Tender Co. Denim

[rodeo bill]

^^ Got it beatle, and thanks!

actually I think I'll stay with dome rivets as the signature for now- I also like how with exposed rivets you can keep the stitch-lines parallel all the way to the top under the rivet, instead of spreading/curving around the rivet

edit- rnr got in as I was replying. I know what you're saying about the scratches that appear on rivets- I've had the same thing. So yes, I agree they're not perfect. Best/strongest solution I can see though, for now. Re names for pockets, I learned 'scoop pockets' for the side pockets with pocket bags (apparently named for the scoop that you pan for gold with), and 'spade pockets' for the back patches (apparently named for the shape of a miner's spade, the stitch line for the half lining representing the line of dirt on the spade as you pull it out of the earth). I don;t know how accurate these are, but they're wonderfully romantic! As I have straight side pockets, and square back/hip pockets I don;t use these terms for Tender. Sorry for any confusion, hope it makes sense...

re side/scoop pocket rivets scratching- again I agree, hence Tender's dome rivets all round. That would actually be a very nice home-modification, to patch over a little piece of denim or leather on top of that side rivet. anyone? re hidden rivets there, I have a friend who I think once made an all-hidden rivet jean. that's dedication.

(Next time you're DofHing into a car you should so film it and put up a slow motion matrix-style 3d rivet scratch shot here).

[rnrswitch]

^^ Got it, and thanks!

actually I think I'll stay with dome rivets as the signature for now- I also like how with exposed rivets you can keep the stitch-lines parallel all the way to the top under the rivet, instead of spreading/curving around the rivet

Also, with the exposed rivets you can use a double needle machine, right? Instead of having to use a single needle to do both lines. This is why many exposed rivet jeans have that little cross at the bottom of the pocket, or am I way off base here?

[rodeo bill]

yup- I believe you're right. As you can see on the pics I put up of my hidden-rivet mockup, the distance between the stitches has to change (unless I suppose you had massively wide twin-needle stitching, but I don't think you can get machines that would go that wide), whereas with exposed rivets (the evis, lee, & wrangler) the stitch lines stay parallel and can be done with a twin needle, causing the crossover you mention. For Tender it is done with a single needle, because I just think that's a really nice detail!

[rnrswitch]

yup- I believe you're right. As you can see on the pics I put up of my hidden-rivet mockup, the distance between the stitches has to change (unless I suppose you had massively wide twin-needle stitching, but I don't think you can get machines that would go that wide), whereas with exposed rivets (the evis, lee, & wrangler) the stitch lines stay parallel and can be done with a twin needle, causing the crossover you mention. For Tender it is done with a single needle, because I just think that's a really nice detail!

And you're right. That is a nice detail.

[Bosslady]

Beejautifull!

William... I don't know quite how to explain it but basically you make me feel proud to be in the denim business!

I think you will have to make me a 31' waist jeans, because I'm SO jealous of all the lucky guys being able to wear Tender!!

[rodeo bill]

A couple of weeks ago Ian & I dyed some ties, scarves, bandanas, and pocket squares with woad for my good friends Emil and Sandy at The Hill-Side, in NYC. We're hoping this'll be an on-going collaboration, as the brands seem to work really well together, and I think the stuff looks great! Here's some pics of the Japanese natural cotton selvage ties going through:

First the ties get a good soak overnight:

until they're completely saturated (so they'll take the woad dye as deeply as possible):

and it goes into the woad bath for the first dip:

it comes out bright green as the indigotin in the woad oxidises:

(sorry for the blurry photos by the way- as with most of the dyeing pics I've put up, they're taken one (left) handed, while I'm in the middle of helping Ian- I think for this one I'd just pegged up the tie and I was trying to avoid it dripping on my camera...)

[rodeo bill]

Once a batch of ties has gone in for a first dip, and fully oxidised, they go back into the dye bath. They come out from the second dip a deeper blue, which will wash out to the lovely rich wedgewood of woad

the ties hang up for an hour or so to fully oxidise then they get a quick rinse in water to get the excess indigo off

and go in the washing machine with a dash of vinegar to set the dye, then they come out and hang up on the line outside to dry. In the background behind the line you can see the woad field, where the dye plants were grown:)

[rodeo bill]

Hill-Side stuff is presented really beautifully, with simple little paper slips that are individually hand-stamped with the product's code and manufacture, but I thought we should do something a bit different for this project.

When you set up a Woad dye bath, you get a lot of bubbles of oxidised indigo on the surface:

you normally want to avoid this, so you skim it off with a ladel before starting dyeing. I thought it could be cool to use it to colour the Hill-Side paper slips though...

they dry out on one of Bernadette's oen racks...

Once they're dry they get rubbed down with a white cloth, to take off the excess dye, and each tie gets a unique woad-bubble-dyed slip, which gets stamped with The Hill-Side lot number and the Tender face logo.

[beatle]

That's like the icing on the cake..

[mtchfrnk]

they dry out on one of Bernadette's oven racks...

She sure donates a lot of kitchen equipment to the cause.

My bandana came in the mail yesterday. I have been neckerchiefing it since then. I really love it AND the packaging it came in. The Hill-Side guys call the cards "belly-bands" which is a word I want to work into everyday conversation.

[Snake]

mtchfrnk - The bandana looks great.

Just received my loopwheeled woad dyed T. Very soft and comfortable.

[beatle]

where the hell are they selling them ?

[pepper davies]

http://www.hickorees.com/BRANDS/TENDER-CO

I really want to pick up one of those tees. A little bit out of my price range.

[The_D]

William, are there going to be any UK stores selling the things from your Hill-Side collab? Superdenim?

[rodeo bill]

^^ PM'd you

[timpoblete]

Unionmade in San Francisco has the tees, jeans, and the jacket. They also already have the Hill-Side x Tender stuff in.

BTW, their website will be launching soon (It was supposed to launch this past Monday, but launch dates are always estimations).

[photo]

Hey Bill

I don't remember you ever explaining the reasoning for the button that you have on your jeans. Why is it that you went with a pin to hold the button on? It looks like it would poke into a persons body. The button was created with the same casting method as the belts?

[rodeo bill]

hi Photo-

The original thinking behind the button was from looking at railway workers' jackets. Traditionally the garment itself would be generic, but the different railway companies and ranks would have their own buttons (you get the same on military uniforms). Another reason for this was that railway uniforms had to look smart but be tough and easy to clean. Smart military uniforms and civilian tailoring would have hollow brass buttons which are sewn on (actually they should be 'plugged' which is where you part the warp and the weft of the shell fabric and push the button shank through, then sew the button shank onto the canvas within the garment- this is stronger, won't damage the fabric of the garment, and means the button will sit flat. I spent quite a lot of time doing this as an apprentice;))

Sorry for that digression... anyway unlike tailored wool garments which were rarely cleaned, cotton railway garments needed to be washed, and washing involved putting clothes through a mangle, which would easily crush the thin metal shell of hollow uniform buttons. So they have to be easily removable.

For jackets (military and civil) the standard attachment is a split ring, like this (on a London Underground uniform I found)

Originally I was going to go with this style as it lays nice and flat inside the waistband:

BUT- while a jacket is not worn that close to the body, so it never really gets tight, with jeans or trousers (railway trousers would just be generic, and would have flat sew-on buttons) the waistband is relatively tight, and there's a certain amount of stress on the button where the ends of the waistband pull against each other. This is true even if you where your jeans loose- whereas with a jacket it's held on by the shoulders and the front buttons just keep it closed, with trousers they're actually held up by the button stopping them sliding over your hips.

So there is tension on the button, which with a split ring (above) causes this:

the ring is pulled upright, and when worn, sticks into you and is uncomfortable.

On the other hand, with a 'button bolt' (split pin), it's not so neat when it's slack:

but when they're worn, the tension pulls the button out, pulling the pin into the fabric:

this is a bit difficult to show, but what it means is that when they're actually worn the pin is pulled right into the fabric and it lies completely smoothly, so it doesn't stick out at all.

For the button itself, I wanted a custom button, but I wanted something special. If I was to go with a hollow button I'd have to commit to a huge minimum, and they'd be pretty similar to a lot of other brands. I was getting really into brass casting through a friend of mine who makes jewellery and metal accessories, and I thought it could make a really special button. Yes they're made by the same people as the belt buckles, and as it's a lost-wax cast, they have to be made one by one, which means they all turn out slightly different, and also there's no minimum order:)

hope that helped Photo- sorry if it all got rather long-winded...

[riff]

Such amazing attention to detail Bill! I hadn't seen those split ring fasteners until I found my Sunny jacket:

At any rate, great mod for the pants Must come back when my rep recharges... And where can I get one of your woad tees?

[photo]

Thank you so much Bill ! I knew there was a reason just couldn't figure it out. Good to know that through the jeans tension the pin pulls away and wouldn't be an issue.

Riff - www.hickorees.com you'll see them on the first page or you can email Todd at Union Made, their online store is soon to be up so I hear.

[andewhall]

I think Bill was explaining why he personally doesn't like hidden rivets, as opposed to an experimental thing for the future. I think the Tender brand looks amazing, and the exposed rivets fit in perfectly with the overall look. Well done Mr. Rodeo Bill.

I assume this is experimental stage for Tender with hidden rivets ? With that in regard, I think you did a solid job...

I personally prefer hidden rivets - whilst I think with your current style of jeans the dome rivets work nicely....

In other words - once Tender decides to go slimmer you might have to get used to hidden rivets-and the pics you posted proof that you'll be able to do it..

[Snake]

Lineage of Influence has a write up on Tender SS/11 line. The "weld " dyed pieces look very interesting.

[mtchfrnk]

I also have some words/pictures up on my blog.

(If self-promotion is inappropriate I will take this post down)

[Snake]

mtchfrnk - very nice descriptions of how the woad and weld dyes affect the hardware. Wish I could see the Spring collection in persion and handle the new items.

Denimaniac (http://denimaniac.com/2010/08/05/tender-co-denim-ss11-collection/) has better pics of the Spring Collection.

[rodeo bill]

had some friends over for dinner last night. feeling it this morning and can't quite face cleaning the kitchen yet... so thought I'd put up pics of the delicious indigo-themed treats my good friend Henri brought along

Tender faces made out of marzipan. Henri aka Madame X soon to be hitting the streets of Berlin with baskets of cupcakes- highly recommended!

[Snake]

Bill,

Those cupcakes looks delicious.

I am really looking forward to your pictures of SS11 collection, especially the weld dyeing process. I love the fact that you use natural dyes.

I ordered the Lot 900 denim jacket...should be here next week. I can't wait.

[grooveholmes]

Bill and co. hooked up Okiya with some additional pics and info re: the dip-dye process with the jackets and jeans. Amazing and inspiring.

[rodeo bill]

^^ great stuff Snake, and thanks! hope you'll be able to put up pics when it arrives:) When I get into the production of new stuff of course I'll put up pictures here- I'm really glad you guys are interested!

Here are a few images of a special little run of 6 Tshirts I did for the good chaps at Unionmade, SF Cal.

First take a fine English potato(!), cut in half and left to dry out a bit overnight:

and a dish full of the sludgy residue from the bottom of the woad bath:

dip the former into the latter:

and print firmly onto a Type 350 woad-dyed Tshirt:

brown paper inside to stop the woad seeping through to the back fabric.

[rodeo bill]

repeat until happy:

let it dry, turn it over, same again! Then it goes in for a quick wash with vinegar to set the woad, and you're done:

I did a white one as well for myself

I like how the spots are uneven depending on the texture of the potato, and of course every Tshirt is unique:)

[beatle]

Happy dots