Left Field Jeans

[EmperorSelassieEye]

I just took some pictures outside. Hope that's okay.

 

 

 

 

[jyoni]

My internet hasn't been transferred to my new place so I'm awol. I have no further expressions of wear or evolution in any case! Mine are not contenders anyway, not against this lot. Nice work people!

When the dust settles on a champion (no pun intended) I'll get some fits up.

Best of luck...I predict some tough decisions for the judging.

[Formula Pfaff]

Wow, I can’t believe it’s already been a year in these things. It's been really interesting working these into my wardrobe for such an extended period. Jeans are one thing, but wearing sweatpants day to day for a year is a crazy endeavor. Once I got them I was pretty surprised how well you can dress them up. With boots and a button down or jacket long enough to cover the drawstring, they honestly pass for slacks to the casual eye. I even got into a night club with a pretty strict dress code in these and I was even able to fool my entire office for a whole summer into thinking they were real pants. It wasn’t until I mentioned “my sweats†to a coworker that they realized what I was up to. Although they definitely are not fast faders, I really enjoyed watching them evolve over the year. Ever since I saw Jyoni’s sweatshirt I knew I wanted in on these sweats. The fading reminds me a little of heavyweight left hand twill denim. I washed them right before my final photos so i think that puts me at 2 soaks and 2 machine washes. Honestly they never actually got dirty enough to really need a wash, but the fit is so much better after they run through the dryer and tighten up.

On my pair, I’m most happy with the thigh fading. I love the depth of color in the thighs compared to the lower leg. Being able to look down and see that spectrum of color is really interesting to me. I am a little bummed the honeycombs didn’t turn out a bit more pronounced, but I guess I can’t complain too much considering they’re so soft and not very tight around the knees. I really liked the way they were stacking over my engineer boots so i mostly wore those together when not around the house. As far as activity, I never got super active in them compared to some of the other competitors. Lots of walking when I was in Chicago and a lot less now that I’m in Fort Worth with a car. I worked on my Mazda a couple times in them but didn’t want to stain them too much to wear to work every day. This was my first competition and I am really happy i decided to do it with Left Field. Such a cool company with a lot of new interesting stuff and a very welcoming group of people. Y’all are awesome.

I wanted to do film photos, but with the weather i couldn't get anything developed yet so i took digital ones just in case. Im gonna try to get my film developed tomorrow. These are the digital ones and I have not edited them (no touching that contrast slider!) except for white balance. Anyways, hope y'all enjoy my photos and hopefully don't get too pissed at me for filling the whole page again...

Untitled by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

 

[Formula Pfaff]

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

Untitled by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

Untitled by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

 

[Formula Pfaff]

Untitled by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

by GregoryPfaff, on Flickr

THE END

[vultureparade]

I'll have my final pictures up in a day or so. Everyone's final pics look great!

[vultureparade]

I went into this contest with a plan. The plan was to not wash or soak my sweats for the entire year. And, unlike many (all) of my other plans in life, this one actually worked out. When I first got the sweats, I gave them a quick rinse and a hot dry to get out any shrinkage. After that, they weren't washed or soaked for a year. They got their first wash before I took these final pictures.

 

I wore these almost every day. I'm fortunate to have job where I can wear them to work, and this was done a lot as long as it wasn't too hot out. Even on the hot days, I still wore the sweats in the evening for just lounging around the house. I think I exercised in them a few times. I definitely ate cookies, cakes, and brownies in them a lot more times.

 

Right now, there are five battle scar areas. I managed to tear a small hole in the outside of my left pocket, pretty much immediately after putting the sweats on for the first time. The pocket got snagged on a crate of laptop parts in my chaos trap of a store. There's also a hole on the seat of the sweats that developed pretty recently. Is this a sign that I sit on my ass too much? What are you trying to tell me, sweats? The right pocket is a bit worn from clipping a pocket knife. But the two major areas of wear are on the inside of both cuffs. I walk a decent amount, to, you know, combat the previously mentioned cookie intake, and these apparently rubbed a lot in the process.

 

I'm pretty happy with how these turned out, and I'm looking forward to further fading.Thanks for the contest, everyone! It was a lot of fun.

 

 

 

 

[vultureparade]

 

 

I forgot to mention that I tore a chunk off one of my drawstrings a couple weeks ago, haha. I always have to pull them pretty tight to keep the sweats up, and I guess a year's worth of that was too much for one section. So now my drawstrings are a lot shorter than stock.

 

 

 

 

I also like the subtle tag fade through the back of the waistband. I think it looks pretty cool.

 

 

Thanks for checking out my pictures, guys! 

 

[EmperorSelassieEye]

@vultureparade Nice work man! I love that the knee fade, whiskers, and honeycombs are so prominent on your pair.

[jortslife]

wow! @vultureparade those are really impressive. I don't know how you made it a whole year, but kudos. Honeycombs and whiskers are pretty insane.

[Formula Pfaff]

@vultureparade amazing! Beautiful honeycombs and I'm especially loving the blowout on the inner stacks. 

[satchelbmoore]

There are definitely some good contenders!

 

One more day to get your submissions in. Christian and I will be posting winners on Friday.

 

Remind your friends who haven't posted much that there are BIG PRIZES! $$$$

[satchelbmoore]

Happybabyyoga  has been busy traveling and caring for a sick loved one so I will be posting her final pictures.

 

She took a very mom-approach and shared them with her friends. They came with a travel log that documents various activities such as being 'Purchased from BlackBlue', 'dog walking through melted snow puddles,' and being worn to Palm sunday service (!!). They seemed to have a pretty sweet life and definitely have a lot of nice wear. My guess is about a wash per two log-entries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[satchelbmoore]

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2015 by satchelbmoore

[satchelbmoore]

Did anyone else taper theirs?

Edited March 4, 2015 by satchelbmoore

[Formula Pfaff]

@satchelbmoore I know @mfarmtown tapered hers.

[satchelbmoore]

Is she gonna post??

[Formula Pfaff]

Is she gonna post??

I think she didn't feel the evo was enough to warrant a post

I know she did a good bit of indigo dyeing in them which sounded pretty interesting.

[happybabyyoga]

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks @satchbmoore for posting on my behalf.  The "Sisterhood of the Traveling LF Sweatpants" thanks you as well!  ;-)

[garden gnomes in space]

@ Formula Pfaff-  Repped for a quality post, but extra props are due for tricking your office.  I'm cracking up about that lol

[pchoden]

Enthused about the BlackBlue collab greasers. Before I pull the trigger, noticed that the measurements are a bit smaller in the waist than normal in other greasers (like an inch off marked size). Will stretch take care of this? I like my greasers as they usually are size-wise. I also see that the back rise is a bit higher.

[MileHighEvertonian]

Enthused about the BlackBlue collab greasers. Before I pull the trigger, noticed that the measurements are a bit smaller in the waist than normal in other greasers (like an inch off marked size). Will stretch take care of this? I like my greasers as they usually are size-wise. I also see that the back rise is a bit higher.

It looks like all three new fabrics (18oz collect slub, indigo/indigo & black/blue) have ended up different than the "usual" measurements for greasers & chelseas. I'm not in position to add to my leftfield collection at the moment (so my curiosity isn't tied to an imminent purchase), but I bet many of us would like to know if this is anomalous or if they've changed the fits for some reason or another. For a modern, mid/high rise, fuller leg and moderate taper, the greaser is the best Made in USA fit out there. It would be a shame to have to start figuring it out all over again.  

[not too tight]

I picked up the BlackBlue collab jeans last friday from Left Field in store. I picked up a size 33 and have been wearing them since I got them. I just measured everything and the waist is already at 34". They were slightly snug at first but stretched over my long johns quite easily. For those wondering I got the same measurements on the site except for the thigh. Going straight across I got 12.5" while a slight angle I could see how 13" could be possible but 12.5" definitely seems more accurate. Everyone is going to get slightly different measurements so I'd say go to Left Field or BlackBlue and try em on if you can.

[Foxy2]

...

@mpukas. loop wheel from my knowledge is the name of the JP Co. not the process. One of my factory mgrs used to work at Sarah Lee ie Champion and he told me it was the Tompkins knitting machine that did the "loopwheel" style knitting. It was knit very slowly over a barrel and was supposed to control tension issue that occur in knits. Outside of the fact that it was done on the old school knitting machines and the tension control I don't really know any other advantage.

...

To be honest with you I feel there are a lot of people claiming they use "loopwheel" process, but it's very hard to prove unless you visit their factory. The premium price for "loopwheeled" tees are not worth the extra cost from my perspective and like I said hard to prove. Key factors are yarn size, the smaller the heavier, and whether it is ringspun or open end yarns. The tubes have less side torque after wash and are generally more comfortable. Also the bragging rights to have a vintage style tube tee.

There is a company in Japan called "LoopWheeler", which works as an agent for brands developing garments for/with them that are made by 2 Japanese knitting factories on loopwheel machines. (They also offer their own developments under their on brand.)

Loopwheel machines are separate type/class of circular weft knitting machines - bearded, fixed needle, single cylinder). These machines were dominant in the knitting industry up to the 1930s, when they were slowly being replaced by modern circular weft knitting machines (latched, flexible needles, multiple cylinders, more pattern possibilities, faster, more economic, etc.). In specific fields modern loopwheel machines are still produced up to this day, but most machine suppliers stop producing them by the 1950s.

Circular weft knits (loopwheel or modern) are knitted in tubes (hence the name circular knitting machine) of various diameter that can be cut open, speard and set for cutting. Or, they are set to specific diameters for production of tube tees.

To make things a little more complicated, there is also a knit type called "loop back".

Besides the specific factories in Japan and Merz b. Schwanen I haven't seen any evidence of loopwheel machines in use today. Some brands work directly with those factories in Japan or agents like LoopWheeler to offer loopwheeled garments as part of their brand range.

Tompkins is actually one of the original machine suppliers from that period. They have/had their own patented machine which pulls the knitted tube up instead of having the weight pull it down.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Foxy2

[sombrero]

Christian told me via email that with the new releases they altered the top-block to provide a bit more height so as to reduce any ass-crack appearances when sitting or bending over (riding a motorcycle was his example).  He also mentioned they may change back to the previous measurements for future releases.  My black marias are a pretty much ideal fit but I will withhold judgement  till I try on one of the newer cuts.  Both the BlackBlue and the Collect Mills 18 oz are tempting...

Edited March 5, 2015 by sombrero

[mplspeep]

Here are my crappy pics that I took quickly last night. I wish that I could have got some wear in them but I could only really wear them on nights and weekends.

Edited March 5, 2015 by mplspeep

[Left Field]

Looking good so far everyone, but missing a lot of people. Whether you think they are worthy or not just post them.  Other than the fabulous prizes this is supposed to be for fun and expanding your social horizons. All picts must be posted by midnight tonight and like Satchel said we will announce the winner at happy hour tomorrow. Thanks for your participation and support for Left Field! Christian

[vultureparade]

Thanks for the kind words, guys! 

 

@EmperorSelassieEye A hole developed in the crotch of your pair pretty quickly, right? That made me feel better about tearing a hole in mine pretty much right out of the gate, haha

 

@jortslife I want you to know that you were instrumental in me picking up a flight jacket for myself. You should be the official model for that thing, haha

 

@Formula Pfaff When I saw that my pics had to follow your pictures, I was like "..oh .. oh no." I think this is probably everyone's reaction since you always have such nice shots!

[Formula Pfaff]

@Formula Pfaff When I saw that my pics had to follow your pictures, I was like "..oh .. oh no." I think this is probably everyone's reaction since you always have such nice shots!

Thanks for the kind words dude. I must say, that was my exact reaction when I saw you post yours too. "Oh shit those are too good..." haha

 

[satchelbmoore]

and the winners of gift cards to BlackBlue are.............

 

3rd place: MPLSPEEP

 

2nd place: Jyoni

 

1st place: Guthrie

 

Honorable mention to happybaby, copper, vulture and everyone else!

 

it was super hard to decide. I placed a lot of weight on participation. After talking to Christian we both agreed on spreading the love. Congrats to the winners. This was a lot of fun to read through the last 40 pages of this thread. great work everyone.

 

PM me about prizes!

Edited March 6, 2015 by satchelbmoore