Erasing denim stains from leather

If you happen to get a new pair of jeans that's bleeding all over your leather shoes, wallet, belt, etc. there's an easy way to get those stains out.

Step 1: brush off any dirt or dust.

Step 2: use a soft white rubber eraser and scrub the stained areas.

Step 3: apply a light coat of mink oil or whatever to protect the newly exposed surface.

That's all there is to it. My wallet was stained by the indigo bleeding from

my jeans. After scrubbing, it looks quite a lot cleaner.

-d

Project Trucker: Levis Type III Jacket

Hit the Levi's store at the Eaton Centre and finally sank the $88 +tx for the 'modern' Type III Trucker Jacket. I hmm'd and haw'd for months about whether to drop the extra $370 for the 21 oz Iron Heart Type III. I just want to mess around, so I finally decided on the cheaper.

The cut is longer than the 'vintage' capital E model. The bottom button is now below the beltline, instead of above. Apparently, this is a 'modern cut.' Stupidly, Levi's has not widened the hem at the bottom, which would have made sense since the closure is hip-height rather than the waist. So now, if you do up the bottom button, the whole thing rides up, and if it doesn't you should consider a gym membership because you are one skinny motherfucker.

The other big change is the addition of two slit pockets to warm your hands in. The pockets are generous and the pocket bags feel pretty tough. I like this addition.

The buttons and rivets are the same shitty tinny looking ones that we come to expect from today's Levi's. I expect the denim to perform same as the other rigids and bleed out until it looks stone-washed. But hey, for less than $100, that's fine. I'll wear the fuck out of it, and then we can compare Big E to Little E.

-d

Garrison Bespoke Part 3

Samurai S5000VX21oz update

So, I took my jeans into Sydney's to get the crotch tears and back pocket holes repaired. They send it out to their tailors who conduct the repairs, and ended up doing an amazing job. The back pocket was an especially good job - the back pocket was unstitched, patched, and sewn back on. The repairs are pretty much invisble from the outside of the jeans. You'd have to look very very close to see the stitching.

Update: I played around with the white-balance and the photos below are the best approximation of the true colour.
I also picked up a pair of sweatpants from Roots. Finally found a pair made of 100% cotton. I've been looking for so long, and I was resigned to the fact that they would never make anything other than cotton-poly blends because people like how 'soft' the blend feels. I picked up a terry cotton sweatshirt last year at the GAP. Well, that's another check in the box - 100% cotton sweats.

Garrison Bespoke Part 2

Garrison Bespoke Part 1

Samurai S5000VX21oz

If you aren't aware, I've been wearing the same pair of jeans almost every day for the last year. I dont' wear them every day - more like every other day on average. It's been my pet project for the last little while, so I guess it's my sense of dedication and commitment personified.

Samurai is the brand - a relatively small one based in Osaka with a bit of a cult following around the world. The only retail outlet outside of Osaka is in NYC - Blue in Green, which is where I got mine.

Anyway, here they are - or were - last year pictured above at 1 month old, and below how they look today, almost a year later. (click to enlarge)
Most of the fading is from just everyday wear. I don't do anything particularly intense or rough in them, so I guess the fading is modest when compared so some of my other pairs. A lot of the wear is actually from my canvas messenger bag. I do alternate shoulders, not so that the fading on my jeans is even, but moreso because I ended up with a pinched nerve from shoulder muscle imbalances last year. I have some salt splatter from the GD sidewalk slush.

My grossly oversized wallet busted a hole in the back pocket, and since it was fucking freezing cold today, I stayed in and did some hand-sewing. Just patched with a small piece of scrap denim from another pair that got hemmed.

Yeah, the crotch is blowing out. They'll probably be NSFW in a few more months - according to the company's style guide. I guess I'll start working on another pair.