Denim Adventures and Misadventures
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Samurai 710's, loved them to bits, I bought a second pair a couple of years ago and was not so impressed.
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Bought my first pair of IH in SENY in 2014. They were my third pair of "proper jeans", but my first Japanese brand. I went in the store planning to buy BB's or 666's but the assistant assured me that the 21oz 301 was the best fit and denim, and based on what I saw in the mirror I couldn't argue.
Here's the thing, I had been on vacay in NYC for a week already. I had two major purchasing goals, a pair of Iron Heart jeans and a pair of Adidas from the Rivington Club. Out of deference to my wife I waited until the end of the holiday to pursue them. A little more background info: May in NYC can be hot and it was pretty warm that day I went to SENY. Also I'd been eating sushi by the bucket, burgers by the bucket oand Italian food by the bath tub for seven days. Oh and drinking. A lot. So safe to say I was a bit of a bloaty mofo.
The tag 36 seemed just great in the shop. They hemmed them to my specs (3 inches too long, I thought stacks suited everyone, but that's another story) and I picked them up the day before we left. It was too warm to wear them, so I saved them for the flight home. The same day I picked up a rather expensive pair of white OG Adidas Samba in suede from The Rivington Club and was very, very proud of them and my jeans. The next day I put on my awesome denim and awesome kicks and got on the plane, drank whisky and fell asleep. Woke up during the landing in Stockholm to find my beautiful pair of suede sneakers were thoroughly covered in indigo. One week later, when the holiday bloat was gone and the 21oz did its amazing expanding trick, my amazing first pair of IH looked like a pair of clown pants. That low 301 rise combined with a waist band suddenly two inches too big is a one way ticket to Cracksville. So a completely fucked pair of trainers and a ridiculously poor fitting pair of jeans was the result of my trip to NYC.
Pics of how the 301's ended up here:
http://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=434.msg462505#msg462505The Samba's are entirely unwearable
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Indigo transfer is a badge of honour, arse crack is not
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Indigo transfer is a badge of honour, arse crack is not
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This was at a time when, in my deluded mind [emoji148]were more important than [emoji158]and keeping white trainees pristine was a badge of honour, so it really was a disaster on all counts. I've grown up a bit since then. Allegedly. -
I originally went through a Diesel/True Religion/Rock n Republic phase when I was 19 or 20. Everyone makes mistakes at that age, and those giant feminine pocketed, extra boot cut jeans were not a good look no matter how you shake it. Live and learn ya know.
First pair of "fancy", "normal" selvedge jeans were a pair of Nudie Slim Jim's I bought about 10 years ago (didn't realize I had been in the 'game' that long until this thread, thanks a lot Mega). Needless to say, the jeans name suited them. The thighs were snug and, while I don't think Nudies are actually a cheaply made jean, the denim felt so thin I thought they may split at any moment. Fortunately, I moved on from them before any real disasters happened, and I definitely avoided jumping spiked fences as they would never protect my nether region like XHS.
Probably 8-9 years ago I scored some Kicking Mule Workshops for about $30 each in their 1950 cut. The brand closed down years ago but they made a very good jean when they were up and running. I still have one of the pairs which I have never worn and am saving for a rainy day. Maybe in 50 years they'll be a super rare denim head dream.
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Good work fellas, top stories all round
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Wore new sample jeans to watch Tommy's football training, his new ball got booted onto a building site…..this happened
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You should go the full Ruedi and not wash them.
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And the Russell's too
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They're BvS socks actually (Father's Day gift)
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Too late you bald freaks
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I originally went through a Diesel/True Religion/Rock n Republic phase when I was 19 or 20. Everyone makes mistakes at that age, and those giant feminine pocketed, extra boot cut jeans were not a good look no matter how you shake it. Live and learn ya know.
First pair of "fancy", "normal" selvedge jeans were a pair of Nudie Slim Jim's I bought about 10 years ago…
I pretty much went down a similar path during the mid-late 2000's, trying to find jeans that actually fit well and looked good without knowing enough about denim or even having a clear idea of what I was looking for to make any educated decisions. I spent all of the 90's hating the way Levi's fit, and by the time the 2000's rolled around, I had long since written them off as an option. I discovered Gap jeans which fit better but I still wasn't happy, and then a girlfriend of mine told me about Diesel and I bought a couple pairs of those and was happy for a while.
When True Religion came out, I briefly fell for their whole rock'n'roll fashion sales pitch before deciding they were ridiculous and moving on to 7 for All Mankind. Around this time, I was figuring out that although I was happy with the fit of Diesel and 7FAM, I could tell that the quality and durability was lacking, and if I was going to pay that much for a pair of jeans, they damn well better last a long time.
More searching ensued, and I discovered Nudies through their online forum. They were the first brand to open my eyes to the idea of authentically wearing and fading your jeans yourself, and that doing so resulted in a way more authentic and personal look – your fades were unique to you and told a story. I bought a pair of Regular Ralf (a slim straight cut that they discontinued shortly thereafter) in Japanese selvage, and perusing their forum led me to real Japanese denim and it was game over from there.
My first real pair of Japanese denim was a used pair of PBJ xx-005 followed by another used pair of those and a pair of xx-007's. From there I moved on to my first brand new pair, the Samurai S710xx that I purchased for the first HWDC, and another pair of S710 Black Shadows, and then my first pair of Iron Hearts: the SEXIHXLSXA-13's that I wore for the second HWDC.
Since then it's been all IH with the exception of a pair of Strike Gold 5105's. I really feel like my search is over and I don't see myself straying from IH, especially since the 666 cut is the absolute perfect cut for me imho. There's enough variety of denims in this cut (and always more being added) to hold my interest for a long, long time to come.
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I grew up wearing denim brands like Match Stick, Smart R's, Hardware and Levi's whilst still at school. In my twenties, in the 90's, there was a shop in Sheffield called Brother 2 Brother that sold Evisu which marked my first venture into Japanese Selvedge denim. Also at this time a friend of mine worked for Levi's in Brussels who was able to get me samples of LVC Levis selvedge denim jeans like the one (back) pocket cinch back with brace buttons and other styles. Sadly my immersion into selvedge denim was short lived and in the early naughties I was simply getting jeans that fit well. However, after getting into ebay in the mid naughties I started religiously searching selvedge denim. Here was the beginning of my jeans collection which included brands from all over so long as the denim was selvedge. Growing wiser over time and reading more articles / watching any video I could find like the early ROY pieces, I started being more selective about the denim I bought. Now I have almost exclusively Japanese denim in my modest collection. Since discovering / purchasing Iron Heart for the first time I've never looked back as I just cant fault IH in any way.
My biggest denim misadventure; purchasing a pair of denim patchwork jeans by Etienne Ozeki that cost way too much. My love for them at the start was later replaced by dismay that I could have even noticed these jeans let alone bought them, see below
