Denim. Why is it funny? Is it because it's so ubiquitous or is there something comedic inherent to its nature that makes you laugh when you see it fashioned into a couch or boots or sunglasses? We attempt to answer this and other deep questions, like "Are the provisions in the new FABRIC Act proposed by US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand going to be enough to bring back American manufacturing jobs?" and "Should Albert soak his deadstock 501s?" All that and more above.

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David here, I wasn't here for this episode and I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm sure it's great and it's about everything the notes claim:

Etc. etc., I can't wait for both of us to listen to it. Also, join Heddels+ and shop at the Heddels Shop!

Listen to the full episode on Heddels+:

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When you get on a plane, are you dressing for yourself? For your fellow passengers? Or for a certain Washington Post op-ed writer? We dive into the airplane dress code debate and the validity of all dress codes in general.

We also discuss the multitude of items in the Wachowski's prop auction and our picks for best general releases, including:

Send us your picks for the best general releases at [email protected].

It may very well be a bucket that drains your bank account this spring. We're talking hats of course, the pocketable fabric cap that looks like it's ready to peak this summer season. We look back on its origins in the Irish countryside, adoption by the military, and eventually taking its place in mainstream pop culture. We also have a few picks to put on your bucket list:

Plus we discuss the horrifying consumerism of one Orange County brand director.

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Hear the full episode on Heddels+:

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Cat's out of the bag! I (David) am planning an extensive six month trip through Europe and Asia for the latter half of this year. I'm going to ride as many trains and eat as many weird things as I possibly can (more on this to come in future articles), but how does one pack for being continuously mobile across 30+ countries, climates, and time zones? Reed and Albert help me sort through the good, bad, and ugly that will and won't fit into my bag.

We also discuss the origins of the returning bell bottom trend and the bell.b0ys of Tiktok leading the vanguard.

On the mean streets of San Francisco, one garment is ready to tear the entire city apart:  the Patagonia fleece vest. What you wear is often the first thing you can say to the world, and in the Bay, the vest is an extremely loaded statement. We get into Bobby Allyn's NPR piece about the agony and the ecstasy of going vested in San Francisco.

We also discuss the following:

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Hear the full episode on Heddels+:

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How old were you when you had your first job? Hopefully it was older than what's showing on Nike's interactive production map, where the average age of some country's factories is listed at 15. Have a look at their interactive map. [UPDATE 4/7/22: Nike has addressed what they're calling a "data error" and the information on the map has changed since recording and no countries currently list an average age below 20.]

We also dive into our Spring/Summer trend predictions, so buy up your alt-Crocs models early!

When buying a new product these days, the search often starts (and ends) with Google. But how does Google tell you what to buy and where to go? And how are publishers telling Google what to tell you? The world of ecommerce has become more and more concentrated around a single source and we explore what that means when trying to buy something like a pair of sneakers or a toaster.

We also discuss the state of retail and what it's like to work on a sales floor these days with ever shifting customer expectations.

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Listen to the full episode on Heddels+:

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It's been a minute since we've gone deep on product so we thought we could catch up and catch up in style with a whole episode devoted to our product picks and misses (with a short aside on Victorian era crotchless underpants). We get into the following:

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A few weeks ago we had a discussion about Burberry’s use of Wehrmacht-esque Nazi camoflauge patterns in their winter collection and that put me back in touch with Charles McFarlane, who is one of the most well informed individuals I know on all things military uniforms. Charles is a second-year masters student in Costume Studies at NYU, whose research focuses on the intersection of military uniforms and popular fashion and the soldier as a consumer of fashion. He has also been a contributor at GQ, Put This On, Gear Patrol, Heddels, and his own substack Combat Threads.

We had the opportunity to discuss the origins of camo, some of the patterns you'd most likely want to avoid, and how to get a start in collecting and wearing military clothing in your wardrobe.

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