Vest, Denim, Signal
I've been interested in this vest ever since I saw Christophe working on it in LA last Oct,
and after seeing the final sample at the SC showroom in Tokyo in Nov. I knew I wanted it for sure!
Have been wearing it every single day since it was damp enough to put it on.
I like to drag alot of shit around with me wherever I go and I normally have a bag for that but this vest actually allows me to leave my bag at home on "lighter" days, without looking bulky at all.
It currently always holds: camera, iPhone, blinkey's/bicycle lights, lip balm, toothpicks, headset & candy. But I've also used the bigger inner pockets to bring folded up clean underwear and tshirt with me, note/sketch books, etc etc. = Utility Vest!
Sizing, soaking and shrinkage:
I took a raw Large, which is the same size as my CPO and chambray.
Gave it the same treatment as the above items, hot soak in the tub with the hottest water possible, and a line dry afterward.
The denim is the same as the jeans and CPO, a 11oz, solid white selvedge SC301 "Okinawa", with the exception of the two chest pockets which are the same white selvedge Okinawa but in a 14oz.
Initially I thought the body was also 14oz. as it feels a lot heavier than just 11oz, but I figured that it the fact it feels heavier mainly has to do with the vest being far more "structured" than the CPO or the jeans, ie. there is so much going on in terms of seams, pockets etc, on a much smaller surface so the denim doesn't really get the chance to feel thin-ish or "floppy". If that makes sense.
You can see that the batch of denim from which the 14 oz. chest pockets were cut was a slight bit darker than the rest of the vest.
As you can see on the back view, the "survival raft" twill lining shrank less than the denim lengthwise, that "excess" fabric needs to go somewhere and as such it pushes the edge of the denim on the bottom up. I really like this little hint of orangy-yellow peeking from underneath the denim!
Fit pics:
Inside:
I was wondering why the front part also wasn't lined in the yellow twill but Christophe explained that this would have been too hard to handle during construction, with just too many layers making sewing not so pleasant.
I actually quite like it as it is now, every time I reach into one of the inner pocket I get a glance of the lovely slubby backside of that 301 denim!
The collar must've made the people in the cutting room very happy, as it clearly shows that the inside of the collar all the way down to the bottom front of the vest is one single piece of denim!!! CRAZY!
(L) Back with the collar up and you can see guest appearances from both the white denim and the indigo dyed tape.
(R) Neck stamped markings. Added my name and the date I started wearing it. (denim came out too blue on this pic)
Single stitching throughout the vest means that seams such as this one need three passes with a machine. & Lovely "13-star" buttons
(R) Not the best picture ever but it shows the differences between the 11oz. and 14oz. Okinawa denim.
(L) A look at the lower pockets, lined with chambray. As you already can see a bit the selvedge edge of the pocket folds in with use (as it also does on the 7161 side pocket) making it less "flashy".
Some macro, rivet action. And the backside of one of the rivets, but more importantly,
the denim. So much character!
A close up of the "survival raft" yellow coated lining and some super slight hints at some wear on it already.
Inside pockets, selvedge overkill and Conmatic zippers for which I made some thick leather zipper-pulls.
Also the woven name label and the manufacturers label.
Conmatic, USA. And another look at my zipper-pull. While the zippers were somewhat hard to open and close at first they now "whiz" back and forth after simply applying some graphite with a 2B pencil!
I've been interested in this vest ever since I saw Christophe working on it in LA last Oct,
and after seeing the final sample at the SC showroom in Tokyo in Nov. I knew I wanted it for sure!
Have been wearing it every single day since it was damp enough to put it on.
I like to drag alot of shit around with me wherever I go and I normally have a bag for that but this vest actually allows me to leave my bag at home on "lighter" days, without looking bulky at all.
It currently always holds: camera, iPhone, blinkey's/bicycle lights, lip balm, toothpicks, headset & candy. But I've also used the bigger inner pockets to bring folded up clean underwear and tshirt with me, note/sketch books, etc etc. = Utility Vest!
Sizing, soaking and shrinkage:
I took a raw Large, which is the same size as my CPO and chambray.
Gave it the same treatment as the above items, hot soak in the tub with the hottest water possible, and a line dry afterward.
The denim is the same as the jeans and CPO, a 11oz, solid white selvedge SC301 "Okinawa", with the exception of the two chest pockets which are the same white selvedge Okinawa but in a 14oz.
Initially I thought the body was also 14oz. as it feels a lot heavier than just 11oz, but I figured that it the fact it feels heavier mainly has to do with the vest being far more "structured" than the CPO or the jeans, ie. there is so much going on in terms of seams, pockets etc, on a much smaller surface so the denim doesn't really get the chance to feel thin-ish or "floppy". If that makes sense.
You can see that the batch of denim from which the 14 oz. chest pockets were cut was a slight bit darker than the rest of the vest.
As you can see on the back view, the "survival raft" twill lining shrank less than the denim lengthwise, that "excess" fabric needs to go somewhere and as such it pushes the edge of the denim on the bottom up. I really like this little hint of orangy-yellow peeking from underneath the denim!
Fit pics:
Inside:
I was wondering why the front part also wasn't lined in the yellow twill but Christophe explained that this would have been too hard to handle during construction, with just too many layers making sewing not so pleasant.
I actually quite like it as it is now, every time I reach into one of the inner pocket I get a glance of the lovely slubby backside of that 301 denim!
The collar must've made the people in the cutting room very happy, as it clearly shows that the inside of the collar all the way down to the bottom front of the vest is one single piece of denim!!! CRAZY!
(L) Back with the collar up and you can see guest appearances from both the white denim and the indigo dyed tape.
(R) Neck stamped markings. Added my name and the date I started wearing it. (denim came out too blue on this pic)
Single stitching throughout the vest means that seams such as this one need three passes with a machine. & Lovely "13-star" buttons
(R) Not the best picture ever but it shows the differences between the 11oz. and 14oz. Okinawa denim.
(L) A look at the lower pockets, lined with chambray. As you already can see a bit the selvedge edge of the pocket folds in with use (as it also does on the 7161 side pocket) making it less "flashy".
the denim. So much character!
A close up of the "survival raft" yellow coated lining and some super slight hints at some wear on it already.
Inside pockets, selvedge overkill and Conmatic zippers for which I made some thick leather zipper-pulls.
Also the woven name label and the manufacturers label.
Conmatic, USA. And another look at my zipper-pull. While the zippers were somewhat hard to open and close at first they now "whiz" back and forth after simply applying some graphite with a 2B pencil!