wash your jeans?

[rocketeer]

Pictured here wearing my trusty 505 Levi's Stretch jeans, a black leather A2 Bomber jacket, and my Resistol Stagecoach conversion on top...

Neat hat Mr Jones, not sure I can carry a high crown off though. I have a 40s 50s Borsalino that is a bit Howard Hughe's ish but not sure about the crown. Neat prop too, though mine would probably contain tea
PS What happens if you wash stretch jeans in too hot water, do they go baggy etc

 

[T Jones]

Neat hat Mr Jones, not sure I can carry a high crown off though. I have a 40s 50s Borsalino that is a bit Howard Hughe's ish but not sure about the crown. Neat prop too, though mine would probably contain tea
PS What happens if you wash stretch jeans in too hot water, do they go baggy etc

Thank you buddy. Yeah, it's true that not everybody can pull off a taller crowned fedora. A person's face and head shape definitely comes into play when trying to find that certain hat with the perfect proportions. Your Borsa hat sounds interesting, though.
Ha! The prop is my trusty Three Stooges Man Cave coffee cup. I drink coffee all through the day so it's never far from my reach.
About the only thing I wash in hot water are bed sheets and towels. Mostly everything else I wash is in warm water / cold rinse, and depending on material and colors, some things I'll wash in cold water. To be honest, I wouldn't know how the stretch Levi's would come out after washing them in hot water. Back in the day I remember washing Levi's in hot water to try and shrink them to fit better. But if I had to guess, I really don't think that washing stretch Levi's in hot water would actually affect the way they fit. I put them in the dryer on a hot cycle and they come out, maybe a tad snug fitting, but after a few minutes of wearing them they're right back to fitting nice and comfortable the way they normally do...and the one thing that I really like about stretch Levi's is that they don't lose their shape very much after you've worn them around for a while. They still have that heavyweight feel, too.

 

[Mich486]

Those fedoras stick out like a sore thumb when worn with such a casual outfit. I think they require more formal clothes “to work”. Still incredibly difficult to pull off in any combination IMO.


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[Edward]

Edward, I and others here have discussed the idea of 'authentic' self-aware styling and merely chasing fashion trends many times before. I don't slam anyone for wearing dad jeans (being a good dad is way more important than having good jeans), not that I'd want to wear dad jeans, but guys who do aren't generally pretentious followers of teen fashion as a function of midlife crisis denial types.

True. I love the American 'mom jeans' / 'dad jeans' terms. Took me a long time to get a sense of what they mean. 'Dad jeans' now makes me think of uncuffed jeans, but that's very specific to my own father who will eegularly look at me, on occasions tey see me in a pair of jeans, and say "Can't you get jeans the right length?" I always reply "Yes, Dad. I buy them overlong because I want to wear them cuffed. I like it." To which he replies "Oh." In that tone. You know, the "oh" that says "I wouldn't do that and I'm not tellnig you I don't approve, but I don't approve"? Same man who doesn't like me having my Rocky Horror autographed 8x10s on display in the hall becamse "What are you going to do when you have to have the boss round for dinner some night to discuss promotion?" Means well, but lives in a totally different time and place sometimes.

Anyway, walked into Raffles Hotel Long Bar in a natural linen suit and pale blue cotton shirt today. It was 32C outside but felt like it was 42C due to the humidity. The place was packed with white anglophone tourists in shorts and t-shirts who were melting, and Japanese tourists who presumably know that the hotel was Kempeitai HQ during the occupation (although I'm guessing they are oblivious to the fact that it was also a rape center, ooops, 'comfort' station also). Needless to say Mrs. J and myself were the center of attention and the staff pampered us stupid. Why do tourists walk around Singapore when air conditioned taxis are so cheap?

I did like Raffles when I was there (though I declined extending my mortgage to buy a second Spring Sling in exchange for a cheap novelty plastic cup!). You're certainly not wrong about how dressing the part gets you much better treatment; I've found that to be fairly universal. As to taxis, possibly most tourists don't realise just how cheap they are out there (I almost never take cabs here in London, though the public transport here makes them mostly irrelevant for me anyhow, not least because of the expense). It's certainly unlikely to be a traffic thing (the reason I avoid the really cheap cabs most of thed time in Beijing - it's just faster to walk / take the subway). Course, a lot of those tourists will be sun-worshippers, so they probably love being out in the heat. Loonies.

If you're looking at me, shaking your head (visibly or not), remember that I'm probably doing the same thing to you. But honestly, if you're happy, do you really care what I think about your fashion sense?

One of thed greatest gifts bestowed upon me by Rocky Horror is the ability not only to think that, but to be open with it where needsbe. It's amazing how effective a well placed "Darlin,g you look equally ridiculous to me." can be.

I had a thing for cord/tweed blazers/trousers. Still do. Strange thing is now I am in my fifties people expect a blazer and cords. When I was 20 people often thought it was odd. A good example of the same clothing sending different (and unintended) messages.

A girl I used to kno in my early thirties once told me I 'dressed old', in explanation as to why people would often assume me to be ten years or so older than my actual age. I tink there is someting to that. I guess that (except when I'm in denim and rockabilly mode) if I dress in a manner people associate with their grandparents, they will quickly assume I am that age without looking closely - being prematurely bald probably helps that. People used to find it especially odd when I originally smoked a pipe in my early twenties (long before I discovered the Chap scene), and also when I cam back to it in my mid thirties. Now I'm in my mid forties it's seen as unusual and a bit eccentric, but certainly none of the previous "But why are you doing An Old Man Thing when you are not An Old Man?"

At present I am on the lookout for an unconstructed linen suit in the UK. Is unconstructed the correct description for a minimal lined suit? I like my own term for it, I describe the slightly off white jacket as a "Man From Del-Monte suit" all topped off with a nice, really nice that is, Panama though I prefer the fedora style over the traditional rollable.

If you ant something with relatively little structure and cheap, I've been buying the same cheap Marksies suit for the last few years, decent enough. 'Linen rich', I think is the brand. Navy or light tan colours. Try SJC, though, if you want something really nice with a 20s or early 30s feel.

Those fedoras stick out like a sore thumb when worn with such a casual outfit. I think they require more formal clothes “to work”. Still incredibly difficult to pull off in any combination IMO.

I think a lot depends on what you're used to seeing. If you look at photos from Back In The Day, people wore fedoras with all kinds of stuff, uber casual to as formal as they got. Looking back at this distance I think we're morel ikely to think of them as "wrong" with denim because of Hollywood imagery rather than how they were actually worn (c/f, in a sense, Sherock Holmes' deerstalker and Inverness Cape). MYslef I do tend to gravitate more towards a cap when I'm in jeans and a bike jacket, but when fedoras were commonly worn as a standard male hat, they were worn with all levels of dress (short of the really formal stuff that only the wealthy tended to bother with anyhow).

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I think the hat looks good with the casual outfit T J ones. Takes away from a costume look and comes across as icing on the cake from my perspective.

 

[T Jones]

Those fedoras stick out like a sore thumb when worn with such a casual outfit. I think they require more formal clothes “to work”. Still incredibly difficult to pull off in any combination IMO.


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It all depends on your preference. If fedoras aren't your thing, then they're not going to look right to you no matter what you wear. Since there's no actual rules on how to wear a fedora and with what attire a fedora is to be worn, I choose to wear mine any way I please. Casual or dressy, it doesn't matter to me.

Fedoras and casual wear:

Robert Ryan wearing a thin ribbon fedora with casual attire, "Bad Day At Black Rock". I like that belt, too.

Jimmy Stewart also wearing a thin ribbon fedora with casual attire, "FBI Story".

Charlton Heston wearing a wide ribbon fedora with casual attire, "Greatest Show On Earth".

Humphrey Bogart, wide ribbon fedora with casual wear

Alan Ladd...

Harrison Ford...

 

[T Jones]

I think the hat looks good with the casual outfit T J ones. Takes away from a costume look and comes across as icing on the cake from my perspective.

Thank you, buddy. I see it the same way you do. Fedoras were part of just about any kind of attire back in the day.

 

[Mich486]

Nice pictures! Like the first one especially and I too think the belt it’s pretty cool.

Must be that I’ve got this in my mind when I think of fedoras:

Plenty of fedora styles out there of course some more casual looking than others. The one Indiana Jones is wearing is beaten up and that helps to make it look more casual. The one you are wearing in that picture looks pristine and very formal to me and I think it’s very hard to dress it down.




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[T Jones]

Nice pictures! Like the first one especially and I too think the belt it’s pretty cool.

Must be that I’ve got this in my mind when I think of fedoras:

Plenty of fedora styles out there of course some more casual looking than others. The one Indiana Jones is wearing is beaten up and that helps to make it look more casual. The one you are wearing in that picture looks pristine and very formal to me and I think it’s very hard to dress it down.




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I think the first pic is my favorite too. When it comes to fedoras I gravitate more to the thin ribbons like the one that Robert Ryan and Jimmy Stewart are wearing in those pics. I have a few of them and those are probably the ones I wear most.

I'll definitely take pristine and consider that a compliment. The hat I'm wearing in that picture is one that I converted from a size 6 3/4 Resistol Stagecoach Western to a fedora. I took that one apart and blocked it up three sizes to a 7 1/4 to fit me. A few pics of the conversion process beginning with how the hat originally looked...

And a thin ribbon fedora that I converted from a Bradford Western...
(notice the belt holding up my trusty Stretch Levi's 505s)

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Naw...an Indiana Jones beater or Johnny Depp holier than thou hat would give it the trying too hard costume look. A dressier and neater fedora up top is a fresher more interesting eye catcher. Nice work and transformation on that hat.!!

 

[T Jones]

Naw...an Indiana Jones beater or Johnny Depp holier than thou hat would give it the trying too hard costume look. A dressier and neater fedora up top is a fresher more interesting eye catcher. Nice work and transformation on that hat.!!

Well said, HD.
Thank you buddy!

 

[Seb Lucas]

Nice pictures! Like the first one especially and I too think the belt it’s pretty cool.

Must be that I’ve got this in my mind when I think of fedoras:

Plenty of fedora styles out there of course some more casual looking than others. The one Indiana Jones is wearing is beaten up and that helps to make it look more casual. The one you are wearing in that picture looks pristine and very formal to me and I think it’s very hard to dress it down.

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I think Al looks far less comfortable in a fedora (and his is not a very nice one either) than any of the classic era photos posted by TJ. TJ himself looks fine. There are a lot of strong, subjective reactions to people wearing fedoras in real life and the idea that a fedora is formal in some mysterious way is hard for some people to shake. The fedora is also piece of working class gear that was still widely worn by by old guys in overalls when I was a kid.

 

[navetsea]

True. I love the American 'mom jeans' / 'dad jeans' terms. Took me a long time to get a sense of what they mean. 'Dad jeans' now makes me think of uncuffed jeans, but that's very specific to my own father who will eegularly look at me, on occasions tey see me in a pair of jeans, and say "Can't you get jeans the right length?" I always reply "Yes, Dad.

in my feeling it is about the mid blue wash as starter, high rise or mid high rise, bought slightly too big on the top block to wear comfortably and then worn with belt to cinch to fit, so it looks soft and puffed around the hip, have straight leg or tapered but since it is slightly too big it doesn't hold any creases and fall straight along the leg and then hemmed like dress pants would, and then being washed every other day so it fades uniformly and very soft, also his wife would iron it flat after every wash. bonus point if he wears it with thin dressy smooth leather belt like my father did, basically it makes your lower half look like a loaf of bread thats how I looked all the way to my early 30s since I follow how my dad size his pants, lucky internet shopping came to the rescue.

 

[navetsea]

It all depends on your preference. If fedoras aren't your thing, then they're not going to look right to you no matter what you wear. Since there's no actual rules on how to wear a fedora and with what attire a fedora is to be worn, I choose to wear mine any way I please. Casual or dressy, it doesn't matter to me.

Fedoras and casual wear:

Robert Ryan wearing a thin ribbon fedora with casual attire, "Bad Day At Black Rock". I like that belt, too.

Jimmy Stewart also wearing a thin ribbon fedora with casual attire, "FBI Story".

Charlton Heston wearing a wide ribbon fedora with casual attire, "Greatest Show On Earth".

Humphrey Bogart, wide ribbon fedora with casual wear

Alan Ladd...

Harrison Ford...

those hats are color coordinated with the rest of their outfit, and if you look closely they are not worn with jeans pants, denim jacket maybe but at the most casual they wear khakis for pants, just my take on the pictures, not meant to criticize other people style especially not yours

 

[Sloan1874]

I don't think there's anything wrong with 'uncuffed' jeans. I start of with my jeans cuffed, but after a while they start to fray at the edge at which point I have them hemmed because it's the only the way to extend their life. Also, there is a slight tapering that you get with hemming that I feel detracts from the overall look.
I should add that I wash all my selvedge jeans, usually after a couple of outings. I flip them inside out and put them into a cool wash. They've all developed nice fades, turned a really intense mid-blue and remain eminently wearable. To me, life's too short to be shoving jeans in the freezer etc.
Moreover, selvedge doesn't have to massively expensive. Gustin's an excellent starting point for some risk-free denim, but I would also recommend Freddies of Pinewood too.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Some of us don't care for rolled up cuffed jeans. In fact there are those that think it looks hickish and country farmer folkish which for some reason has come into fashion by many of the cone mill spun soak shrink spiderweb whatever crowd. I like a heavier denim sometimes over dyed or maybe slightly faded...however, I like the pants leg to end at slightly below the top of my shoe and shrink very little in the wash. Been wearing them this way since the 1950s, although then you had to buy jeans and dry them in a hot dryer to make them fit. What a PIA. Finally that was corrected were you could buy the right fit and it would stay that way. I don't remember Grandpa or his older friends worrying about nice fades or their jeans developing prominent faded creases from their groin across under the front pocket. Some look almost painted on.

 

[navetsea]

We cant look down on denimheads saying sick fades nice combs etc, while we say nice sleeve crease, nice patina, or making fun of some of them who do weird / insane activities in their jeans while some of us purposefully go out riding in the rain to break in new leather,

it is basically the same thing just different material.

Personally though i like my denim jacket to get some fades on the creases along the sleeve and along the edges and some metal oxidation on the buttons.... but somehow I prefer my jeans pants to stay dark forever or at least very minimal fade, pants look better in dark color imo.

 

[T Jones]

those hats are color coordinated with the rest of their outfit, and if you look closely they are not worn with jeans pants, denim jacket maybe but at the most casual they wear khakis for pants, just my take on the pictures, not meant to criticize other people style especially not yours

Style is a matter of personal preference. It's all subjective.

those hats are color coordinated with the rest of their outfit, and if you look closely they are not worn with jeans pants, denim jacket maybe but at the most casual they wear khakis for pants, just my take on the pictures, not meant to criticize other people style especially not yours

As I alluded to before, style is a matter of personal preference. It's all subjective. Some will argue that fedoras are only suited for more formal attire, many more will argue that fedoras can be worn with both formal and casual attire. Style conscious or not, color coordinated or not, the people in those pictures were still wearing their fedoras with casual attire. Now that Levi's have grown in popularity to become something of a cultural icon since those times, 505s and 501s are all I wear, and I've been wearing them since I was an elementary school and Jr. High School kid through out the early 1960s and also as a teen and now as an adult through out the 1970s until now. My first fedora was a grey and black Stetson Whippet that my Grandfather gave me in the early 1970s when I was in High School. I wore it then with Levi's, and I'll continue to wear a fedora with my 505s and 501s. As I already stated, if fedoras aren't your thing then you're not like one no matter what it's worn with, and that's your personal preference. For my personal style choice, I think a fedora on top is just as equally suited when worn with Levi's as one is worn with more dressier attire.

 

[Captain Sensible]

Wash? Or not yet?

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[zebedee]

Quick blast in the freezer, no?