Most people put their jeans away in June. I do the opposite. The white core inside a rope dyed yarn, the old looms in Okayama, and what a hot road actually does to a pair of jeans.
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It started as underwear and became the most worn garment on earth. Josh Sirlin on the plain white t-shirt, and how to tell a great one from a cheap one.
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Down is the best insulation on earth and the least understood. Josh Sirlin on fill power, cluster size, and the vest built for a Pacific Northwest winter.
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Flip your cuff. That pale thread is the weft, and it decides more than you think. Josh Sirlin on twill, slub, and the hidden half of denim.
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Harris Tweed is the only cloth in the world defended by its own Act of Parliament. Josh Sirlin on the Orb, the islands, and what tartan really was.
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Black jeans are harder to make than blue ones, and almost nobody says so. Josh Sirlin on sulfur dye, over-dyeing, and how to keep black denim black.
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You cannot buy these colors. Josh Sirlin on creating custom dye colors for Black Bear Brand, the garment wash that follows, and why no two pairs come out the same.
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Indigo is the only dye that leaves on purpose. Josh Sirlin on Japanese indigo, rope dyeing, and the reason blue jeans tell you where you have been.
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Most people think fashion design is sketching pretty clothes. It is not. It is problem solving. Josh Sirlin on how he designs every Black Bear Brand piece.
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Self reliance is one of the deepest sources of confidence a man can have. Josh Sirlin on the short list of skills that pays off for the rest of your days.
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It is not marketing. It is a way of thinking that treats a thing as never quite finished. Josh Sirlin on Okayama, Japanese craft, and why he builds his denim there.
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Every good idea I have ever had came from somewhere else. Josh Sirlin on how travel and other people’s cultures shape creative work, from Okayama to the Outer Hebrides.
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Most sweatshirts are ten ounces and gone in a year. Ours is thirty, made in the USA and cut and sewn in Seattle. Josh Sirlin on why weight matters.
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Born on French farms, stolen by artists, and still the most useful jacket you can own. Josh Sirlin on the chore coat, and the Harris Tweed version he dreamed about for years.
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The self-edge is a mark of how denim was woven. Sanforized means it fits true and stays there. Josh Sirlin on selvedge, the beauty of fit, and the story a great pair of jeans tells over the years.
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Not pink, not beige, a dusty worn-in rose that looks like it already has a history. Josh Sirlin on how we mixed the Black Bear Brand original, Vintage Rose.
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Almost all denim is dyed with synthetic indigo. Josh Sirlin on the plant-derived blue that came first — and the 13oz Okayama jeans built around it.
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Oxford, poplin, twill, herringbone, chambray. The words get thrown around like they mean quality — they don't, they mean structure. Here's what each one actually does.
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A collarless placket, three or four buttons, and somehow the most useful shirt a man owns. The henley's rowing-club origins and what makes a great one.
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Poor man's velvet, cloth of kings, uniform of rebels and professors alike. Josh Sirlin on why corduroy is the most underrated cloth in a man's closet.
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