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Disclosure: I'm coming from a blue collar background as a master diesel mechanic Quality is build + aesthetic for me. Some brands i wear include Texas jeans,

Disclosure: I'm coming from a blue collar background as a master diesel mechanic Quality is build + aesthetic for me. Some brands i wear include Texas jeans, Chippewa boots, and all american clothing company. The quality from domestic apparel is in my experience massively superior to foreign brands. Carhartt jackets for winter are incredibly warm and gave great value, but their aesthetic isn't always popular. They last nearly forever. Another point in quality is how easy the garment is to service. My boots are resoled once a year by a local cobbler, and my leather jacket from legendary leather is also quite serviceable at a local dry cleaner. I try to avoid throwing away jackets or shoes/boots.

tonyarkles 7y ago
Another Carhartt fan! I’ve got a Carhartt bunnyhug that I wear all year round. They somehow made it warm enough to be a great add-on under a lighter winter coat, and cool enough to be ok up to about +15C. It’s black and the dye faded quickly, but it has otherwise held up way better than any bunnyhug I’ve ever owned. Plus the small bit of cognitive dissonance when people see the the sweater and then realize I’m working on some pretty technically intense projects is fun to watch.
- megablast 7y ago
  Is bunnyhug a common term?
  - mmmrtl 7y ago
    saskatchewan!
    - tonyarkles 7y ago
      Sigh. Correct :)
  - benj111 7y ago
    I guess for a Hoodie? Although Wikipedia confidently tells me its a dance.
  - frosted-flakes 7y ago
    In certain parts of the United States, it means a heavy hooded sweater, or hoodie.
technofiend 7y ago
>but their aesthetic isn't always popular. My Carhartt clothing is some of the best made and longest wearing I own. You're going to laugh but Carhartt is trying to go upmarket and establish themselves as a fashion brand in Europe! Imagine my surprise to trip across a Carhartt store with a wall of gimme caps / trucker hats on display in Frankfurt, Germany! Hopefully they expand their profitability by getting their name out there rather than cutting costs on material and quality but I've already seen some Amazon reviews alleging the new stuff is sourced out of China with a drop in quality. If that's actually true and it's not just counterfeits flooding Amazon I'll be looking at Schaefer or Cinch next.
- clydethefrog 7y ago
  Carhartt WIP has been an European streetwear brand for years now. I wrote an introduction four years ago to this brand in /r/streetwear. https://www.reddit.com/r/streetwear/comments/2d0gi4/brand_in.. https://www.reddit.com/r/streetwear/comments/2d0gi4/brand_in....
  - technofiend 7y ago
    Wow! Thanks for the education. I guess it explains why I got compliments in Europe for wearing a plain black Carhartt jacket. https://www.carhartt.com/products/Extremes-Coat-Arctic-Quilt-Lined-C55 https://www.carhartt.com/products/Extremes-Coat-Arctic-Quilt...
  - e12e 7y ago
    I think it's been a general trend for a while (at the very least since the dawn of hip hop, probably punk) that working-class work wear has been leaning towards fashion (Same for military wear). Even Swedish Blåklädar (https://www.blaklader.se/ https://www.blaklader.se/) , which is AFAIK a fairly new brand, seem to have to lines ; a low quality, highly priced "fashion" line, and an affordable, high quality "work wear" line (that actually market to construction etc businesses, and often include safety wear features with appropriate certifications). It drives me nuts that it's getting harder and harder to find decent "real" surplus military clothing and cheap work wear (maybe especially in Europe?) - while many of the "same" brands are readily available as overpriced fashion wear. This really became apparent when I figured out that Blåklädar actually have a handful of stores deticated for b2b (vat not included in prices, generally require a business billing address to purchase) - which quite apart from the not included vat, we're cheaper and generally more "functional" than the stuff with the same brand carried by retailers...
Aloha 7y ago
I love Wrangler western cut jeans as well, for similar reasons, they just last and last and last.

tonyarkles 7y ago

Another Carhartt fan! I’ve got a Carhartt bunnyhug that I wear all year round. They somehow made it warm enough to be a great add-on under a lighter winter coat, and cool enough to be ok up to about +15C. It’s black and the dye faded quickly, but it has otherwise held up way better than any bunnyhug I’ve ever owned. Plus the small bit of cognitive dissonance when people see the the sweater and then realize I’m working on some pretty technically intense projects is fun to watch.

megablast 7y ago
Is bunnyhug a common term?
- mmmrtl 7y ago
  saskatchewan!
  - tonyarkles 7y ago
    Sigh. Correct :)
- benj111 7y ago
  I guess for a Hoodie? Although Wikipedia confidently tells me its a dance.
- frosted-flakes 7y ago
  In certain parts of the United States, it means a heavy hooded sweater, or hoodie.

technofiend 7y ago

>but their aesthetic isn't always popular. My Carhartt clothing is some of the best made and longest wearing I own. You're going to laugh but Carhartt is trying to go upmarket and establish themselves as a fashion brand in Europe! Imagine my surprise to trip across a Carhartt store with a wall of gimme caps / trucker hats on display in Frankfurt, Germany! Hopefully they expand their profitability by getting their name out there rather than cutting costs on material and quality but I've already seen some Amazon reviews alleging the new stuff is sourced out of China with a drop in quality. If that's actually true and it's not just counterfeits flooding Amazon I'll be looking at Schaefer or Cinch next.

clydethefrog 7y ago
Carhartt WIP has been an European streetwear brand for years now. I wrote an introduction four years ago to this brand in /r/streetwear. https://www.reddit.com/r/streetwear/comments/2d0gi4/brand_in.. https://www.reddit.com/r/streetwear/comments/2d0gi4/brand_in....
- technofiend 7y ago
  Wow! Thanks for the education. I guess it explains why I got compliments in Europe for wearing a plain black Carhartt jacket. https://www.carhartt.com/products/Extremes-Coat-Arctic-Quilt-Lined-C55 https://www.carhartt.com/products/Extremes-Coat-Arctic-Quilt...
- e12e 7y ago
  I think it's been a general trend for a while (at the very least since the dawn of hip hop, probably punk) that working-class work wear has been leaning towards fashion (Same for military wear). Even Swedish Blåklädar (https://www.blaklader.se/ https://www.blaklader.se/) , which is AFAIK a fairly new brand, seem to have to lines ; a low quality, highly priced "fashion" line, and an affordable, high quality "work wear" line (that actually market to construction etc businesses, and often include safety wear features with appropriate certifications). It drives me nuts that it's getting harder and harder to find decent "real" surplus military clothing and cheap work wear (maybe especially in Europe?) - while many of the "same" brands are readily available as overpriced fashion wear. This really became apparent when I figured out that Blåklädar actually have a handful of stores deticated for b2b (vat not included in prices, generally require a business billing address to purchase) - which quite apart from the not included vat, we're cheaper and generally more "functional" than the stuff with the same brand carried by retailers...

Aloha 7y ago

I love Wrangler western cut jeans as well, for similar reasons, they just last and last and last.