When or how you started wearing Ironheart
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got a loom state type3 from selfedge. there was no going back
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I initially got into Diesel back in the late 90's and early 2000's and made my way to Superfuture. Then I bought my first pair of selvedge denim, Regular Ralf Nudie's back in the early 2004 or so. There used to be a great streetwear store named "Factory People" in Austin off of South Congress that sold Nudie, Evisu, Maharishi, ICR, etc and such which got me interested in other brands. I purchased my first pair of IH 634's off of Styleforum back in 2007 or so and I finally found the IH forum back in 2010, lurked for a little over a year before finally joining and getting officially involved in 2011. Been going down the rabbit hole since.
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It's been quite a long, strange trip for me. I've been into fashion for as long as I can remember, dating back all the way to somewhere around 6th or 7th grade in school. But until very recently I was never much into selvage denim or the workwear aesthetic at all.
In the late '90s and early '00s, I was living in Chicago post-college and was really into Diesel jeans and the Eurotrash look in general. Somewhere around 2004/2005 I discovered Superfuture and was made aware of Japanese denim for the first time, but while intrigued I didn't really take the bait. Instead, I jumped head-first into Dior Homme and built quite the collections of Hedi-era garments.
It was a few years later that I first considered actually buying an IH piece - a black melton wool CPO - that I thought would pair well with my wardrobe. But despite my best efforts, I was never able to track down an XS, so it never came to be.
Eventually, I tired of the ultra-skinny Dior look, and by around 2010 I had transitioned to a wardrobe consisting of almost exclusively Rick Owens pieces. By now I was living in NYC and wanted 1 nice pair of regular jeans because at the time Rick's DRKSHDW line wasn't really doing it for me. I knew going in that I'd like a pair of IH, but back then there were no truly slim cuts available, and not much in the way of black denim either. So I ended up with a pair of PBJ from BiG in SoHo.
I went through a few pairs of those PBJ before I eventually got sucked deeper into the avant-garde world and started to discover Carol Christian Poell, Boris Bidjan Saberi, and the like. Eventually, I settled back into a primarily Rick wardrobe with a few CCP pieces mixed in (mostly leather jackets and boots). This is pretty much where I stayed for the better part of a decade.
Fast forward to mid-2020, when the pandemic was in full swing. I was no longer getting dressed up in full "goth ninja" attire to go to my job in advertising every day or to hang out at bars & restaurants with friends. And putting those clothes on for my daily walks around the neighborhood just wasn't feeling right, but I didn't really have anything else. It was at that point I decided that I wanted some more functional, utilitarian clothes to walk the mostly-deserted streets and run my essential errands.
When I began my search, IH was the first place I looked. And I was quite pleased to discover the 555 in 21oz SBG denim. After a little research on sizing, I ordered a pair online and fell in love with them. It was painful at first, especially having been a decade removed from my last experience with raw denim, but I persevered and ended up wearing those jeans on a daily basis.
After that first pair, I ended up buying a black military serge western, and then the super black type III. My wardrobe in early 2021 was still 100% black, but I was finding that the IH pieces were mixing well with my Rick t-shirts and CCP boots.
As we got deeper into 2021 and things were starting to get back to normal, I transitioned back to wearing mostly Rick but I remained drawn to IH as well. At this point, I bought my first non-black garment in nearly 20 years - a red/black buffalo check UHF. Wearing that shirt as an overshirt with my usual outfits was a game-changer for me. Kind of the perfect blend of avant-garde and traditional. I then went on to pick up the navy/black ombre UHF, an 18oz OD CPO, the 13oz black flannel CPO, and a few other shirts. And, of course, I finally got that melton wool CPO that I had lusted for 15 years earlier.
Oh, and I even bought a pair of fucking bibs somewhere along the way!
I'll probably never be as hardcore IH as most here, and I'll probably always wear it a little differently than most by pairing it with some more avant-garde pieces, but I'm now at the point where I rarely if ever leave the house without at least one IH garment somewhere on my body.
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[mention]jskidder [/mention] I would love to see some photos. They would be a great alternative to the workwear posts often seen here.
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[mention]popvulture [/mention] I had two pair that I wore through high school and they were great. I dont remember them being selvedge but they were resin soaked and pretty stiff. They were my first pair that I wore cuffed and I usually paired them with an OG M65 and an unfortunate haircut.
That commercial definitely sold me on them and kudos to Levis for making them in an era of super soft Calvin Kleins and GAP khakis.
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Finally admitted that levis 501s don't fit my legs –> bought stretchy jeans --> looked for higher end stretchy jeans --> saw a 888SST review --> realized regular 888 cut IH jeans will fit me perfectly --> bought 21 oz 888s and got rid of my stretchy jeans
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Finally admitted that levis 501s don't fit my legs –> bought stretchy jeans --> looked for higher end stretchy jeans --> saw a 888SST review --> realized regular 888 cut IH jeans will fit me perfectly --> bought 21 oz 888s and got rid of my stretchy jeans
That is a moving story with a wholesome happy ending! Love it.
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A friend of mine had a stall in Camden Stables Market in London in the early and mid 90s.she and her partner would scout the country, USA, and Europe finding 50s and 60s Selvedge Denim back when it was affordable. She got me into Selvedge Denim, and it was a bit of a geeky thing in the hardcore punk scene back then. Lots of Japanese buyers would fly over just to buy from Marianne and Jim. Massive wads of thousands of pounds, and just load up black bin bags with denim, tour jackets, 50s camp shirts etc. How days have changed.
I drifted away from it in the mid 2000s, but then another friend introduced me to the old Levis LVC range, then to other brands via American Classics and Interstate in London. I then stumbled across Rivet and Hide in 2016 and bought my 1st pair of IH 555 naturals. I still have them, and an old pair of Selvedge Levis that I can't part with.
It's been a bit too difficult this last couple of years with financial pressures and the economy for me to justify too many purchases, but I have my wants and pounce now and then.
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I really got into raw denim when a couple of guys I knew through the motorcycle community created their own denim brand called 'Eat Dust'. I bought a pair of their 73 back in 2010 and wore it every day. When they released they bloodline range and I bought the complete lineup (I still own those pants and that vest).
I was also sporting a big beard back then and was looking for a real barbershop. Eventually I found 'sideburn' a one guy barbershop that was located inside a clothing store called the V Shop in Gent. The V Shop sold Eat Dust and… Iron Heart. Needless to say, it became my monthly visit. for 20€ I got my beard trimmed, a beer and a great talk with Arlo and Brecht.
It took me quite some time before I was able to convince myself that IH was the way but once that first purchase was made, my collection only grew from there.
My main focus now is blackout everything and I'm really getting to a point where I feel my closet is near done.
Here is a couple pics from back in the day
Those are some deeper cuts.
