Shadows on the Wall: Rogue Territory Stealth Stantons

There are some brands I'm just drawn to. I've been this way my whole life. I suppose it stems from living inside my own head. As an only child, I spent several hours playing with Lego, designing, building, creating what I drew with my mind's eye. The notion of a platonic ideal, not understood as such by my child brain, was nevertheless the driving force behind such creations. Several components would work in concert, synthesizing a multitude of influences, yielding something which look like it's influences, but be it's own unique thing. I'd watch Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Airwolf, Blue Thunder, Firefox - if it flew or went into space, I'd labor over creating some new vessel that was at once derived from, but not present in, those universes.

Years later, as an adult, I find these same processes driving my eye toward clothing and accessories. I love clothes that are classics and look timeless, but at the same time, possess their own characteristics to make them their own interpretation, their own twist, but rooted in that same desire to reach for a Platonic ideal.

Rogue Territory is one in a long line of premium menswear companies who offer their own spin on classic jeans, jackets, shirts, and pants. What I particularly like about their jeans are two things - the fit, and the details. I purchased a pair of their stealth Stantons - a classic slim-straight silhouette, constructed in LA - in a sturdy, "murdered out" flat black (black warp/weft) selvedge denim from the Nihon Menpu mills in Japan.  Unlike some black denim, these never started out shiny black, they were always an inky flat, abyss. The faint scent of sulfur (sulfur being used to dye the jeans) lingering on the finished product, only added to the menace. At 15 oz, the fabric has some real heft, and character. Before long the scent and stiffness dissipate yielding to your form, and becoming yours. These are far and away my favorite jeans these past 9 months. To my mind, as black denim, they are almost perfect: only the white inseam and button fly lining breaks the mood of these stealth jeans.

The photos below are of my pair - get your own pair, and put your own spin on them.