Samurai Jeans
-
I got my BKBs on Wednesday, soaked them Wednesday night, and have not really taken them off since Thursday afternoon. Really nice pair of jeans.
I can't remember the last time I had black jeans, but I'm really enjoying that I can grab any of my blue denim shirts without worrying about the Canadian Tuxedo effect.
-
Samurai 710XX16OZ-DMO Review
Yesterday, I received the Samurai x Denimio collab in size 35. I spare you the pictures for now but still wanna give you guys me input on them.
Fit
I also own the standard S710XX in size 35. And while both pairs look nearly identic when laid on top of each other, the DMO still feels tighter. The back rise of the DMO feels shorter and the whole top block but especially the hips and where the legs are attached feel tighter. I attribute this to the denim being still crunchy and stiff as hell.
My old 710XX are unhemmed but these DMO are hemmed and measure 34” after a strong agitated soak. Still, because of the stiff denim it feels shorter than 34” but is long enough for me.Denim
I handled the 16oz Geisha denim several years ago when I saw Ika’s worn in pair but this didn’t prepare me when I handled my DMO.
The Geisha denim is one of the darkest Samurai denims. With lots of Samurai denims you have very slubby and bumpy denims where a lot of weft shows through. Because of this the standard Samurai denims look lighter.
The Geisha denim is more uniform compared to the 15oz Texas Cotton, the Zero denim or the 19oz Denim. But when you touch the denim you feel lots of little bumps and itchy spots. You also have some little neps here and there. Furthermore, the denim is incredible stiff and coarse. There seem to be still a lot of starch and sizing agents in this denim.
The denim has a distinct redcast resulting in a purple cast. Something I haven’t seen in Samurai denim yet (as far as I remember).
All in all, the denim is more uncomfortable than I expected for a “Women’s Denim”
Details + Hardware
Now to the part where Samurai is one of the leading Japanese raw denim brands we discuss here: the details!
This pair is crowded with details!Hidden rivets? Check! Selvedge coin pocket? Check! Lined back pockets? Check! Unique leather patch? Check! Unusual buttons? Check! Etc….
There are surely more things I could enumerate.
The pocket bag material with the Wabash-like look are great so are the lined back pockets. The selvedge on the back pockets is also a nice detail but I think the fold is too big and will create an uncommon horizontal fade. The fading of the back pockets itself could be a whole story. 90 ° rotated, lined and with the selvedge detail: you will hardly create your “own” fades on this back pockets and the path they will evolve is already laid out for them. That’s a little minus in my book.
I like how they used a different denim (Herringbone) for the coin pocket. This is a very small detail and probably only hardly noticeable for outsiders. The arcs are very subtle as of yet but somehow back pockets with arcs but no tab look strange to me
I could use the tab from the coin pocket to sew it on the back pocket but I have an aversion to fuck with the integrity of a brand new and intact pair of jeans.
The leather of the patch is very nice and I prefer it over the patch of the 710OG because it isn’t as thick. Thick fat leather patches are fancied by some brands but to me it can look odd and uncomfortable. The motive is rather regular and not as wild as other collabs.
What I like probably most are the Lee-style rivets. As I never owned a pair of Samurai Jins, I never experienced these rivets. Now, if they would also have added a crotch rivet…
I don’t have such a big gripe with the gold button like others have. It’s covered by my belt anyways and it’s also just plated with gold. I expect it to rub off eventually over the course of the wear time. The black donut buttons are nice. I’d also like a set of the “Rising Sun” buttons (like the top button) to be painted black but maybe this is something for the future
Samurai could have used some more colors for the threads. The arcs are blue and green (and I really wanna know why because this would have fitted better with Blue in Green Soho) but the rest of the stitching I mostly orange/brown. Something like a lemon colored thread for the inseam would have been nice.
Conclusion
I think this is a very well done collab. Denimio wasn’t shy to put as much details into their first collab. But for me the most important thing: they used Samurai’s denim which isn’t known to many people, yet it is already several years old. But since it was kinda exclusive to the Geisha line (with exception of some collabs) you still get the feeling to discover the wilderness and experience something new.
-
@beautiful_FrEaK always love your write ups.
thank you for taking the time
-
Thanks @madmonday !
Always a pleasure -
Awesome review. Much appreciated.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
-
Samurai 710 DMO size 36
-
Samurai 510 21oz. 8 months, 2 hand washes.
-
Some 710 BKB shots. Effective wear 2 months. These fade fast.
-
I was also hoping for slow faders but they are the fastest I've ever owned. And I also went up one size - should be perfect in the long run.
-
Heres my pair. Worn 15 months on and off for weekends only. 3 washes.
-
any of you folks own or have fondled a Samurai oxford/button down office shirt? if so, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. i'm specifically concerned with quality (fabric feel, buttons, how its stitched up) & sizing (easy enough if I can find a size chart I trust :'() .
thanks in advance for any help.
the mad one
