Tender Co. Denim

[rodeo bill]

^ here you go Just taken these myself...

and here they are with prescription lenses in, as I'm wearing them day-to-day:

[fre-co]

Bill, it's very nice to have watched the evolution of tender from a picture on a website to an ever expanding collection of beautifully crafted items. The pottery in particular is wonderful.

[rodeo bill]

^ thank you, that's really good to hear!

[Aries]

Agreed, I'm not into pottery in any way whatsoever but that was highly interesting to look at, I hope you provide more updates like it.

[rodeo bill]

^thank you! More objects making to come, for sure. Back to clothes for a bit though, and the hand-striped logwood Ts and vests we've made for the shop.

These are the same black and purple logwood dyes as from the main collection, but rather than a full colour smooth dye job, these have been painted with the dye. When the garments are washed and fixed, the dye bleeds out slightly, so the gaps between black stripes become grey, or paler purple.

Here's a one-off long-sleeve henley, which was the original test sample for this idea. I've been wearing it at least once a week for the last few months, with lots of hot washes. The colours faded out loads, and it's become really soft:

Here's the black stripe Tshirt and vest, and here's a purple stripe T and vest.

[nachtelijk]

here's a silly pic of me guarding luggage in my tender logwood henly (size 2), it's a tad big though but i love it

i also have the ecru tee in the same size, but it's much bigger... not sure if it'll shrink after wash but the fabric is mad gorgeous and so comfortable to wear, i'm hoping that tender will do a size 1 in the future... fingers crossed

[rodeo bill]

So nice! thanks for posting

the ecru T will shrink down to the same size as the logwood after some washing/drying (the logwood dyeing involves a hot wash). The whole line is made in a size 1 actually, but most of the shops which order it are in Japan.... feel free to email me if you need more details about finding specific styles.

[desolate]

All I can say is... just about to go back to the trestle shop for more stuff.

The glasses are *probably* the best item I have bought for years.

"Muddy" Coffee Here I come!

[rodeo bill]

^thank you! (and welcome to the future) your coffee pot and the rest of your order will be with you tomorrow.

I never imagined this thread would end up with pictures of how to make coffee, but for desolate's use (if for no one else's!) here's a bit about the coffee pot.

As a french-press-style plunger, or any kind of metal mesh, wouldn't have worked with the firing process, and as I personally am not a big fan of disposable coffee filters, I thought I'd look into how coffee pots were made before these innovations. I took a trip to the victoria and albert museum in london, and got really interested in 'hunt jugs'. So called because they were often decorated with hunting scenes, and used out of doors, they were used for different drinks, including beer and wine. Before decent filtration was developed, both these drinks would have had quite a bit of sediment in them, which you wouldn't want in your cup. Hunt jugs have a wider 'belly', which, when the jug is tipped up when the last of the drink is being poured, holds the last little bit of drink, with all the sediment in it. This works just as well with coffee grounds, and stops you having to filter out the finer coffee which makes the drink 'muddy' (a term a barista I met last year taught me), and rounder in flavour.

I did quite a bit of testing with this, and the problem I found was that ground coffee which has bits of bean in it, which sink, and also bits of husk, which don't. The trick is to get the ground bits of husk to sink to the bottom as well, so that they'll be caught in the pot's belly. Here's how, in the pot which we use every day:

We use a third of a cup, or 2-3 heaped table spoons, of coffee

put it in the pot:

pour boiled water on:

until just below the grate at the spout:

Then you leave it to stand for a few minutes. During this time all the ground coffee beans will sink to the bottom of the pot.

Now comes the trick- you need to get a bubble to form, and pull down the grounds that are still on the surface of the coffee. To do this you just give the whole pot a good swirl around:

After a couple of whirls, the surface will suddenly stop looking like coffee grounds and water, and suddenly look lovely:

If you then let it stand a minute longer, you'll have a very good pot of coffee:

which will pour nicely, and not have any grounds in it until the very bottom, at which point they'll be caught in the belly of the pot.

this perhaps looks more complicated and time-consuming than it is! sorry, by the way, that the mug isn't a tender one. They've all sold. Denime'll have to do

[redragon]

^

Nice cup of caffeine!

Coffee does compliment denim well, except when you spill

[crip_pierre]

really excited that you've begun doing pottery, and i hope it continues...

pottery collecting is one of my passions; mostly turn of the century american - fulper, teco, grueby, clewell - some others, as well

i'm glad there is something english for me to enjoy now, and i hope there are new forms in the coming seasons!

[rodeo bill]

really excited that you've begun doing pottery, and i hope it continues...

pottery collecting is one of my passions; mostly turn of the century american - fulper, teco, grueby, clewell - some others, as well

i'm glad there is something english for me to enjoy now, and i hope there are new forms in the coming seasons!

sounds like you could teach us something! feel free to expand....

as for other forms, slowdownjoe (superdenim.co.uk's sister product shop) just put up these pieces:

[Mvk190]

My logwood dyed type 900 jacket.

[rodeo bill]

really lovely wear, customisation, and photos. I'd expect nothing less from you

these inspired me to lay out my jacket for some photos- original sample, natural indigo dyed (early test, so it didn't dye all that deeply), about 2&1/2 years old now:

[rodeo bill]

while I had the camera out for these jacket pictures, I thought I'd also photograph the state of my 3 pairs of type132 wide/straight-leg jeans:

Here's the very first, the prototype made about 3&1/2 years ago, dyed with natural indigo (as with the jacket above, not very deeply), and worn for about 2 years before being semi-retired:

here's my woad-dyed 132s, worn everyday for about 6months, and now sporadically. Note the 3rd pocket on the right leg:

I (shamefully) only learnt to drive last year, and I was spending quite a lot of time behind the wheel, originally in lessons, and since driving around to factories. I have quite a chunky wallet, and I found it really digging into me over long periods. I have a pair of old mechanic's dungarees which have a leg pocket, and it struck me this would be perfect. Hence the customisation on the pair I was wearing at the time.

It got me thinking though, and I made up a prototype with leg pockets on both thighs, and none on the back. Here's the pair (sneak preview of brown wattle-dye, arriving in shops soon) which I've been wearing ever since:

At first I wasn't sure, as it's not as visually classical as the back pockets, but it's so practical that I think it's appropriate! I've broken a phone and spoilt numerous books by sitting on them in a back pocket, and this avoids all of that. They're high enough up that they're easily reachable while walking, and when you're sitting down things don't fall out of them.

These will be appearing on type132 only (I think the other models are too slim for it to look right), and it's an option to stores- some have stuck with 'regular' pockets.

[grooveholmes]

Great evo pics, William. I really like the idea for the back pockets. Mind showing us a fit pic? Aesthetically it would have something like the appearance of a dropped yoke, or perhaps some of the younger generation who like to wear their pants low? At any rate, I like the evolution from classic to practical. Not that the classic pocket location isn't practical, but for certain lifestyles the innovation makes sense.

[swixo]

It got me thinking though, and I made up a prototype with leg pockets on both thighs, and none on the back. Here's the pair (sneak preview of brown wattle-dye, arriving in shops soon) which I've been wearing ever since:

A must have. Can't wait until they show up at Hickoree's or Unionmade

s

[rodeo bill]

^^thanks for the comments!

Mind showing us a fit pic?

here you go, taken this morning in the park :

[rodeo bill]

Rob, over at lineage of influence just posted up a very nice little piece with some photos of Tender A/W12, the fifth production which should be appearing in shops in the next few weeks. All pics by Flora Maclean.

-------------------

Tender Autumn/Winter 2012 collection

JULY 23, 2012

tags:

Mens fashion, Tender

Regular readers will remember I featured a preview (well more of a peek) of Tender’s Autumn/Winter collection a while back (find that here if you haven’t seen it). Well now here’s a better look at the range, modeled as ever by William himself.

Edited July 23, 2012 by rodeo bill

[rodeo bill]

This season’s signature colour is a light mushroom brown, made from the bark of the wattle tree. It features on shirts and Henley’s and is also over-dyed on denim to create a warm black, with the cotton sewing threads taking on a rich beige hue. Even though the jeans look black, it’s a much subtler effect than the logwood dye from two season’s ago, with the base indigo still coming through in different lights.

This season also sees new fabrics introduced in the form of English-woven left-hand twill cottons, deadstock horse-blanket cottons, satins, and tickings, plus Welsh woolen flannels and ‘Beavertene’ foundry moleskin. Also new is Scotish woven knitwear (made from un-dyed wools grown on the Shetland Islands), with a crew neck jumper coming in two colourways with jacquard woven ‘train tracks’ running around the chest horizontally.

Finally, a collaboration between Tender and the University of Brighton Design Archives brings a new range of prints to T-shirts, there’s William’s take on the classic drivers watch, and the label’s excellent leather goods are ever present with wallets and belts once again featured. For more information on the label, go to the website here: Tender. Also check out their online shop selling exclusive products here:Trestle Shop.

[nachtelijk]

if u ever happen to accidentally drop a s/s henly in size 1 into the mushroom or purple logwood dye, please let me know i want those....

[rodeo bill]

^^ pm'd you

[redragon]

Like the new belt buckle very much!

[rodeo bill]

^thank you! more details to come.....

[wgmds]

you're the best possible model for your clothes. i can always admire, even if the fit doesn't work too well on me.

[cool_hand]

can anyone advise me if the tender type 130 Woad Dyed Denim Tapered Jeans will shrink in the waist?

I am a size 34.

I tried a pair on today in size 3 and they just about fitted me - they measured 17" flat.

however at the same time I also tried on the purple logwood in type 130 and they were to small - measured 16 flat"

made me think one of the pairs had been labelled incorrectly or that the blue woad dyed type 130's are shrink to fit.

have followed this thread for a while but not that familiar with the brand!

[rodeo bill]

^^thanks for your pm, I'll reply here as it's general interest, I guess. On the assumption that the pair you saw wasn't mislabelled (which it shouldn't be, and that sounds like a believable difference), the dyed jeans have all been shrunk to some extent. However the woad dye is a cold process, and the logwood is a hot process. Just as a cool soak on raw unsanforized jeans will give you different finished size to a hot wash, there will be a difference here. As the denim is originally unsanforized there's a certain amount of give/flexibility in it, even after a wash or dye, so the woad dyed jeans will shrink a bit further if you wash them hot, and the logwood jeans will stretch out quite a bit with some wear. The wattle-dyed drivers'-pocket 132s which I'm currently wearing (pictured above) started off a bit tight but now fit just right. The woad jeans (also pictured above) started off a bit easier, but settled down to the same fit after a couple of washes.

The denim itself is quite loose, so will really stretch or shrink down to the right size for your body, after not too long. The only jeans which will shrink sinificantly, and more irreparably, are the raw 'unborn' jeans.

I hope that makes sense- to answer your question, in general a size 4 is equivalent to a 34" waist, but you could size down to a 3 for the purple if you prefer to stretch them out a little.

ps- is it a sign that this was your 130th post?!

Edited July 24, 2012 by rodeo bill

[Thor]

you're the best possible model for your clothes. i can always admire, even if the fit doesn't work too well on me.

man, your 130 s look MINT on youse

Edited July 25, 2012 by Thor

[rodeo bill]

I met up with Matthew Hranek yesterday, who writes the excellent William Brown Project (one of the few blogs which I check every day). A kind, small mention of Tender Mutton Tallow Boot Grease, but this is more a heads-up to anyone who doesn't know the blog, Matthew has a great eye and excellent, wide-ranging taste. Worth a look!

WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012

TENDER TALLOW

MY GOOD FRIEND WILLIAM AT TENDER CO. HAS JUST LAUNCHED A NEW SITE CALLED

TRESTLE SHOPSELLING HIS WARES, INCLUDING THIS MUTTON TALLOW BOOT GREASE THAT IS JUST WHAT THE COUNTRY DOC HAS ORDERED FOR YOUR TIRED LEATHER BOOTS AND SUCH.

Edited July 25, 2012 by rodeo bill

[Aries]

Holllly crap, I just went to order some boot grease from trestle and it's asking 30 quid to ship to Australia.

I know it's expensive to ship stuff to the colonies but that's almost 3 times the price of the little pot of grease itself! Are there any plans to look at this Bill? I'd love to buy a few things from the shop but the shipping is prohibitively expensive at the moment.