The search for old, new classics.
I’m back on the selvedge train. About a year ago I got obsessed with the way selvedge denim looked. I was into this 1920’s industrial era look and I wanted a pair of denim jeans to match the aesthetic. I tracked down a designer in Oakland who was making the jeans from dead stock using the original Levi’s patterns. I wanted a pair and reached out to him on instagram to get in line. He was quick to answer and just needed to know what length I needed and would my cut lean more toward small, medium, or large. The conversation stopped here, but from no one’s fault. I would find selvedge jeans for myself.
Levi’s has selvedge style now and they’re cool, but before taking the plunge I wanted to research more. What I learned is that I’m a selvedge snob and I want it to have a Japanese brand name.
The second thing I learned about myself is that I have to have the perfect white t-shirt.
The t-shirt I had a background in. On a sleepless summer night a few years back, I researched and tracked down the Carmy white tee from The Beef. I knew the entire debate between Schwanen vs. Whitesville. My take is I was open to both brands as long as the thickness wasn’t compromised. I was researching this at the time for one thing that has since morphed into a personal project.
My oversharing usually leads me to put my projects on blast. I’m gate keeping a bit here for a bit. What I will say is anyone that has researched Madewell, Reformation, Everlane, and Uniqlo - why are our tops twice as expensive and still don’t come made at the quality of the shirts they wear casually? There’s a racket somewhere here. These guys can hop onto Redcast Heritage or Buck Mason and buy a superior shirt at half the price of a top we buy as an undershirt to a layered look. We are set up for failure before we hit checkout.
Below is a picture of me at work in a Levi’s white v-neck. Sabrina, you look great in that shirt. Yes, but it wasn’t simple. A millennia of selective choices gave me the height and shoulders to pull it off, but it didn’t stop the red Gatorade from still leaving a stain. It happened to a Levi’s shirt, had it been the Rag & Bone I would have gotten my feelings hurt. I want the ability to wear the best quality white t-shirt without getting my feelings hurt.
There’s a lesson somewhere in all of this, but I haven’t quite reached it. It’s somewhere between getting my hands on the best dead stock of Japanese loophole cotton and creating my masterpiece and learning how to do laundry the proper way. I will either find myself in a small, dark warehouse with a sewing machine and the heavy rain outside as the only music or standing in a Target aisle looking for a stain remover stick. It’s 50/50 right now which way it goes.
The selvedge. I’m looking at Benzak, Naked & Famous, Hiroshi Kato, and Momotaro. If you’re in the know, I gave it all away right there.
