Product Report: Neighborhood 06 Lightening Savage

Me wearing 06 Lightening Savage

So what makes Neighborhood Jeans so exquisite and expensive? Well, like many other over-priced things in this world, there are many reasons. Though in my opinion the jeans they make ARE severely over priced for the quality, there truly are only a few brands of denim makers that produce washes and effects that can match those of Neighborhood's.

1. Levi's (primarily the Japanese Label LVC)
2. DiorHomme
3. Undercover

In terms of quality, till this day, I STILL don't know what exactly determines the quality of a pair of jeans, I've tried Diesel, A.P.C., Seven, Banana Republic, DKNY, Gap, Levi's, Express, Tough Jeans, some weird brands, and finally Neighborhood.

However, from my personal research on my spare time and my own experiences wearing these jeans, I've come to a few points that determine a good pair of jeans, and I will try my best to incorporate these points with the 06 Lightening Savage that I have.

1. Fabric

First and foremost, the jeans are made to be tough and durable, not some thin, sissy cottons that breaks and tears with a few stretches, I don't even wear them THAT tight for this to happen.

But how do we determine the fabrics though? Honestly I can not tell for sure, but this observation NEVER failed me.

According to reliable sources, good fabrics are weaved tight and neat to produce a stronger durability for the jeans, the quality of the cotton matters a lot too; to determine BAD cotton, simply rub the fabric of your jeans vigorously to see if the little cotton balls appear; good cotton fabrics are less likely to produce cotton balls, unless the threads used are ultra tiny and thin that breaks easily, but that isn't the case for denim jeans.

Secondly, just take a look at the color and overall appearnce, good stuff just have that good look, here is a picture of AUTHENTIC CONE MILL XX DENIM(unwashed):


Thirdly, if you can, just put your hands on the fabric and feel it, compare it to other jeans that you like; the differences are ESPECIALLY apparent when you rub and squeeze the jeans that are raw but broken in versus cheaper denims. Good denims generally have a solid, dry, firm feel to it whereas cheaper denims have a papery, loose feel to them (If that makes any sense).

Now, NBHD is notorious for its savage and destroy effects; for this reason, I can't help but feel that if I work them hard like I do with the A.P.Cs and Levi's the jeans will stay healthy; the destroyed jeans are named "destroyed" for a reason, they are supposed to appear as exploited and damaged severely.

However, NBHD jeans still stand quite strong in this department, I am not the type of person that will wear jeans like they're suits, I treat the NBHD jeans like they don't exist at times and stretch, work, even played basketball in them before, I would say that in terms of quality, NBHD jeans aren't really up there for the price, but they ARE definitely durable.

2. Details

Though a very very detailed pair of jeans does NOT suggest higher quality, it does suggest higher cost, labor, and creativity. Neighborhood wins in this department by implementing all kinds of details that many other denim makers fail to make; Neighborhood IS NOT a jeans company to begin with, but you can tell that the designer had put much effort to his products from the massive amount of details. Below are a few pictures that proves my point, all pictures are of 06 A/W Lightening Savage:


The buttons, not only this one but ALL the buttons have a washed and vintage look to them.


Threads and stitches are a major detail too, most real old school jeans like Levi's had ALWAYS used more than 3 kinds/colors of threads, I don't know for what purpose, but it brings out the existence of the threads, which play very important role for the quality of the jeans.


The patch and the lightening effect, both are known to be very time consuming to create. NBHD didn't really hesitate on these effects as they are strikingly beautiful.


Chain stitch derived from the old school jeans, it symbolizes "classic", it is only with chain stitches that a wave-like wash at the bottom of the jeans can be created, however, it is easily broken and too much unnecessary threads are used so abandoned by most jeans makers; NBHD used it to suggest that they stick to traditional denim making.

The broken part is just a sidekick that most jean makers already do (or only know how to do to create vintage effect.)


3
Here is just some nice details NBHD put in; the cross strengthen stitches and other decorative but functional stitches.


Another unnoticeable detail that NBHD put in, a purposely broken lines of threads that suggest the vintage feel.

There are other things such as the selvedge lines, stains, tears, star stitches, but they are minor and easily imitated, so I won't put too much effort on mentioning them.

Keep in mind that all these effects are hand made, not machines!

From these we can see that NBHD is significantly supeiror in terms of the effort to put as much necessary details as they can. What I love about the Lightening Savage is that it has just the RIGHT amount of destroy effects, unlike the Wolverine or Flash which is seriously abusing the stitching and patching to the extreme; making the jeans unrealistic in a way.

3. Washes

If we abandon the perspective of quality and just look solely on the washes and fades, I will spend $150+ for a Gap jeans that have the same washes as NBHD, because the washes NBHD produces are simply DOPE. There will not be example pictures, I've posted a long list of NBHD jeans before and you can compare on your own, my point is, the designer really knows the physical attributes that create logical and realistic fades and whiskers, on top of that, he incorporated unique shapes and images such as the lightening and patches on the jeans.

Most popular brands TO DATE still produce washes that simply DON'T MAKE SENSE. I don't understand why somebody will spend more than the raw material costs for jeans like these:



...All of which are attempting to recreate the stress and destroyed effects but with NO legitimate understanding of basic human anatomy and denim structures, it's almost like they just threw a few strokes as "whiskers" and a few patches to make it look used.

Anyway, here are some example of real nice and realistic washes:



And of course the main topic, Lightening Savage:


Of course some will still speculate that there's no way anyone can naturally see these type of washes; but then do understand that these manufacturers KNOW but then they are only being creative about it, because these washes do appear natural, the whiskers and fades are carefully calculated and implemented by hands.

4. Rarity

The most important factor forcing the price of NBHD jeans to sky rocket is probably its rarity; just as any other rare, hard-to-find items, be it cars, houses, or purses. However, this is only true when the item itself IS valued as high quality standards; no one will spend $400+ for a pair of "rare" Old Navy Jeans.

Exactly how hard it is to obtain a pair for a reasonable price of NBHD jeans? picture this, the day the line of jeans are released, 200+ people had already camped outside the stores three days before. Unless you are willing to put that much effort, you will not likely to obtain a pair given your identity is just a normal human being.

The limited amount Neighborhood produced its jeans causes dramatic price increase; and the fact that Neighborhood never really recycle its same washes and models, causes even higher rarity for their jeans, take the legendary 04 ripper for example, it was priced at $250 for retail and sky rocketed to around $1200 today, showing NO SIGNS of decline, because we can not get another pair!

Oh well, these are about as much as I know about my jeans; I would say that the NBHD jeans are some of the BEST jeans out there in terms of looks and feels; the design and detail is crazy; you can feel the effort that the company puts in it, I appreciate greatly for people wiling to create their own stress effects by ordering and even designing these little details one by one.

I think the price is still too high, however, I wish this sets up a standard for all popular brands out there to really encourage their designers to create base on the true attributes of jeans in stead of throwing bunch of tears and stains to convince the consumers that they are unique.

Don't get me wrong, I am not hogging on NBHD jeans, I am just saying that they are one of the few brands out there that actually DO THE DENIMS RIGHT!

Alright I'm tired, hope this post had been helpful, peace out!

EDC doing it with CMD in KXLL

Edison Chen new album: "Allow me to re-introduce myself"

Um...

No really, Edison Chen in my opinion had evolved from this street gangster wannabe to the number one fashion icon in Asia; he proved himself that he's not just a good looking boy who has a rich family to support whatever he's doing, he actually went out there and did his things, starting with CLOT, his Alienegra line and now CMD.

He had recently opened(I think 2005) his own company CLOT with a division called Clot Media Division or CMD, a multi-media entertaining firm that involves production of fashion apparel, art promotion, exhibitions, and even album recording. I first found myself checking his profile when I found him rocking Neighborhood jeans continuously, he was this GOD of fashion in all Asian street fashion forums and online auctions that it was too damn hard to miss him in any search results; then I went on and search for the guy and realized that the guy was kinda like all the sneaker heads out there who loved rare sneakers...well except he is a celebrity and he's rich.

But disregarding all the media distortion or semi-failure in previous record businesses, he proved the media and the public that he had worked hard to work his career, at the age of 26, he's had his own steady clothing and multi-media company: CLOT, that runs smoothly and extraordinarily well compared to other up and coming brands.

Even more worth mentioning is that his company is based in Hong Kong, whom many skeptical experts out there predicted as 2nd world production regions. Well anyway, to find out and see how the guy really is, at least partially, you gotta check out the episode of Kang Xi Lai Le featuring Edison Chen, whom appeared to promote his newest album: Allow me to re-introduce myself.

In the clip he talks about his beef with the media, his ex-record label, his girl friend and even ghost encounters, so check it out!

Here is the link to the videos, props to GOFISH ENTERTAINMENT!








http://www.gofish.com/player.gfp?gfid=30-1131664 --> PART I
http://www.gofish.com/player.gfp?gfid=30-1131712 --> PART II
http://www.gofish.com/player.gfp?gfid=30-1131713 --> PART III

Well if you don't speak Mandarin, then just look at his newest 3M Alienegra Tee, Fenom Jeans, and Visvim Christros... dope stuff.

Check out his personal blog at:

http://blog.honeyee.com/edison/

or at his official webpage

CLOT.com

for more information

One of his songs that I liked: Hong Kong Tei (A place in Hong Kong)


peace!

Jean Cultivation: Creating an One-of-One pair of jeans

From the last two years, a new fashion trend emerged into the United States: Raw Denim. This trend is especially emphasized by famous celebrities all across the country, particularly in male stars. It may not be something unforgettable, but I'm sure most of you have long ago noticed this, be it on the street or at school.

However, the culture of Raw Denim and the "cultivation" of these jeans had been practiced by Japanese people a long time ago.

For whatever reasons, let it be nostalgic or fashion, raw denim seems to be the "it" thing, I can see many people wearing these jeans all over the place; even H&M and Gap launched heavily advertised campaign to sell these new trends, emphasizing that the jeans are "authentic Japanese raw denim". Other upper end fahsion labels such as Dior, Gucci and Louis Vuitton soon also launched their own lines of Raw Denims.

Many people are hopping onto the raw denim bandwagon but are not realizing that the main purpose to wear these hard, stiff jeans is to create your own unique pair of jeans that fits SOLELY to the wearer. I am not here to criticize or demand anyone to wear whatever they are wearing for the purpose I proposed; but for those who wonder, here is a little something you can learn with no harm.

What is "CULTIVATION" of jeans? or in Chinese "養褲“(petting the jeans)

Well, like I mentioned before, it's quite simple, here is an illustration:

BEFORE:

AFTER:


As you can see, by wearing the jeans repeatedly over time, your own unique whiskers, wears and tears slowly develops, and the result a creation of your own unique pair of jeans.

Now, you can wear your raw denim whichever way you want to, but for the purpose of this post, I just want to emphasize that raw denims or retro jeans are really meant to be worn for this effect.

A common misconception then incurred due to the lack of information about these jeans. In short, all jeans, or any pants can be cultivated to create your own unique fadings and colorings or whatnot, however, most jeans out there will lose their dyes and will not last more than one year of wears and tear, as a result, you throw them away.

Most of the raw denims in the market today, particularly the Gap/BR, Polo, Guess, LRG or whatnot, are only trying to imitate the look and feel of raw denim and earn extra cash from this hype that emerged out of "nowhere", these brands made a name for themselves and right off ripping customers' money ($100 a pair.). The public are not aware of the fact that these jeans are meant to be worn for a LONG time to create such effects.

Take this picture for example:

B R E A T H - T A K I N G!!!

This is a pair of Levi's LVC cultivated from dark, stiff indigo form. (for about 2 years of wearing non-stop style.)

There is NO WAY IN HEAVEN that some high-end brands or popular brands like Gap jeans can do this. This effect is what ALL fashion apparel companies wish to mimic, the whiskers and the fades, it's so natural that people buy Pre-Washed jeans (such as Neighborhood from last post) that catches much attentions and simply just look so damn fine.
Take these other jeans for example:


They are all cultivated from the raw denim form.

The reason why I criticize some brands that introduced the raw denim line is that they simply are ripping YOUR money if you buy them for the look; because those jeans will simply tear after minor usage and you will only get a pair of black, stiff, broken pair of jeans that you spent $75 bucks on, in another word, buy QUALITY not superficial wannabe impressions.

Now, back to the topic, if you are interested still in the cultivation of the jeans, you may wonder how it is done. Here are a few tips:

1. Select a pair of QUALITY jeans!

In order for you to create the desired effect, the jeans MUST be able to endure a long period of time of usage without tearing. Quality is the most essential key to creating such beautiful jeans like those above.

For a starter, you may want to consider Levi's, I mean...they've been around for almost 200 years, why do you think they're still around? because of MARKETINGGGGG!?

Levi's Raw denims are not bad, they are called 501XX, availible in Macy's and Sears. The reason why they added the "XX" after the style number 501 is because XX stands for Xtra Xtra strong jeans. THEY ARE TOUGH, so you can wear them continuously doing vigorous works without worrying that the jeans will tear and your undies will show.

Some other brands known for quality raw denims are:

SugarCane, Warehouse, Denime, A.P.C, Nudie, Evisu, Fullcount...etc.

Among these brands, Fullcount will probably be regarded as the best retro jeans in the industry for now, I downloaded some pictures from the website, check it out:






...all great denims have the following characteristics:

-Durability, great cutton and weaving; note that just because your raw denim is super raw and heavy and thick and hard DOES NOT MEAN THEY HAVE GOOD QUALITY, GO WEAR CARDBOARD BOX THEN, they are hard but they will surely break. Good quality jeans will last at least 5 years, even if you wear them 24-7 non stop, they'll simply look doper and doper and eventually become the jeans for life that never fails you!

- Dyes, great dyes allow proper whiskers to show without fading too much overall, so that the whiskers and fading will look just right like the pictures above; most denims will lose its dye after 3-4 washes and become pale, the whiskers and fading then automatically disappear. However, dyes are not something we all can see even if we can actually touch the jeans. So...trust the brands then.

Some good quality jeans require MUCH longer for the dyes to fall off though, so if you're not ready to commit to such jeans for 2+ years then just wear them for the RAW rook.

- Accessories, quality denims pay attention to little details that you will won't usually see. The buttons, the stitchings(can you tell how many different color thread were being used in the last picture?) and the zippers, rare and good zippers can cost as much as $100 USD by itself!

Some pictures of great detailed Levi's Retro jeans(LVC):

Leather tag, two-toned stitch, Capital "E", chain stitches, redline selvedge, even the stickers and tags are the same as it was supposed to be 100 years ago.

2. WEAR THEM!!!

What's the point of spending $200 on a pair of high quality jeans with proper cares and all that? WEAR THEM! This soooooooooooooooooooooooo reminds me of these hypocritical sports care drivers in Foster City, I mean, if you want to drive a BMW, aka the ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE, then STOP THINKING ABOUT WHETHER YOU SHOULD STEP ON THE ACCELERATION PAD WHEN YOUR CAR MAY GET SCRATCHED WHEN THE FREAKING LIGHT TURNED GREEN!

Anyway, my point is, to reach the desired effect, you must wear the jeans continously so that the indigo will slowly come off and thus creating the nice fades and whiskers. However, the downside is that you should NOT try and wash them too much, because you want to emphasize the whiskers, if you throw them into the machines 3 times a week, you will eventually get a nice pair of MONOTONE jeans, instead of the fabulous one I posted above.

It doesn't mean that you shouldn't wash them, you should still dry clean them as you see needed, there are many home dry cleaning patches available in Target, it's as easy as drying your wet clothes in the dryer.

...

and that's it, there are only 2 tips I got for you, and they are the most effective ways too; other things such as soaking your jeans with vinegars or whatnot are pretty much nonsense; just wear your real raw denim and wear them RAW, like you're supposed to. Try not to be a clean freak and clean your jeans like they're some LV shirts or whatever, remember, they are JEANS, JEANS are made to be TOUGH, they're meant to take care of YOU!

Alright, that's a long post, finally, I just want to post my A.P.C that I wore for a year just to share! All comments welcome!

1 month into wearing:

all black...

6 Months into wearing:

Though still dark, the whiskers and fades are showing now!

1 year into wearing:

^Cell phone ^cigarette burn... ^zippo and cigarettes

Washed twice; dry cleaned 4-5 times

Right behind the knees, this is the so-called "Beehive" effect

The full view.

So there it is, I hope this post helps you gain a better idea of the so called "Raw Denims", and for those of you who are interested, START YOUR OWN PAIR NOW! It's fun and it saves you money, why spend $70 bucks every 2 months for a pair that anyone else can buy? Create your own pair and wear it your style!