Field notes
Everything published, most recent first: filed under the three pillars. Filter to what you came for.
Craft · October 23, 2026
Super Zero yarn began as a bath towel in Gifu and now it’s in Hiut’s indigo selvedge. How the yarn works, where it’s made, and what it means for the fade.
Becoming · November 1, 2026
A first-of-the-month check-in after October: a hard month, an App Store review that never started, Eighteen East’s hand block-printed A# collaboration, and Freenote’s 25oz Deck Sweatshirt.
Culture · October 30, 2026
Free weekly match alerts by email, about 150 new women’s jeans, smarter filters, store prices in their own currency, and 16 new denim brands.
Craft · October 26, 2026
At the same waist, relaxed jeans run ¾″ wider in the thigh than slim, and most straight legs narrow below the knee. Data from 2,946 jeans.
Craft · October 23, 2026
Super Zero yarn began as a bath towel in Gifu and now it’s in Hiut’s indigo selvedge. How the yarn works, where it’s made, and what it means for the fade.
Craft, Dye Series Part Nine · October 19, 2026
There is almost no natural green dye. For centuries, people made green cloth by layering yellow and blue dyes until chemists developed an arsenic-based green dye.
Craft · October 16, 2026
Lee and Nigel Cabourn’s OX’ed Silver made a denim from mismatched yarn, and even its makers can’t predict what the next batch will look like.
Craft, Dye Series Part Eight · October 5, 2026
Indigo built fortunes in Bengal, a craft in Tokushima, and a slave economy in South Carolina. One molecule, and the history of who paid the ultimate price.
Becoming · October 1, 2026
A first-of-the-month check-in after September: the Fit Finder launch that drew 80,000 views and zero subscriptions, a comment that stung, and Mojito’s school picture.
Craft · September 22, 2026
A measured shortlist from 1,205 models, and what happens to the catalog past 40 inches.
Craft, Dye Series Part Seven · September 13, 2026
From Phoenician sea snails to Japanese gromwell root to pirate wars, the strange history of natural purple dyes.
Craft · September 9, 2026
Rising demand, aging machinery, and a shrinking workforce are turning Japanese selvedge denim into a three-year wait.
Culture · September 6, 2026
Browse 11,000+ size rows, compare models, and find jeans that actually fit. The database that lived on the site is now an Android app.
Becoming · September 1, 2026
A first-of-the-month reset after a rough August: dressing my actual size after Japan, a puppy that wrecked my gym schedule, and Rilke’s dancing orange.
Craft, Dye Series Part Six · August 31, 2026
A history of dyes that burned bright, faded fast, and left too little behind.
Craft · August 25, 2026
How Naked & Famous and Big John veterans Bahzad Trinos and Risa Saito built a Yokohama knitwear brand on vintage loopwheel machines, Foxfibre cotton, and Amami mud dyeing.
Craft, Dye Series Part Five · August 12, 2026
From walnut hulls to Amami mud, the chemistry and craft behind nature’s most overlooked color.
Craft · August 1, 2026
Why most "athletic fit" jeans miss the point, and the ten denim cuts — ranked by real thigh-to-waist ratios from the Fit Finder database — that actually work.
Craft, Dye Series Part Four · July 27, 2026
A color valuable enough to smuggle, secret enough to kill for, and powerful enough that cities wrote laws to prevent the poor from wearing it.
Culture · July 20, 2026
Roy Slaper, 1971–2026: the fabricator who emptied his apartment for sewing machines and built ROY Denim entirely by hand.
Culture · July 18, 2026
How "no-wash" culture turned a pair of jeans into a test of commitment instead of an appreciation for craftsmanship.
Craft · July 15, 2026
I built a database of 2,600+ actual denim measurements so you can stop gambling $300 on your next pair. Here's how it works, how to use it, and where it's going.
Craft, Dye Series Part Three · July 12, 2026
Why two garments the same color can wear completely differently: a guide to every stage of dyeing, from loose fiber to finished garment.
Craft · July 8, 2026
How Pure Blue Japan's Kenichi Iwaya rejected American vintage clones to forge a distinctly Japanese denim identity.
Craft, Dye Series Part Two · July 5, 2026
Why Wool and Silk Hold Color that Cotton Can't: the tannin bath that lets cotton borrow wool's trick, and why indigo never really bonds to your jeans at all.
Craft, Dye Series Part One · June 29, 2026
Why indigo takes 50 dips in a vat and mordant dyes take one: the chemistry of bonding, trapping, and the dyes that don't need either.
Culture · June 25, 2026
A neighborhood-by-neighborhood guide to the city's best menswear shops: Japanese denim, military surplus, made-to-measure shirts, vintage tailoring. Addresses, directions, and a map.
Becoming · June 7, 2026
A history of high-waisted trousers, from Scythian horsemen to Y2K low-rise, and a complicated reckoning with body, fit, and rise.
Becoming · May 30, 2026
A monthly confession of my sins: 19 pieces, one very dangerous eBay livestream, and a running argument with the responsible version of me.
Becoming · May 25, 2026
A bigger guy's journey through fashion, raw denim, and dressing with intention, and why no one should have to wait until they're a different person to dress like themselves.
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