 French pop singer Antoine showing us how it’s done, circumnavigating solo circa 1975. Oh yeah. (Courtesy www.antoine.tv)
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Bosco Nep Denim
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Bosco Hydrone Blue
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Bosco Pants
Hydrone Blue and Nep Denim
Skipper Spring 2016
In its French maritime acception, the term bosco refers to a seamanship speciality. I don’t exactly recall what those we called bosco did on board… but definitely more than I did. Technically there is only one bosco on board in the Marine Nationale, but I remember the name being applied to a few people, all of them at their busiest during the ship maneuvers. In English, the ‘top’ bosco might translate to boatswain, senior crewman, a ‘buffer’ between sailors and the Captain. Anyways, I’m no Patrick O’Brian, you’re better off referring to a Bluejacket’s manual.
In our case, the term bosco is a stretched-out reference to mighty navigator Eric Tabarly…
With a stint in Indochine in 1954 and a subsequent career as a French Naval Officer, Tabarly won instant fame by showing-up unexpectedly early at the finish line of the 1964 edition of the Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race. Aboard his custom built wooden ketch Pen-Duick II, a game-changing revolutionary vessel in the world of yacht racing, he had crossed the Atlantic in 27 days, 3 hours and 56 minutes. The victory of this 32 year-old unknown sailor astounded a previously mildly-interested French audience, giving Tabarly hero status and providing the French with a new ‘favorite’ national sport overnight.
For those interested to know about this larger than life character, I recommend this documentary.
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Tabarly and Marine Nationale mates, CFM Hourtin (1953)
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Tabarly Pen Duik 2 Plymouth, 1964 (courtesy AFP)
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Tabarly in Toulon, 1976 © Jean-Michel Barrault/Sygma/Corbis
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Tabarly Hydrofoil, 1979 ©Jean Guichard/Corbis
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Eric Tabarly & Olivier De Kersauzon,1979 ©Jean Guichard/Corbis
If the taciturn navigator probably had men’s fashion as the last of his concerns or interests, in par with his notorious reluctance to grant interviews due to incompetent questioning, several old photos show him denimed-out, often sporting patch-pocket Seafarer-style denim work pants.
This type of dungarees had been favored by deck hands for generations, apparently since an Italian fella by the name of Tony ‘Seagoing’ Anzalone came up with the famous bell-bottom design one fine day of 1896… Tony started supplying his trademark denim bells to local workers and sailors frequenting his custom tailor shop by the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The legend of Seafarers® was born.
The style was to become a 1970’s fashion staple, with mass-produced stocks of bell-shape legged jeans with patch pockets eventually filling-up Army-Navy surplus stores around the world.
Well a-played a-Tony.
Our Bosco pants are inspired by several naval trousers, and feature a combination of details revisited from vintage naval dungarees and military-issued whites (70’s German Navy, I believe).
If we opted-out of the de rigueur traditional navy flared bottoms for our Bosco, and stayed away from the skin-tight top block Tom Jones fit, there is nothing wrong in my book with 70’s menswear fashion… We all know there is way more to that decade than tie-dyed hippies, double-knit acrylic jersey jump suits, and the invention of roller-disco.
In classic 1970’s men’s fashion, I have spotted at times more elegance, more manliness, more badassness, more individuality, more timelessness, more humor with less self-conscienceless than most of today’s street styles hope to be remembered for.
Just flip through vintage 60’s-70’s Playboy® or Esquire mags. Don’t light up that Lark but check out those ads… If anything, you’ll get a good laugh.
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Yes, that is Nick Nolte at 12:00 (H.I.S. 1972)
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No, this is not Benetton (H.I.S. 1970’s)
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Here’s some nautical fashion for ya (Esquire 1972)
As always, our suggestion is not to take everything literally and look today like a dated caricature, although that’s a subjective notion. We just believe it’s not a bad idea to mix it all up, keeping it fun. Whatever your vintage era of predilection, moderation in the mullet-of-the-day seems to always work better a posteriori.
The bosco is offered in two fabric options, introduced recently via our smashing Gabier jacket. No flamer this time, just Hydrone Blue and Nep denim.
a) “Hydrone Blue”: Hydrones are a type of vat-dye colorants, a ‘competitor’ to indigo in the usual workwear fabric family. Hydrone blues are known for their colorfastness and are very commun in European workwear. “Bleus de chauffe” or “Bleus de Travail” (work blues) are typically associated with blue-collar workers in France, and largely still in use today, although polycotton has taken over 100% cotton. Faded and patched-up specimen have been in high demand by fashionistas for some years.
For our version of this Hydrone Blue, we have sent a vintage French jacket to our expert friends at Toyo Enterprises. They picked apart and studied the fabric under microscopes and milled a handsome 9 oz. selvedge blue twill with ‘reddish eggplant’ hues which should reward the wearer with a nice patina overtime.
The keen eye will notice that we are using the reverse side as the face of the fabric, leaving the more ‘stripey’ twill side on the inside. This gives the Hydrone Blue bosco pants more of a ‘moleskine’ than a twill appearance, reminiscent of 1960’s USN N-4(?) popeline deck jackets and work trousers.
b) “Nep Denim”: A denim in the style of our “Malibu” denim, a lighter hue indigo-dyed selvedge 12 oz. “neppy” denim, milled in Japan.
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Hydrone Gabier and vintage hydrone blue work jacket.
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MF® Hydrone Gabier and vintage hydrone blue work jacket.
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Vintage Hydrone fabric paper label
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Vintage German Navy whites
The Bosco pants are designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.
SPECS:
An mfsc original, inspired by classic naval trousers, blues and whites, and 1970’s seafarer-type jeans.
FABRIC OPTIONS:
a) Hydrone Blue: Hydrone blue vat-dyed twill, 9 oz., selvedge, milled in Japan.
b) Nep Denim: a lighter hue indigo-dyed selvedge 12 oz. “neppy” denim, milled in Japan.
DETAILS:
* Patch pockets Seafarer-style
* Single rear pocket.
* Inside reinforcement patches for pocket opening strength.
* Thin belt loops.
* Rear adjustment tabs, button cinch.
* Full flat-felled seams construction, chainstitch.
* Button fly, corrozo wood buttons.
* Selvedge ID displayed in button fly placket.
* Contrast 100% cotton stitching.
* Designed in USA.
* Made in Japan.
SIZING/FIT:
The Mister Freedom® Bosco Pants come raw/unwashed. We recommend the usual initial 30mn cold soak/occasional hand agitation/spin dry/hang dry process.
Both fabrics are supposed to shrink to similar measurements, but the Nep Denim version ended-up roomier than its Hydrone Blue companion.
We recommend sizing down on both, as the waist is pretty generous. I sized down to a Waist 30, from my usual Waist 32 in mfsc trousers and jeans. Please note that we have tested rinsing the Nep Denim in hot water + tumble dry, without much noticeable extra shrinkage.
Please refer to sizing chart for approximate raw/soaked measurements to see what works for you. Soaked = 30mn cold soak, spin dry and line dry.
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Hydrone Blue Sizing
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Nep Denim Sizing
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Bosco Hydrone Waist 30, Gabier Flamer Size 38
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Everybody was KFF
CARE:
Subsequent cleaning should be done with the trousers flipped inside/out (to avoid marbling), gentle cycle, cold water, with minimal environmentally friendly detergent and line dry. Natural fading of both Nep Denim and Hydrone Blue fabrics is to be expected with normal repeat wash/wear cycles.
Available Raw/unwashed
Sizes (W stands for Waist)
W 28
W 29
W 30
W 31
W 32
W 33
W 34
W 36
W 38
Retail $299.95
Available from www.misterfreedom.com, and our Los Angeles brick & mortar store.
Email sales@misterfreedom.com or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support,
Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom® 2016
 Mister Freedom® “Flamer” Gabier Jacket  Mister Freedom® “Hydrone Blue” Gabier Jacket  Mister Freedom® “Nep Denim” Gabier Jacket (perso CL, customized with vintage patch) 
 Paul Gauguin “Te aa no areois”, 1892 (Courtesy NY Museum of Modern Art)
 Hobie Cat 1978 “Cat Fever” (Photo courtesy Steve Wilkins)  ‘ia ora na! 
The Gabier Jacket
Flamer, Hydrone Blue, Nep Denim
“SKIPPER” mfsc Spring 2016
“I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth, a nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present. In this limitless nation, this nation of wind, light, and peace, there is no other ruler besides the sea.”
Bernard Moitessier, Indochina-born French navigator, minimalist, ecologist, free-spirit sea mystic who in 1968 showed the World how to win a race by losing it, opting for La Longue Route in this Voyage for Mad Men…
Well, I don’t know about you, but sometimes the idea of atoll-hoping in Polynesia sounds much better than whatever I happen to have lined up for the day.
So tell the landlord we’ll be sailing our merry way in turquoise waters through coral reefs and sandy motus for Spring 2016. Looking forward to war fever contained. The Skipper escapes to tranquil shores this season.
The catalyst of the Mister Freedom® SS2016 Skipper collection was mostly the need to take a break from boobytrapped jungles and shrapnel, avoid depressing World news and discouraging reads in general. We also felt like venturing away from ‘heritage’ Dust Bowl salt & pepper grey for a while.
So, as a refreshing breather, we indulged in several fascinating seafaring yarns, from various inspiring eras and parts of the World. And as far as uplifting bedside reading is concerned, tales of adventurous sea escapades and whiffs of tiaré from Tetiaroa sure beat the morning scent of napalm.
This pleasant research took us on a circumnavigating mental journey in the wake of an international cast of salty sea wolves, nautical legends, brass-b*lled adventurers and even Hollywood cast-aways.
Story-wise, our Skipper collection found substance in several real-life accounts from various wanderers of the World, such as Captain Joshua Slocum (1898, first man to sail solo around the World after a three-year voyage), James Wharram (famed boat-designer and Lapita voyage initiator), Eric Tabarly (responsible for providing the French with a new national sport in 1964)…
Back home in California, besides frequent trips to the beach and around the marina, several eclectic writings and deeds from the likes of Louis-Antoine De Bougainville, Jack London, Robert Dean Frisbie, cast-away Tom Neale … also helped to get in the mood.
The documentary Deep Water was a moving insight into the world of yacht racing and an enjoyable watch.
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Thomas Fleming Day (1861-1927) Courtesy Mystic Seaport Museum
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Captain Joshua Slocum (circa 1906)
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James Wharram (1955) Courtesy James Wharram Designs
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‘Wanderer’ Sterling Hayden (1950’s)
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Bernard Moitessier (1968)
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Fashion on Suwarrow by Tom Neale
How does all that translate into clothing? Well, although we’ve been into vintage rags for some time now we are not ‘period snobs’, so style influences for this collection are a bit all over the place this season. Stylistic references will basically be spanning from the earliest hominoid sea voyages known to anthropologists (some 130,000 years ago, and maybe not 12,000 as previously commonly speculated), all the way to the days of Eric Tabarly…
There is, admittedly, more of a noticeable 1960’s to late 1970’s vibe to our 2016 Spring concept, rather than, say, a Stone Age caveman wardrobe emphasis. And, OMG, we even threw in a dash of early 80’s!
Mister Freedom®, more than ever catering to the International He-Man of Action, mixing bold colors and patterns.
On a quick serious note, and after some ten years designing wares for the shmata racket under the Mister Freedom® name, we’re actually very grateful to be addressing a mature audience with discerning tastes today, catering to thinking adults rather than having to comply with passing trends and fit fashionable molds. Cheers Gents, much obliged for the support and wit.
So anyways, slap on that Tom Selleck ‘stache and let your Burt Reynolds chops grow, look-up men’s fashion style spreads on old Playboy® zines, turn the volume up on the Motogodille, consider getting lei’d, hop on a Hobie 16, … or just go sit on the beach and watch sails go by for a while.
Sea air does wonders, enjoy it before my Homo Sapiens Sapiens peers mess it all up.
Now, our jacket.
The French moniker gabier is an old maritime term referring to a boatsman specialized in mast rigging and sails. But the MF® Gabier Jacket is by no mean an attempt at a sea-worthy garment by 2016 nautical pro-gear standards. It merely carries a bit of salty air nostalgia.
As a kid living ocean-side in Africa in the early 80’s (Djibouti), I remember bright-colored catamaran sails taking over the horizon at some point. I also remember learning how to maneuver one of those old-school windsurfing boards the size of a large schooner, with giant triangular colorful sails…
The original idea for our Gabier Jacket came from those wonderful vintage sails, with colors spliced together for easy ID at sea, and probably to entertain seagulls. The term “Flamer” is a nod to a specific color combo sail pattern introduced by boat-builder Hobie Cat® in 1975.
Popularized in the 1960’s by the likes of Verner Panton, crazy color juxtapositions had impacted everything from curtains to popular wearables by the late 1970’s. In 1976, although a good year for red white and blue graphics in the USA, an upcoming little venture even opted for a rainbow-colored fruit as their logo.
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Sail patterns, courtesy of Hobie Cat
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Where are they now?
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1980’s
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Not exactly part of the Skipper, I just lost a bet
On a side note, I actually clicked the “BUY IT NOW” button on a boat early last year, a vintage pristine 1976 “Flamer” Hobie 16 (BIN auctioned for $300.00!). I owned it for an evening, until I realized in the morning that I had to hand-deliver the cash, bring the proper trailer to haul it out, and pick up the prize from a remote location on the East Coast… Yes, I too have joined the numb nuts of the Can’t Properly Read eBay Listings Before Bidding Club.
Well, that is my big sailing adventure.
Our Gabier Jacket comes in three fabric options.
a) “Flamer”: The fiery option, a combination of three 9.5 oz. 100% cotton canvas, milled and dyed to our specs in Japan.
b) “Hydrone Blue”: Inspired by vintage French workwear, this 9 oz. selvedge 100% cotton twill fabric was milled and dyed in Japan according to a vintage 1960’s specimen from our archives. The specific color is typical of ’bleus de travail’ (work blues) often sported by French workers and fishermen. It differs from traditional indigo and has characteristic attractive fading properties.
c) “Nep Denim”: In the style of our “Malibu” denim, a lighter hue indigo-dyed selvedge 12 oz. “neppy” denim, milled in Japan.
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MF® Hydrone Gabier and vintage hydrone blue work jacket.
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Hydrone Gabier and vintage hydrone blue work jacket.
The Gabier Jacket is designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.
DISCLAIMER: Please note that the Nep Denim Gabier Jacket featured on the photos shows a vintage ‘Pied-Noir’ patch. This is a personal addition. The Mister Freedom® Gabier jacket originally comes without any patches, and is left up to you to customize or not.
SPECS:
Inspired by the 1960’s and 1970’s world of sailing.
FABRIC OPTIONS:
a) Flamer, three color canvas combo.
b) Hydrone Blue, solid.
c) Nep Denim, solid.
DETAILS:
* Sail-inspired horizontal spliced panel construction.
* Raglan sleeves.
* Unlined, no open seams, caballo-type chainstitch construction.
* Painted metal snaps.
* Arm pocket featuring an oh-so hi-tech concealed button-hole opening for your iPhone® headphone cable, which you will never use.
* Cinchable waist with pull cord.
* Metal mesh eyelets for underarm ventilation and pocket water drainage.
* Designed in USA.
* Made in Japan.
SIZING/FIT:
We recommend an original cold soak and line dry.
All three fabric options will shrink to approximate similar measurements.
We suggest our usual method for raw cotton garments:
* 30-40mn cold soak with intermittent hand agitation, in minimally-filled washing machine or bath tub.
* Spin dry cycle (if using a machine).
* Hang dry.
* As an optional step, wear the garment briefly when still not fully dry, in order to slightly shape it to your body and set creases. Hang and let fully dry.
As often with mfsc jackets, I am in-between two sizes with the Gabier. I opted for a Size 38 in the Flamer, and for Size 36 for both the Hydrone Blue and Nep Denim. The canvas fabric will not stretch or give so I have to go for a 38 Flamer, but I can pull-off the 36 in the denim and hydrone twill without the underarm being uncomfortable.
What works for you will depend on your own body requirements. Please check the sizing chart or email sales@misterfreedom.com for sizing advices.
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Flamer
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Hydrone
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Nep Denim
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Gabier Nep Denim 36
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Gabier Flamer 38
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Another satisfied customer
CARE:
Wash when hygiene dictates and common sense prevails.
We recommend turning the jacket inside out to avoid marbling of the fabric.
Hand washing can be a good option for those concerned with specific wear patterns and high-contrast colors fades. Otherwise, machine wash inside out with cold water, gentle cycle, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry.
Available RAW/unwashed
SIZES:
Small (36)
Medium (38)
Large (40)
X-Large (42)
XX-Large (44)
Retail $ 449.95
Soon available from www.misterfreedom.com, fine retailers around the World, and our Los Angeles ol’ pile o’ rags.
Email sales@misterfreedom.com or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support,
Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom®
©2016
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Must be true, you saw it on the interwebs
The “Workman Shirt”, SC Indigo Wabash
Sportsman catalog, Spring 2016
Made in USA
Here is a new iteration of our ‘heritage workwear’ shirt pattern called “The Workman”. Truly one of our most innovative christening achievement, the “Workman” is already available in several options. Originally released in the Sportsman catalog during Spring 2015 in New Old Stock Indigo Pincheck and NOS HBT Denim, a Fall 2015 version was also issued in NOS 2×1 Denim soon after.
Never late to milk a good cow, Mister Freedom® is introducing a Spring 2016 Choo Choo Charlie Workman shirt special, a Wabash Indigo Stripe version á la J.L. Stifel & Sons.
Now, brace yourselves for an accurate historical background:
Following a recent discovery in an Indiana barn, the travel journals of a dry goods trader by the name of Kiya Babzani confirmed that he had several encounters with Wabash Confederacy tribes during his days hauling wares burro-back across the American Mid-West of the 1800’s. Some of the American Natives he met had taken-up decorating textiles as a good way to entertain relentless waves of invading railroad workers and homesteaders. While bartering his Men Of The Frontier goods, Kiya recalls several tribe members chanting “A few dots a day keep the white man away”, as skilled elders adorned solid indigo cloth with rows of white glass beads imported from Venice, Italy. The white man really took a liking to decorated workwear. The Wabash cloth legend was born, bead work eventually evolving into fabric print patterns, as Choo Choo Charlie grew tired of picking up his beaded uniform off the caboose floor.
By the early 1900’s indigo discharge printing had become the trademark of the fashion-conscious railroad worker, aka the original hipster.
The exact whereabouts of Kiya Babzani are mostly lost to the prairie winds, but legend has it that he kidnaped a young mysterious Princess on a Greek island, and both went on to open a thriving trading post in Mexico…
And that, my friends, is, to the best of my knowledge, the truest facts about Wabash fabric available on the interwebs at the moment.
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Kiya’s Trading Post, Mexico, circa 1890
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Engineer, also circa 1890
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The Stifel boot
The Sportsman “Workman” shirt is designed and manufactured in California by Mister Freedom®, in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.
SPECS:
PATTERN:
Original MFSC pattern, inspired by 1940’s-50’s classic workwear shirting.
FABRIC:
8 Oz. “Wabash stripe” selvedge 100% cotton indigo x indigo twill, discharge-printed with a dotted stripe pattern on the face. The reverse side of the fabric is mostly solid with no discharge bleed through but features a sparse Sugar Cane Co logo print, lifted from the classic Stifel-style boot logo. Fabric milled and printed in Japan exclusively for Sugar Cane Co.
DETAILS:
* No chin strap, sorry Charlie.
* Black corrozo wood cat-eye buttons.
* Indigo blue cotton popeline button placket facing.
* Traditional double chest matching pocketing.
* Tonal stitching, 100% cotton
* Selvedge side gussets.
* Chainstich construction, “Sportsman” green color on the inside.
* Made in USA.
SIZING/FIT:
This shirt comes raw/un-rinsed and will shrink to tagged size after a rinse/dry process.
We recommend an initial cold soak, spin dry and line dry.
The “Workman” shirts are true-to-size with a quite attractive fairly trim ‘uniform’ silhouette. If you are generally a Medium in mfsc shirts, you are a Medium in the Workman.
Please refer to sizing chart for measurements.
 
CARE:
Launder when hygiene dictates and common sense prevails, like after shoveling coal for 9 hours.
Machine wash. Cold water, gentle cycle, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry. We recommend turning indigo blue/denim garments inside out to avoid marbling from the washing cycles.
Patina will develop according to activities and frequency of wear.
Available RAW/unwashed.
SIZES:
14½ (Small)
15½ (Medium)
16½ (Large)
17½ (X-Large)
18½ (XX-Large)
RETAIL $279.95
Soon available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and fine retailers around the World.
Email sales@misterfreedom.com or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support,
Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom® 2016
(We thank our friends Kiya and Demitra for their crucial yet involuntary cooperation to the story.)
The “Continental Trousers”
NOS Italian Cotton-Linen crosshatch denim twill, indigo moss blue
Sportsman Collection Spring 2016
We decided to break the Internet this Spring.
Just by adding a new three-piece type concept to our Sportsman catalog. It will consist of three new garment patterns with a suiting vibe that we’ll exotically call the Mister Freedom® Continental Trousers, Continental Vest, and Continental Sportcoat.
Our intention is less an urge to have Savile Row shopkeepers and bespoke tailors lose sleep over an American invasion than a desire to add an elegant classic touch to our Mister Freedom® Made in USA catalog. So expect a bit of unpretentious suiting for the Worldly Gentleman á la MF® in the Sportsman collection for the coming seasons.
According to how lucky we are digging up New Old Stock loot, each season will welcome a new member to our Continental family. With the finished garments, the idea will be to mismatch pieces according to one’s personal taste and need for a not-so-formal yet sophisticated wardrobe. If all goes according to plan, the MF® Continental concept should make us insanely rich, and you incredibly handsome.
For the TV marketing campaign, our CEO will grow a beard and deliver this heartfelt message:
“You’re gonna like the way you look, but I don’t guarantee it.”
 Continentalander. He’s back. Like for serious. Sometime in 2015, we scored a pretty incredible lot of three different slubby cotton-linen crosshatch twills, milled in Italy. Fallen-off Guido’s truck and acquired in exchange for several kidneys from the Mister Freedom® crew, not much is known about these fabric rolls, besides yarn content, weight and Country of Origin. All three would technically qualify as denim twill, typically featuring a dark-colored warp and a natural-colored weft, but the 30 to 40% linen fiber adds an elegant and crispy touch to the grouping. The three colors we will be releasing the Continental series in this season are charcoal grey, slate grey and indigo blue. There will not be full matching sets available for each color, both intentionally and due to limited yardage.
Our first release is the Continental Trousers, a new 2016 pattern for us. The keen eye will notice the obvious similarities with the Mister Freedom® Sportsman Chinos, already available in several irresistible iterations. But these MF® trousers now feature a slick late 1950’s-early 1960’s silhouette, with a slimmer leg and a mid-rise fitted top block. The belt loop width has also been slimmed down, for a Gentleman trousers feel rather than a workwear/utilitarian vibe.
Fit wise, the Continental Trousers are designed to have a classic slim silhouette. And because, aesthetically speaking, no one cares to experience the Battle of the Bulging Pants around here, the Continental Trousers will not be following contemporary skinny legwear standards.
The fabric choice for the first round of our new pant style is the indigo-colored twill batch, an 11 Oz. crosshatch twill (= a very slubby warp and weft), an attractive 70% cotton and 30% linen blend. It is the inherent nature of linen-blended textiles to wrinkle and, when made into garments, to noticeably stretch according to wear and wearer. More on that in the Fit/Sizing section.
Please note that the Continental Trousers come un-hemmed, with an overlocked leg bottom. The choice of hemming (plain or cuffed) is left up to the wearer. I opted for a classic “American” 1¼ inch fold on my pair, somewhat of a late 50’s reference. We suggest wearing the trousers around the house a bit, before settling on a length that works for you, somewhere in-between 1960’s flood length and the traditional single trousers-break. For grown-ups, resisting the unsightly over-stacking accordion-leg look favored by fashionable streetwear hipsters is always worth the effort. Having said that, to each his own.
The Continental Trousers are designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in California by Mister Freedom® in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.
SPECS:
PATTERN:
An mfsc original, a re-vamped pattern of the Mister Freedom® Sportsman Chinos featuring a slimmed down silhouette with an elegant late 50’s-early 60’s attitude.
FABRIC:
11 Oz. crosshatch denim twill, indigo moss blue (blue with a greenish sheen), slubby 70% cotton 30% linen blend, milled in Italy. New Old Stock.
Pocketing: NOS two by one (2×1) 100% cotton blue denim, about 8 Oz., origin USA.
DETAILS:
* Elegant late 1950′s early 1960’s type silhouette and fit, straight leg.
* Navy blue corozo wood fly and waist buttons.
* Flat-felled side seam “caballo” all around construction.
* Rear welt pockets.
* Trousers-style belt loops.
* Crotch gusset pattern.
* Adjustable back cinch strap, with vintage NOS metal slide buckles.
* 100% NOS blue denim pocket bags, waist band and fly facing.
* Apple watch pocket.
* Tonal 100% cotton thread construction, with inside green chainstich MF® signature.
* Original “The SPORTSMAN” woven rayon label on back waistback, concealed when wearing a belt.
* ‘Open’ overlocked leg bottom, to suit your cuffing preferences.
* Made in USA.
SIZING/FIT:
Linen-blended textiles wrinkle and stretch. For example, freshly laundered linen garments fit tighter in the morning than at the end of the day.
We recommend the usual initial 30mn cold soak/occasional hand agitation/spin dry/hang dry process. This indigo blue cotton-linen crosshatch twill can pretty much be considered as sanforized, as it will tend to stretch back out to raw measurements after wear, despite the noticeable shrinkage following the initial rinsing procedure.
The Continental Trousers are true to size. If you are a measured-waist 32 inches, you are a stamped W32 in the Continental Trouser. Do not size down on these.
Please note that the Continental Trousers pattern might not be a good option for all body types. Proportion-wise, those with very muscular legs will probably look better in our regular Sportsman Chino models.
Hemming: After the initial soak/hang dry process, we recommend settling down on the final length of the bottom hem after gently wearing the trousers around the house a bit. The crispy cotton-linen fabric tends to naturally bunch/wrinkle and pull the leg up slightly. Letting this specific fabric react to your own body for an hour or so will allow you to decide on a proper classic leg break that works for you.
Please refer to sizing chart for approximate raw/soaked measurements. Soaked = 30mn cold soak, spin dry and line dry.
CARE:
Hand wash or machine wash on delicate, pants inside-out, cold water with minimal environmentally friendly detergent and line dry.
Natural fading of this fabric is to be expected with normal repeat wash/wear cycles, although we have yet to see any faded/worn examples.
NOTE: Full washing cycle in hot water and machine dry might result in maximum shrinkage and color loss. NOT recommended.
Available Raw/unwashed
Sizes (W stands for Waist. I know, but we’ve been asked)
W 28
W 30
W 32
W 34
W 36
W 38
Retail $289.95
Available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and fine retailers around the World.
Email sales@misterfreedom.com or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support,
Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom® 2016
 “Here Comes Loiron” 
Cowboy Jacket, Malibu Sea Denim Edition
Sportsman Spring 2016
Made in USA
For Spring 2016 the first addition to the Mister Freedom® SPORTSMAN catalog, our blob-like growing collection of ‘classics’ with an Army-Navy Surplus store vibe, is a new edition of the MF® Cowboy Jacket. We are using the precious final yardage of Malibu Sea denim we had in stock to make a limited run of that jacket, previously released in both blue and wheat NOS Cone denim in 2015.
This “Malibu” denim is a 13 Oz. indigo-dyed denim twill milled in Japan, and features, brace yourselves, a solid white selvedge. More importantly, it stands out from the ocean of blue denim twills by its ridiculously handsome shade of blue, quite convenient to tone down the daily tuxedo.
 “Gotta problem with my tux, pal?” Here is a bit about that color, discussed as we introduced our Malibu Jeans in 2015:
“… For a touch of color, “Flipper” (1963) came to the rescue. We developed an indigo-dyed selvedge denim to match the washed-out indigo blue shade ever present in the old sea-faring Metrocolor movies and TV shows. During those ‘happy days’, denim distressing was often a DIY thing. Actors in character routinely wore their own personal (naturally-aged) jeans on set.Legend has it that Brando wore his own (studio-altered) Levi’s in “The Wild One” (1953).
For an extra salty seafarer look, the studios Wardrobe Depts distressed blue jeans with the help of bleach and pumice stone. Washed out blues blended better with beach scenery…
We wanted a similar effect without the bleach/distressed part, an indigo ‘Eastman Kodak’ blue, if you will. So we simply opted to start with a lighter shade of indigo for the warp yarn. Believe it or not, this proved much trickier and challenging for the Japanese mill than producing a dark indigo denim. So, there it is. Light blue indigo.”
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Chuck Connors, “Flipper” 1963 (Courtesy MGM)
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Couac Couac Couac!
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Flipper TV Show 1964-67 (Courtesy MGM-ABC)
The general pattern of the Mister Freedom® Cowboy Jacket is our take on the traditional trucker-type denim jacket, aka third-type jacket everyone is familiar with. We just tweaked a few cosmetic details such as front yoke and pocket shapes. The MF® Cowboy Jacket differs from our MF® Ranch Blouse series by its somewhat 60’s-70’s vibe, going “Here Comes Bronson” rather than “Grapes of Wrath”, more Hollywood margaritas than Dust Bowl moonshine.
The MF® Cowboy Jacket is designed and manufactured in California by Mister Freedom®, in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.
SPECS:
PATTERN:
Inspired by traditional trucker-type denim jackets, aka third-type jackets.
FABRIC:
Original mfsc “Malibu Sea” denim, 13 Oz. indigo-dyed denim twill, solid white selvedge. Milled in Japan.
DETAILS:
* Fairly trim silhouette, sixties vibe.
* Fabric selvedge displayed on inside front panels.
* Original MF® slanted flap chest pockets.
* Original brass cast MF® branded buttons.
* MF® yellow “M” stitching on pockets.
* Orange and yellow stitch combination.
* Contrasting blue 2×1 denim pocket flap lining.
* All cotton thread chainstitch construction.
* Buttoned cinch-waist side tabs.
* Copper rivet backed by leather washers for pockets and sleeve placket reinforcements.
* Debossed leather MF® original patch.
* Made in USA.
SIZING/FIT:
The blue denim Cowboy Jacket comes UN-WASHED (=raw) and is cut so that the measurements match the labeling after an initial cold soak/line dry.
We recommend our usual method for raw blue denim garments:
* 30-40mn cold soak with intermittent hand agitation, in minimally-filled washing machine or bath tub.
* Spin dry cycle (if using a machine).
* Hang dry.
* As an optional step, wear the garment briefly when still not fully dry, in order to slightly shape it to your body and set creases. Hang and let fully dry.
When following this routine, the denim garment will dry quite stiff, due to the re-activated fabric starch contained in the cotton yarns. This is normal and will subside with normal wear.
As I had done with the wheat version of the Cowboy Jacket, I opted to size down to a Small (36) in this Malibu edition. I am in between sizes (36 and 38) and went for the slimmer/shorter silhouette.
Please refer to sizing chart for approximate raw/soaked measurements. Soaked = 30mn cold soak, spin dry and line dry.
 
CARE:
Wash when hygiene dictates and common sense prevails.
We recommend turning the jacket inside out to avoid marbling on the indigo side.
Hand washing can be a good option for those concerned with specific wear patterns and high-contrast colors fades. Otherwise, machine wash inside out with cold water, gentle cycle, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry.
Please note that the debossed graphic on the leather patch will naturally ‘flatten out’ when soaked in water.
Available RAW/unwashed
SIZES:
X-Small (34)
Small (36)
Medium (38)
Large (40)
X-Large (42)
XX-Large (44)
Retail $ 369.95
Available from www.misterfreedom.com, fine retailers around the World, and our Los Angeles ol’ pile o’ rags.
Email sales@misterfreedom.com or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support,
Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom®
©2016
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