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Regarding the last month of orders, up ahead;

this is not to threaten or try to persuade people any differently, but I wanted to mention that orders from the last batches will go faster (and as always, look better imo) if made close to the staples, rather than going all out and ordering the most obscure color for the least popular jackets just to test the kitchen. We are able to move similar jackets in batches faster because the material procurement and thought train when in the heat of the action goes smoother, naturally. Obviously, not every material is exactly the same, they are reasonably close within their groupings, but there are immeasurable facets that just can’t be explained here, you either understand this idea already or don’t – but picking colors is not like picking crayons out of a box. These are previously live animals that require different methods for achieving different colors, even if for the same level of sheen and softness.
notes:
aeglus’ red lamb DR is different than any of the other red calf DRs because it’s red nappa, and we never offered the nappa to the public. aeglus was local and requested a red lamb jacket, that’s all.
artishard previously had a navy lamb BCDR, same scenario except he wasn’t local, we just fulfilled his order for navy lamb. We don’t offer navy lamb normally.

We use transparently dyed or tanned lambskins, and calfskins (goatskins and horse in limited quantity) almost exclusively. The farther away from black and brown you go, the farther away from ‘good leather’ you get, usually. That is just the nature of the supply chain for all people dealing in leather garments, people prefer black leather jackets.

As always, the black lamb is the best material we offer, all-around, for people just joining us here. It always has been, and never fails to disappoint. If deciding on a color and style for your leather jacket order is really that up in the air, go directly to black lamb. If you have black lamb already, then try a makeup from the quote DBear posted a page back.

It’s your choice when you order, but naturally, not all color/material selections go with every design. Choosing the ones from the list I made in that quote will result in a good jacket each time.

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Last call is coming up soon. I think by the looks of it, production is about to speed up a lot finally because a bottleneck has been passed. Dan has a wedding to go to in July, so that means we should be looking at a cut-off date of June 1st. There’s about a month left in our current setup.

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gonna detail some more soon on our plans to take a break for a while, I’m gonna refresh and reload on the clothes game this year. I will be back with different stuff and a new set of inspirations. Current collection will be discontinued.

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I don’t know how far into summer, but we will be doing an extended last call starting at some point, doing a full cutoff, completing all orders remaining, and then taking a short or long term hiatus. We need a break and doing so means we need I plan ahead and do the cutoff soon.

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so the cutoff for the hiatus is coming up soon, I’m thinking of doing it like this;

current TOJ lineup
(re)collection – limited selection on past models, tbd

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I don’t know yet. TOJ may not come back, it is not decided. I am thinking about taking up some work cooking for awhile and seeing where that goes.

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We’re getting somewhat close to the required number for Bball orders. Once we hit a safe range we can go and put the ribbing into production, and then assess the color choices amongst the people who have ordered.

If we get more orders than the minimum on tan, we’ll go back and see if people who’ve paid already have a second choice on color and see what happens. There were a couple mentions of grey, we may even have enough from last year to do a small number like that but no guarantees til I talk to Dan. Definitely no green, so people who’d want green would have to come out in force and put down for that color, I don’t know how likely that’d be. It’d be a deep emerald green, not really forest or leaf green.

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Some rough photos of the slim trousers, still trying to get a clear day with some light for these things… wish I had a donk and a colabear-approved cockbulge to really fill these pants out and show the shape better, but this will have to do…

front and side:

the details at the hip and the pleat:

These things have been a real pain in the ass to photograph, not only because they’re black, but also because all things I’d like noticed about them just don’t come out on camera, whether it’s the fit or the handwork on the interior (also all-black)…

Anyway, as you can see, they’re pretty slim. that’s a 6.9″ hem, about 16.25″ across the waistband laid flat in the sample; they’re meant to be worn about where you would wear jeans or just a tad higher, like a little below the hip bones – so the waist on these will measure a bit more than your true waist, and not correspond with any jean sizes or anything – you just have to measure your hips around.

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can’t really see much, I know – I’ll try to get some better photos if I can get some light on the subject. The pleats turn into seams about 2″ from the top, and are closed around the waist. The sides have tabs with buttons, and the elastic is all internal and hidden, so I can’t really indicate that in pics. The rest of the details are pretty straightforward ‘trouser’ stuff but they really do need to be seen to be believed. Unbelievable for $200, that’s less than what I paid for these pants as I was making them for myself through tailors long before TOJ even existed.

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Suede jackets

Haven’t posted prices on those, but I guess I can – they’re the same price as all other lamb leather jackets, $735. They’re pretty lightweight though, so a Spring/Summer/Fall affair. I’d be able to wear the lamb suede in the middle of summer in most places, it’s that light. Would look cool with shorts.

I’m trying to get some pics of the TOJ slim trousers up, bear with me. I am not the best pants model, but it’s looking like I’m all I’ve got here. Will put them up this week with a size chart.

Pants are $200; choices for now are black gabardine, navy gabardine, and then a light grey melange lightweight flannel. They’re lined to the knee, so they feel pretty nice, look sharp and structured.

Other new stuff is coming, but the leathers won’t really see major changes. I might add some new styles and variations, but we’re coming into some maturity with the designs and most will continue as is – the Min. DR and QDR, those don’t really need anything. The Moto and Collared Moto, nothing either. Might change the inner zipper flap on the CM to be squared off, that’s it.
We’re gonna have a new zipper option or move entirely over to silver colored YKK’s with classic rider’s jacket beaded pulls that are slightly smaller than the ones we use now, and then use one-ways up the front I think since there are no two’s in that finish, and also I’m kinda against the two-way zipper thing anyway – I feel that bottom pull gets used way too often and doesn’t really help the worn look of the jacket. I want a different look, we’ve had the same zippers since the beginning and I’m into the brighter zips on the leather. We can also do brown taping with the new zips and lighter brown tape on a darker black or the super dark brown goatskin looks really cool, like a vintage style jacket. It’s a new update.

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Current project halfway done, taking a break to do ‘The Scream’

Coming soon

new things pt 2

a bit more contrast

We found some more dark whiskey calf though. There was a couple extra hides left under the pile. Anyone interested? Also, some other interesting leather choices.

Welp, what we’ve got is some new black and (very) dark brown goatskin – available on the Bombers as well. It’s got the kind of texture that aeglus’ whiskey goatskin bomber has, but a nice pliable, soft hand. It’s like a ever so slightly tougher, pebble textured lambskin kind of. It’d also make an interesting rider’s style jacket, like a 2010 DR or something.

Also, a chocolate brown horsehide, and the aforementioned re-up on dark whiskey.

I think there’s a decent supply on the goatskin, but the others are limited to the stock as usual.

Graphite grey, bottle green, dark blue, and red Italian calfskin are also still available as of last week. All of these leathers mentioned in this post are great and about as good as it gets.

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TOJ trousers are ready.

These trousers are awesome, really pleased with them. Lots of handwork, they were made in a workshop that only makes bespoke suits, so they are really well made, just really nice. Once some other people get to look at them, they will realize how nice these things are. I am happy. They look and feel like high fashion trousers – if I saw them in a store with a $450 pricetag I’d not question it, the construction and the lines, really good.
The elastic detail in the back makes them not look so good on a hanger because the back bunches up a bit when not wearing them, but put them on and they’re just sharp as hell.

The elastic makes so much sense when you sit down – never before will you have looked so sharp and put together, yet comfortable. It’s actually really mindblowing because there’s no precedent for clothes this formal yet comfortable, I feel like we’ve stumbled upon something genuinely new and inspiring.

Gentlemen, prepare to look stylish as hell, while suddenly becoming comfortable. Life is going to be good with these pants.

I used to wear the old sample pair strictly for going out, because we tend to eat and drink all night and I can put down an average amount of food but a ton of drinks. They’re gonna be good for everybody though, they’re perfect for work and for those people who eat lunch and end up going home with a couple more pounds of food in their belly everyday that isn’t there before lunch. Just really comfy for sitting down in.

Going to find someone(s) to wear and take pics. I am not the best pants model because my legs are skinny as hell.

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Right now we’ve got black and midnight navy 100% wool gabardine, it’s nice. We toted (in a TOJ tote, no less) a pair of Dior Homme and a pair of Raf Simons trousers around the market to use as a baseline until we found something we liked, and we found this Japanese wool gab. Once I find more fabrics that are suitable (thinking I may have to go back to Tokyo and look at the selection there too) I will add additional fabric choices, there will be enough so that one could fill their wardrobe with these things and just wear them daily to work, in a different color everyday.

Price, for now as we’re just starting them up and I don’t know what the real costs are yet, for the black and navy gab – we’ll do them at $200 shipped. if the other colors to be added cost more (they probably will) the price might go up just a tad for different colors.
I think they might take about 2 weeks to make. We got ours done in 4 days, but I don’t know what will happen if a bunch get ordered. The people who make these work very quickly though, and there’s 6 people in that shop.

This pattern (we’re making two separate designs, these in question today are the slim fit, beltless ones) – are very tapered and have a tiny leg opening. It’s about 6.7 inches on the size 30 waist (they ride more around the hips area though and actually measure about 32″ i think) pair we made. it’s enough of an opening so that the socks would be covered if you hem them to a half break, but they’re neat and slim so they don’t obscure your shoes. They’re fashionable looking.

As for sizing, we will make a full chart with pertinent measurements, and we’ll recommend that you measure yourself around the tops of the hips rather than at the actual waist, since these don’t ride that high. They’re medium rise, I think it’s about 10″ or so on the sample size. Apart from that, these should be really easy to get your size correct on, since everything will be there written on the chart, plus the elastic is forgiving. As long as you get the right waist size everyone should get a perfect fit.

As for the other design, it’s also pretty much a slim fit tapered trouser I guess, but the leg won’t be as extreme I think. They will be plain front and have conventional belt loops, etc, etc – normal trousers. The beltless are single pleated and a lot more fashion-forward.

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chinos won’t have pleats and won’t be beltless. Different design, just conventional chinos with a nice fabric and the object dying (which we still need to experiment on but Mrs TOJ sent the selvedge chino fabric from Japan the other day and it hasn’t arrived in Korea to work on just yet)

I actually don’t really like flat front pants – I think they look boring and remind me of biz-caz bores. I know people shy away from pleats because they’ve sen triple-pleated Dockers and stuff and been scarred for life, but the single pleats on these TOJ pants give a little more room in the top block and look kind of artistic, people will comment on the pleat when they see it I think.

It’s like a 3 season suit fabric weight. Gabardine texture, so not completely smooth, and no sheen.

In the future we may play around with different fabric weights as I come across more fabrics that meet my approval. The design is cool so it’d be a shame to just throw just any fabric at it. These are not custom, to save a lot of hassle and time.

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I have 4 samples to sell:

1. VTG DR – $650
2. Anniversary Harrington, red nylon laminate (as shown in gallery – $OLD)
3. Anniversary MA-1, olive nylon laminate, orange lining, half-length placket (as shown in gallery – $230
4. Peacoat, navy with black leather trim – same as stock but has a double button opening cuff – $395
5. Peacoat, navy with black trim – same as stock with quilted lining. Size large. $395.

All are roughly 45/46, for someone about 5’8 and 130 or so. THe VTG DR has high armholes and is still untanned, very stiff.

This was just what I had with me here in Tokyo. Dan has some varied sizes of things in Seoul, and Charly has some things in America that they will put up later this week.

Just email the regular TOJ email with a title related to the sample you’re interested in.

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I think it’s because my plane is booked to go to Seoul in a week, or maybe I’m just feeling it, but I’m having epiphanies about the new designs left and right this evening. Brain really woke up from it’s vacation.

I have some great Japanese linen, selvedge broken twill, denim, and waffle knit cotton that I’ll be incorporating, and then we’ll mix in the standby NZ lamb, suede, some Italian and domestic calfskins – gonna use the same leather, horn, ebony wood, and YKK Japan trimmings as usual – here’s a listing of what I am thinking for S/S. Will have to wait for the pics to see where I am going with these and the detailing, but I have these in mind over the next few months.

- revamp on the 2010 DR, 2010 Moto, and CM – some small adjustments
- minimalist waxed cotton duffle, minimalist waxed cotton Chesterfield/lab coat, minimalist fishtail – all with waffle-knit button-out liner
- new varsity
- suede T-1, suede T-3
- knits, all-wool, loose-gauge handknit
- sunglasses, made in Japan, handlaid celluloid or tortoise
- footwear of some sort
- revamped shirting, made in Japan
- denim jeans
- wool formal trousers
- object dyed selvedge broken twill chinos
- a few more outers, maybe some quilted/waxed stuff, etc.

That is my idea board for the evening.

The pants and trousers will be oneLength(tm) so that they can be sent as pants or shorts as desired. Will be looking at what colors and stuff we can do as the materials and production style pans out.

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