Tender Co. Denim

[rodeo bill]

I think I mentioned a while back that we've recently moved house, from London out into the West Country. We're really enjoying it, and one of the big perks has been sorting out a proper studio (up until now Tender has been done entirely from half the kitchen table). It's still a work in progress, but it's beginning to take shape:

 

shoes off at the door:

 

the office part is on one side:

 

and the stock room's on the other…..

 

This afternoon, I rigged up a roller blind out of a piece of denim (slightly too short, I need to pick up some more at the factory, and put a weight bar along the bottom edge) to keep light off the folded natural dyed garments:

 

I'm going to do this on all the sections. I also rigged up a boom for taking flat photos of garments on the floor:

 

One of the nice things with having a bit more space is I've been able to buy a couple of vintage bits. This is an early 50s Tan Sad machinist's swivel chair, with a composite back and seat:

 

and this is an EDL machinist's lamp, probably 60s:

 

When I finished my year apprenticed to a tailor, during college, I had a box made by a friend, for my sewing stuff. It's American cherry, with maple linings and cream leather floors and ceilings. I've had it for 10 years now, and it's darkened a lot:

 

After putting up some pictures and things, I decided actually I quite like the studio feeling more workmanlike, so there's not much in the way of decoration. I do have this over the desk, though, for when I get a bit over-excited talking about jeans….

 

So that's the studio- it's still pretty tiny, but I'm really enjoying getting everything sorted. Now I have to do some work….

[satchelbmoore]

hahahaha love that last comic! i can totally relate!

 

your house, garden and studio/work area look awesome. congratulations on the move!

[jason995511]

Bad ass William, you're definitely deserving of a proper studio and it looks like you got one. Congrats on the move. Hope it serves your family well.

Got a watch to got with that amazing Tender strap btw.

 

 

[rodeo bill]

thanks guys, and Jason- great choice! I love Doxa. They're better known for their dive watches in the 60s, I believe, but I think the dressier pieces from the 40s and 50s are really special. I have something fairly similar to yours myself, with a copper coloured dial and small seconds at 6. Welcome to watches 

[Vanquish Gold]

Awesome Doxa.. beautifully aged..

[Pierogas]

Hi - I'm fortunate to own a couple of pairs of Tender jeans - I was interested in where the denim is sourced from - is it a particular mill in Japan or an independent producer?

[rodeo bill]

^thanks for this, and I'm delighted you have some of my jeans! The denim is woven at a mill in the south west of Japan, but I'm afraid I don't give out specific producer names, sorry.  

[Pierogas]

No problem - I understand. I have a pair of the woad 129s and the wattle 138s - they both use 17oz denim but have a very different feel to them (the 129s seem to have a thicker & softer touch)- is it the differing dye that gives a different feel or are there any other differences?

Just wanted to add - I am a regular at Peggs & Son - Ian P talks very passionately about your work - great to see the Sleeper pieces in there now too!

[hemi]

I love your new studio William... its inspiring following your journey!

[rodeo bill]

^^thanks hemi! Pierogas, thanks very much, and I'm delighted you've been talking with Ian- he's a great guy and has a lovely shop. The denim in your jeans is exactly the same, but you're quite right- the dyeing process leaves them feeling quite different. The wattle dye is done at a higher temperature than the woad, which seems to leave it feeling a bit stiffer and crisper. After a bit of wear and a couple of washes, they'll even up.

 

This has taken a while, but a couple of months ago I posted this:

Saturday afternoon experimental project. Graeme's belt, and something(s) else…..

 

more soon!

here's the result:

 

They took ages to dry, at room temperature- I didn't want to risk cracking the leather. They've had one coat of boot grease already, but it soaked right in, so they'll get another soon, and will come with a tin of grease so that their owner can keep them topped up. I dyed the laces, too, which look really cool but I think may be a little brittle over repeated use, so these will come with a regular pair of tan leather thong laces as well.

[desolate]

^^thanks hemi! Pierogas, thanks very much, and I'm delighted you've been talking with Ian- he's a great guy and has a lovely shop. The denim in your jeans is exactly the same, but you're quite right- the dyeing process leaves them feeling quite different. The wattle dye is done at a higher temperature than the woad, which seems to leave it feeling a bit stiffer and crisper. After a bit of wear and a couple of washes, they'll even up.

 

This has taken a while, but a couple of months ago I posted this:

here's the result:

 

They took ages to dry, at room temperature- I didn't want to risk cracking the leather. They've had one coat of boot grease already, but it soaked right in, so they'll get another soon, and will come with a tin of grease so that their owner can keep them topped up. I dyed the laces, too, which look really cool but I think may be a little brittle over repeated use, so these will come with a regular pair of tan leather thong laces as well.

 

 

Superb. a one off or doing a run? my natural boots are still a bit bright for my taste. I love the construction so they are ageing on the roof of my garage!

[satchelbmoore]

Just got some Rx lenses put in my flat-top mock tortoise sunglasses. I had him pop the lenses out of the sunglasses and while they are bold, i'm very tempted to get another pair of Tender Flat top sunnies turned into spectacles with clear Rx lenses. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

Kent did an awesome job. Here he is. He also fixed a pair of salt frames that had broken at the bridge and put some Rx lenses in an old pair of Safety frames i found at the thrift a few years back. 

 

 

[rodeo bill]

^brilliant! your other frames look great, too. I have the round tops and the slimmer flat tops (appearing soon) as clear prescription lenses, but not the heavy flat tops- I'd love to see how they turn out, if you go for it.

 

 

Superb. a one off or doing a run? my natural boots are still a bit bright for my taste. I love the construction so they are ageing on the roof of my garage!

Thank you! This is just a one off at the moment. Let us know how your boots come out! Speaking of on the roof:

[Maynard Friedman]

William, a quick slightly off-topic question, which actually applies to anyone who has a workshop in their back garden. Do you have your doorbell rigged up to your studio? If not, how will you know if someone is calling at your house when you're busy in the workshop? Obviously friends and family can call but it's unexpected visitors like postmen, deliveries, Jehovah's Witnesses etc that I'm curious about.

[CityPickin']

William, are any pictures of the slimmer flat tops that you can share with us? I'm thinking about getting a new pair of sunglasses to throw some prescription lenses in...

[rodeo bill]

William, a quick slightly off-topic question, which actually applies to anyone who has a workshop in their back garden. Do you have your doorbell rigged up to your studio? If not, how will you know if someone is calling at your house when you're busy in the workshop? Obviously friends and family can call but it's unexpected visitors like postmen, deliveries, Jehovah's Witnesses etc that I'm curious about.

HA HA HA... this has been a disproportionately time-consuming and expensive issue at our's over the last couple of months. Since you asked… We initially got a Siemens wireless doorbell with two bell terminals (intended to be used in different parts of the house) which you just plug into the mains. It worked fine in the house, but our garden's quite steep and reasonably long, and it didn't reach all the way up. I thought we could just run a wire up the side fence, but I asked an electrician if this would work, and he said the current would run out by the time it got all that way, and not be strong enough to ring a bell, plus normal bell wire wouldn't last long in the frost etc outside. He wasn't willing to do anything, but I found a telecoms engineer who's been really great, and has rigged it up as follows: regular electro-magnet bell on the front door, with regular bell push; underneath that bell push there's a little buzzer button, which goes down into the phone line. There's a phone/ethernet cable tube up the side of the garden, but I don't use the phone line, so he's isolated a couple of wires within it to run a current from the door buzzer up to a piezo-electric cell in the studio. This works well, but now we have a normal looking doorbell and also a weird little red buzzer switch by the front door, which nobody rings. We don't really want to put a big explanatory sign on the door, and we're not reliably in the house for personal/in the studio for work. Getting a single pusher which can operate two connections seems to be harder than you'd think: the electrician's ordered one, but apparently it's industrial and massive, plus it's taking a while to come, and ain't cheap...

 

In the meantime, we now know the UPS guy and postman, so they're just leaving things round the side of the house if we don't answer, which begs the question why we started on this in the first place!

 

As I say, since you asked….

[Maynard Friedman]

Thanks William, it's far more involved than I'd imagined. It also sounds like even if you did manage to find a workable solution, by the time you got from the studio to the front door to answer it, your visitors would have been gone anyway!

[rodeo bill]

^^yeah, me too. We did test it out, accidentally- Deborah had locked herself out, without her phone, and she rang the buzzer- I got down within a normal time to come to the door, apparently. It wasn't actually as unnecessary hassle as it sounds, really. We needed to get an engineer in to wire up the internet anyway, for fibreoptic, so he was working on it all at the same time.

 

William, are any pictures of the slimmer flat tops that you can share with us? I'm thinking about getting a new pair of sunglasses to throw some prescription lenses in...

Thanks for this! I've just listed the slimmer flat tops, here. Here are some extra photos:

 

 

 

I have a gin clear pair with clear prescription lenses. I'm not wearing them today, but I'll take some photos later on, if you'd like to see how they look. The shape follows the contours of the standard flat top, but slimmed down all over, so they feel and look lighter.

[jason995511]

FLOWERPOT LEFT HAND TWILL COTTON CAP

 

 

[satchelbmoore]

lookin' good, jason!

 

Dang-it william! the thin frames would be a way  better clear Rx  option. pretty excited about those.

 

in other awesome tender news:

 

we just got these back from the tailor who i guess had to hand-stitch the smaller button holes to prepare these unborn 130s for 6 plautus brass buttons to accommodate suspenders. The look awesome. I'll post more pictures once the customer comes to pick them up.

 

Many thanks to William for sending extra buttons to help our idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LFC4ever]

Well I would think the Jehovah's Witnesses would still be there. And to follow up Maynards question were they persuasive?

[CityPickin']

Thanks William! I'd love to see a fit pic of those glasses when you get a chance.

[rodeo bill]

^^^Jason, looking great  . ^^Satchel, brilliant! Thanks for posting photos. Do you know what suspenders he's going to wear with them? Nice to see hand buttonholes- not easy on denim...

 

CP, here are a couple of pictures of my optical lenses in gin clear slimmer flat top frames:

 

[satchelbmoore]

^^ the guy is a poet and has recently become disenfranchised with the amish clothing catalog he's been ordering from for years. I know he has a simple all canvas (non stretchy) pair of amish suspenders. I've shown him FHuTT and Hollows leather suspenders but he's all about the canvas with no stretch. pictures of him to come!

 

the clear frame look great!

[CityPickin']

Lookin good William. Thanks for the picture. Not totally sure what I'm going to do yet, but your new frames are a strong contender. 

[oranswell]

 

When I finished my year apprenticed to a tailor, during college, I had a box made by a friend, for my sewing stuff. It's American cherry, with maple linings and cream leather floors and ceilings. I've had it for 10 years now, and it's darkened a lot:

 

Nice shears are they a set of 14" old Wilkinsons?  Who was the tailor you worked apprenticed with if you don't mind? 

 

 

Also is there a size chart of post soak measurements of the Tender 129 slims?  I've looked on the shop and elsewhere and my google-fu has failed me.

[rodeo bill]

^^yep, that's right, I've had them for about 10 years now, I suppose- new when I got them. I was apprenticed to John Coggin, who used to have Tobias on Savile Row, next to where Anderson & Sheppard was (now that block's redeveloped). When I was with him we were working out of Hackett in Liverpool St. 

 

I don't have a standard chart for jeans, but please just email me if you need specific measurements of anything we have in stock and I'll take them for you.

[rodeo bill]

^^^thanks, CP!

[satchelbmoore]

I'm happy to measure any 129s as well. I've noticed each one runs a little different. I've been super fortunate to try on a few pairs for each of my 129s.

[jason995511]

William, damn you!

Right when I've corrected the damage to my finances you show me something new (SLIMMER FLAT TOP SUNGLASSES)

that seems like a must have.

Are you just messing with us or what?