I'm a winner!

Together with every Samurai Limited Edition comes the chance to win one of the three prizes that are special for that edition. I bought the S5000BK's which were made in a limited quantity of 400 pairs and got the to chance to win one of three biker-style wallets with denim inlays.






The winners were presented on Samurai's website a few days ago, and as you've already guessed, I won!

Translated:

"Zero black S5000BK first limitation model special plan! The successful candidate
of [samuraisupeshiyaruuoretsutopurezentokiyanpen] decided.
H like the Hiroshima prefecture residence
K like Hyogo prefecture residence
E like the Swedish residence
they are 3 people above! You question with the [me], it is!!! Future it announces the
details of [uoretsuto]! Please in the pleasure!"

Once I have received the wallet I will be asked to say something about it, and my thoughts
will be posted on samurai-j.com.
I'm really looking forward to receiving the wallet! I'm just afraid it will be so nice that I'll be afraid to use it ;)

S0505XX @ 1 month

I've only worn these for 30 days, so there isn't that much going on, but I like to document the process and I thought I might as well post them here.



My big wallet doing its thing.


It's hard to get an accurate representation of the color this time of year, when there's barely any sunlight.


I always wear a shoulder bag or a tote bag, so the right side of my jeans gets worn quite fast.



Whoa, already?

Caliroots Denim

The Swedish streetwear store Californian Roots released their own pair of jeans this Friday, in a limited quantity of 217 pairs. The jeans are made of 14 oz Japanese denim and the cut is said to be inspired by the Levi's 1947 501 and similar to the Edwin Nashvilles.
I don't agree that they fit like '47s though - the rise is higher, the cut is looser and the legs taper to a smaller leg opening, while the '47s have straight legs.



The denim is nice - not as nice as the "real" Japanese deal from brands like Studio D'Artisan, Samurai, Warehouse etc., but still nice. I like the color and might probably choose this denim over Nudie's and APC's if I were to make my own jeans. The denim is sanforized, singed and not really slubby at all, which is what makes it different from named Japanese brands' denim.
The color is a nice blue when new, and I'd guess that the will fade pretty well, but that is always very hard to know without having seen a worn in pair.

They have quite a few details seen in vintage Levi's; hidden rivets on the backpockets, two-tone stitching, half-lined pockets(like old Lees, not Levi's), donut shaped buttons in the buttonfly, tilted mid-back beltloop and branded rivets.
I don't like the branding on the backpockets, but it's easy to remove and there won't be any marks if you do it when they're new. The backpockets are also, obviously, huge.
They also have "sneaker protectors" which is basically a piece of cloth sewn on the inside of the hems, to keep the hems from getting in contact with your shoes. I don't think it will work very well though, since the cloth is only attached to the upper part of the hems and not the lower part.

All in all they're a nice pair of jeans, and I have to say that at 1100 Swedish kronor they're a bargain. APC, Nudie's, Pace's and Hope's selvedge denim jeans all cost 1300kr and these are just as nice.
If you need a pair of jeans and like the cut, buy them!