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Thread for loopwheeled stuff.



Hiroki's great sweatshirt guide:

Anyone know either places to cop loopwheeled sweats that fit >6' and slim, all places seem to produce retro fit and jap sizes which makes me sad.

Could champion/leftfield crossgrain knit be shrunk to produce a slimmer sweat? I'm so thirsty.

isn't half the appeal of loopwheel the heritage side of it? vintage machines, vintage fits and reviving craftsmanship, making a slim modern one a bit pointless.

if you want a good "quality" modern fitting sweat go to people like sunspel, stone island, acne, reigning champ it's not "loopwheeled by the finest virgins" but they're solid quality sweats.

is the quality actually higher on loopwheeled sweats? or is it just the fetishistic love of repro stuff?

i find my circular knit tees retain their shape better. the fabric feels heavier as well

Maj yeah I appreciate that for sure and there is the place for that, but boxy chests and long sleeves isn't the be all end all. Whilst a lot of the Japanese repro stuff follows that, Champion, VSheen & Bean were all about cutting them relatively slim as they were worn as undergarments, to be literally sweated in. When the repro scene started in Japan, I think the boxy fit has been overemphasised to appeal to that market, whilst it's not necessarily gotta be like that.

Personally — I feel that the quality, not the heritage side of it is what's attracting me. A real gusset & quad needle which actually keeps the collar shape consistent, tubular knit for fit and how the arm stacks ripple almost like horween leather (I'll try and find a photo). Considering you can get that level of quality for the same price as mediocre euro knits using a JPN proxy, it just feels like compromising going to a standard loopback, non functional V-gusset just for aesthetics and side seamed sweat. There are benefits to loopwheeled, much like there's benefits to selvedge even if we don't accompany it with classic 1946 straight as fuck fits.

Edit: Found a picture — shite fit but look at those arm folds..

my experience with cotton fleece and terry materials is that the ceiling of 'quality' is quite low, and there's not a ton of difference between the cheap and expensive stuff compared to other fabrics (wool, jersey, leather, synthetics/treated fabrics)

some bits and bops-

- poly cotton blends tend to have the softest hand feel out of the box, but it doesn't necessarily hang around if you wash your sweatshirts like I do.

- cotton/cashmere blends (80-90/20-10) are the softest sweatshirts I've ever handled and age very well

- cotton/silk blends are slightly smoother/softer than all cotton, and wear better in heat/humidity

- enzyme treated sweats like W+H are marginally nicer than their generic counterparts

- the right terry loop knit has the perfect amount of stretch, almost like wool. this is my perfect sweatshirt material, it drapes much heavier (better) than fleece and the stretch bounces back more than other cotton knits.

- slim fit or cropped sweatshirts fit zero body types. even supreme hoodies are a little too fitted,

- side gussets / panels tend to really slim up hoodies and I hate them

- acne makes some really amazing double layered hoodies

- hoods should cinch in around the neck to follow the natural lines of your head rather than have a huge neck opening

So, cameron, after all that:

who makes the perfect hoody?

for basic hoodies, i think the heavy hitters are champion, AA, and carhartt. should be noted that for all three of these, hoodies come in a dozen different flavors and they are not all equal. the generic AA hipster zip hoodie (white zip tape, shrinks like crazy, tiny hood, fitted body, ribbing that curls up after a wash) is shit but the indigo french terry and tri blend hoodies fit the right way and wash really well. it's really hard to go wrong with champion hoodies.

there are a million others worth mentioning but as with any other garment, it boils down to the details and what you want from it. i have hoodies from supreme and komakino that i'm very partial to. drkshdw hoodies come in an amazing slate/clay cotton which falls apart really gorgeously, his hoods are properly large, and the best part is that rick uses cotton zip tape which fades into train tracks with each wash.

i would love to see a hoodie with a structured and engineered hood. they all tend to be too small for me.

A medium merz sweat might work for you.

I have to definitely agree here, most of the want factor (at least for myself) of loopwheeled sweats stems from the heritage and exclusivity. In terms of hand feel, it takes a backseat to cashmere (begetting visual appeal), whilst in terms of functionality (who sweats in their sweatshirts anymore) and weight/drape, french terry can definitely compete. The loopwheel, whilst a contributing factor to the price due to the rarity and time consumption, must not overpower the fact that Strike Gold and Real McCoy's are producing fantastic quality sweats nonetheless. Just because they manufacture with loopwheeling machines does not mean that all of the good properties of the sweats are because of the process, some must be attributed to the fact that RM's and the SG are fantastic at what they do.

nn

I went to Self Edge last weekend and came in contact with loop wheel stuff for the first time, specifically a couple of Strike Gold crewnecks.

I feel like not enough credit is being given to the fabric. The hand feel of the interior is very soft, like the cotton/poly or full polyester of an athletic sweatshirt. In contrast, the exterior feels very sturdy and durable. It probably doesn't help that I was wearing an Archival sweat (lightweight terry) when I went there.

After handling them, I'm strongly considering picking one up. Maybe I haven't handled enough sweatshirts, but the main draw for me is the construction, quality, and feel of the inside rather than the heritage aspect. At $205, it's definitely pricey, but for <$150 on Rakuten, I think it seems pretty reasonable.

My only complaint is that the sizing is super weird.

- The sizing works for me since I'm small and have a disproportionately short torso. The boxiness is a little weird, but I don't mind it. The SA at Self Edge recommended a large, and it fit pretty well in the Indigo dyed crewneck (pre-shrunk). But I didn't try on any mediums, and I wonder if that would have worked better

(side note - that was also a great opportunity to use a regular comment instead of a rep comment!)