Tender Co. Denim

[rodeo bill]

^^o-ho! Thanks. Yeah, it's getting bigger, but only in things that I think are interesting, and which I can do to the level that I think is appropriate. Now, nothing more about next season for a while

[Sugar Mountain]

The letter to the new owner is a nice touch. Great work.

[rodeo bill]

^thanks

here's a T I've been wearing for quite a while, hand stamped with the jeans bag stamps, to match the size label in the back. These were done as a special for a lovely store in Kyoto. Loftman (highly recommended for anyone in the area)

I like how the ink fades out with lots of washes

[Warakia]

Nice to hear they sell Tender at Loftman, I always pop in there when I'm in the area .

[S-Town]

Are there any woad Type 350s or woad/weld Type 351s still out there in size 5? I've looked at the usual retailers. I think I may have missed the boat on beauties....

[oshen]

size 5 weld Type 351 here:

http://okiya.eu/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=22&product_id=70

[S-Town]

^

Thanks man!!!

[grooveholmes]

http://www.freemanbrand.com/journal/background-tender-co.html

Interesting interview with William re: the brand.

[Iwmmm]

Hickorees Hard Goods looks like they received some stock in the Type 130 Limited Edition Raw Canvas "Unborn" Jeans, just wished they did sizes smaller than 32" in the waist ):

Get 'em while they're hot boys.

[grooveholmes]

ABFits? Those are photos from the Hickorees webshop.

[Iwmmm]

ABFits? Those are photos from the Hickorees webshop.

Oh wow thanks for that had a tab open at AB Fits and must have saw it there. Will change

[rodeo bill]

I'm in Tokyo at the moment, catching up with some of Tender's stockists in Japan (which is really fun:)). Look what's in the new issue of 2nd magazine.... Very exciting!

The new season's Ts are hand-screened with navy blue water-based ink onto the 1-piece cut 350 block, with rib at the hem. The illustrations are from 19th Century advertising plates, but with the text taken out, so they all have big spaces in them where the actual ad would have been.

The idea was that if you wanted an advertisement printed for your baker's shop you'd go to the printer's, who'd have a bunch of illustrations of loaves of bread ready, with spaces for your shop name. Kind of like the templates in a tattoo parlour. Then you'd pick your design and they'd fill in the writing.

[rodeo bill]

here;s the third T in this series, and the weirdest.....

the Haversack store in Tokyo took this T, which was really exciting for me- I'm a big fan of their's:rolleyes:

[rodeo bill]

while I'm on that..... this is from a while ago (april), and I'd heard about it, but I've only just got my hands on a copy! A nice little shot of last season's dip dyed waistcoat, with leather buttons & hanging loop, a racer collar, selvage calico lining, and herringbone backstraps taken from an C18th piece of court dress

[rodeo bill]

Hickorees Hard Goods looks like they received some stock in the Type 130 Limited Edition Raw Canvas "Unborn" Jeans, just wished they did sizes smaller than 32" in the waist ):

Get 'em while they're hot boys.

thanks for putting this up! yeah- they turned out really nicely I think. My very good friend Emil (Mr Hickoree's) just sent me over some lovely fit pics of his pair, which have had a hot soak to soften up and shrink down to size

really nice photo of the extra-wide half-selvage outseam:

[rodeo bill]

a couple more special ed's just dropped in to Burg und Schild, in Berlin, a logwood dyed long-sleeve henley, and type 131 jeans (top block of type130, with a straighter, less tapered leg from the knee down) also logwood dyed.

[rodeo bill]

thanks for the nice PMs:)

here are a few photos of my own short-sleeved version of the logwood-dyed henley pictured above at Burg & Schild. I've had this for about a year, and worn and washed it tons (at least once a week). It's faded beautifully to a soft and really warm grey-brown....

and paired up with my original pair of indigo-dyed prototype 132s, beaten up over 2 years of heavy wear, and my buddy Akira's dark-stained brown oak bark leather 'wire' buckle belt:

[wgmds]

what are those red jeans/ is that cinch that i spy?

[rodeo bill]

what are those red jeans/ is that cinch that i spy?

Well.... those are in fact these:

This is a new addition to the line, and one that I hope will stick around for a while. Technically, they're 'trews'. Trews are the precursor of 'trousers' (same word), and were perhaps the first full length bifurcated (split leg, as opposed to skirt) woven garment. Before this men had commonly worn woven or leather knee britches and hose (knitted tight knee socks), basically shorts and long socks, tied together at the knee with a garter. (Try saying britches & hose a few times fast and you'll have an idea of what I kept slipping into when I was showing these to shops:D)

Anyway, trews remain an element of scottish highland dress, and are traditionally made from tartan. What makes trews trews is that they are cut entirely on the bias (diagonal), and have no side seam. As in the picture above, they were originally worn very tight, and pre-stretch fabrics the best way to effect a tight fit without extra fastenings was to cut on the bias (biased fabric is stretchy- try pulling a piece of fabric straight up and down or side to side, then try on the diagonal). By cutting in one piece, without a side seam, you avoid extra fabric inlays over the calves etc, also importantly you retain the integrity of the tartan, which had important social significance,

So onto these pants:

They're cut (on the bias), without a side seam, from an English woven heavy canvas which I had piece dyed in a small vat, so that it had to be squashed down to fit. Because the fabric is so stiff it dyes irregularly across the folds in the cloth. The colour itself is mixed to match a piece of flowerpot from my windowsill (I actually chipped off a piece and posted it to the dye house). I wanted something akin to the classic duck colour, but a bit warmer and deeper.

The fit is type133, which is slightly lower-waisted and straighter-legged than either 130 or 132, and they have seat darts rather than a yoke. All the manufacturing details are the same as the denim jeans, although as a nod to their heritage there are no belt loops (belt loops and belts weren't introduced until the early C19th, I believe), instead there's a cinch back, buckled with 2 brass saddle rings, cast in England. These match up nicely with the lost-wax-cast brass button at the front.

I don't have a pair with me right now, but if people would like I'd be happy to post some fit pics at some point.

[Snake]

Wow, I like how the logwood dyed henley faded to that greyish brown color.

I would love to see type 133 fit pic at some point Bill.

Here is my weld dyed 351 T from last season.

[rodeo bill]

^^really great! thanks very much for putting up a photo For sure I'll post fit pics of the 133s as soon as I get a chance. In the mean time, here's a logwood dyed faded 350 T with worn in 'unborn' 130 jeans, in Beartown State Forest, MA, last week:

[Denton]

...so where can i pick up these bias cut joints

[rodeo bill]

...so where can i pick up these bias cut joints

not listed online yet, but in the US hickorees.com have stock- I'm sure the boys there would be very happy to help you out.

[dawei69]

Every product from tender is sooo amazing... but dam... they are so expensive ><

[S-Town]

^

High quality fabrics, natural dyes, lots of labor. They'll last a lifetime though.

[wgmds]

so upset that mine don't fit me hopefully i'll grow into them soon!

[grooveholmes]

My 132s are worth every penny. I want to get that logwood henley, and still sweatin' the "wire" belts... I remember when they didn't cost over $200... Makes me wish I had jumped on them sooner.

[Snake]

Close up of the weld dyed t shirt. This is taken under direct sunlight so it's slightly exggerated. You can see the uneven fading of the natural dye.

The upper chest area and the upper back is slightly more faded than the sides.

Bill,

Just got the new French woad dyed 350 T. Color is amazing. Much more vibrant than English woad dyed version which I also love.

[rodeo bill]

Snake, thanks for the pics- looks great! As you appreciate, for me this (uneven fades, how each person's clothes turn out) is what it's all about

I would love to see type 133 fit pic at some point Bill.

Here we go. Size 4 type 133 flowerpot canvas bias cut trews.

[rodeo bill]

not listed online yet, but in the US hickorees.com have stock- I'm sure the boys there would be very happy to help you out.

oh, and in the UK superdenim has them up online already