Iron Heart Products - What do you think we should make?
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Cuss me if this is repeat, but is there any plans for a polo shirt variant?
I currently buy them by the lorry load in semi-disposable fashion from American Apparel and it would be nice to have higher quality item. Perhaps using that loopwheeled(?) sweat fabric?
H
I agree a Polo would be nice. I wear those a lot. I doubt it will fit in the biker philosophy of the brand, though. For the best quality polos there are two easy and two not so easy to find answers.
The easy ones are Lacoste and Ralph Lauren Polo. Both have very good quality and a Polo shirt should be good for five to ten years depending on how often you wear it.
In the not so easy to find category are Cerruti and John Smedley. The Cerruti is in the same price category as the above. They make polos in mercerized cotton that are wonderful. Mercerized cotton looks like silk (shiny and fine but thicker than silk) and is very long living. John Smedley is from England and costs a fortune. I had this shop in Switzerland where the stuff was kind of affordable (say $100 instead of $220 retail in US). Unfortunately, I don't get to go there anymore. I still have more than a dozen of their polos, though. Some have holes under the arms just from friction. I need to take care of those. Others have a tiny hole where the belt buckle rubs. The long staple Sea Island cotton is the most luxurious of all cottons but this stuff is so fine that it is not really hard wearing. If Giles were able to source these at a good price and sell them under the table, I'd gladly buy some because they look great with jeans for the non-biker.
Red jeans? Hm? On the other hand, I could imagine ORANGE jeans very well. There could be reflective material on the hems and back pockets. That would make it a great choice for visibility while riding a bike. Also orange jeans with black boots will look smashing. I'd buy one. Just got a pair of light weight orange pants from RL on sale for $19. The slim chino cut on those is absolutely perfect including the details. It's the perfect flat front chino except that the material is a bright orange and light weight cotton cloth.
Till
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I thinks thats a cool hybrid idea, Till :-). Might upset their more effete client base…
You mean the polo, right? Well maybe. But these polos by JS are so extremely comfortable and nice to touch that even the most die-hard denim devil would love them. And the contrast of the soft Sea island cotton to the Zimbabwe heavy cotton would be very interesting.
Seul, I wear polos in the winter, too. I just wear them under a crew neck sweater. The sweater looks better with a collar under it but it is almost a waste to wear a long sleeve shirt under it. So polo is the solution for me.
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@tfar:
On second thought: How about a co-op IHxJS between IH from Japan and John Smedley from England for an Indigo dyed Sea Island cotton polo perhaps with jeans buttons or chain stitch detail on the sleeves?
@tfar:
On second thought: How about a co-op IHxJS between IH from Japan and John Smedley from England for an Indigo dyed Sea Island cotton polo perhaps with jeans buttons or chain stitch detail on the sleeves?
@tfar:
Cuss me if this is repeat, but is there any plans for a polo shirt variant?
I currently buy them by the lorry load in semi-disposable fashion from American Apparel and it would be nice to have higher quality item. Perhaps using that loopwheeled(?) sweat fabric?
H
I agree a Polo would be nice. I wear those a lot. I doubt it will fit in the biker philosophy of the brand, though. For the best quality polos there are two easy and two not so easy to find answers.
The easy ones are Lacoste and Ralph Lauren Polo. Both have very good quality and a Polo shirt should be good for five to ten years depending on how often you wear it.
In the not so easy to find category are Cerruti and John Smedley. The Cerruti is in the same price category as the above. They make polos in mercerized cotton that are wonderful. Mercerized cotton looks like silk (shiny and fine but thicker than silk) and is very long living. John Smedley is from England and costs a fortune. I had this shop in Switzerland where the stuff was kind of affordable (say $100 instead of $220 retail in US). Unfortunately, I don't get to go there anymore. I still have more than a dozen of their polos, though. Some have holes under the arms just from friction. I need to take care of those. Others have a tiny hole where the belt buckle rubs. The long staple Sea Island cotton is the most luxurious of all cottons but this stuff is so fine that it is not really hard wearing. If Giles were able to source these at a good price and sell them under the table, I'd gladly buy some because they look great with jeans for the non-biker.
Till
You should check out Victorinox, BBC and BAPE if you like your polos
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I have stacks of John Smedley, none of which I have paid anything like full retail for. All bought from the John Smedley factory shop (and it is actually at the factory) here:
John Smedley Ltd
Lea Mills
Lea Bridge
Matlock
Tel: 01629 534571 ext 426 / 424
Open: All Week 10am to 4pm -
HD, thanks for the tip. I will look that up.
Giles, so that is near your place? Then why not talk Haraki-san into a Brit-Jap co-op on some Indigo dyed John Smedley polos. I am sure they would sell super well. It would be probably the most special polo shirt on earth. I could imagine orange accent stitching on the button placket for example.
Till
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On my wishlist: One of the shirts i find myself return to and use freqeuntly is the regular flannel IH-10. I think the flanell fabric is perfect in thickness and just fells great wearing. Personally I find the heavy flannel a bit too thick so to me this is perfect. So for the next fall/winter season a new run of shirts in this type of fabric would be great. Otherwise, really looking forward to the chambray workshirt and of course the first short sleeve IH.
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On my wishlist:
Henleys with IH-quality!
An M65 jacket (military field jacket) in 22oz OLIVE DRAB denim (perhaps with a quilted/flannel lined zip-out liner?)
A parka in the same material
Cargo pants/fatigue pants in 16oz denim (for the hungover days when a three pound jeans is too much…)
Underwear and socks, preferably made in merino wool (ultra-lasting and comfortable as with all IH´s products - a couple of six-packs of these and I wouldn´t need to worry about buying clothes for a long time...)
besides the aforementioned black 22oz MC chaps and sweatshirts
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Since there is a lot of love for the hickory stripe, hows about some inside out denim?
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i want a hoody i can beat the hell out of! Or a type one denim jacket with 21oz selvedge denim!!!!!!!!!
ahhhhh yeah! 
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i want a hoody i can beat the hell out of!
ahhhhh yeah!
[/quote]Good call. I got an old Carrhart one from the Union Made label days and it's clubbed rather than beat down over the years but it's still better than most hoodies out there on the market today. Think it's original weight was 13/5 oz 95/5 cotton/polyester.
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i want a hoody i can beat the hell out of!
How about these? http://www.ironheart.jp/products/IHS-15-16-17.html
