When or how you started wearing Ironheart
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It was January of 2016, I was at my brother in law’s cottage and was splitting firewood with a hatchet for kindling. The hatchet slipped and barely touched the top of my right index finger but severed the two tendons in that finger.
They were able to reconnect them, but it also meant that the hand would be splinted for 6-8 weeks and rehab afterwards. All told, the process was about 3 months from the initial accident.
Not being able to use the hand made life somewhat difficult and simple things almost impossible. Case in point was buttoning a pair of pants…
I decided to look for a pair of bibs since I would be able to easily pull them on/off single handed and went online trying to find something I liked. I still don’t remember how, but I stumbled across the 805’s and was intrigued. I was extremely hesitant about the price of the bibs and not knowing anything about Japanese denim or Ironheart. After debating for a few days about purchasing them I finally pulled the trigger, and it’s been a very slippery slope since.
So how did you find/start wearing Ironheart? Would love to hear your stories!
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I moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2011. I went into Self Edge looking for a loop wheel sweatshirt and some shirts to work in. I wound up with a Strike Gold Sweatshirt, a Sugar Cane work shirt, and the IHSH-16ss the indigo dyed short sleeve chambray. Was blown away by the quality and craft of the Iron Heart and that’s what started it all. Over a decade later, I still have all of those pieces and 10oz chambray still holds a special place in my heart
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I think I posted somewhere on the forum already but i've been into raw denim since maybe like 2008 but I never had the money to afford a pair for myself. Rocked apc's for a long time and then Upgraded to oni in 2018. I was only into slub and extreme texture denim up until I started delving into other brands and like almost everyone else who looks at iron heart they all say the same thing: "They look boring." "who would pay $350+ for a pair of raws." Then I got a crotch blowout in my onis and my friends who are into raw denim told me I should get into Iron Heart. From all the brands that I knew Iron heart were pretty much the pinnacle of quality.
I ordered a pair from Self Edge in early 2021, got the 633 (Straight Tapered se exclusive) double black 14oz. At the time I didn't know they had OD as well in different weights but I never got hooked on the OD fabric until After I got my 633's. After that I absolutely went iron heart crazy. Mostly for the denim, I don't wear a lot of outerwear or flannels or anything like that. And so I ditched a lot of my slubby and neppy stuff to my coat hangers and I don't wear them anymore and it's pretty much just double black tightweave stuff. Me and friends dubbed: "The Self Edge fit."
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this weird looking 6ft old bloke charmed the hell out of me so I had to.
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i stumbled across a thread in the Usual Suspect Network (USN) titled ‘anybody a jeans fan’ where i discovered the XHS as well as not washing jeans after every wear. totally blew me away and i purchased my 1st pr of 666XHS from (i cant recall correctly as its been so long) Rokutan (???). then discovered IHUK and this forum and the rest. as they say. is history. 6 pr deep. 3 of which are XHS. -abridged version-
~2014 joining here ~2015
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I decided to order a pair of 21oz 555s in 2017 (from Mildblend, iirc) because I’d been sort of disappointed with some of the other brands of selvedge denim that I’d tried, which were quite a few at that point. Or maybe if not disappointed, just bored.
Whatever the case, I got the IHs based on reputation, so I figured I’d take a shot. I was blown away, and it’s been fun ever since. Very quickly hooked.
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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.
