Mister Freedom® MFSC ‘BUCKAROOS’ Waist Overalls, made in USA.
‘Men of the Frontier’ Collection, Fall 2012
Introducing our humble contribution to the crowded World of blue jeans this season, the 6th installment of our ongoing “Men of the Frontier” saga, the Mister Freedom® x Sugar Cane MFSC “BUCKAROOS” Waist Overalls.
The term ‘buckaroo’ has its commonly agreed on origin in the late 1800s days of the American Frontier, when Spanish settlers were heard calling cowboys and ranch hands vaqueros. For those not familiar with the Spanish language, the anglicized version and phonetic spelling caught on.
As some of you might have noticed on the original artwork of our previous Spring ‘Men of the Frontier’ boxes, we have come up with a ‘new’ back cinch strap pattern. This one was not lifted from any vintage sample, it just came out of the drawing table and trial & error prototype making in our studio.
(Someone did mention having seen a similar pattern on a vintage catalog that I’m not aware of. That wouldn’t be surprising as nihil novi sub sole seems to apply to clothing design.)
We matched our original back yoke/strap construction with a ‘western’ type front pockets pattern. The folded flap that could button up to the pocket yoke came handy, when horseback riding or sitting on a bouncy old truck bench seat, to prevent the content of pockets from spilling out. There are many examples of this type of front pocket construction on western slacks, although it is uncommon on denim dungarees besides a rare iconic model made by HeadLight in the 30’s~40’s. Check out below this awesome kids pair of blue jeans from our vault, and that shot of Gary Cooper, ever so dapper, wearing a western patterned pair of slacks (photo ©LIFE)
The silhouette of our Buckaroos is similar to that of our Californian Blue Jeans Lot54 and Lot44, with a very slightly narrower bottom part of the leg. As always, those blue jeans are NO skinnies, as we leave that desirable look to other jeans makers. The silhouette references can be seen on vintage cow puncher and vaqueros imagery from the fascinating photographic works of Arthur Rothstein, Russell Lee and other FSA appointed documentalists.
(below photos courtesy of Library of Congress)
Our Buckaroos blue jeans are not cut from a classic ‘five pocket’ typical pattern, since we thought that cow had been milked and needed some rest for now.
We have chosen to use two types of New Old Stock American milled denim, found in a local dusty warehouse, making the production of the Buckaroos limited to small batches. The two different selvedge denim twills are referred to as B2 and B5.
The labeling story behind the Buckaroos double branding comes from a Ranch foreman purchasing his wranglers their denim jeans from the local maker. The jeans were then identified as Ranch property by stitching a branded leather label on top of the maker’s patch…
Don’t look that story up as I made it up, but here is a little homemade clip of the fun branding process, if you are bored to death.
Designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in California, USA in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.
PHOTOGRAPHY NOTES: The photos above are a mix of buckaroos in RAW condition (that’s how they come), one rinse, and my personal worn pair (on and off for about 3-4 months, not for sale.)
The featured photo is a ‘making of’ teaser of a shoot directed by talented photographer Matt Hind, from the mighty fine MEN’S FILE publication. Don’t miss Issue 08, a special on denim & workwear, coming out in January 2013, with the REAL photos of that session…
Additionally, in this month’s CLUTCH Magazine (another fine new publication, from the Editor of the Japanese legendary LIGHTNING Magazine, Mr. Atsushi Matsushima), the buckaroos are featured, motion picture style! Spaghetti Western meets Manga.
And now, the long overdue…
SPECS:
PATTERN: An original MFSC pattern, inspired by western slacks, vintage denim dungarees and old imagery.
FABRIC:
Two options of raw New Old Stock American milled denim twill, indigo dyed, 3×1, selvedge.
B2: Dark indigo dyed selvedge denim, about 12+ Oz. Sanforized. Somewhat of a 1950’s feel to it.
B5: Indigo dyed selvedge denim, about 11 Oz. Width shrinkage from 3 to 5%. Lighter in weight than B2, with an early work wear fabric type feel.
Pocket lining: 100% cotton NOS woven plaid twill, indigo/white (two similar types, shown in above photo gallery)
DETAILS:
* ‘Old West’ silhouette, revisited.
* Original front pocket with folding buttoned flap. Reinforcement un-marked copper riveting.
* Original MFSC upper curved cinch back strap, sandwiched in the back yoke, riveted.
* Wider rear belt loops, to fit your concha belt.
* Metal donut crest buttons, ‘old stock’ finish.
* Concealed rivets on back pockets with original “M” stitch and slightly curved opening.
* Original double labeling. One printed cloth label with original artwork mounted during construction, partially superimposed by a leather patch with “MF” hot branding.
* All 100% cotton color thread. We are using an original MFSC combination of 12 types of gauge/color thread per pair. Main colors are Orange/Yellow/White, non colorfast.
* All cotton New Old Stock woven plaid pocket bags.
PACKAGING: Sturdy cardboard box with MF® original ‘finer than frog hair’ artwork. Please re-use.
SIZING/SHRINKAGE:
Both denim options come raw/unwashed and will shrink to approximately the same proportions. Both fabrics will shrink from approximately 1% to 5%, depending on the specific lot number of the milled batch. Variations are beyond our control and inherent to shuttle loom machinery inconsistency, and to the ‘risky biz’ of using (often un-labeled) NOS denim.
Stamped sizes on the cloth patch are the POST RINSE/DRY measurements.
We recommend an original cold soak, no agitation, spin dry and line dry.
See chart bellow for approximate measurements.
(Chart soon)
Available RAW/unwashed (again, the photos of the used jeans above are just for reference, and NOT how they will come)
SIZES: (= marked and post shrink) Waist x Length
28 x 32
29 x 32
30 x 32
31 x 32
32 x 34
33 x 34
34 x 34
36 x 34
38 x 34
Retail $299.95
Call 323-653-2014 or mail sales@misterfreedom.com to get yours while they last. We ship internationally to select Countries. Señoras y Caballeros, thank you for the support, always.