Best Iron Heart Models for Western Wear?
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@shelbington I'm nowhere even close to the expert @Appfaff is, I just got like my second, first "real", pair of cowboy boots but I'm obsessed with them. And I'm in the same boat, trying to find the jeans I think go best with them.
I'm from the midewest but living in Louisiana the past 3 or so years, so I see a little western style wear but I haven't spent time in Texas at all so I have no idea what the etiquette is or what to look for in a fit. That said, figured I'd post some pictures to give you an idea of how different jeans compare.
Brand new 1955-142, hemmed to 32"
1955 from the side
888-SBG cuffed to 34", bonus cat
888 from the side-ish with cat
634S never hemmed, so 34"
634 from the sideThe 634s are my favorite look. The 888 or the 1955-142-OD (not pictured) are probably what I find to be most comfortable all around, but even that is a close call.
The boots are Resistol stonewashed suede that I just picked up half off on Cavender's website sale. I also have a pair of Freenote Wilkes that I can get a couple pictures of but they are so, so skinny around the calves I don't think they look very good (but I'm not in Texas, maybe that's how people do it!?) I also hear that Freenote is doing another version of the Wilkes in like more of a "rider's cut" whatever that means, higher back pockets for sure and maybe more of a boot cut, hopefully.
Cheers!
Terryedit to add: 1955 and 634 are tag 34, 888 is a tag 35
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@twinning - you have some awesome fits! Those boots are great as well!
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@twinning That's super helpful! I think for me the 1955s just look great and the 634s are also my jam. Although maybe I'm just not really a stacking kind of guy.
Going to keep waiting on that 1955 vintage release.
Seems like a dark pair of the 1955s with boots and a white tucked in western shirt and I can look just like one of the Texas rangers in Sicario.
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great pics @twinning! i never tried the 888 cause i didnt think i could wear em with boots. conversely, my 1 pr of 777s which are the VS colab. only pic with boots i have.
now just call a pig or horse farm to volunteer and muck some stalls in yer boots to give em the ‘look’. lol. joking.
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@goosehd - dang, Cate really aced that hat man, is that one of her “natural dyes” she makes herself? Stunning. And those stacks are looking pretty awesome!
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@goosehd so jealous. If I wasn’t such an impatient bastard, I’d put in an order… she really is the best
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@roydub87 Hey thanks! And thanks everyone.
@mikebarhoot If you're only going to have one pic with boots, that's for sure the pic to have. Nice.
Yeah I'm not really into stacks or at least not all the way up the calf, I just want a few breaks kind of bunched up around the ankle and definitely having the hem go all the way down to sit on the ledge of the boots, which I guess you'll only really get with a straight leg or boot cut, something with at least maybe an 8.75" opening, but I'm still leaning lol.
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oh no. plenty of boot pics. just the 1 with 777s.
& thanks @twinning
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@twinning FWIW, I think the standard inseam on IH jeans is the ideal length for stacks - see @goosehd 's pick in his UHR denim. You are entirely correct, once the denim settles, the "stacks" are about a 3, maybe 4, inch section of fabric.
The history behind stacks does in-fact date back to the Cowboys, when they sat on a saddle, and their feet were in stirrups, they wanted their jeans or duck trousers to provide an extra layer of protection around brush, and having an extended inseam was the result, covering the shaft and the instep of their boots. Ironically, the same inseam requirement for riding a motocycle and not having the wind go up your trousers haha. At some point, cowboys would also order their jeans extra long to be able to cuff the bottom part, and be able to carry things like their cigarettes in the cuff, which gave them easy access to a smoke while on the trail.
Christophe from Mister Freedom took this little nugget back in 2008 or so, and added pockets to the bottom of a pair of the "rider's" jeans he created. essentially taking the folk lore of "the cuff" being used as a pocket and just added a legit pocket to the hem for the same reasons.
This look then carried along the cowboy aesthetic over time, and when the jeans were heavily starched, also a real life tool, adding a layer of "armor" against brush and tree branches to keep the fabric from catching and fraying, but it also ensured the jeans "stayed fresh" even on multi-day or multi-weeks rides, the stacks would get additionally pronounced, and the area where the starch would rub off and the denim would "fold" would fade differently than the indigo heavy layer that was flat. This created the optical "stacking" look, in the same way that honeycombs ad whiskers are the exposed "stack" of denim that protrudes away from the body, and the indigo stays deeper on the pieces of fabric closer to the body.
Wow, nerdiest thing I've ever written, but alas...
