Brown-Duck & Digger - Jeans Just As They Ought To Be

BD&D's line up of jeans at Bread & Butter in Berlin.

Japanese denim brands had a strong presence at Bread & Butter in Berlin in January. The stand out for me was Brown-Duck & Digger (BD&D) - the new sub label by Warehouse & Co specialising in authentic workwear jeans from 1900 to the 1960's.

The jeans lineup consists of four fits, the 12.5 oz Rough Rider Trousers, the 12.5 oz Big Bill, the 14 oz Golden Straight and the 14 oz Ivy, the fits getting gradually more modern (read slimmer and lower) as you go.

The 12.5 oz Rough Riders

Predictably perhaps I immediately got exited over the earliest pair in the range - the Rough Riders. 
Named after President Teddy Roosevelt’s volunteer cavalry unit that fought in the Spanish American War of 1898, in terms of fit they are are entirely accurate for jeans of the period - with an uber high waist, wide leg, brace buttons, cinch and single back pocket.

The back pocket has been placed close to the outer seam - a throwback to a time when workmen needed easy access to the tools they kept there. The yolk is so deep that it goes through the inside top corner of the pocket - giving a very high back rise.

Cinch back and donut brace buttons. Two of my favourite things to see on a pair of jeans.

Detail Is All

Befitting their rugged name these jeans have been robustly constructed.  As you would expect from a Japanese brand immense attention has been lavished on the detailing. 
Unusually the outer seam is felled - essentially the two seams are interlocked and top stitched, giving a much stronger result - a technique that would have been widely used on denims and other workwear of the era.

The felled seams in all their glory - a much stronger seam historically used on work wear, it makes for an unusual single selvedge edge.

The same can be said of the beautiful single needle stitching, the lock stitched hem on the leg and donut buttons.
Another detail that stood out is the single piece selvedge edge fly. Sturdier than a crotch rivet, it’s a feature that BD&D have replicated throughout the entire range.

Continuous selvedge fly and green button hole stitching. Commendable detailing.

A core part of the brand's identity is the indigo leaf - a theme that runs throughout the line-up from the painted & stitched leaf arcuate, the green button hole stitching to the deliberately aged copper rivets that show a slight green oxidisation. 
On the more contemporary models green thread has been used to bar-tack the belt loops and pockets too. 
Painted arcuates are not normally my cup of tea, but they're something of a Japanese tradition and it will be interesting to see how it ages.

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to make of the painted arcuate when I first saw it, but it's growing on me. 

The Jeans In Hand

The fabric is beautiful. The Rough Riders and Big Bills are 12.5 oz 3x1 twill - denim of the time was usually 2x1. When I spoke to Keita Senzaki at BD&D he said he preferred to adopt 3x1 twill for these two models “to stress the thickness and stiffness of the fabric.” 

And the fabric on the Rough Riders is quite slubby, giving the denim a wonderful texture. Again this would have been a feature of turn-of-the-century denim - a characteristic BD&D have reproduced by tweaking the tension on their vintage looms. I’m excited to see how the these jeans will fade.

Beautiful period donut buttons and deliberately aged copper rivets. Note the slight green oxidisation, consistent with the indigo leaf theme. Other brands should take heed - that's how you do detailing. 

Even the pocket bags are denim. The back of the cinch has also been lined with blue &  white hounds tooth cotton. Rather than leather, BD&D have plumbed for an unbleached cotton patch, maintaining the eco friendly feel of the natural indigo leaf.

Heavy duty denim pocket bags - I'm expecting to end up with indigo stained boxers whilst I break these in!

Billiken Man - Success Is Sure To Follow

BD&D use Billiken as their brand icon -  a good luck charm that was hugely popular in both America and Japan in the early Twentieth century. Largely forgotten in the US now, it was even used as a mascot for William Howard Taft’s 1908 presidential election campaign - the name for BD&D’s Big Bill jeans was Taft’s nickname. 
Billiken hit the shores of Japan that same year in the form of a huge statue in an Osaka amusement park and the figure remains popular today.
As Keita says, “we think Biliken and B&DD have something mutual in common - American culture, forgotten history.” 

The Billiken icon - on the patch, and here tucked away in the back pocket.

Others have characterised Biliken as “the God of things as they ought to be.” For me this is perhaps the more relevant link to BD&D. They produce jeans as they ought to be. 
Whether you’re in to historically accurate garments or not BD&D simply make beautiful jeans as they ought to be made.

As you'd expect from Warehouse & Co painstaking research has gone into the BD&D range and it's clearly been crafted with uncompromising attention to detail. What more can you ask for in a pair of denims? 

Some Japanese brands can be hard to get hold of in Europe, however BD&D intend to distribute globally. With more of the range waiting in the wings to be released soon, these are exciting times for fans of Japanese denim. 

Check out Brown-Duck & Digger here.

Levi's Vintage Clothing 1967 505-217 Selvedge Jeans

A Thoroughly Modern Pair of Bottoms.

Levi's are justly famous for their jeans, in particular the 501. But, it's only Levi's Vintage Clothing (LVC), the brand's heritage arm, that still use the narrow loom selvedge denim of their forebears, scouring an extensive archive to make faithful reproductions of the originals.

Introduced in 1967, the 505 sported a narrower fit than the 501, with a taper from the knee.

However, by today's standards (read hipsters wearing their girlfriend's denim) they would be regarded as more of a regular fit.

The 505s lost the button fly in favour of a Talon zipper. They do retain the high back rise and deep yolk of Levi's earlier jeans, so are still meant to be worn high. Quite right too. (Though if you're minded, you can sport them lower.)

They’re quite similar in cut to the LVC 1954 501s, the first zip flied narrower legged 501, though interestingly this earlier jean sports a lower waist.

Talon Zipper

This similarity to 1950's jeans means you can get away with a chunky turn-up, but they'd also suit a narrower double turn-up. Of course, as you'd expect from LVC, the hems are chain stitched. 

The other main difference are the back pockets - they’re slightly slanted on the 505.

LVC normally favour Cone Mills for their fabric, but the beautiful 14oz denim for the 505 was milled by Kaihara in Japan. Most Levi's are 11oz or 12oz, so it's nice to see them do something a little heavier.

Coin pocket fade - Kaihara denim ageing gracefully

As denoted by the '217' on the patch, it is sanforized, (shrink-to-fits are indicated by a '0117'), so the leg only shrunk by just under an inch after a pre-wear soak.

I wear them high so went of a slightly larger waist size then normal. (According to some they come up small in the sizing.)
Simply wear them damp and they'll mould to your body perfectly.

Natural cotton pocket bags

I bought them in April of last year and, aside from a brief Central Asian hiatus with the military, have worn them constantly since. 

They recently had another soak (post epic beer spillage) and are developing some nice fades. 

Alas, they've now been consigned to the wardrobe. But it is not all bad - I'm breaking in a pair of 19oz 1948 Roamers from Pike Brothers; the lighter Levi's will come out again in the summer.

1967 is a about as contemporary as we get here at NU without getting a nosebleed and having to lie down in a dark room.
If you're new to the world of selvedge denim, not yet prepared to tackle a pair of shrink-to-fits but looking for some excellent quality selvedge denim in a fairly modern fit (well, modern by New Utility standards) then the 505's are for you.

Chain-stiched hem and red line selvedge edge.

Every denim-head should have a pair of selvedge Levi's in the collection. This jeans' versatility, combined with  the fact they don't cost the earth, I think I paid DKK 1200 at Brund in Copenhagen, means they're one of Levi's Vintage Clothing best sellers.

To find your nearest LVC stockist click here.