Autumn Style II: The Return Of The Jeans
The second edition of an unserious guide to seriously great pieces.
After getting a taste of comfortable Autumn weather in the Northeast back in early September, daily highs that allow for some layering have finally arrived in Nashville. My linen and light cotton items have been rotated out, denim, wool and canvas have been rotated in. If you’ve been a reader of this newsletter for a while you may recall I did a series of posts last year about “Autumn Style”. I really enjoyed putting each of them together, so I figured why not do it again?
The catch is that I still stand by all the items I recommended(especially after another year of wear) so of course it’s only right that I should come with a whole crop of new items. Fortunately, the return of DENIM was not overblown and one could say it is in full force. This means more choice for consumers, which is generally a good thing, but attention to detail is of course paramount if you don’t want to end up overpaying for a name. That happens way too often in the world of denim, especially when it comes to “designer jeans”.
Jeans should never cost more than $500. Never. $500 is absurd as it is. Even if you’re a “cost-per-wear” math-wiz or card carrying member of the 1%, that’s just stupid money for an item of clothing that offers excellent quality at half that price or much less. With that in mind, I’ve decided to add a new category this year, Secondhand Jeans. I’ve been much more into eBay and other secondhand retailers this year. I’m no expert, but I’m learning and really enjoying the value there is to be had, especially when it comes to lightly used footwear. I’ll save that discussion for another day, one that’ll be here soon enough. For now, I’m glad to share with you “Autumn Style II: The Return Of The Jeans”.
Enjoy,
-AM
The A.D.E.D(All-Day, Every-Day) Pair: Buck Mason Ford Standard Japanese Denim
Buck Mason has been on a tear the past couple of years, improving not only their quality, but the much needed consistency of that quality. I’ve been much happier with the pieces I’ve bought from them recently, t-shirts, knitwear and outerwear. However I've always shied away from buying one item from them in particular, jeans. Many times I went into a Buck Mason store and tried on jeans, but never bought a pair. The fits weren’t quite right, the denim never felt quite right, they were a miss across the board. I’d venture a guess that I wasn’t the only one who felt this way and top brass must have gotten word, because the Ford Standard Jean is now legit. The 14oz Japanese denim from Kaihara Mills has been lightly rinsed to give it a feel that’s pretty damn close to the iconic A.D.E.D. jeans, vintage MUSA Levi’s 501s. The fit is spot on too with a mid-rise, that’s straight through the thigh and tapers below the knee. As far as color I can only speak for the “M037” style that is now in my rotation, but what qualifies as an “all-day, every-day” pair of jeans is up to the buyer.
The Versatile Mid-weight Indigo Pair: 3sixteen CS-101x Relaxed Straight Indigo Selvedge
3sixteen has grown from an upstart maker of denim goods to a fully fledged label with a line that excels in attention to details. Visit their website and I’d be willing to bet you’ll find something appealing in every category. Of course they still do jeans really, really, well and the CS-101x is a great place to start with their offerings. 3sixteen describes the fit as “high rise, straight back yoke, and a roomy top block with full thighs and a very slight taper from the knee down.” To me, that sounds exactly how pair of dark indigo jeans should fit if they’re intended to be versatile all-year-round. These are cut and sewn in San Francisco from custom raw 12oz selvedge that’s sourced from Kuroki Mills in Okayama. Increasing the approachability factor, they’re sanforized to remove future shrinkage and make them supremely comfortable from the first wear. If you’re in the market for dark indigo jeans that don’t require an extended period of break-in, but will still age beautifully and get you “the nod” from denim heads, look no further.
The Heavyweight Indigo Pair: Flat Head 18oz Indigo Denim Jeans
Look, there’s no getting around the fact that 18oz denim is outside the typical range of jeans most people wear. Most people don’t know what they’re missing. Besides, you’re not most people, are you? Of course not. After-all, you’re here reading this and most people don’t.
So, Flat Head’s “Pioneer Denim” is the stuff of legend in the denim community and now they’re back with “New Pioneer Denim”. 100% American Cotton is woven into a right hand twill denim on vintage Toyoda shuttle looms, before being chain-stitched into the unsanforized indigo selvedge denim jeans you see above. This particular fit is Flat Head’s new “Wide Tapered” and it looks very well suited to a heavier pair of jeans. Mid-high rise, straight leg, slight taper…can’t lose. If you’re just not ready to drop into the heavyweight world, they also offer the “New Pioneer Denim” in a 14.5oz weight and “Straight Tapered” fit.
The Vintage Pair: Levi’s “MUSA” 501xx
The obvious choice? Probably, but when it comes to pre-owned jeans, pretty much impossible to beat the value of the Made In The USA Levi’s 501xx. You can go for a light wash or pre-distressed pair from the ‘90s and be stylin right from the get-go. Personally, I’ve opted for a good ‘ol fashioned medium blue pair like the ones you see above so I can enjoy the fade process. There’s an abundance of these out there and many under $100 too. Happy hunting ya’ll!
The Black Pair: orSlow Ivy Fit Denim 107
I circled the brand orSlow for many years before eventually pulling the trigger on a pair of their jeans. Years of comfort that I can’t get back. Don’t make the same mistake I did, the hype is real. Their “Ivy Fit” is reminiscent of vintage Levi’s 505’s and is well suited to an inky black 12oz Japanese denim. If you’ve been apprehensive about adding a pair of black jeans to your rotation, these are a great place to start from both a fit and finish standpoint. You will likely surprise yourself with how often you reach for them. The more the better because as they fade their place in the wardrobe changes and new styling opportunities arise.
The (Off)White Pair: Sugar Cane 1947 Jean White/Natural
The Extra Unique Pair: Strike Gold 5103 Weft Slub Jean
At first glance these will appear to simply be just another pair of raw denim. I can assure you that is hardly the case. Last year while in Kyoto I picked up a very similar pair from Japan Blue Jeans that utilize the same super short slub cotton for the weft threads. The weft threads of my pair of JBJ were dyed brown, whereas these Strike Gold’s were dyed grey, further increasing the “snowy slub” look. Of course it’s not just about how they look(or even the potential for how they can look) that makes them so unique. The feel of this denim and the process that allows a pair of 15oz jeans to be so wildly comfortable while retaining durability is fascinating. The denim experts at Self Edge describe it thusly, “The denim is very interesting because they used a super short slub cotton for the weft threads. This is a cotton staple so short we believe it’s shorter than the sugar cane fibers used in Sugar Cane’s famed Okinawa and Hawaii jeans, except those use a slub fiber (sugar cane) in the warp and weft of the denim. Using a cotton staple this short is tricky when producing a fabric that should be rugged and somewhat heavy in weight because the yarns need to be spun at a far slower pace and therefore increasing the risk of the shuttle yarn (aka, the weft thread) snapping far more often than it already does. The slow spinning of the thread should not be confused with the tension or speed of a loom, spinning of yarns is a process which happens far before any loom is involved in making a fabric. All this work results in a denim that looks like no denim we’ve seen before. The process used gives the denim an extremely uneven texture, but not necessarily slubby looking. Our best description is that at a 45 degree angle it can be compared closely to a vintage hand-woven Persian rug, but not so much that most people wouldn’t be able to tell much of a difference outside of the deeper color.” Tell me your curiosity isn’t piqued after reading that?! I’m going to be in LA in a few weeks and you can bet I’ll be going by Self Edge to check these out in person. I’ll be doing a shop visit report(back to my Wordpress roots!), but ahead of that, photos and such will go to IG. If you’re not following me @thisnicelife already, no time like the present.
That’s All Ya’ll!
