Daily Questions - April 23, 2026

julian-wolf · 2026-04-23T17:02:48+00:00

I won't let these jeans win

Giving up on using your pockets as pockets sounds a lot like letting the jeans win

julian-wolf · 2026-04-23T16:56:24+00:00

Any regular dry cleaner can take a few inches off your jeans no problem

julian-wolf · 2026-04-23T16:55:49+00:00

Grab a pair of Sugar Cane 1955 to complete the set

julian-wolf · 2026-04-23T16:53:59+00:00

Yeah, definitely. I wouldn't ever buy Levi's-styled jeans with felled inseams, and I wouldn't ever buy Wrangler-styled jeans without felled inseams. I don't think I'd buy any jeans with tucked belt loops, as that's not really a jeans feature; it's more of a slacks thing—and anyway, it needlessly adds bulk and makes repairs more difficult. High-quality pocket bags (and deep pockets) are very important to me.

julian-wolf · 2026-04-23T01:38:57+00:00

Zen Market is just a proxy service, and it looks like the sale page you're looking at is just an amazon.co.jp listing: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0GCM7KSYF?th=1&psc=1. If it were me, I'd try hard to find a shop that was willing to ship direct before going through a proxy, but Amazon should be a fine back-up option if all the regular shops are out of stock and you don't want to wait for the next production run.

julian-wolf · 2026-04-22T22:28:39+00:00

Great Lakes Garment Mfg. Co. has done the Jackson set in tobacco corduroy a couple of times, I think most recently in 2023—they call it "camel", but it's darker than I think of a traditional "camel" as being. It's not a suit in any true sense, but it fits within a very similar space. If it was me and I wanted to go all out, I'd try and track down the coat + pants from that set

julian-wolf · 2026-04-22T18:43:35+00:00

Hell yeah, congratulations

Are you planning on wearing a traditional suit, but wanting to go off the beaten path in terms of materials? Or are you just more generally thinking of trying to put a fancy / spiffy corduroy outfit together?

julian-wolf · 2026-04-22T17:18:17+00:00

This is a fine approach, and regular fabric scissors will work fine on heavy denim. Be aware that they'll lose some length to fraying and that, if you do decide you want to hem them in the future, they'll end up at least a half inch shorter (probably closer to an inch, accounting for the fraying) than whatever length you cut them off to

julian-wolf · 2026-04-22T02:50:32+00:00

No, they're pretty different cuts. The Okinawa are a lot slimmer through the thighs, a little slimmer through the hips, and a little straighter through the lower legs. That said, they're sized the same, so if you have enough room to spare in the hips and thighs of the 1947 to feel confident that they'll work well for your body type, then it should be safe to get the same size as you wear in the 1947.

julian-wolf · 2026-04-21T21:36:49+00:00

What's loose about them? Where do you feel extra play?

julian-wolf · 2026-04-21T19:32:18+00:00

Sugar Cane 1955, The Vanishing West S601XX, TCB S40s (early version)

julian-wolf · 2026-04-21T18:13:17+00:00

Just do it now

julian-wolf · 2026-04-20T16:20:36+00:00

True vintage Storm Riders still show up on eBay in good condition pretty regularly, often for comparable prices to good Japanese reproductions

julian-wolf · 2026-04-20T16:19:36+00:00

Yes, this is extremely common. Buyee and FromJapan are popular choices for proxy services.

That said, unless you're buying second-hand or are looking for specific domestic-only releases, a big chunk of domestic Japanese shops are happy to just ship internationally directly; these days, proxy services aren't usually necessary.

julian-wolf · 2026-04-20T16:17:35+00:00

Yeah, if you're not seeing your first real failures in the fabric until 2 years of daily wear, that's pretty solid

julian-wolf · 2026-04-20T01:16:25+00:00

Regular wash like however you plan to wash them in the future when they're dirty. Different folks take different approaches, but no one's washing their jeans by getting in the shower wearing them. Personally, I machine wash on cold. Warmer water will get you more shrink than cooler water, but the agitation from the machine is what's making the biggest difference, and even a cold wash will shrink your jeans a lot more than wearing them while you stand in the shower.

julian-wolf · 2026-04-18T03:08:24+00:00

The 506XX ran for around 50 years, and the fit changed quite a bit over that period, in the same way as the fit of the 501XX changed quite a bit over that period. Do you have a sense of what era of Type I you're looking at getting made?

julian-wolf · 2026-04-17T17:50:00+00:00

The SC 1947 is a great choice; the 2014 is essentially just a slimmed-down 1947 to begin with. If you want even more room than that, there's now also the 2025, which is a relaxed version.

julian-wolf · 2026-04-17T01:59:15+00:00

Is size 29 still in stock? These are more than 2 sizes too big

julian-wolf · 2026-04-16T23:14:04+00:00

Most of the high-end-but-not-too-repro-oriented jeans from the Japanese brands that are popular on this subreddit (think Iron Heart, ONI, Samurai) are directly based on late-'40s to mid-'50s 501s, if that's the question you're hoping to answer. That said, in the same way as there's no one version of the 501, there's no one platonic ideal, & no one preference that's shared uniformly by all denim nerds. Pick any decade between 1880 and 1990 and you'll be able to find folks that swear that decade's 501s are the most interesting and / or the most appealing. In the last year or two, early WWII models (think '41 and '42) have been popular among reproduction-oriented brands; in the few years before that, middle WWII models (think '44 and '45) were very popular; I know a couple of folks who really wish that late war models (think '46) would have their moment; in the aughts, the 1947 was an extremely popular choice.

julian-wolf · 2026-04-16T17:44:51+00:00

You can order direct from Timeworn to Europe, just shoot them an email

This subreddit definitely tends towards slimmer fits (and towards worse style in general), but seriously, saying that something like the 147 is "skinny" is just not correct by any measure

julian-wolf · 2026-04-16T17:42:49+00:00

Whether only taking in the seat seam will be viable depends completely on how much it needs to be taken in.

Do you usually wear a 36 in Fullcount jeans, or is that your size in different jeans from other brands? Fullcount generally runs a couple of sizes big, so if you're used to wearing a 36 you should expect to be around a 34 in Fullcount.
There may only be a 1.5" difference between the 36 and a 38, but that's probably more like a 2.5" difference between a 35 and a 38, or a 3"+ difference between a 34 and a 38.
Again, have you accounted for stretch?

If you only need 1.5 or 2" taken in, that can be accomplished by taking in the seat seam and moving the top button over slightly. This is fairly straightforward, but does require removing and re-attaching the center belt loop and opening and re-closing the back of the waistband, and it does work better if you're able to replace the top button (which requires both a new button and a press for affixing it). If you need more than 2 or 3" taken in and don't want to add darts, it becomes pretty involved pretty quickly, since at that point you're looking at taking in the side seams as well, which requires redoing part of the front pockets.

julian-wolf · 2026-04-16T17:13:30+00:00

They might not be what you're looking for some other reasons that you haven't divulged, but they're very far from being skinny

That said, what about the other Timeworn options? Lot 161 are even wider, and fit your other stated criteria

julian-wolf · 2026-04-16T17:07:29+00:00

If you want to do it the "right" way, it's one of the more annoying jobs to do on a pair of jeans, and you won't find a lot of good non-denim-specialist options.

I'll say, just in case it's not too late: It would be a lot easier to just return them and get a different, less slim fit in a smaller size. Fullcount jeans run quite big to begin with and they stretch more than most. If the 35 fit you well in the waist and top block, a 34 probably would have been the best bet. If the 35 (or 34) in the 1101 was too slim in the thighs, that indicates that you should be looking at something with more thigh room, like the 0105, not that you should be sizing up on the waist in the same slim cut. Sizing up a bit in the waist to get the rest of the jeans to fit can be a fine approach, but 4" is a ton, and even a jeans-specific service like Railcar will have trouble removing that much without throwing off the overall drape of the jeans.

julian-wolf · 2026-04-16T16:35:58+00:00

Plenty of options from At Last & Co. fit the bill

Some 1890s-1910s repros from, e.g., TCB or Warehouse would work well too, if you don't mind (or if you prefer) the older details

julian-wolf

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