Raw, dry denim, that is. I love the concept of making things look vintage through your own hardships in life. I am obsessed with anything that looks retro, old, etc. but what makes those things so interesting to me is their authenticity. If it is legitimately some beaten up shirt, jacket or of pair of jeans from your grandpa€™s day, then that just bleeds cool in my mind. So, all those acid washed jeans, pre-destroyed nonsense drives me up a wall. If there are going to be tears in jeans I pay for, it€™s going to be from my own shenanigans, not a textile factory.

To get to the point of my earlier statement on raw denim, its exactly that, raw. Particularly, Japanese selvedge denim (click there to learn more about them) is all the rage in certain sub-cultures, and I understand why. This shit is called raw since its the cream of the crop, hard as sandpaper denim, the way your grandpappy got back in the day. You want it to be soft? Wear the hell out of €˜em for a few months and that€™s how they€™ll soften up. I€™ve bought raw denim before and actually wrote a post about my shrinking of some Levi€™s 501€™s wayyy back when on my original site. They€™re still tough since I don€™t wear them as often since they€™re still huge on me. I get some wear out of them but not as much as i€™d like to truly break them in and make them my own. My dilemma is my scrawny body with my extra long stems (legs) so unless I get slim jeans, I look like an extra in a MC Hammer video. So while I need 34+ leg, I wear a 30 waist. Trying to find jeans in those sizes is like finding two needles in a haystack. Well, I discovered a pair more suited for a gent my size and not at a ridiculous price. Most Japanese selvage denim runs about $150 and more. Brands like A.P.C are staples in the raw denim community but pricey. For my current economic standpoint, that€™s too high. I got my current pair for $78 bucks. I normally buy either Levi€™s or Uniqlo jeans and that never gets much higher then $50 but I didn€™t mind buying these to get more of the dry/raw denim experience. Here€™s what they look like now, I€™ll post pictures of these as they fade and wear in time.

There€™s that selvedge €œself-edge€ part, check the link posted earlier for more info.

This is located on the inside of the jeans and if you can€™t read it, I€™ll transcribe for ya. €œHello, I am made out of raw selvedge denim. Yeah, that€™s right, I€™ve never even taken a bath. If you wear me hard and don€™t wash me for several months, I will become a beautiful and personalized jean. Hooray! Love, -Jeans.€ The best part about these jeans I have to say though is the brand, or lack thereof.

The brand is called The Unbranded brand jeans and their stance is great. They got no design, no logo, just pure denim and that€™s something pretty unique nowadays. I still wear logo t-shirts (especially Only Ones) and other brand clothing, I just appreciate the way this company is run and their approach to the industry. Check out that simple, no fuss back pocket and leather patch.

FUCK YEA! If you haven’t seen this before you’re in for a treat. If you have seen it, well watch it again! Recently my friend Mike brought me to a Judas Priest tailgate party. All the people in this video were there, just A LOT OLDER.

Heavy Metal Parking Lot

I saw the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop a few weeks back. It’s a film by Banksy, one of the most popular street artists around today. His work is pretty intriguing and this film is no exception.

On the surface the film is about the rise of street art and, even more so, it’s also about a man called Thierry Guetta. Some may know Thierry better as the street inspired artist, Mr. Brainwash. The film shows us how Thierry turned into Mr. Brainwash.

Thierry Guetta is an interesting character and that’s really putting it very lightly. Right from the beginning of the film we learn about Guetta’s undying habit of filming everything. EVERYTHING! The guy would just walk around with the video camera on at all times. It was his attempt to try and capture life because, as we all know, life is fleeting. Thierry Guetta’s solution to the problem was to get it on tape. Tapes that eventually filled a whole room in his house, none of them labeled or organized.

Guetta found himself in the right place at the right time when he started to meet many emerging street artists. Guetta followed any street artist he could, rarely asking for permission and always doing whatever it took to get the best shot. Street art is not something that lasts very long. You can put up a graffiti piece in the middle of the night and it might not even get to see the light of a full day. This is where Guetta’s obsessive filming came into play, because of him these artists could now have their work forever remembered on film. Guetta tried to follow everyone he could, he even rode alongside the now famous Shepard Fairey, of OBEY fame, for a while.

Without summarizing the whole film for you, Guetta ends up becoming a street artist himself, under the name Mr. Brainwash. He is heavily inspired by Banksy and Andy Warhol. Some have criticized his works as being “unoriginal”. He works out of a studio where his employees often create the works he describes to them. He produces a massive collection of artwork in a very short time and opens his first art show, something other artists took years to really build a collection they truly believed in. And this is where the other aspect of the film comes in…

The film questions the idea of what we see as art. What is original art? Why are certain people seen as “stealing” or “copying” while others are “original”? This seems to be one of the more deeper discussions going on in the film. Many of the street artists that Guerra filmed, including and especially Shepard Fairey, utilize preexisting images which are slightly altered.

In the title credits, one of my favorite street artists, Kaws, is quickly shown. He is known for taking famous cartoon characters and slightly altering them in his own way. His clothing brand is entitled OriginalFake, which to me says something about this very notion of “originality”.

Why would someone look at Mr. Brainwash and call him a fake while Kaws or Shepard Fairey are original artists? Is Mr. Brainwash a genius are a complete buffoon, at the end of the film Banksy leaves that up for discussion. If everyone is inspired from something and taking from those things then where does the line draw between original and unoriginal?

I have had my Chrome messenger bag for almost 4 years. I€™ve used it exclusively for everything and anything. It€™s been my bag for road trips, class, spending the night, or just to carry whatever I can imagine. It€™s very durable and water proof which is a great feature when carrying things like books, laptops, etc. in the rain. When I first bought it, it was about $120 but I€™ve definitely gotten my moneys worth and then some. Now, the Chrome bags are a little more expensive but I€™d definitely purchase another if this one ever crapped out, which I don€™t see happening any time soon, this thing has gone through hell and is still in one piece.

One eye-catching feature is the signature belt buckle strap:

I€™m writing this post though to touch upon Chrome€™s giving nature. In March, Chrome held a one day event where if you sent in an old pair of sneakers, they would send you a brand new pair of their current line-up of sneakers. The event was called €œTurds For Gold!€ and was incredibly cool of Chrome to do. They donated over 5,000 pairs of shoes to two charities, one based in San Francisco (Chrome€™s home-town) and another in Haiti. My new Chrome sneakers arrived a week or two ago. I haven€™t used them much yet but with summer weather approaching, I€™ll definitely be rocking these soon.

If you want a bag or pair of sneakers from these fellas, go here: www.chromesf.com