When or how you started wearing Ironheart
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I find it hard to remember exactly how it all worked out, but for me Lee 101 and Edwin were the "gateway drugs" into more serious denim. I stayed in the shallows for a while and I still love odd items from that time, but I have now discovered a better way :). IH always seemed to be well regarded online but I wasn't yet ready to go that far. Sometime in 2019 I discovered Rivet & Hide in London and saw (and touched) first-hand what the next step might be. Still no IH immediately, but an unexpected tax refund from my mum's estate pushed me over the edge and I bought my N1 (see also https://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=16054.msg711831#msg711831). About a year later I placed my first order with IHUK (IH-720-BLK, IHSH-269 and IHSH-270) and the rest is history.
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I first heard about Iron Heart in maybe 2009 or 2010 or so from @Seul on the VLV and Dead Format forums. Looked into it at the time, but the pricing and style didn't fit my lifestyle. My favorite nice denim at the time were probably a couple pairs of some Diesel Thanaz or something.
A few years after that, I discovered Imogene and Willie here in Nashville. That gave me the bug for nice denim from people who gave a damn (at the time) and products that were made with intention. Got really into their products, and slowly amassed a closet full of their jeans and a few shirts and jackets. I was also really into the All Saints cigarette jean, having a few of those in my rotation. The denim kept blowing out in the crotch, or just wearing down in the thighs. A buddy asked if I had ever heard of IH, but I told him I had never even tried any of them on. Tried on one of his jackets and was into it.
Several years after that, Covid hit and after many months of wearing cozy, loose fitting stuff around the house, I found myself just not wanting to go back to my slim fitting, restrictive clothing. I decided I wanted to pick up some new denim, and decided to start with the 634S. This was in late October 2020.
Since then, I've slowly been reinventing my entire wardrobe with what I consider to be essential pieces that I actually can't wait to put on in the morning. I've mostly pick up used, since I was trying to nail down my favorite shapes and sizing, but I think I've got it nailed down now.
I think if there was a place that sold IH in Nashville, my wallet would definitely be a lot lighter. We had Snake Oil Provisions in town for a hot minute, but they were in a weird part of town, in the lobby of a small hip hotel, nobody knew they were there, and only sold a small selection of IH items. Still pulling for Self Edge Nashville
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The SOP in Nashville was weird. They were never open when I was in town and from what I could see it looked like a gift shop? Anyway, I’m only a short 5 hours away from Nashville, I’d drive in for a SelfEdge visit [emoji1]
For me, I wore US-made Lucky denims for years but then they changed production and whatever decent clothes they made went away. I was looking for something different and came along a JCrew article about raw denim some time in late 2010 or early 2011. I didn’t go that route but did buy some raw GAP and a pair or two of selvedge Levis. This slippery slope led me to Nudies and the IH forum in the spring of that year. I think I read every single post in the DC4001, 634, and 666 thread before finally buying the DC4 cut. They didnt fit me perfectly well but the build quality and denim won me over.
10 years later, now with many, many pairs of denims and many, many shirts here I am.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I found Iron Heart by searching for the most heavyweight fabrics on the internet. It was probably in 2009?
I had just started crafting belts out of recycled fire hose, and the canvas jacket on the hose was so beefy, it made me want pants of a similar heft. I’m pretty sure I stumbled on an SF Chronicle article where they talked to Kiya from Self Edge, and he name-dropped Iron Heart as being their heaviest denim. I browsed the site that Giles had set up at the time, but being in SF I decided to pop down to Self Edge to check out the brand in person.
My first pair were 9301 superblack, purchased so that I could wear them at work waiting tables. Pretty soon after I scored a pair of 634s with the old arcs from eBay. Pretty soon after I got some other SE 18oz. OD collab. All 3 pairs were so amazing, but for a long time I resisted the forum as it seemed like I would just spend a ton of money if I had knowledge of so many amazing pieces.
In 2012, I moved to Mexico, and joined the forum because I needed “social” interaction. Got my first shirts that winter/spring.
Lo and behold, my wardrobe is now almost exclusively IH.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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@chrisjohnnick I+W was an early hit for me, too. I still wear a good bit of their stuff (tees, shirts) but I pretty quickly moved on from the jeans — not too bad but I never liked the huuuuge back pockets.
@sabergirl do you still live in MX? That's awesome! Where? My gf and I fantasize about moving to Mexico City.
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@sabergirl nice! I love it so much down there. The city just breathes character — the patina on everything makes it feel so alive. Not to sound schlocky, but a well-worn pair of IH would fit right in
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I bought a pair of Edwin x Folk jeans off grailed as my gateway into the whole selvedge scene, and kinda.rabbet holed.from.tbetr while looking into heavyweight fabrics and looking into articles talking about "best flannel shirts" and so on. At first the price was a bit on the frightening side, but after not being able to srop thinking about the purple rain western and eventually just biting the bullet, I was hooked.
Had been wanting a pair of bibs for a long, long while and bought the N&F ones because they were closer in fit to what I typically wear (more slim). I just wasn't satisfied and again dove deep and grabbed the 805's. I think my early experience trying to.digure out what I wanted and joining this forum from the jump really got the ball rolling. I'm pretty new to the community by and large, but it's been great -
Love the stories!
In the last semester of college in early 2011, I began dating a lovely Spanish woman who was in one of my classes. She wore a super heavy black denim vest she'd proxied from Japan that intrigued me. She told me it was Iron Heart which I might have heard of at that point but idk for sure if I had. At her urging, I went to Self Edge with some college graduation money and bought some IH-301S and those were … just epic jeans. I haven't been able to get enough since.
Our relationship imploded (she also introduced me to cocaine & taught me how to drink professionally) but I've continued to enjoy IH and safely leave the rest behind
Forever grateful. -
@henry_david wow cocaine, booze and IH is quite the combo… She sounds like a very interesting person, but I’m glad you were able to walk away with the positive (IH) and leave the more potentially damaging traits!
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Me too @jerkules
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Haha @henry_david this sounds like my 20s. Can't say I regret it, but can't say I miss it either…
One thing I do rather enjoy about being a sober guy is having extra money to put down on IH
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Other ppl: "You must save so much money now."
Me: [scrambles to pay necessaries while wearing $500 bibs]
cc: @popvulture
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I started when this Mississippi boy lived in Minneapolis. I was looking for heavy stuff to keep me warm without having to do the Michelin Man thing all the time. IH happened to be dialed in to my aesthetic so it worked out great! First pair were 643S which I sold here after getting denim ADD from all the great fabrics and cuts IH has created. I will return to the flagship denim one day, but the 777N is next in my IH queue after my current 666S-18 retire.
Kudos on not getting sucked down the black hole of addiction folks. I have seen too many lives destroyed and lost. In fact, just lost another one last week. Even if the addiction doesn't ruin your life and the lives around you, the justice system can, even if you are just dabbling, since we treat illegal mind-altering substance abuse as a criminal more than a mental health issue.
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! So sorry to hear that, man — was this a Jackson person? Whatever the case, that's always such a heartbreaking thing. As someone who's beyond grateful to have come out the other side of it, I'm always gutted to hear about people who aren't so lucky.On the IH origins topic, good on you for being able to tolerate Minneapolis! Haha I couldn't do that shit, no way… NY cold was as much as I could take.
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Man, @Matt do you remember Levis Hard Jeans? I remember they did a whole ad campaign around them in the late 90s — of course I was drawn to them and picked up a few pairs over the years. I remember they were cheap because nobody wanted them, but I think they were selvedge, and they definitely faded really well. I wish I still had em! I remember a particularly destroyed pair I wore through my first couple years of art school in NY. They were all blown out and had dots of ferric acid all over them from etching.
I think after that, it was picking up some APCs in the mid 00s for a blip of interest, then followed by a deep dive into selvedge around 2012.
First pair of IH was 555-01, and they absolutely blew my mind. They were more comfortable than anything else, but also way burlier, and despite the fact that people consider the 21oz to be mellow faders, I thought (and still think) that denim is my personal fave as far as fading goes.
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lmaooooo I love how this is bracketed by a Taco Bell spot and a MINIDISC ad
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It was @popvulture and I had no idea he had those demons–probably hadn't seen him since high school, and it wasn't a problem then, so they developed afterwards. Great human being as are so many of those who succumb to this disease.
