ACL Endorses | Workers Blog & Your Old Pal Jim

posted by Michael Williams

The Japanese outfit Workers is known for producing some of the ultimate reproduction of classic American work wear. The company came to my attention last year and I have been keeping an eye on it ever since. Recently, that voyeurism became much easier with the launch of the Workers blog. While I can’t read Japanese (and don’t bother translating it), I do like to follow the links and it is a good place to get a better look at the Workers goods. It is sort of like Free & Easy, but I don’t have to trek all the way up to Kinokuniya to get a copy.

Another recent discovery (and something that is linked on the Workers blog) is the old-timey obsessed site Your Old Pal Jim. I had a chance to meet the man behind the blog, Mr. Jim Christensen at The Pop Up Flea and was impressed with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things work wear, denim, garment making and seemingly everything in between. I was really impressed with Jim’s level of interest in this sort of thing and humbled by his command of the topic.

Men cutting fabric at a Manhattan factory from Your Old Pal Jim.
cloth+cutter+3
An engineer’s notebook from 1899 via York Old Pal Jim.

sweet,+orr+&+co.+5

A Workers shirt.

workers

Factory illustration from the Workers blog.

workers2

Comments on “ACL Endorses | Workers Blog & Your Old Pal Jim”

    Chris on July 29, 2009 8:54 AM:

    Thanks for this MW. Both of these guys truly deserve the accolades.

    mark on July 29, 2009 10:16 AM:

    If you use babel fish, there is an area where you can copy and paste the workers blog address and choose translation from japanese to english and it will translate the pages for you.

    Andy on July 29, 2009 10:34 AM:

    Jim knows. He made an incredible hat for my shop at Kiosk. Speaking of, there are a couple Workers aprons still available.

    Michael Williams on July 29, 2009 10:35 AM:

    Shameless Beach!

    Andy on July 29, 2009 10:42 AM:

    Agreed.

    (three aprons left…)

    Andrew on July 29, 2009 1:11 PM:

    Also can’t understand a word on the Japanese blog, but there are some great visuals.

    Chris on July 29, 2009 1:59 PM:

    Speaking of the Workers/Reference Library denim shop apron I can fully attest to the quality and design. I think Jim and Andy both had input on this. Here is Kirk wearing his at the Pop-Up Flea. http://smaller.in/esu

    Amit on July 29, 2009 3:32 PM:

    Damnit. Watch the next batch of workers shirts get sold out right away. Grr.

    Justin on July 29, 2009 9:58 PM:

    It’s times like these that I appreciate being bilingual in English and Japanese. That is some great stuff!

    singingwater on July 29, 2009 11:40 PM:

    about 10 years ago or more, Smith and Hawken was making some wonderfully styled and durable clothing, including japanese farmers pants. I really miss their clothing line. It never wore out,

    Isaac Buie on August 1, 2009 11:56 AM:

    The “Workers” site is perfect…Understated and high quality. Thanks.

Comments are closed.