Pure Blue Japan

One of my first stops in Harajuku was Pure Blue Japan's store. PBJ is akin to UES, 45rpm, Kato, Kapital etc. in that they use old dyeing, weaving and sewing techniques but then come up with their own patterns and designs, which may or may not be inspired by an original vintage garment.
So, if you really dig retro style but can't go all the way with the high waists and so on, the aformentioned brands are perfect for you!

For example, have a look at the jeans from PBJ.


PBJ has three different cuts, all available in three different denims. From left to right is a denim with an indigo-dyed weft, a vintage-type denim and the slubby denim that sets Pure Blue Japan apart from other brands. All of these denims are equally slubby, and to be honest, it's a bit much for me right now as I've already tasted it in the Samurai S0500 Texas denim, but it's just a preference. If the dark, tight weave is boring to you, go ahead and try PBJ!

The fits are regular straight, slim straight and slim bootcut. I do however feel that the regular cut could pass as slim and the slim as skinny, but it depends on how you size the jeans.
The rise is medium to low, proportionate to how full the cut is.

PBJ keeps a collection of vintage Levi's in their store and it shows how their jeans make you a modern cowboy.



Two of the jeans shown above are actually from Pure Blue Jeans. Can you guess which? And, which ones do you prefer the look of?

Okay, the answer is that the two pair on the top in either picture are PBJ's own. The first pair is the vintage-type denim in the regular cut, please compare it to the vintage 1940's Levi's below them!

The other pair is the regular cut with the standard, slubby denim. I was surprised that it was possible to get such a good vintage-look with it!
In the coming month a new type of denim will be introduced. It has an indigo warp thread but a purple weft. It is quite subtle and not at all in your face. It's practically impossible to decide which is nicer, the indigo or the purple warp, so you'll have no choice but to get both. So shifty..

Pure Blue Japan also makes things other than jeans. Take a second and look around their shop!








Very nice shirts. One of my go-to brands for tops, because of the nice fabrics and fair prices.



I don't believe the price of this pair is fair, though!!

Pure Blue Japan fading samples at J-Fabled

UES

UES is a small, just two shops big, and interesting high-quality Japanese brand. I went to their store in Daikanyama today after looking at their homepage and used gallery many, many times.
I was not disappointed, the store is as cozy as the website and I found the best denim shirt I've seen so far in Tokyo, and I've looked at many, for example Flat Head, Warehouse, Studio D'artisan, Fullcount, Omnigod.

UES makes four models; 400R Regular straight, 400S Slim straight, 400B Bootcut, and A401XX Classic, which resembles a 1937 501 in details, but the cut is regular with a normal rise.
All models are unisex and therefore the rise on all models is medium height.
The denim used is a dark and stiff 14.9oz denim for all models except the A401XX which has a lighter shade but still stiff denim.
UES will repair all UES jeans and in their shop they had jeans hanging, waiting for repair. I looked at them and the one that caught my eye the most was a pair of A401XX.
It had been used for over a year and repaired many times all over, and I could tell that it had never been washed. I could knock on the denim and it would make a sound, like it was made out of wood. It was so incredibly stiff from all the built up dirt and starch!

And contrary to popular belief, cellphones in Japan are huge! They are in fact so huge that you have to buy them their own bib, and so I did at UES.


Tetsu thought my new jeans were too long, so he hemmed them for me.


He hammered the folded hem before he sew it.





UES website
UES FACE of DENIM
UES goodies
UES at J-Fabled
UES fading samples at J-Fabled

Change of scenery

I arrived in Tokyo yesterday, and this is where I'm going to stay for the coming year.
Of course, I managed to check out some stores even on my first day.

I found a pair of Evisu 2001 No.1 Special in a used-clothing store. What's interesting about them is that they had Levi's arcuates stitched on the backpockets, not paint and not the usual kamome gulls you normally see. Only problem was that the inseam was very short.
I'm going to look around if I can find more of these and also hear what they are and when they were made.

I also went to the Ralph Lauren store in Harajuku. It is of course awesome and I think they are the best American brand to do amekaji, american casual style. Better than Engineered Garments in my opinion.
I liked the Polo line, which is a little bit more dressy but still casual, as well as RRL. The prices were a bit ridiculous though, a one-wash pair of RRL jeans were 34,000 yen while Pure Blue Japan and Eternal jeans are 18,900 yen, for the same quality.
RRL also makes a very nice distressed and patched pair, but they cost 72,000 yen. Also worthy of notice is their waist overalls and the books they had in the RRL section, one called Rebel Style, displaying Marlon Brando's, James Dean's, Paul Newman's and Jack Kerouac's style, and a book with images similar to that of Library of Congress.

If you're on a budget, though, you can just go to the store next door, GAP. They're concentrating really hard on amekaji now too, and they have very nice blazers, oxford buttondowns and baseball jackets. The cuts are slightly updated and quite slim, too slim for my taste, but might be great for someone else.
Of course, they're also making jeans. They have one line which is made from Cone Mills denim in the U.S. The one-wash jeans cost 6,000 yen and the nicely washed ones slightly more. The denim is a bit thin, though.
They also have a premium line, also in Cone denim. It's more expensive at 20,000 yen, but uses heavier and slightly nicer denim and it has all the 50's details, but it's still not worth it compared to Japanese brands.

Nearby is a Lee/Wrangler store. I saw some 1964 Wrangler Blue Bells and 1942, 1959, and 1930 Lee Originals. Apparently they shrink more than I thought, because I've tried on several used pairs, which are perfect in 28, but the unwashed jeans are always too big.
One of the staff gave me his umbrella when I was leaving because it was raining. I'm going to return it today.

Almost next door is a Levi's store. The Japanese LVC range is slightly different. The 1933, 1937 and 1944 all look slightly different. The '37 and '44 look better to me, especially the denim.
I was expecting it to be just the same, so I was actually surprised to see this!
They also have a 125 model and a 1922 501 and bunkhouse shirts in other fabrics.

And lastly, I had my first Japanese ramen, it was cheap at 550 yen and very good! Let's get fat!!

The Flat Head 3003XX 3 months

After the Samurai contest I needed a break from jeans and wore a pair of 1940's Blue Bell chinos a lot, and occasionally my LVC 1920 201s. After some months of just wearing what I felt like for the day, I finally got around to wearing my Flat Head jeans and have been doing so for three months.
I had seen pictures of the Flat Head 3000-series denim so I knew that it held its color well through washes. Lucky for me, because it didn't take more than three months before I really needed to wash my jeans.

This is before the first wash.









Compared to the Samurai Texas denim, the Flat Head 3000 denim is darker and less slubby, but it still has very pronounced vertical threads.

I washed the jeans in 40*C with a phosphate-free and of course also bleach-free detergent.





As you can see, the color didn't change much with the wash and that's the mark of great jeans.

At the time of writing this post I've actually wore them one or two more months and am waiting for them to dry after their second wash. They won't be getting much more wear after this though, because I'm getting another pair of contest jeans in just a week or so.

Levi's Vintage Collection A/W 2008

The LVC collection for Autumn & Winter 2008 is bound to confuse anyone looking at it the first time, because it has an 'Oldest Oldest' jean as well as a 'XX First Blue' jean.
Let's have a look at them so we'll be able to tell them apart from now on.

1873 XX First Blue Jean





The 'XX' is a reproduction of the oldest pair of Levi's jeans found. The original is from 1873 and pre-dates the '501' which is the name the XX would later be replaced with.
The reproduction is made in 9 oz natural indigo denim from the Japanese Kurabo mill.
The pair shown above has been washed once to bring forth the different shades in the slightly streaky denim.
This pair will cost about 350-400 Euro.

Here is Nils of Levi's wearing them the Levi's way - using one of the suspender buttons as the top button;



This is the Oldest Oldest. It is based on a pair, dated to 1875, that was recently found in a mining town in Nevada. It is not the famous 'Nevada jeans', though.
It comes in a raw, synthetic indigo, 9oz Kurabo denim(200 Euro) and distressed in a celebration package with a bag and a tee(500-600 Euro).





The raw version.




Levi's is big on packages this season. The 1927, 1966 and 1978(the card says otherwise but that's because it's from the SS08 collection) 501s can be bought together with a white tee of the same era. Just like the jeans, the tees have different cuts, fabrics and details.
Here's the 1933.



The 1927 501 premiers this fall. It's significance in Levi's history is not obvious, but it is a big part of Levi's marketing campaign. 1927 was the year when 'This is a pair of them' on the oil cloth tag was changed to 'This is a pair of LEVI'S'. Levi's pioneered brand building and managed to distinguished themselves from other workwear brands, some of which even had the now trademarked Levi's arcuate on the backpockets!
The 1927 is also the first replica that has belt loops, they were introduced in 1922, and the 501 was produced in 10oz denim instead of 9oz from this year.





1937, or 1936, was the year when the red tab was introduced. Again, it was a part of the marketing strategy.



The redline denim is all from Cone Mills while the plain white selvedge denim is from Kurabo.

Another newcomer is the 1978 501. It has a small 'e' on the red tab but still carries the selvedge on the outseam.
In 1978 the cut of the 501 was changed and made slimmer. The denim is now 14oz but still not sanforized.







The 1950's Shorthorn denim shirt is carried over from last season. Now without the red tab that shouldn't have been there in the first place.
7.5 ounce denim, mother of pearl buttons and a fairly slim fit.




Comes in a Shorthorn box.

More effort than usual is put on the tops for this collection.
Here's the 1910 Sunset wool shirt that was previously made in chambray(the Bunkhouse shirt) and a 1950's check wool shirt.
The collection is inspired by the lumberjack which is why there is a lot of heavy wool used here.
All the wool shirts come in Saddleman box, regardless of which era they're from.








The 1912 Sunset Sweater Coat is another example of the use of wool.


You probably heard of Levi's No.2, as in the 201, but did you know there was also a No.3?
The No.3 was the cheapest type that Levi's offered and it was made from leftovers and lower quality denim.
In order to replicate the denim of the originals, Levi's looked for a suitable loom on all continents and after some years of searching finally found one in Russia.

This is the 1911 340 Open Front Jumper. It was used as a shirt or a jacket when the weather was colder, perhaps with a wool shirt underneath.




Rusted buttons, only one color on the stitching, a very grainy denim and and almost quadratic shape.


This is also the first time there is a real focus on womenswear in LVC. Finally, they have made a 701, the women's version of the 501.

The 701 was considered leisure-wear even from the launch in 1934. Therefore it's made from lighter denim that is quite soft even in its raw state. The real workingwomen would wear the men's 501 instead.

Below is a comparison between the original and the reproduction of the 1950's 701.


Original



Reproduction





Original on the left, reproduction on the right. 10oz pre-shrunk denim is used in the 1950's version.

There's also the 1937 701, in a washed state. The '37 is slightly slimmer than the 50s version.


And last, a few washed men's jeans.

1927, 1937, 1966.











Washed 1967 505s, 'Butterfly Flat' and 'Clay Dipped'.