random parts of the otherwise dark denim, rather than emphasizing the worn-in areas. These jeans have kind of an awkward adolescence.

Now that they’re somewhat faded all over, each wash just helps bring out new texture and lighter colors.

[1fookntitefd]

Thanks! I recently bought a pair too so I'm excited after seeing the potential. Surprised that they are still so high contrast given all the washes

[FeloniousMonk]

My jeans tend to end up pretty high contrast no matter what - I’m not sure why really. If anything, I’d prefer to get them a little more washed-out and light blue all over at this point, so the washing schedule will probably get more frequent.

[FeloniousMonk]

Enjoy! It’s a really great pair of jeans

[machine-language]

I got my boyfriend the RFR-004 as a gift (unsanforized) ...here are pre-soak pictures (it's soaking now)

http://imgur.com/a/WgOJsqW

We are excited about these.... it's his first pair of raw denim

[mpukas]

It's a great pair, possibly one of the best ever. I recently copped a pair too, but haven't worn them yet. I've washed them and need to get them hemmed. 

[dudewuttheheck]

That fabric is indeed amazing. I have a pair in the same fabric (I have the corlection version) and I wish they weren't so tapered. I'd actually wear them if they weren't. 

[mpukas]

@machine-language check out TFH thread. That's where a couple others and myself posted about the RFR-004. 

[Awkwardsilence]

Hi all. First post here, and while trying to formulate my question, I realized maybe the best approach is to leave it open ended... So it’s a “what would you do in my position?” Feel free to suggest additional info that would be helpful, as I may have missed something!

I’d been stalking RJB TFH collab jeans for a bit, so when I saw a pair of DFXR109’s pop up on ebay with measurements that looked right (size 31, actual waste 16.5-measurents in pics), I impulsively bought and hoped for the best. They took forever to get to norcal from France. So long in fact, that I bought two other pairs of jeans thinking I may not get the ebay pair. Of course they showed up two days after my 3005’s, as the universe would have it.

The situation is that I’m good with the way they fit now, and I was told they had been cold soaked for 30 mins. They’re unhemmed, and they’re 35” in length, with some leg twist, so I’m assuming some shrinkage has occurred. They are a slightly loose in the top block, thighs have less room for error. After a few days wear, they’re already developing comb creases, and my heart just wants to wear them... my head says “what if they shrink with subsequent cold washes?”

So what I’d love to hear is... what would YOU do? Just roll the dice? Cold soak for and hour? Warm soak? (I fear a hot soak with agitation might size me out in the mid to lower thigh). I hot washed my raw TFH 3005 in size 33 and they are *perfect*. Don’t want to screw these ones up! Thanks for any input in advance and thanks for reading!

[beautiful_FrEaK]

Do you ever want to wash them in a machine to have clean pants afterwards? If the answer to this is YES, then do this now.

13 minutes ago, Awkwardsilence said:

(I fear a hot soak with agitation might size me out in the mid to lower thigh).

If you have this fear, do you prefer wearing them for months and they become too small later? Probably no, so the best thing is to make sure they will fit now, tomorrow and in one year = wash now, shrink them down and be sure they will fit.

[Awkwardsilence]

18 minutes ago, beautiful_FrEaK said:

Do you ever want to wash them in a machine to have clean pants afterwards? If the answer to this is YES, then do this now.

If you have this fear, do you prefer wearing them for months and they become too small later? Probably no, so the best thing is to make sure they will fit now, tomorrow and in one year = wash now, shrink them down and be sure they will fit.

Hey, thanks for the reply! I see your point, and it is the approach I took with my 3005’s. What a more refined question on my part would be: if I intend to only cold wash them, will they continue to shrink, or was the initial cold soak of 30 mins sufficient to get the shrinkage likely to occur with subsequent cold washes? I’ll heed your logic and cold wash em tomorrow and see. Thanks again!

[1fookntitefd]

13 minutes ago, Awkwardsilence said:

Hey, thanks for the reply! I see your point, and it is the approach I took with my 3005’s. What a more refined question on my part would be: if I intend to only cold wash them, will they continue to shrink, or was the initial cold soak of 30 mins sufficient to get the shrinkage likely to occur with subsequent cold washes? I’ll heed your logic and cold wash em tomorrow and see. Thanks again!

I have this exact same pair of jeans and will tell you that they will continue to keep shrinking after 2-3 machine washes before they are fully shrunk. 

[youngofthesoonest]

18 minutes ago, Awkwardsilence said:

Hey, thanks for the reply! I see your point, and it is the approach I took with my 3005’s. What a more refined question on my part would be: if I intend to only cold wash them, will they continue to shrink, or was the initial cold soak of 30 mins sufficient to get the shrinkage likely to occur with subsequent cold washes? I’ll heed your logic and cold wash em tomorrow and see. Thanks again!

the tricky thing is that cold soak for 30 minutes doesn't tell us enough. Did the previous person just lay it in cold water for 30 minutes and take it out or was it a cold soak with a lot of agitation? I had these jeans and they shrink a decent amount. At least from the pictures, that fabric looks pretty raw still. Do you see puckering at the seams on the yoke? If it was cold soaked with agitation and you're only going to be cold hand washing it, then you may be ok with only a little shrink. I'd definitely avoid the machine bc i think the thighs will become pretty slim on you even with a cold machine wash. I did my usual warm machine wash on these jeans to get the shrink out and they shrank a ton.

Edited March 11, 2021 by youngofthesoonest

[Awkwardsilence]

1foot, thanks... that is great info. And Young, that was exactly why I hopped on to ask this. There’s zero pucker at the yoke, and less puckering at the hem than my twice hot washed 3005’s. This is my first dip into unsanforized that isn’t factory washed, which is where my uncertainty comes from. I’ve seen advice that you can cold wash unsanforized denim if you want less shrink, so my hope was that they wouldn’t continue to shrink too drastically if I stuck to a cold wash regimen. Perhaps I should cold wash in them by hand a couple times and if they get too tight sell em. Appreciate the input, certainly better than being disappointed down the road.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Awkwardsilence

[julian-wolf]

Why is your name blue

[Awkwardsilence]

4 hours ago, julian-wolf said:

Why is your name blue

Idk, possibly because I went with the 24 bucks option when I signed up. I just figured I’d support the site as I’ve appreciated having it as a resource for the last couple years. Certainly helps to look through everyone’s responses to questions, etc and there’s no shortage of knowledge about this hobby here.

[chambo2008]

I have no real information regarding this brand, but basically a size 31 pre wash fits like a size 33 posy wash. I think that says alot. 

 

I hope if you keep them they don't shrink too much in the future. 

[Awkwardsilence]

First off, big thank you to all who offered advice. This morning I threw caution to the wind and threw them in the machine for a cold wash, got on a work call and missed the spin cycle. They’re snug, but workable, which is a relief. The thigh shrank down about half an inch, the inseam to 34.5” and the waste to 16. There’s puckering at the back yoke and hem. I may toss em in again on cold in a couple days, just to be certain they’re not going to shrink much past this, but my hope is washing on cold from here on out won’t push them a whole lot further than they are, but I’ve got a little slack to work with should they move some in the thigh (waist is sure to stretch anyway, I’m sure).

[Smallrod]

Been a while since anyone’s posted here.  My RFR-004 are a year old, worn 2-3 times a week.  Washed once at 6 months and going for another today.   These pics are before wash, will post a couple after.  Color is a bit washed out from the morning sun.  
 

[unorthodox]

If anyone is interested in a barely worn pair of size 33 106BSP, I have a pair I'd unload. Hemmed by Self Edge to 30in.  

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by unorthodox

[Smallrod]

Post wash.  Not much change.  Lighting is weird.  

[dawei94]

My RJB RFR-04, I've had them since 2017 or so, worn on and off (for a long time I worked an office job with business casual so I was only wearing them on weekends). Unknown number of washes, but I would wash them every 6-8 weeks as they got dirty, so there's probably been at least a dozen washes at this point. The contrast is what I would characterize as moderate, which is my preference (the low contrast vintage fades are too subtle for me, but the no wash / high humidity / walking 20 miles a day ultra high contrast that used to be popular was also a bit too much for me), and I think the denim looks pretty good at this level of contrast

Edited February 21, 2022 by dawei94