Heddels Blowout

For the past decade or so, there has been one white whale (or rather a pod of white whales) among raw denim fanatics, whose course has been followed with great interest since they left their home in North Carolina to move to Louisiana and now they have relocated again to Georgia.
I am of course referring to the Draper X-3 shuttle looms, the forebearers of American selvedge denim from the late great Cone Mills White Oak plant in Greensboro. I got to speak with Bill Rogers, the president and CEO of their new home at Mount Vernon Mills, where the mills are again operational and expected to ship their first rolls of selvedge denim in just a matter of weeks.
We discussed the history of American milling, why it’s still important to make fabric here, and why Mount Vernon has what it takes to keep these looms running well into the future. So keep listening to hear about the next chapter of American selvedge denim.

Welcome to Heddels Blowout. The show where we explore one thing, from watch caps to flip flops, and tell you all about:
Why it’s important

Where it came from

How it’s made

Who’s making them today

How to take care of it

And, the real reason you’re here, your ears were cold because your hat is rolled up and you needed to put on some headphones.

That’s right, we’re talking about watch caps today.
The knit cap. The skullcap. The beanie. The toque. Whatever the name you choose, tracking down the history of this now-ubiquitous piece of headgear may prove frustrating. Every cold part of the world that needed to keep their ears and head warm while at work and play invented some variant of the watch cap.
The history may not be straightforward, but everyone knows the end of this story. This cap becomes one of the most worn and frequently lost accessories in the modern wardrobe. In my younger days, I would lose at least one per season to a dive bar vinyl booth. 
So warm up and dig into this week’s obsession over the watch cap.
If you liked what you’ve been hearing, please let us and other people know with a review
Our email address is [email protected] and we also have our discord running so you can bother me directly if you like!
https://discord.gg/GA978xdP

That’s right, today we’re talking about arguably the most well known name in performance fabrics - GORE-TEX.
Most of the time, consumers aren’t aware of the upstream material manufacturers behind the clothes they wear but Gore-Tex is one of the few that’s broken through to wide recognition. You see that black and yellow tag on a parka, pair of boots, or a hat and you know it means business.
But what kind of business is that exactly? Gore-Tex purports to be both breathable and waterproof at the same time but how does it do that? Is it successful? And did the company behind it knowingly poison its employees and the surrounding community?
Listen on for all those answers and more as we get into all the gory details.

That’s right, today is a little bit different. I’m not here to talk about an item but a concept, tariffs!
The big T-word that has been taking up so much airtime over the last year as the returning American president has made it a cornerstone of his new administration and it’s probably having an impact on how you get your sweet fix of denim and leather.
I kinda didn’t want to do this one, but we just got a ruling that these tariffs are indeed illegal by our completely legitimate supreme court and in response, Trump announced that they’re staying and the global rate just got bumped up to ten and then fifteen percent, which will affect the cost of pretty much everything.
So strap in as we walk through the history and future implications of slapping a tax on everything that comes into the country, then removing it, then putting it back on, then removing it, etc. etc. and how it’s drastically affecting the retailers and makers of your favorite brands.

Most of us can’t even hear the word “cardigan” without picturing Mr. Rogers coming home to exchange his suit jacket and dress shoes for one of his zip-up cardigans and a pair of sneakers. Most authors that write histories of this favorite casual sweater act stunned that Mr. Rogers favorite item of clothing was invented by the military. But for those of us better-versed in menswear history, it’s no surprise that the cardigan was a military invention, because… well, most pieces of men’s clothing wouldn’t exist today if not for their military application.
The far more interesting angle in the cardigan story is not that the unassuming sweater gained fame for its role in one of the most disastrous cavalry charges of all time, but its position in women’s fashion. It was Coco Chanel who, was probably a Nazi collaborator, but it’s pretty clear she helped bring the cardigan to the masses and it was women who made cardigans cool.
Brands mentioned:
Inverallan Knitters (also at Clutch Cafe)
Dehen 1920
Beams Plus
Drakes
J.Press
If you liked what you’ve been hearing, please let us and other people know with a review

Our email address is [email protected] and we also have our discord running so you can bother me directly if you like!
https://discord.gg/GA978xdP

Today’s episode featured writing from Albert Muzquiz in “From Cavalry to Coco Chanel: The Cardigan Unbuttoned” on Heddels.com and the production talents of Sean Thornton