Random Fashion Thoughts (Part 3: Style farmer strikes back) - our general discussion thread

[badeggcat]

Unrelated to the conversation at hand but the London Levi’s Lot No1 program is bumping their prices up a fair clip on March 1. I have been wearing my pair of Cone mid rise selvedge denim since 2017 pretty religiously so put in an order for the same cut and styling in their 14.5 oz. Japanese selvedge denim. Ended up at £550 plus I can go through Global Blue for a VAT deduction (since Levi’s UK does not have a mechanism to do so themselves). Will go up to £750 for the same pair on March 1.

UK no longer do tax free after Brexit? I remember there was news about implementing it again but that went nowhere.

 

[SimonC]

Unrelated to the conversation at hand but the London Levi’s Lot No1 program is bumping their prices up a fair clip on March 1. I have been wearing my pair of Cone mid rise selvedge denim since 2017 pretty religiously so put in an order for the same cut and styling in their 14.5 oz. Japanese selvedge denim. Ended up at £550 plus I can go through Global Blue for a VAT deduction (since Levi’s UK does not have a mechanism to do so themselves). Will go up to £750 for the same pair on March 1.

Website already says ‘starting from £750’ so perhaps they made the jump early. Blackhorse Lane is still £475 - that’s where my money would go.

 

[hendrix]

RFT: Bode really should not exist as a brand.

I like the clothes. They look really nice, and I would probably wear a bunch of it. But isn't the whole point to tell you that you need to go find your local seamstress/grandmother/father and get them to make cool **** for you or to make it yourself?

Which is a great point to make and I'm on board. It just seems weird to make that point by selling it on SSense to the other side of the world.

Like it's not design so to speak.

I guess you could make the same point about reworked clothes and repro etc but I don't think that occupies the same space that Bode has managed to fill.

 

[cb200]

In what way(s) do you think Bode is not design? I can get the repro world lacking in large aspects of what we see as design with the ideation and iteration aspects already done or baked into the original piece.

 

[Krish the Fish]

UK no longer do tax free after Brexit? I remember there was news about implementing it again but that went nowhere.

No idea to be honest. I live in the states so I asked about if the price was VAT inclusive or not and got an answer about them not deducting it.

Website already says ‘starting from £750’ so perhaps they made the jump early. Blackhorse Lane is still £475 - that’s where my money would go.

I haven’t had anything made by Blackhorse Lane. I just figured I enjoyed my experience with Lot No1 and figured if anyone else was on the fence, to let them know. Perhaps the extension was just for previous clients, I imagine that could be possible.

 

[double00]

i once ran into the guy who headed up the levi's tailor shop , super unimpressive . i asked him if he worked for levi's he was noncommittal lol it was sort of pathetic .

i also think custom jeans are somewhat antithetical to the concept of stf which is to self tailor but to each their own

 

[Krish the Fish]

Elizabeth Radcliffe who runs Lot No1 in London is impressive. Was a trouser cutter for Edward Sexton I believe, still does paper patterns for their Levi’s orders. I found the product to be worth the cost for what it’s worth but your mileage may vary

 

[zissou]

A pair of jeans patterned from your measurements should be some of the most comfortable pants ever. There are small makers who likely offer this service at a lower price than Levi’s, but you don’t get the brand recognition. I patterned and made a pair for myself out of premium Japanese selvage jeans for about $80, and I don’t think I’ll ever buy a pair of premade jeans again.

 

[xeoniq]

A pair of jeans patterned from your measurements should be some of the most comfortable pants ever. There are small makers who likely offer this service at a lower price than Levi’s, but you don’t get the brand recognition. I patterned and made a pair for myself out of premium Japanese selvage jeans for about $80, and I don’t think I’ll ever buy a pair of premade jeans again.

Made to order clothes killed my interest in most factory-made off the rack stuff. That's not just for fit either but for the little details that I might not want (or want added) that improves my enjoyment of a garment. Coincidently, MTO and MTO brands are worthless second hand for the most part, and thus have next to no collectability; keeping that hypebeast/grailed "archivist" element out of it, which pleases me.

 

[double00]

sure , but i think what makes jeans such a turn-on to begin with is democracy-of-fit on a single platform , in this case the stf 501 .

so far as secondhand hype i'd watch out for unintended dopeness lol

 

[zissou]

Made to order clothes killed my interest in most factory-made off the rack stuff. That's not just for fit either but for the little details that I might not want (or want added) that improves my enjoyment of a garment. Coincidently, MTO and MTO brands are worthless second hand for the most part, and thus have next to no collectability; keeping that hypebeast/grailed "archivist" element out of it, which pleases me.

Yes, it’s definitely much more pleasurable for me to have an article of clothing that fits well and that I look good wearing than to concern myself with any second-hand value. Sometimes, I feel like possible resale value inhibits my ability to actually enjoy wearing an article of clothing.

At the moment, I’m drafting a shirt pattern for myself that I’ll adapt to a couple of styles. Eventually, I’d be happy to make the bulk of my own day-to-day clothes. Just need to take up knitting now…

 

[Cotillion]

Sorry to necro these posts but I had a random fashion thought and logged in here for the first time in years. Recently, I've been stoked that 90s style has come back into fashion in some way - the baggy pants and oversize fit when appropriate and the colors in some ways. It's not totally new of of course, I remember seeing baggy pants from 30s-40s era GQ that would have looked sick at any 90s rave. In the last year, I found myself bringing out some of my surviving 90s rave pieces these days and I'm almost 50. I always thought the 90s rave silhouette was close to a classic silhouette from the 30s-40s. I know people say fashion cycles in and out but now I'm old enough to actually see it! I saw a few looks in the last 2 months i Aren the WAYWT thread where the silhouette would fit in the 90s or even the 30s. And I see teens now wearing silhouettes similar to the 90s for the first time in 20 years. Also I see a big
Fresh Jive influence in the Takashi Murakami bird flower logo.

I was into raves in the early-mid 90s in Los Angeles and Fresh Jive was really the king of LA rave streetwear. This was always one of my favorite pieces. Fresh Jive c.1992.

I was there in the late 80s / early 90s raves in southern England - the warehouse scene (yes, I am that old). Frankly, what I remeber of the clothes was big T-shirts ib bright colours or just white, striped or plaid shirts again oversized, BIG ******* hoodies - all of which were usually stripped down to bare skin as the temperature rose and the MDMA kicked in (ahem, so I'm told...) - baggy jeans or overalls, kangol hats (worn backwards), and neckaces and pendants and inadvisable piercings - lots of them. Just watch this early Prodigy video, you'll get the picture!

In the early 90s I was all about 70s shirts mostly because Jive and other underground LA brands were doing similar things and I couldn’t afford them, so me and my friends would spend hours after school rummaging through thrift stores every week. We found some real gems that were, unfortunately, mostly polyester, but better than anything that any brand carried because it was unique and original. My wife has since banned anything polyester in my closet (and rightly so) but still got one gem that I’ll forever hold on to: a pink, lavender, and orange plaid western shirt with fire yoke stitching.

 

[peachfuzzmcgee]

RFT: Bode really should not exist as a brand.

I like the clothes. They look really nice, and I would probably wear a bunch of it. But isn't the whole point to tell you that you need to go find your local seamstress/grandmother/father and get them to make cool **** for you or to make it yourself?

Which is a great point to make and I'm on board. It just seems weird to make that point by selling it on SSense to the other side of the world.

Like it's not design so to speak.

I guess you could make the same point about reworked clothes and repro etc but I don't think that occupies the same space that Bode has managed to fill.

I like Bode and their vibe but the brand itself is eh to me. There are plenty of Instagram people making clothing from vintage quilts and remakes that the cost proposition of bode just doesn't sit with me. I went to a store and saw a imported western fringe jacket that looked like almost any vintage one you could fine at vintage stores or thrifts for less than 100-200 dollars for 2.2k. why?

Repro can be like that but at least some of the stuff they repro is unobtainable and can coat even more than the repro. Some things I can't down with either like repros of M65 or something but that's.only my opinion .

 

[LA Guy]

I like Bode and their vibe but the brand itself is eh to me. There are plenty of Instagram people making clothing from vintage quilts and remakes that the cost proposition of bode just doesn't sit with me. I went to a store and saw a imported western fringe jacket that looked like almost any vintage one you could fine at vintage stores or thrifts for less than 100-200 dollars for 2.2k. why?

Repro can be like that but at least some of the stuff they repro is unobtainable and can coat even more than the repro. Some things I can't down with either like repros of M65 or something but that's.only my opinion .

I’ve never like Bode, but it does have a distinctive POV. I mean, by the Etsy argument, just seeing if similar items can be found there, any number of brands would not exist. The body of work has to be taken as a whole.

The prices are a separate discussion.

 

[Fuuma]