So my 45rpm Jomons finally got here from Japan! Yes, it seems crazy that I picked up yet another pair of denim, but I actually ordered these before the other stuff… I’ve blogged before that I was considering getting the Jomons when I’m done with the Diors 19cm’s. Pretty much I was lusting after a pair of natural indigo jeans, so I narrowed down my choices to the Pure Blue (PBJ) AI-001’s, the Jomons, the Oni purple selvage, and other stuff like the Sugarcane natural indigo stuff… I decided to go with the Jomons mainly because on the fit; they are slimmer than the rest of the stuff, plus I was very curious about the 45rpm brand, I must admit. I asked Sherry to check them out for me at 45rpm store in Taipei, only to find out that they did not carry them at all in Taiwan as they were too “high-end” (yeah man, WTF?!). Also NOBODY, at least none that I know of, around SF got a pair for me to look at either. So I decided to just go ahead and order a pair from 2000dB, a member on SuperFuture who is in Japan now, and he can help us cop shit there and ship them over here for a small fee. These jeans are quite a bit cheaper in Japan than at their NYC stores, I would definitely recommend getting them through 2000dB instead of ordering them from their U.S. website. If you live in NYC then it’s different story, coz you’d be able to try them on and stuff, which is probably worth the extra money. I also heard 45rpm fixes their jeans for you for life, I’m not so sure about that though.

2000dB has been sick so it took a little while to get these, but they came in today. While I was waiting for these the whole Levi’s fiasco happened and I had to cop a few contrabands before they change their designs… So now I went from not owning any true Japanese denim to having 4 pairs in like 2 weeks, not bad at all… 🙂

I got the Jomons in 29, basically sizing down by 1 is the recommendation from the 45rpm thread at superfuture, and they were dead on. At first the top 2 buttons were hard to do and my right thumb hurt from doing them, but now they are fine, still tight and snug at the waist, definitely tighter than the Oni Blues in 29, about the same as the Fullcount 1108’s in 29, and not as tight as my Iron Heart 634S-B in 31. Yeah, Iron Heart’s got Levi’s sizing or something, you should get at least +1 of your true waist for the 634S.

I’ve only had them for a day so I can’t really say much about them, the color is very different than any other jeans I’ve seen before. It’s a super deep blue, these were hand-dyed 24 times so that is expected. Let me just copy-and-paste the description from their U.S. online store:

Jomon refers to the Paleolithic Period in Japanese history, and the denim we feature here is made with the intention of producing fabric with a slubby handmade quality. We use 100% organic, handpicked Zimbabwean cotton. Ring-spun thread, hand-dyed with Ai, Japanese natural plant indigo 24 times, and woven on slowed down vintage shuttle looms producing selvage fabric, all add to the unique characteristics of this denim. This is a unisex button-fly jean, and the fit is very straightforward. One of our straightest and somewhat slim fits.

Oh yeah, one-wash is definitely the way to go over raw. I had to soak 3 pairs of jeans last week and it was a lot of work.

Some quick snapshots of the Jomons… first, shot of the care package from Japan…

tag:

the other side of the tag:

hidden rivet:

technorati tags:45rpm, R by 45rpm, Jomon, Jomons, dry denim, selvage, denim, raw denim, jeans, superfuture

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So those of you on superfuture would notice that I’ve been buying up some contrabands… these jeans are the shit I’ve always liked, but I only like to work on a single pair at a time to get maximum wear in the shortest amount of time, so I had planned to buy them one by one when I’m done with a “project”… But Levi’s is f’king making me buying them all, which is cool too, I’d just store them and look at them. So far I’ve copped, in chronological order, a pair of Oni Blues from Blue In Green, a pair of black overdyed Iron Heart from Self Edge, and a pair of Fullcount 1108 from Earth Market on Rakuten. Earth Market rocks! I placed the order last Saturday evening after I tried on Damon’s worn pair when we all met up at Self Edge that afternoon. The jeans got to my office on Wednesday, it’s at least 2 days earlier than I expected them to show up. I have another pair coming in, and then I think I am pretty much done with buying Japanese denim for now, well, maybe the Samurai S710XX19oz. I tried very hard to buy a pair of Sammies at Self Edge but I really didn’t like the fit. For now I’ll just look at Sherry’s Geisha’s when I need my Samurai fix, oh man they are so nice… 🙂

They are all so different in terms of denim and cuts and fit, I like the Fullcount 1108 the most, they are also single-cropped Zimbabwe cotton, good shit! The Oni is very very slubby, which is cool too, I hope they won’t stretch out too much, after 2 hot soak and drying in the dryer on high heat, they fit snug, not tight like how my APC and 19cm were. If they stretch out by an inch I will be okay, any more, I will have to put them up on supermarket.

Pics are posted at my Flickr, here are some randomly selected ones:

technorati tags:contraband, arcuate, arcuates, tab, tabs, denim, selvage denim, Japanese Denim, Japan, Iron Heart, Oni Blue, Fullcount, superfuture, dry denim

Blogged with Flock

So Kiya et al at Self Edge had to cut off all the tabs on their jeans due to the Levi’s lawsuit, I was there last weekend and he loaned me all the tabs so I can photograph them. So here they are… If you have a Flickr account, you should beable toget to the full resolution files by clicking on them… If you don’t have one you can sign up for free… 🙂 Don’t forget to join our Dry Denim group there!

Iron Heart

Flat Head

Sugar Cane

Samurai

Samurai Geisha

Here a photograph of the patch of my new Iron Heart (will probably blog about them soon)…

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Technorati Tags: denim, flathead, geisha, iron heart, Japanese, jeans, lawsuit, levi’s, Levi’s lawsuit, Levi’s, samurai, Self Edge, selvage, Sugarcane, tabs

PSFK: Facehunters 2.0 : Wardrobe Remix:

wardrobe_remix is a DO IT YOURSELF street fashion community. think of street fashion photography. if you are unfarmiliar with street fashion photography and need references, i suggest you check out the very cool street fashion site www.hel-looks.com to get an idea of the type of photos/photography we’re going for here. also try googling the following terms: “street fashion”, “japanese street fashion”, “fruits”.

and just to clarify: this is not a community just about refashioning clothing, or about thrifted or handmade clothing, though some participants do wear clothing that originates from those sources. whatever you wear, wherever it’s source (designer, mass-market/high street, thrift/charity, handmade–it’s ALL good): show us how you CREATIVELY put your everyday duds together.

Go and check out, join and share this neat fashion photo community on flickr.

Wardrobe Remix flickr pool
Bits and Bobbins (the initiators)

N(N) S/S 07 stuff dropping tomorrow? nice!

Kurt Cobain inspires Number (N)ine’s spring/summer collection – Styledash:

In further proof that the ’90s are back in full force, trendy New York designer Takahiro Miyashita has based his Number (N)ine label’s spring/summer collection on that decade’s most famous rocker: Kurt Cobain.

“About a Boy if he was still alive,” is an upscale nod to the grunge rock aesthetic — using the layered, rugged, you’re-either-depressed-or-from-Seattle look as inspiration for a variety of separates that, according to Refinery 29’s Loryn Hatch, can be “toned down, or decked out.”

The raincoat pictured at right is Hatch’s favorite piece, and I can see why. Especially for guys who aren’t going to buy a new wardrobe every season, a kick ass coat is a quick-fix way to overhaul your look without hours of shopping.

The entire spring collection is available January 20th.

Self Edge just launched their online store, they are offering free shipping world wide! badass! They have Imperials and Sugarcane Okinawas and Union Stars right now, more jeans will show up every other week or so.

Check it out at http://www.selfedge.com/shop/

Photography by yours truly! 😉

Technorati Tags: denim, jeans, Self Edge

It has been a crazy morning, and a crazy week for a lot of people in the denim industry. This is what Kiya posted to Superfuture, I have a feeling that the site is gonna crash soon, so I am posting it here:

Levi’s takes on Japanese Denim Resellers and Manufacturers (by Kiya of Self Edge)

here goes..
it’s been a long few days, so i’m basically going to spit out the facts:

-Levi’s is suing your two favorite denim stores in America, along with Studio D’Artisan, Iron Heart, Toyo/Sugarcane, Oni (BS United), and Samurai.

-Everybody is being sued for trademark infringment

-All sales of the above mentioned brands are to be stopped by Friday, January 19, 2007 WORLDWIDE

-US and Japanese Customs are in on this, no jeans made by the above brands are to be sent out of Japan starting two days ago (January 15) to stores OR consumers. you’ve been warned, don’t attempt to order your jeans via a bidding service or have a friend send them to you

-The offending points are as follows: 1. There are to be NO tabs attatched between to pieces of fabric on the rear pockets, 2. The cards hanging out of the back pocket, stapled to the pocket, must not look anything like vintage/modern Levi’s Info Cards, 3. Arcuates on the rear pockets must not resemble the Levi’s arcuate in ANY way shape or form, 4. Rear leather patch cannot contain an image of two moving objects (horses, motorcylcles, pigs, etc..) pulling apart a pair of jeans

-All product with any of the above mentioned accents must be pulled from the shelves of every store in the world by Friday, January 19

-I’ve spoken to most of the manufacturers named in the lawsuit in Japan already and they are quickly working on producing jeans with either NO back pocket stitching or stitching that is greatly different than the Levi’s Arcuate. We are looking at a four week period where there will be very low stock of denim from these companies

-There are four more companies they’re going after, i cannot name those at this time.

-This is one of the most comprehensive and largest lawsuits Levi’s has filed against Japanese denim manufacturers

-I have two words for everybody “Denim Speakeasy”

a few quick updates:
-this was a court order, NOT ceast and desist.
-Levi’s is winning this, there’s no doubt about it
-This lawsuit has been many months in the works, maybe even before any of the aformentioned stores opened

Technorati Tags: “levi’s”, denim, arcuate, arcuates, “red tabs”, “red tab”, “japanese denim”

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