McQueen « CHRISTOPHELOIRON®

Wheat Jeans, Ranch Blouse and Speedways, Mister Freedom® Sportsman Catalog, Spring 2014

: MF® Ranch Blouse Pique ©2014

: Rinsed

: Results may vary

Ranch Blouse & Speedways: Piqué Bedford Cord
“The Sportsman” mfsc Spring 2014

Piqué fabrics are woven on dobby looms giving the finished textile its small geometrical repeat pattern designs.
The French word piqué refers to needle work, as in quilting.

Yes, yes. So it iz be-lieved

One of my favorite of the piqué family as always been the “Bedford Cord”, thought to have originated in New Bedford, Massachusetts, during the golden age of its textile industry, counting some 70 mills around 1920. 18 are still operating today.
Bedford cord fabric is characterized by vertical woven ridges on the face, and tiny ‘beehive’ pattern on the reverse.

In the late 1950’s off-white relaxed fit slacks made their way to the Ivy League scene, often featuring cinch-back or side straps.
By the mid-1960’s, slim light colored jeans had become quite popular with young adults, as often displayed in the ranks of 18 to 24 year-old recruits getting schooled in the Art of War before heading out to Vietnam.

On campuses, ‘Wheat jeans’ on the slim side had then out-fashioned the slightly darker and wider cut khaki chinos in the heart of many preps.
In Hollywood, the usual suspects seem to have adopted the ‘wheat jeans’ style early on, whether in five-pocket cuts, twills, cords or sateen, ‘Sta-Prest’ styles or chino patterns…
Our man James ‘Flint’ Coburn swore by them, on and off screen it seems. McQueen favored a clean ‘Sansabelt’ type, with concealed snap waist tab, part of the inspiration behind our Speedways jeans.
Most brands went full throttle on the craze, suggesting the matching jacket and pants, as in period HD Lee or Levi’s ads.

After a fierce meetings at Mister Freedom®, we unanimously decided the matching wheat jacket/pants thing was not necessarily a good idea this year either.
So we immediately added the Ranch Blouse and Speedways piqué set to the Sportsman catalog for Spring 2014.

As introduced with our Uncle Sam issue, the piqué Ranch Blouse features the embossed MF® brass buttons, replacing our previous ‘silver’ type.
The modified version of our original 2011 Speedway Jeans and ‘wheat’ Ranch Blouse come in a new Bedford cord fabric. The color we selected for this 10 Oz. Sportsman Edition piqué is slightly warmer (slightly more beige) than our original Speedway piqué ( slightly more grey). They still both appear off-white, referred to as ‘wheat’ by 1960’s marketing departments.

On Style: The boldest will have no fear in the challenging statement of the mighty Leisure Suit when worn as a set, but we do suggest self-control with the wheat-on-wheat sandwich. In most situations, mixing might be a better option. Although wheat jeans are easier to incorporate in one’s wardrobe than is commonly thought, they remain an ‘acquired taste’, so don’t force yourself if you don’t feel it.
We never recommend buying garments you won’t wear, nor do we guarantee success around the pool with purchase.

Wheat jeans, Derek Flint approved since 1966. Results may vary.

The Ranch Blouse and Sportsman Speedways are designed and manufactured in California by Mister Freedom®, in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.

RANCH BLOUSE, Piqué Bedford Cord Edition

PATTERN: An original mfsc pattern, influenced by early denim ‘trucker’ type jackets.

FABRIC: 10 Oz. off-white Piqué Bedford Cord, 100% cotton, milled in Japan.
Under collar and under pocket flap lining: New Old Stock woven plaid fabric, blue/red check, 100% cotton.

DETAILS:
* Modified collar pattern.
* ‘Vintage’ boxy but fit silhouette.
* Original MF® lower chest pocketing, tonal “M” stitching.
* Pleated front with MF® original ‘dart’ stitching.
* NOS woven plaid collar/pocket flap facing.
* Brass cast MF® branded rivet buttons.
* Buckle back, adjustable, riveted.
* Copper rivet reinforced, unmarked, leather washer back.
* Tonal 100% cotton stitching.
* Printed cotton label (from our Buckaroos.)
* Made in USA

SIZING/WASHING:
Although only offered un-washed the piqué fabric takes its full beauty after the first rinse/dry cycle. It gains in texture, with a nice crispy vintage feel. We recommend an original gentle cycle in cold water, and machine tumble dry. If the ensuing wrinkles bother you don’t let them.
WARNING: Some slight ‘crocking’ (color transfer) might happen during the first few washes, from the leather washers of the copper rivets, making somewhat of a ‘rust’ stain on the off-white piqué fabric. This is not permanent and will fade after further washing/drying cycles. DO NOT BOIL, as in the simple equation: (leather) + (boiling water) = soup.

For reasons familiar only to those well versed in crystal ball reading, our piqué Ranch Blouse fits a bit larger than the previous Lot.64 Ranch Blouse. JD and I went for a tight 36 in the piqué but wear a 38 in the denim Lot.64 version.
If you are in between sizes we recommend sizing down. If you do not like the shorter/cropped look of old trucker denim jackets however, staying with the same size will work as well.

Please refer to chart below for measurements.

Available Raw (unwashed) ONLY
Sizes
34 X-small
36 Small
38 Medium
40 Large
42 X-Large
Retail $359.95

SPORTSMAN SPEEDWAY, Piqué Bedford Cord

PATTERN: Original MFSC pattern. Slimmer silhouette (not skinny though)

FABRIC: 10 Oz. off-white Piqué Bedford Cord, 100% cotton, milled in Japan.

DETAILS:
* Extended tab waist band, double concealed snaps.
* No belt loops.
* Functional cinch back strap to adjust waist (up to 2 inches adjustment.)
* Lapseam chainstitch leg construction, both outside and inside seams.
* New Old Stock pocket bags: 100% cotton stripe blue/white twill.
* Zipper fly, brass “Gripper Zipper”.
* “M” stitched back pockets.
* Inside waistband Sportsman woven label.
* Selvedge tape red/white/blue tab on waistband.
* Tonal stitching, 100% cotton thread.
* Made in USA.

SIZING & SHRINKAGE:
Although only offered un-washed the piqué fabric takes its full beauty after the first rinse/dry cycle. It gains in texture, with a nice crispy vintage feel. We recommend an original gentle cycle in cold water, and line dry for a crispy vintage feel.
WARNING: Please note that some light crocking (bluish color transfer) will occur during the first wash cycles, due to the blue color of the striped pocket bags NOS fabric. This will fade with further washes and is not permanent. Using an electric/gas dryer instead of line-dry will increase the crocking slightly.

Minimal waist shrinkage with this pique fabric, shrinks mostly in length (about one inch)
I am a W32 in the Californian Lot.64 Blue Jeans and wear a Waist 32 in the Speedway, a bit cinched in the back to accommodate my girly figure. Both fits are somewhat similar.
The bottom hems are not chain-stitched, making shortening the jeans an easy alteration with a single needle machine. Measuring it right to your liking being the most challenging task.
My personal preference tends towards a slight ‘high water’/flood look.

Please refer to chart below for measurements.

Available Raw (unwashed) ONLY
Tagged Sizes
W28 × L33
W29 x L33
W30 × L33
W31 × L33
W32 × L33
W33 x L33
W34 × L33
W36 × L33
W38 × L33
Retail $279.95

Available soon from www.misterfreedom.com

Please call the store at 323-653-2014 or email sales@misterfreedom.com with any questions not addressed above.
Thank you sincerely for your support 🙂

The ‘Appaloosa’ Denim Shirt, Made in USA. ‘The Sportsman’ Fall 2013

The “APPALOOSA” Denim Shirt
mfsc Sportsman Fall 2013

The Appaloosa, the ‘spotted horse’, has always fascinated me as a kid. Indians rode them in the western movies, how cool is that.
Because Appaloosa horses were scarce where I grew up however, I settled for local alternatives.
Please note that there is absolutely no evidence of the above anecdote, due to its pre-smartphone era when meals and daily footwear choices went undocumented.
Oh, wait…

What does all this have to do with a denim shirt? Not much indeed. So. Take two.

A denim shirt was a wardrobe staple for many of the usual cool suspects back in the days, on or off set. Hud, Henry Thomas… you name ’em.

We have issued a few denim shirts in the past at Mister Freedom®. The “Utility Shirt” and “CPO Shirt, Liberty Issue” in our early Naval days, the “Prairie Shirt” in our Frontier days…
But we do not have one yet in our ‘The Sportsman’ catalog. So let’s introduce the “APPALOOSA” Denim Shirt, an addition for Fall 2013.

It’s moniker has been scientifically approached above, so we’re good. For the design, we have combined several details of vintage western and work shirts, trying to stay clear from the ‘traditional’ cowboy cut denim western yoke shirt, aka the Wrangler shirt, denim shirt ol’ timer.
As previously with our Sportsman printed flannel shirts, we shamelessly borrowed their painted metal snaps from 50’s Ranchcraft or Blue Bell shirts. Our front yoke is of a vintage ‘Roebuck’ type rather than the usual western arcuate style, its seam also locking the pocket flaps.
The Appaloosa also combines two stitching colors, yellow and orange, in what appears to be a random pattern. The idea here being to emulate old school work wear, during days when a pressed for time factory often used what was on hand to fill an order. That is fabric and thread used.
With workwear and sportswear manufacturing, consistency seems to be somewhat of a modern concept, considering the many examples of ‘craftsmanship funkiness’ seen in (real) vintage clothing. Unintentional mismatched fabric panels (different dye lots, sometimes different fabrics) or odd stitch lines are just a few challenging points to the ‘clothes were better made back then’ usual theory.

It might sound a bit silly to go the extra mile nowadays to ‘mimic’ the manufacturing mistakes of the past, but there is to me definitely beauty in flaws. 侘寂 some call it…

Along these lines of charming inconsistency, and because we know better than to make it simple, we have selected four different New Old Stock (NOS) rolls of 2×1 denim from our stock to get cut and sewn into Appaloosa shirts.
Similar in weight and appearance, all four denim have their own specifics and subtle differences:
* Lot A: Approx 9 Oz. Random ‘snowy’ spotted appearance. No, I don’t mean 80’s acid wash, that’s next year’s collection. Rather, a slub quality due to fluctuations of the weft spun yarn gage. Blackish dark navy, white selvedge with yellow line.
* Lot C: Approx 9 Oz. Bluish shade. White selvedge ID with red line.
* Lot D: Approx 8 Oz. Purplish sheen. White selvedge ID with double red line.
* Lot E: Similar to Lot C but solid white selvedge ID.

Now I know you have some important questions you want to ask:
1) What happened to LOT B? We’re looking for it.
2) Do they shrink the same? Pretty close.
3) What’s your favorite? A, C, D, E, in no particular order.

Designed and made in California, USA, by Mister Freedom®, in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.

SPECS:

PATTERN: An original mfsc pattern, inspired by vintage workwear and western shirting.

FABRIC:
Four options of New Old Stock 100% cotton selvedge 2 x 1 denim twill, with limited size availability for each.
* Lot A: About 9 Oz. Random ‘snowy’ spotted appearance. No, I don’t mean 80’s acid wash, that’s next year’s collection. Rather, a slub quality due to fluctuations of the weft spun yarn gage. Blackish dark navy, white selvedge with yellow line.
* Lot C: About 9 Oz. Bluer shade. White selvedge ID with red line.
* Lot D: About 8 Oz. Purple sheen. White selvedge ID with double red line.
* Lot E: Similar to Lot C but solid white selvedge ID.

Please note that, due to limited yardage of each NOS denim, we were not able to cut a full size scale in each Lot.

DETAILS:
* Slim ‘western shirt’ type silhouette and fit.
* Painted metal DOT snaps. The white paint will chip with age.
* Vintage ‘Roebuck’ type front yoke
* Western style back yoke.
* Two chest pockets, snap flaps, locked into yoke construction.
* Selvedge ID on button front facing panels.
* Double snap cuffs.
* Orange and yellow 100% cotton stitching combination.
* Double chainstitch construction with green color thread “Sportsman” inside signature.
* Selvedge ID side gussets, chainstitch run offs.
* Original mfsc “The Sportsman” woven rayon label.
* Made in USA

SIZING/WASHING:
All four denim options come RAW/Un-washed and will shrink to tagged size. We recommend an original 20-30mn cold soak, machine spin dry then line dry.
I wear a Medium in mfsc shirting and am ~~a tight Medium~~ a LARGE in the ‘Appaloosa’ denim shirt. I might have once been a medium, but life happens…
The Appaloosa shirt fits very snug, more ‘Hud’ than ‘Hip Hop’. It might not accommodate all body types, see measurements.
For the hardcore denim aficionados, wear the shirt briefly when still damp to shape it and set creases in, then hang back to fully dry. When using this method, the shirt will feel stiff when fully dried, due to the starch still in the fibers. This is normal/expected and the fabric will soften up with normal wear.
Please note that the demand/need for ‘soft’ denim garments led to the stone-wash plague of the 1980’s. Talk about creating a monster…

Subsequent washing when needed: Shirt turned inside out, hand wash or very gentle cycle with cold water and minimal environmentally friendly detergent. Line dry.

Please refer to sizing chart for raw/rinsed measurements (soaked/dried according to our recommended method).

Size Chart Lot A-C

Size Chart Lot D-E

Available RAW/Un-washed
Sizes S, M, L, XL, XXL
Retail $289.95

Soon available from our Los Angeles store and online from www.misterfreedom.com
Thank you for your support.

Mister Freedom® MFSC American Sportswear Fall 2011 (Part 2): Speedway Piqué Jeans

The second installment of Mister Freedom® x Sugar Cane “AMERICAN SPORTSWEAR” Collection is in: Introducing the SPEEDWAY pique, made in USA.

Often mistaken for chinos/khakis on those late 50’s~60’s off set photos of the Hollywood cool cats, here is Mister Freedom®’s interpretation of those ‘off white jeans’.
For an old school look, we don’t recommend the modern “stacking” effect at the ankle. Length can easily be shorten (by your favorite local tailor) since we used a single stitch for the bottom hem, not chainstitch.

SPECS:
PATTERN: Original MFSC pattern. Slimmer silhouette (NOT skinnies/girl friend’s jeans though…)
FABRIC: All cotton piqué (bedford cord), 10 Oz. Fabric milled in Japan.
Two colour option: Cream and Black
DETAILS:
* Double snap tab waist band, concealed snaps. No belt loops
* Functional cinch back strap to adjust waist (up to 2 1/2 inches adjustment)
* Double lapseam chainstitch leg construction (outer and inner seam.)
* New Old Stock pocket bags: 1960’s all cotton stripe ticking twill
* Zipper fly, brass “Gripper Zipper”
* “M” stitched back pockets
* 100% cotton tonal thread stitching
SIZING & SHRINKAGE:
Minimal waist shrinkage of this pique fabric, shrinks mostly in length (about one inch)
I am between a 31~32 and wear a Waist 32 in the Speedway, a bit cinched in the back. I have washed my speedways, regular cycle and machine dried them before original wear.
Measurements in chart below are to the best of our abilities, but vill vary according to rinse/drying method/subsequent wear… and whoever takes them!

Garment designed and manufactured in California by Mister Freedom®, in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.

Available RAW/unwashed
Colour: Cream or Black
Tagged Sizes 28×33, 29x33, 30×33, 31×33, 32×33, 33x33, 34×33, 36×33, 38×33
Retail $279.95

Call John or Jordan at (323) 653-2014 or mail john@misterfreedom.com or jordan@misterfreedom.com to get yours while they last. We ship internationally. We thank you for your support.