Tender Co. Denim

[rodeo bill]

still sweatin' the "wire" belts...

thanks! They'll stay around for sure.

Here's a little bit about the new 'hook' buckle I developed for the 3rd collection.

the finished original buckle on my jeweller's bench:

and here's the idea....

I wanted to do a version of a 'plate' buckle, something like this (photo from a link in Jeans of The Old West thread, nice find by bluegoldblues, id'd by Sansome as 20s-30s:

basically I wanted to use this technical concept, but without the 'decoration', the plate itself. Making this buckle system without the plate, using a single 6mm diameter wire, you get something that looks like this:

the original plan was to use it exactly the same as a plate buckle, like this:

but the problem with this (and with the original plate buckles, in my opinion), is that the bulk of the system is on the inside of the belt, pressing against you, and more importantly, the 'pin' is pressed into your jeans, so as you sit etc, you're potentially pushing against the pin and pushing it out, causing the belt to pop open:

The obvious solution for this belt (of course it wouldn't work the same way if you actually had the plate on the buckle), is just to flip the whole system upside down:

the nice thing about this is that the more you press into the belt (from the inside), the more the 'pin', or hook, is pushed into the belt, making it stronger. Also the bulk of the system is now all on the outside. Finally,this type of buckle doesn't deform the leather at all, which is nice. The 'wire' and 's' buckles both bend the leather around the buckle, but this type keeps everything completely flat.

here;s the finished belt then, cut from oak bark tanned leather and this one hand dyed with logwood (photos of this a couple of pages back):

and here's my own, this one on black stained oak bark leather, with weld-dyed type130 jeans:

[dawei69]

The hardware and that Leather is soooo tasty!!! yum yum!

[grooveholmes]

Very cool developmental process, William. I'm not sure how I feel about the lack of a traditional buckle, though having the pin push out from the inside is fantastic. I realize this goes against the advantage of keeping the leather flat and preserving it, but would it be possible to incorporate a "shell" or a cover that clips on or is interchangeable, so that you preserve the traditional aesthetic?

[rodeo bill]

thanks! hmm.... good comments (appreciated). I'm sure a shell/cover plate would be doable, but I think you'd end up with something similar to a standard buckle only more complicated, which would kind of spoil the point. Really the plate buckle idea was just a starting point- I think it's evolved away from that to something in its own right by now, and I like how minimal it is from the outside, combined with the functionality and how easy and comfortable it is to use

[Snake]

The bias cut strew looks great. I love the color of the canvas fabric.

I like the minimalistic look of the hook buckle myself. It seems quite easy to get off as well....just press the pin. Any chance you will have the logwood dyed leather with hook buckle? I love how the leather aged in this pic

[rodeo bill]

The bias cut strew looks great. I love the color of the canvas fabric.

I like the minimalistic look of the hook buckle myself. It seems quite easy to get off as well....just press the pin. Any chance you will have the logwood dyed leather with hook buckle? I love how the leather aged in this pic

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thanks and thanks:) ^^that is a logwood dyed belt! and it's unworn- that is exactly how it's delivered. It's available from Unionmade SF/LA, Few & Far London, Red Wing Amsterdam, Good Well Nagano, and Comes a Time Osaka.

[Snake]

Received my new French Woad dyed 350 t.

1st season's English Woad vs this season's French Woad

The rib cuffs not as bulky as the first season.

Sofest t shirt I own. Very comfortable.

[BlackenedRoar]

bill, are there still any of the selvedge aprons from the first season lying around?

[Snake]

French woad dyed 350 t

[rodeo bill]

bill, are there still any of the selvedge aprons from the first season lying around?

hmm... not sure... they went to superdenim, and Few&Far, both in the UK. You could contact them and ask. I think F&F might do.

Otherwise, depending on where you are, Nestrobe in Tokyo have just had some in their new delivery.

[rodeo bill]

Received my new French Woad dyed 350 t.

The rib cuffs not as bulky as the first season.

Sofest t shirt I own. Very comfortable.

Thanks for posting pics! Look great on you:) yeah the colour on this batch is beautiful- I'm really happy with it. If people would like I'll put up some photos of my new pair of woad dyed 132s, which I got this week.

On the cuffs- it's the same 100% cotton rib it's always been- I've been getting a little more organized with pressing Ts before they go out- that's probably all it is!

[rodeo bill]

woad dyed type 132, these are just finished, and have been delivered (also type 130) to stores- they should start appearing any day now.

I sized up one on these, to a size 5 (36"). I'm feeling baggy as we come into autumn:rolleyes:

and worn, with a black oak bark leather 'hook' buckle belt and woad dyed longsleeve henley, type376. These were done as a special for Burg & Shild in Berlin, logwood dyed. This woad version is a one-off.

[BlackenedRoar]

hmm... not sure... they went to superdenim, and Few&Far, both in the UK. You could contact them and ask. I think F&F might do.

Otherwise, depending on where you are, Nestrobe in Tokyo have just had some in their new delivery.

Just bought one from few and far, thanks for that

[rodeo bill]

^^nice! thank you. how are you going to wear it?

[simontuntelder]

William, the dedication you show your customers is just something special.

You should hang on to it, even as Tender grows. To me that is what makes your brand truely special. Besides the amazing products, of course...

[rodeo bill]

^^thank you! that's really kind. I'm just delighted people are interested in and buying my products- it's a lovely position to be in. I'll certainly aim to keep on top of things, and I'm lucky to be working with fantastic retailers, which really helps

[rodeo bill]

It's been a little while since I put up any manufacturing photos...

Here's how the little loops for the adjusters on the back of the type 900 jacket (new model- the first production was different) are made. They're sand cast in England from solid brass.

First the mould is set up. A pattern plate is made out of base metal, which looks something like this:

(although this plate isn't actually my loops)

A box is half packed with fine black sand, like this:

and the plate is placed on top:

the top of the box then gets filled with more sand, and pressed down firmly. Now when the plates are separated they can be carefully pulled out, leaving the fine sand with a perfect impression of the pattern plate.

The brass itself all comes from scrap!:

(yes that is a brass tap)

which gets melted down over the foundry furnace:

in a crucible:

the brass gets poured by hand into the sand boxes, where it immediately sets in the form of the original pattern plate.

when the sand is broken away you get the rough castings inside, still dirty with sand, like these classic car medals:

[rodeo bill]

bigger things like those medallions^^ come out separately, but smaller pieces, like my loops:

come out on 'trees' which have to be cut off:

before the get cleaned up...

first the outside sprue is ground off:

then the interior angles are filed down by hand:

after which the loops are roughly polished in a wet drum with marble chips:

and finally with a finer, dry abrasive grain:

and we have lovely english-cast solid brass loops ready to go on to Tender jackets :

[rodeo bill]

and here's the type900 hand dyed logwood jacket with natural black shetland wool removable liner that these loops go onto:

^^there's the loops (four of them) fastening the selvage side straps on the back view. Fit pics to come, if people would like

[Snake]

Alway love to see more fit pics.

Here is my logwood dyed hook buckle belt

[rodeo bill]

^^looks great, thanks for posting you've managed to photograph the variations in colour from the hand-dye onto greasy leather really well too

[rodeo bill]

the weather's miserable out, which reminds me that I haven't put up any photos of the type990 long lined coat. So out into the drizzle with a mirror....

type 990 is a longer version of the 900 jacket. It has two outer chest pockets, and the back is darted all the way down to the waist. It's cut from 'flowerpot' dyed artist's canvas, as the trews, and is fully lined down the sleeves, in the pockets, and to the waist in Shetland natural black wool. The lining finishes at the waist with a line of raw cotton herringbone tape. This comes from a 19th Century riding coat pattern. You'd have a wool lining (traditionally Tattersall check) to the waist to keep you warm, but the skirts of the garment would be unlined (or later lined with waterproof polyester) to avoid soaking up horse's sweat while in the saddle.....

I only made 9 of these, which are at Supra-Quintessence (Brussels), Okiya (Antwerp), Few & Far (London), Loftman (Kyoto), and Brown & Seedling (Chiba)

worn here with type 132 woad dyed jeans (sized up one), type 350 logwood dyed T, black 'hook' buckle belt, and Ducker's chukkas with Cat's Paws.

detail photos of the coat to come in a bit

[rodeo bill]

here are some closeups:

[viv1984viv]

delicious fabric there bill, lovely

[gregd]

Just added to my Tender collection.

It's not denim related so hope it's OK to mention here :-)

I ordered one of the remaining satchels, and it arrived today.

Really fantastic piece. Amazing variety of colour and surface on the leather.

[grooveholmes]

Nice-- i just ordered the logwood henley tee. Will post pics when it arrives. Gregd, i think you should post some fit pics of your 130s when you get the satchel.

[Snake]

New Hill Side x Tender accessories:

http://lineageofinfluence.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/tender-x-the-hillside-woggles/

Also, William Kroll as Mr.Indigo Creator in Free and Easy,

[rodeo bill]

^^thanks for putting these up! I don't yet have a good scan of that F&E page, my copy's on the way. That was really fun for me though (kind of a personal ambition ). I'll put up some pictures of the woggles as soon as they become available at hickorees.

[rodeo bill]

quick shameless plug- a nice little preview of ss12 (and a few photos of my front room...) up today on lineage of influence

[arya_triad]

rodeo bill

whoa, the boots look nice, any more info on them?