This is great information, when I had my (low quality Boss) tux altered they actually did not even sew back the fake cuff holes, and I was slightly displeased.

english cut: bespoke savile row tailors: real cuff holes…

This is a little detail that’s grown in importance over the last few years: “Real Cuff Holes”. These are seen today as one of the major hallmarks of a bespoke suit. But surprisingly enough, it wasn’t always this way. Indeed, when I started in the trade twenty-three years ago, a relatively short time span, real button holes on the cuff were very rare.

The reason for this is not what you think, i.e. that real holes are more expensive or harder to do, even though yes, they are.

The real reason is that quite simply, very few people need them, and yes, they can cause problems.

Here’s why. Bespoke clothing is like liquid. It’s always in a slight
state of change until it’s been well worn and allowed to settle down.
When a suit is finished and has gone to the customer, once it’s
“settled” a bit, it might need some minor alterations. This is
perfectly normal. But this is where “real holes” can cause problems.
Because you may need to lengthen or shorten a sleeve, and this is where
real holes cause the most obvious aggravation.

Also, if you alter the shoulders this can also affect sleeve length,
so that too may be slightly compromised. Most tailors, including
myself, put two “real” and two “sham” holes, for precisely this reason.
Four “real” holes allows for virtually no sleeve length alteration,
unless the cloth is plain or striped. If the latter is the case, you
can take out the sleeve from the shoulder and shorten it from the top.

But to lengthen it any more than about three-eighths of an inch at
the bottom is going to start looking awful, with cuff buttons
apparently floating halfway towards the elbow.

If you must lengthen a sleeve with real holes, as I often do, what
you can do is lengthen the sleeve as necessary, then take out the top
hole, and add another at the bottom to keep it balanced. So the
worst-case scenario is that you’ve now got three working “real” holes
instead of two.

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Pics of the evolution of the contest Samurai’s from digital_denim, contestant #2 of the supercontest. (If you are looking at this in an RSS reader, most likely you will have to view this post in a web browser to see this slideshow). Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: denim, denim contest, dope shit, dry denim, samurai, raw denim, samurai, selvage denim, superfuture

So I just got the latest alternative “magalog” in the mail:

I own a ton of basics from alt app, they are great, with my wholesale account they are cheap and last much longer than AA (american apparel)… I have yet to check out the stuff from Base Control, they seem good too, but I don’t wanna have to go through a shopping service just to get basics…

Sherry and I are definitely gonna pick up a ton of alt app stuff for spring, here are a few selected items I really like…

motorcycle tee:

conductor tee:

destroyed tee:

conductor crew:

the babe cap:

houndstooth headband!!

the balboa (but in olive plaid or black houndstooth):

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Technorati Tags: alternative apparel

I just got my A.P.C. summer ’07 catalog in the mail, some good stuff. I need that jacket!
and their female model is really good looking! 🙂

link

technorati tags:apc, a.p.c., summer, fashion

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Technorati Tags: a.p.c., apc, fashion, summer

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

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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