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There are smaller brands that try to be and are a lot better. They deserve attention. Trippen shoes from Germany make comfortable shoes that aren’t exactly mai

There are smaller brands that try to be and are a lot better. They deserve attention. Trippen shoes from Germany make comfortable shoes that aren’t exactly main stream, but are repairable and used to offer a very reasonable refurbishment price (haven’t refurbished any for a bit). I have several pairs of 20+ years old shoes from them. https://en.trippen.com/t/men https://en.trippen.com/t/men Nudie jeans offer free repairs at their shops and 10+% discount for new jeans if they are not repairable, as trade-in. If you trade in, and they are usable, they sell as second hand. https://www.nudiejeans.com/repair-spots/#stores https://www.nudiejeans.com/repair-spots/#stores

quickthrowman 5y ago
> Trippen shoes You can just buy any Goodyear (or Blake) welted shoe to have rebuildable shoes, there are dozens of makers that offer more uh… conventional and mainstream styles of shoes anywhere from $200-$2500. England: Loake, Alfred Sargent, C&J, Trickers, Church’s, Edward Green, Saint Crispins, John Lobb US: Allen Edmonds, Alden, Rancourt, Red Wing, White’s, Nick’s, Grant Stone Canada: Viberg Spain: Meermin, Carmina Hungary: Vass
viraptor 5y ago
There's also Patagonia (not a smaller brand) https://www.patagonia.com.au/pages/worn-wear https://www.patagonia.com.au/pages/worn-wear They'll not only repair their clothes for free, even if you've been careless and damaged it yourself, but also you can pay them to repair other brands in their shop.
- MrApathy 5y ago
  I see this line every so often that Patagonia will repair or replace damaged articles, but the one time I tried, I wasn't successful. I purchased a Tortentshell rain jacket and the laminate on the top of the hood started to peel after a year or so. I took it to a Patagonia store for inspection and they offered to recycle it for me. No repair, no free replacement, no offer of a discount on a replacement.
  - viraptor 5y ago
    I tore my puff jacket on a door handle. They refilled, patched, stitched it back up.
    - mrexroad 5y ago
      Same. My dog sliced open the sleeve, and I was about to stitch a crappy fix myself until I saw their policy when googling. Got it back and looks good as new. I’m picky and I was fairly impressed.
  - SauciestGNU 5y ago
    I wonder if this is a function of you bringing the item to a store. I contacted Patagonia online with a picture of the damage when I ripped my jacket on my chicken coop, and they had me send it in for a patch and restuff. It's also possible that the type of damage to your gear (peeling laminate) was not repairable, but I would have at least expected a replacement.
bamboozled 5y ago
Mizora [1] is a boutique Japanese brand producing woman's nightware out of recycled Kimono (silk) or Tencel. I purchased some for my partner, she loves them. I thought it was such a cool concept. Everything is handmade to order, seems really well made. [1] https://mizora.studio/ https://mizora.studio/
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
dijit 5y ago
Ironically I was discussing my nudie jeans 30 minutes ago. Which makes this comment feel weird. Nudie Jeans definitely honours their repair policy, but what I find is that their jeans wear much faster than others (Deisel Jeans being the most hard-wearing so far). At some point your jeans look so janky from all the repairs (and they become uncomfortable as the crotch are gets patched and becomes double the thickness) that the utility, fit, comfort and look of the jeans is terrible, to the point where you probably don't want to wear them. I have 5 pairs of nudie jeans, they all end up like this. -- When it comes to Shoes I recommend R.M.Williams. I have a pair of their garden shoes, i have worn them every single day for the last year and they look almost new (save a few creases where my feet bend), they're also repairable and have passed many teardowns. https://www.rmwilliams.com.au/ https://www.rmwilliams.com.au/
- bjelkeman-again 5y ago
  I have mostly been comparing to major brands like Levis. Which for me wear fast and don’t repair well. But maybe I bought the wrong stuff. :)
  - ghaff 5y ago
    Levi’s seem to last well for me but I admittedly don’t wear jeans all that often.
  - dijit 5y ago
    Levi’s are my baseline; they seem to last 1.5x as long as Nudie jeans before getting holes in the thigh or crotch.
  - leviathant 5y ago
    The trouble with Levi's is that when you buy, say, a pair of 501s, there are a bunch of things that factor into what you're getting. Bought them on eBay for a good deal? Solid chance they're counterfeit. Bought them at WalMart or Target? You're getting a variant that was manufactured for downmarket, price-sensitive consumers - thinner denim, cheaper manufacturing. Is it stretch denim, or 100% cotton? Shrink to fit? Levi's Premium? Or maybe you're splurging for something from the Made & Crafted line. Or if you're really looking to spend on Levi's, you've bought something from the Levi's Vintage Clothing line. (In the US, you can still sometimes find LVC and Made & Crafted items at TJ Maxx and Marshalls for a tenth of their retail price) Sometimes the fit is inconsistent, but if you buy from levi.com, you get free returns if you have an account with them, or if you can drop them off at a nearby Levi's store. And that's just Levi's... I don't have the time or the energy to bother with the kind of denim fanaticism that blew up over the last decade or so. Before they IPO'd, my trick to long-lasting Levi's was to wait until whatever seasonal collection they had with 'toughness' in mind went on sale or blowout, because they used to experiment more with fabrics. I've got a pair of 501s made with Dyneema, the stuff they make ropes for ships out of. The Skateboard line was marketed as being able to take more abuse than normal, and so far has lived up to that. For better or for worse, they've simplified their product line a lot since being publicly traded. And if you want to get real weird, the other thing that I found helps is... that's right, not washing my jeans every time I wear them. There are exceptions, but I work from home, I'm generally not doing much to stink up my jeans. I have a rolling rack that I keep 10 pairs of jeans on, and I cycle through them, so that at the very most, any pair gets worn once every week and a half. Anyway... I haven't had to buy new jeans in a long time, and I switched over to all-Levi's years ago - but It took a little trial and error to get a lay of the land.
ibiza 5y ago
Two brands that deserve a shoutout in this vein are Filson and Freitag. I have an Alaskan Guide shirt from Filson that's still in rotation after 25+ years. My Freitag bag will no doubt outlast me. It's made from repurposed truck tarps and seat belts. Both companies will repair their products. https://www.filson.com/stewardship.html https://www.filson.com/stewardship.html https://www.freitag.ch/en/manifesto https://www.freitag.ch/en/manifesto
- mechanical_bear 5y ago
  Filson quality has dropped, and they make lots more of their stuff in China now.

quickthrowman 5y ago

> Trippen shoes You can just buy any Goodyear (or Blake) welted shoe to have rebuildable shoes, there are dozens of makers that offer more uh… conventional and mainstream styles of shoes anywhere from $200-$2500. England: Loake, Alfred Sargent, C&J, Trickers, Church’s, Edward Green, Saint Crispins, John Lobb US: Allen Edmonds, Alden, Rancourt, Red Wing, White’s, Nick’s, Grant Stone Canada: Viberg Spain: Meermin, Carmina Hungary: Vass

viraptor 5y ago

There's also Patagonia (not a smaller brand) https://www.patagonia.com.au/pages/worn-wear https://www.patagonia.com.au/pages/worn-wear They'll not only repair their clothes for free, even if you've been careless and damaged it yourself, but also you can pay them to repair other brands in their shop.

MrApathy 5y ago
I see this line every so often that Patagonia will repair or replace damaged articles, but the one time I tried, I wasn't successful. I purchased a Tortentshell rain jacket and the laminate on the top of the hood started to peel after a year or so. I took it to a Patagonia store for inspection and they offered to recycle it for me. No repair, no free replacement, no offer of a discount on a replacement.
- viraptor 5y ago
  I tore my puff jacket on a door handle. They refilled, patched, stitched it back up.
  - mrexroad 5y ago
    Same. My dog sliced open the sleeve, and I was about to stitch a crappy fix myself until I saw their policy when googling. Got it back and looks good as new. I’m picky and I was fairly impressed.
- SauciestGNU 5y ago
  I wonder if this is a function of you bringing the item to a store. I contacted Patagonia online with a picture of the damage when I ripped my jacket on my chicken coop, and they had me send it in for a patch and restuff. It's also possible that the type of damage to your gear (peeling laminate) was not repairable, but I would have at least expected a replacement.

bamboozled 5y ago

Mizora [1] is a boutique Japanese brand producing woman's nightware out of recycled Kimono (silk) or Tencel. I purchased some for my partner, she loves them. I thought it was such a cool concept. Everything is handmade to order, seems really well made. [1] https://mizora.studio/ https://mizora.studio/

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

dijit 5y ago

Ironically I was discussing my nudie jeans 30 minutes ago. Which makes this comment feel weird. Nudie Jeans definitely honours their repair policy, but what I find is that their jeans wear much faster than others (Deisel Jeans being the most hard-wearing so far). At some point your jeans look so janky from all the repairs (and they become uncomfortable as the crotch are gets patched and becomes double the thickness) that the utility, fit, comfort and look of the jeans is terrible, to the point where you probably don't want to wear them. I have 5 pairs of nudie jeans, they all end up like this. -- When it comes to Shoes I recommend R.M.Williams. I have a pair of their garden shoes, i have worn them every single day for the last year and they look almost new (save a few creases where my feet bend), they're also repairable and have passed many teardowns. https://www.rmwilliams.com.au/ https://www.rmwilliams.com.au/

bjelkeman-again 5y ago
I have mostly been comparing to major brands like Levis. Which for me wear fast and don’t repair well. But maybe I bought the wrong stuff. :)
- ghaff 5y ago
  Levi’s seem to last well for me but I admittedly don’t wear jeans all that often.
- dijit 5y ago
  Levi’s are my baseline; they seem to last 1.5x as long as Nudie jeans before getting holes in the thigh or crotch.
- leviathant 5y ago
  The trouble with Levi's is that when you buy, say, a pair of 501s, there are a bunch of things that factor into what you're getting. Bought them on eBay for a good deal? Solid chance they're counterfeit. Bought them at WalMart or Target? You're getting a variant that was manufactured for downmarket, price-sensitive consumers - thinner denim, cheaper manufacturing. Is it stretch denim, or 100% cotton? Shrink to fit? Levi's Premium? Or maybe you're splurging for something from the Made & Crafted line. Or if you're really looking to spend on Levi's, you've bought something from the Levi's Vintage Clothing line. (In the US, you can still sometimes find LVC and Made & Crafted items at TJ Maxx and Marshalls for a tenth of their retail price) Sometimes the fit is inconsistent, but if you buy from levi.com, you get free returns if you have an account with them, or if you can drop them off at a nearby Levi's store. And that's just Levi's... I don't have the time or the energy to bother with the kind of denim fanaticism that blew up over the last decade or so. Before they IPO'd, my trick to long-lasting Levi's was to wait until whatever seasonal collection they had with 'toughness' in mind went on sale or blowout, because they used to experiment more with fabrics. I've got a pair of 501s made with Dyneema, the stuff they make ropes for ships out of. The Skateboard line was marketed as being able to take more abuse than normal, and so far has lived up to that. For better or for worse, they've simplified their product line a lot since being publicly traded. And if you want to get real weird, the other thing that I found helps is... that's right, not washing my jeans every time I wear them. There are exceptions, but I work from home, I'm generally not doing much to stink up my jeans. I have a rolling rack that I keep 10 pairs of jeans on, and I cycle through them, so that at the very most, any pair gets worn once every week and a half. Anyway... I haven't had to buy new jeans in a long time, and I switched over to all-Levi's years ago - but It took a little trial and error to get a lay of the land.

ibiza 5y ago

Two brands that deserve a shoutout in this vein are Filson and Freitag. I have an Alaskan Guide shirt from Filson that's still in rotation after 25+ years. My Freitag bag will no doubt outlast me. It's made from repurposed truck tarps and seat belts. Both companies will repair their products. https://www.filson.com/stewardship.html https://www.filson.com/stewardship.html https://www.freitag.ch/en/manifesto https://www.freitag.ch/en/manifesto

mechanical_bear 5y ago
Filson quality has dropped, and they make lots more of their stuff in China now.