A Gift of Jeans by Roy Slaper



One of the great pleasures of working for a historic mill like Cone is being able to meet people like Roy Slaper. This post is a small introduction to Roy and the jeans he wishes were perfect.



There is a talented metalsmith in Oakland, California who has been perfecting his denim sewing skills the last few years. Although Roy Slaper is quite good already he insists on practicing until he can consider himself to be in that unique class of denim designer-tailors expert in patterns, needlework, materials, and a thousand other nuances in crafting jeans. Such is the way of a true lover of denim who will forever be fascinated by all matters indigo and so will never call oneself a master of the subject.

I too count myself in this group of life-long denim students and have been exchanging peculiar ideas with him for many months. When I decided to leave my station at Cone my wonderful colleagues there commissioned a jean for me with Roy, who knew exactly want I would want (something with all the loom chatter intact like deadstock vintage).





As I am wearing the jean and typing this post I am still perplexed by how he managed to get it to fit right in one shot.



All crucial details are on point.











Selvage belt loops. And yes it does have a raised ridge between the stitches.



Some would stop at selvage beltloops but Roy quietly sneaks in selvage back pockets via busted seam joining 2 pieces.



And then he puts in selvage busted seam pocketing using an undyed organic cotton twill. When you hold up the jeans the selvage seams of the pocket bags and the back pockets line up one in front of the other.



He incorporates the loom chatter that naturally occurs in denim woven on vintage American selvage looms.




The fabric is full of unique, uneven character that by today's quality standards would be called defects. But using the word defect to argue against the beauty of certain loom chatters is akin to using higher fabric consumption as an argument against narrow selvage denim. The arguments make sense but love is blind. Besides, a broken fill here and there is nothing compared to the yarns destruction during industrial stonewash and sandblasting. This is how unwashed workwear came back in the day.

And maybe one day, sooner rather than later hopefully, Roy will finally let the general public enjoy his denim creations. Until then he will be perfecting his craft and acquiring amazing sewing machines like the Union Special 43200G bulldog hemmer, Union Special felling machine, and Reece 101 buttonhole machines that he have already.

A very special thanks to my friends at Cone Denim.

Loom Chatter 3

In the last Loom Chatter post I envisioned a future in which fly shuttle weaving is practically a lost art and rapier and air jet looms are coveted, rare machines that have been replaced by cutting edge equipment driven by nano-sized robots. This far-fetched yarn of fancy was spun to convey an important point.

To my fellow purist denim head: did you know that when the now-revered power shuttle loom was introduced there were strong sentiments against it? It was denounced by the trade and enthusiasts for weaving characterless fabric that was too uniform and mass-produced. Proponents of the hand loom were so vehement that in 1790 a mill was destroyed by a mob to show their dissatisfaction. Granted the trade had great economic incentive (power looms enabled reducing the labor force to half) but the general feelings are similar to what we have today when preferring the shuttle over air and rapier looms. I provoke this point to have us question, and perhaps reinforce, our appreciation of vintage fly shuttle weaving, looms, and denim.

To give us an idea of what was going through the minds of the people introducing new loom technology below is a sampling of advertisement quotes from the Draper Company.

In 1895:
"We believe that certain improvements we are soon to introduce will divide the cost of weaving by two..."

"Textile workers should be interested in all inventions that make their labor easier, cleaner, or healthier."


In 1896:
"The majority believe in progress. They favor inventions that relieve human labor by transferring operatons from fingers to levers and cams."


In 1897:
"Before the year is over the Amoskeag Mfg. Co. will have nearly 10,000 looms changed to take our motions."


In 1898:
"What do you think of a loom that requires but half the labor, weaves more perfect cloth and will run over time without need for attention."

"The only hope for our cotton mills in these critical times lies in the prompt adoption of improved machiner."


In 1900
"Every new idea meets the same opposition...In the first few years this machine had to bear the brunt of criticism, antagonism, doubt, fear, and mis-representation."

Disclaimer: While above applies to cotton weaving history in general I have yet to establish the extent to which this applies to denim. If anyone comes across any text related to this matter please leave a comment or shoot me an email at pacioli@gmail.com

Source: "Labor-Saving Looms" by Draper Company (1904)

Loom Chatter 2

I have my eyes set on an antique Harley Davidson and must consider selling some of the jeans in my collection. Can I interest anyone in a pair of deadstock True Religion jeans from the early 21st century?

The denim was woven on air jet looms, which were superior to our modern nanobot looms. While factories today prefer nanobot looms for their ability to make stronger and more consistent denim fabric (due to nanobots automatically tucking in loose yarn fibers along with programming the correct shade while weaving) only air jet looms can yield the imperfections that are a characteristic of vintage denim. There are very few of these looms left and even the European repro brands who use denim made from vintage air jet looms cannot claim they are delivering an authentic product because of the nanodye used to color the yarns.

The denim on these vintage True Religion's were dyed in real indigo, which fade with wear, whereas nanodye sticks on to the entire surface area of yarn fiber. Finally the most impressive aspect to this collectible item is that actual people operated the sewing machines and grinding tools, ensuring no two jeans are EXACTLY the same. Comes with real cotton patch. Made in Mexico. 20 million Euros or best offer.

Loom Chatter 1

In contemplating denim my mind is a Northrop loom in constant chatter. One yarn of history crosses another in seemingly endless lines with no obvious direction to follow.

This thought came to me as I struggle to research for an important publication.

On a separate note here is something interesting you may or may not know. While one of the first things we look for on vintage jeans is the sideseam that clearly reveals a closed selvage remember that the busted sideseam is not the only seam construction to spot narrow, fly shuttle loom denim. Many old jeans and overalls used the felled seam construction, which hides the selvage line. Seasoned collectors who’ve sifted through damaged garments surely have noticed that when the felled seam is opened often a pristine selvage line (often natural/white color) springs out like a newly blossomed flower.

I discovered this recently on a solitary mission confined in a small, temperature-controlled room attempting to deem which pair (sometimes rag) of denim was worthwhile. While this finding shocked me at the time I am now sure it is common trade knowledge. It’s one of those things that you learn on the job.

Going forward all ramblings and theories related to weaving technique, history, machinery, etc. will be posted with title "Loom Chatter" and I invite anyone interested to contribute to this column.