Evolution:
Mister Freedom® RANCH BLOUSE “Randall”, natural veg-tan cowhide leather
&
CAMPUS BLOUSE “MD”, 16 Oz. “Midnight” denim.
Made in USA
Evolution:
Mister Freedom® CALIFORNIAN Lot64 OG23, NOS Cone Mills 12.75 Oz. organic selvedge denim. The MF® Californian LOT64 OG23 blue jeans, “NOS Cone Mills organic denim” edition, are designed and manufactured in California by Mister Freedom®, in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co. SPECS: FABRIC: Pocketing: Fancy NOS dobby stripe woven fabric, subtle combo of grayish blue and gold stripes on an off-white background, 100% cotton. Probable Italian mill origin. DETAILS: SIZING/FIT:
These Lot64 OG23 are considered true-to-size, with somewhat of a generous fit. CARE: Available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and fine retailers around the World. Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom “SNIPES” Shirt, indigo warp/white weft Herringbone Twill (HBT) “denim” The pattern of the MF® SNIPES is inspired by the earliest model of US Gov-issued uniform shirt in a full button-front design, a departure from earlier 1/2 button-front pullover styles. Nomenclated as Specs “No. 8-26C Shirt, Flannel, Olive-Drab, Coat Style” by the Quartermaster Corps, the garment was introduced sometime in 1933 and issued to US Army and Air Corps personnel and FDR’s CCC enrollees alike. This new uniform shirt pattern was deemed “Coat Style”, marking a practical departure from its predecessor, the mustard color pullover wool shirt commonly associated with WW1 Doughboys. The overall design was borrowed from civilian workwear, back when utilitarian garment-making skills bordered on fancy tailoring prowess. This is definitely an intricate pattern by modern utilitarian clothing standards, Dickies and the likes. Besides the full six-button front placket improvement, the characteristics of the early 8-26C shirt included a one-piece unstructured collar (no collar band), a singular style of elbow reinforcement patch, and two large functional chest pockets, each with a pen compartment. Remember pens? The Mister Freedom® SNIPES retains all of that military design DNA, and we only decided to get creative with our choices of fabrics, a departure from the original US Army OD wool blend issue. Blurring the lines between vintage US Navy work shirts and early US Army shirts, with the usual Mister Freedom® might-have-been design approach, we went for classic navy blue urea plastic buttons and white contrast stitching, old-school naval chambray shirt style. The term “snipes” refers to USN enlisted personnel working in the engine room, the “sailors that sail below”, aka “Black Gang” for their grease-covered blues and salty dixie cup covers. See Machinist’s Mate Jake Holman’s dungarees for a Hollywood rendition. The MF® SNIPES Shirt is designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan by Sugar Cane Co. FABRIC: SIZING/FIT:
At 5.7’ ~145 lbs, I opted for a SMALL for a trim uniform-like fit. Please refer to sizing chart for approximate raw/soaked measurements. Soaked = 30mn cold soak, spin dry and line dry. CARE: Available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and fine retailers around the World. Christophe Loiron ![]() Mister Freedom® “Frogsville x Saigon Classified” line-up ©2023 (photo featuring Jason Hardy’s MAC V SOG Vol.3 book) ![]() Mister Freedom® “Frogsville x Saigon Classified” line-up ©2023 (photo featuring Jason Hardy’s MAC V SOG Vol.3 book) ![]() Mister Freedom® “Frogsville x Saigon Classified” line-up ©2023 (photo featuring Jason Hardy’s MAC V SOG Vol.3 book) Mister Freedom® BOONIE Hat, Stingy brim,”French Lizard” TAP47 camo. Our Boonie hat is inspired by a vintage military “bob” (as the French call this type of soft fabric bucket hats), a specimen custom-cut from TAP47 camo, dated 195?, locally-made in Indochina or Algeria at the time. Introduced with the MF® 1-0 Smock, our Lizard (or Lezard) camo fabric shell is a nod to 1950s French TAP (Troupes Aéroportées.) The disruptive pattern, printed on 100% cotton canvas fabric, is an mfsc interpretation of the iconic French TAP47 “Lizard” camouflage (aka “Lézzard” or “Léopard” as the French confusingly refer to it), the fabric of choice for French Paratroopers (TAP) during the 1950s Algerian War. We modified the design of that 50s French bush hat to combine it with the “stingy” brim boonie hat styles favored by US Special Forces, LRRPs, Mike Force, SOG Team members… during the Vietnam conflict. Some background on the initial 1967 “HAT, SUN, HOT WEATHER” US military design was discussed here. The term “stingy” is of probable civilian origin, as it also applies to classic menswear pork-pie hats, see 1960s Jamaican “Rudeboy” style for instance, Derrick Morgan taking it next level before Mods adopted it. In hat parlance, “stingy” usually refers to a narrow brim of less than two inches. In US military lingo, a “stingy” brim boonie (as worn in the boondocks, rather than “back in the world”) was considered more practical by elite teams infiltrated in the bush, allowing better peripheral vision and less obtrusive when taking aim. Originals were either regulation ERDL wide-brimmed bush hats chopped-off by the individual, or shorter brim covers custom-made by local tailors from all kinds of fabrics. In Saigon Tu-Do Street fashion, we trimmed the brim of our vintage French bob to 1 ½ inch (that’s reaaaally stingy!), and reduced the crown height to 2 ¾ inches for that mean MF low profile, and BA Project Delta Recon swag, away from the more touristy vibe of contemporary bucket hats.
Our Boonie hat features metal ventilation mesh screen eyelets, similar to the type found on the M-1966 Jungle Boot. We lined the crown with lowland ERDL ripstop fabric, for that in-country made vibe, recycling/using whatever fabric was at hand. The rows of parallel stitching on the brim serve as stiffening it. The “foliage ring” (hatband where branches or pieces of fabric were inserted for concealment in the field) won’t probably see much use, but it’s there, for those with a few vintage M67 grenade pins laying around the house. The MF® BOONIE Hat “Stingy” is designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co. SPECS: PATTERN: SIZING/FIT: We recommend the following simple initial process for the hat to shrink to tagged size.
CARE: Available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and fine retailers around the World. Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom® SWABBIES Modified, 100% cotton khaki combo HBT. The Mister Freedom® SWABBIES were initially released as full-legged bell-bottom denim trousers, sometime in 2020. The inspiration came from a rare pair of 1940’s-50’s private-purchase naval dungarees from the “Portlite Uniform” maker. If those utility blues conformed to the general silhouette and specs of traditional US Navy-issued denim dungarees, they featured really fancy tailoring and intricate pattern work for a pair of mere work trousers. The apparently-inconspicuous two front pockets are actually a very clever combination of two types of pocket patterns, slash and patch, a construction tour-de-force on a wrap leg that only makes sense when studying the inside of the pants. These original 2020 MF® SWABBIES featured authentic 1940’s-style navy bells (11 inches!) and a traditional high-waisted cut. These 2023 SWABBIES Modified (Mod) are a straight leg version of the same work pants pattern, bye-bye bells. The Swabbies Mod are issued in a dry 100% cotton HBT fabric, 9 Oz., same grade as our Raiders Fatigues, but in a khaki greenish-brown x beige color combo. Khaki HBT makes for the main fabric, with beige HBT accents on belt loops/one rear pocket/one front pocket facing and button fly facing. The contrast will tone down with normal wear/wash routine. This not-so subtle color contrast is a reference to wartime crunch productions, when government-contracted manufacturers pumping out utilities and dungarees had to be less regarding with QC. Quartermaster inspections were also more lenient. The rear patch pockets of the swabbies are cut on a different bias (horizontal warp) than the legs, a feature of the original denim version. The modified straight leg may be a little more wearer-friendly than the original navy bells for the less adventurous, although I really enjoy wearing mine around, and love the way that denim evolves with some wear. Note that the leg of the Swabbies Mod is less full than that of the Raiders‘. The mfsc SWABBIES Modified are designed in California by Mister Freedom®, and manufactured in Japan in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co. SPECS: SIZING:
I (5’7 ~145Lbs) went with W31 in the SWABBIES Mod. The W30 fit me better at the waist but I liked the slightly roomier leg silhouette of the W31, subjectively. For ref, I had opted for a W31 in the Snow Denim Swabbies, for a fitted top block, comfortable thighs and period bell-bottoms, and went with a W30 in the HBT Cut-Offs version. CARE: Available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and fine retailers around the World. Christophe Loiron |