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[Bryan]

using my godly detective skills i found this video posted at 11:45 PM apparently

http://instagram.com/p/nKHJuTNrGf/

30 whole bodies "missing" reported. i feel like some of these guys aren't even gonna get anything when the morning comes with all those line jumpers

[maj]

All this first for obey tees. Smh.

[RycePooding]

Got a merino tee from Icebreaker. It's a great length but I REALLY dont want it to shrink at all. How can I prevent this? Handwash only?

[ramseames]

I washed mine in very shitty washers/dryers in asia for 2 months and i havent noticed that it shrunk at all.

[bobo77]

Any tips for deal with tux rental people for prom? Any common issues? Any shit they'll try to pull on me that would go past my dad? Thanks.

[can-]

if u wash or dry icebreaker hot it will shrink a ton. just wash gentle and cold and it's fine

[alby]

[arcticsound]

Need some more casual button-ups for work. Can anyone recommend brands and designers that cut very slim shirts with long arms? For reference, All Saints XS fits me perfectly (want better quality though).

[tomsfood]

how do I figure out what size I am in supreme bucket hats? want the loro piana one but I don't know whether to get s/m or m/l?

[RycePooding]

this might be really dumb but can i dye something in coffee? I've heard of it for tea, but I spill so much coffee on my clothing that I really like the idea of dying it coffee as a symbolic gesture >:-D

[CleanThug]

Why is Wtaps ss14 lookbook vastly different than the brand image I have imagined and that the clothes are conveying. Are all their lookbooks like this? I can expand if you don't understand what I'm trying to say.

[RycePooding]

expand plz.

[nick]

[CleanThug]

Alright here is the lookbook as a

And here is the Wtaps section on

When I look at the lookbook I see young "civilian" types wearing these pieces in very unassuming ways. Some of this looks like it could even be Uniqlo.

When I think of wtaps and look at iconic pieces it looks like Japanese Heritage type stuff with a military flair. Think the Jungle Shirt,BDU's,etc.

Is my image of Wtaps flawed or do they style this was purposely to attract the general public?

Help me understand.

[maj]

taps for the last through years (at least the last 4 lookbooks) has pushed the civilian side of american vietnam era more than the military side although they still make the pieces they're known for. when i see the newer stuff it reminds me of skaters hanging out in shitty beach towns skating around with long hair but this is a combination of me seeing tetsu cruise around on skateboards and watching zboys of dogtown. it's different from the "hayday" of early 2000 taps but it still feels true to the brands ideals albeit in a different, there is probably an argument for a changing of trends in there somewhere.after speaking to sa's in the hideout i can speculate that it doesn't sell very well at least the pricer bits so could make the assumption the switch was accredited somewhat by that to accommodate for western markets, combined with tetsu getting older and "boring" like most designers do, but as i say that's me reading too much into my tea leaves.

if you speak to someone like milspacca he'll tell you taps fell off the wagon in the early 2000's and insists on a difference between w)taps and WTAPS as we know it today to the point they're two different brands. i'm inclined to agree with this because the pictures of people who wear wtaps circa 2010 onwards dress totally different from those circa 2002, the pieces, fits, and general direction are completely different although linked theme wise.

http://imgur.com/a/jiHAs

this is what i think of when i read about early taps, combined with the fuckton of scans milspex is sitting on he lets slip occasionally

and this is what i think when i hear present day

http://instagram.com/wtaps_dailypics

both are fantastic but different reasons to me.

that said i'm new compared to how long they've been around and havn't done much indepth research so could be entirely off base could probably add in a bit and tell me if i'm off track but this is how i see the brand.

[maj]

yo wont get much from milspex he'll just call everything "gay" and rant about how his muji mini fridge isn't allowed into a 7/11, he's a strange character known for racist/homophobic comments which he insists are from a "loving" direction. he posts on fuk often but you're better off just observing him than trying to get a conversation going, that said all they do on fuk is call him a spacca for the 6 page rebuttals and often funny responses and complimented my use of milsurp over buying the wtaps version (to which he informed me about his standard issue usa fireproof tees he bought).

this said i fucking love his fits, and he has mad knowledge of early 90's/00's Japanese/american culture.

[ramseames]

Only thing I'll add is they do tend to bring back old pieces, like they redid the jungle stocks in DPM this season and those were pretty old school.

But yeah, +1 for the idea that the civilian/discharged vet stuff is more the focus the past few seasons.

[ramseames]

Also maj I'm not surprised hideout didn't sell much of it lol, everything i heard about that place was that the BnM shop was a bit shite, and their online stock was by no means priced competitively. Still a shame they went under of course. Haven does well with it but that's modern taps so not really the same.

[maj]

hideout was a chill store but london wasn't the place for it, what they stocked was very much niche bits for collectors/hobbyists from hype brands and then some randie mid tier euro brands.

also lol tier pricing so the hobbyists just came in, tried on, then shopped on rak.

[ramseames]

Could anywhere in the uk sustain that kind of store? (also do you get charged VAT on stuff purchased from overseas???)

PPl that do that are dregs, fuckin hate that.

[maj]

don't think it can tbf, talking to the people in lncc the same time as hideout they said they stopped stocking a while ago for the same reason that no one buys it.

yeah we do but it can be avoided if the person on the other end marks as gift but if it gets pulled up randomly you'll be slapped with 20% plus a "handling fee" which all together makes it a bit pointless. shopping on rak only saves me a tenner on most bits from them bar the big stuff and it's not worth giving up hassle free returns from end for. only downside is there is a poop selection but occasionally fimament has some nicer bits like that leopard shell last year, nearly 9 tonnes tho!

i'm all for trying on instore and buying online if it's a brand flagship as they're less retail stores more advertisements/ promotional space, but for tiny boutiques if i like the people and they provide for a niche i'm all for paying a bit of mark up if they give some nice customer service to make it worth while.

[ramseames]

Damn shame.

Mmk. So you'll still get hit with it for most stuff from rak then. That blows


Yeah trying on airism tees then buying them on your phone on the train ride home is a victimless crime. Same for me with haven, although the more i look at it with taps they're debatably the cheap option.

[chan0]

What's allsaints quality like? Worth the money?

[bels]

People who want to import stuff from Japan normally use a proxy. Course then you pay a proxy fee.

Basically importing from Japan is a bit of a mug's game.

Honestly in England it feels like you should just try and stick to euro if not UK brands for the sake of your own sanity.

[bels]

Why the neg starfox? In talking about the UK here not the us. Paying vat on top of everything is brutal.

I'm sure it's more reasonable to do in the us or so many people wouldn't be doing it.

[starfox64]

[maj]

Not even just vat, handling fee can be up to 13%. Unless you have mega passion for the brand or are dealing with £500+ purchases on the reg it's just not worth the savings as they're marginal compared to convenience. Especially when there are so many options euro side and stockists expanding all the time, as soon as a brand reaches minor notoriety one of the 10 popular boutiques will have it. Time and convenience at least to me is worth more than a £20 or so saving at this time.

Only real plus of rak is second hand prices on 10 year old collections .

[starfox64]

[nick]

from a US perspective - I like rakuten/yahoo jp mostly because the collection of used (typically barely) clothing is so expansive and can be really (comparatively) affordable - even with shipping. I do agree it's a bit silly to go through it all to save $40 on some RMC sweatshirt. however the US based 'internet clothing consignment' market does seem to be growing. so that's neat.

edit: reading over the conversation again, offering a 'US perspective' is kind of pointless, sry bout dat

[bels]

I don't know anyone importing Rak stuff into the UK except VI$$$VIM ballers on FUK. Only person I can think of who might have done it is Germ. I admittedly haven't ever actually tried because the prices on anything I want are high enough without considering shipping/proxy/VAT.

It's probably cheaper than buying Vis off End or whatever and if you want to do it then fine but it seems like an incredible ball ache to me. That said I think importing pretty much anything is a ballache compared to how easy it is if you buy locally. (Stores in England are bound by law to provide 7 day money back refunds)