FARO WAISTCOAT (Men of the Frontier MFSC FW2012)
Moving right along our journey West… Introducing the FARO WAISTCOAT, as the second installment of the “Men of the Frontier” MFSC Fall 2012 Collection, following its original Spring 2012 chapter. The first Fall 2012 installment was the Frontier Chinos.
This time we took our hombres away from the open range or work place, and into the dark oil lamp lit saloons of the early American Frontier. Gamblers’ halls and other fine whiskey pouring establishments were the main source of social entertainment for the hard living bunch at the edge of the Old World and the New.
In comes our Faro waistcoat… With its origin in 1700’s France, Faro became a popular single deck card game in the American West of the 1800’s. Until it was gradually supplanted by the game of Poker in the early 1910’s, Faro had been responsible for small fortunes lost and won, and a few gun fights.
Waistcoats were a permanent feature in old period photography, at times when looking your best in public involved tucking and buttoning up your shirt, along with wearing your britches in such a manner that only you knew the maker of your skivvies. A dress code seemed to often apply to most, whether coming off a horse, out of a mine, bank, jail… and no matter how wealthy or educated you were.
Lest I drift any further, let’s mention that the design of our Faro waistcoat is inspired by a late 1800’s vintage French silk velvet vest, high buttoned and narrow collar, that could have been sported by a card dealer, gambler or gunslinger in a lively 1905 saloon. We combined several elements of early vest patterns, outer and inner panels and piecing, and came up with this, if we may say so ourselves, elegant gentleman waistcoat.
As always, being an expert at losing your pay bucking the tiger or playing an extra on Deadwood is not required to wear our “Men of the Frontier” gear. Blending clothes tastefully is key to having your own non-contrived style, staying clear from the ‘costume’ look, although all that is of course very subjective.
If we don’t recommend pairing this Faro waistcoat with a track suit and Crocs, we leave it up to you to make it look good with denim jeans, cotton shirt, trousers from your existing wardrobe… The versatile collar can be folded for a deeper cut look. I often like wearing vests/jackets with only the top two buttons closed, a trick often seen in vintage photography, allowing easier reach to the trousers pockets.
Two fabric options are available (apples and oranges, impossible to compare.) Both textiles were woven in Japan, in limited batches, exclusively for MFSC®.
Designed in California by Mister Freedom® and crafted as a one-time limited batch by Sugar Cane Co in Japan.
SPECS:
PATTERN: An original MFSC®, inspired by late 1800’s gents’ waistcoats. High buttoned, small lapel, slim snug silhouette.
FABRIC:
FRONT PANEL: Two options
a) Deep rich navy blue color, 100% cotton corduroy, midwale (9 wale/inch), 11 Oz. Woven in Japan.
b) “Gun Powder” black (between field grey and dark laurel green), wide HBT (herringbone twill), selvedge, 20% Cotton/80% Linen blend, 15 Oz. Woven in Japan
BACK PANEL: Black all cotton sateen.
INNER LINNING: Combination all cotton HBT (ochre color) exclusively woven for MFSC®, and indigo blue cotton poplin.
DETAILS:
* Intricate early waistcoat panel construction. Tailor made style.
* Back cinch strap with French New Old Stock (NOS) metal slide buckle.
* Eight button front, brown corrozo.
* Two front welt pockets
* 100% cotton thread tonal stitching.
PACKAGING: Sturdy cardboard box with MF® original artwork. Please re-use.
SHRINKAGE/SIZING: Both fabric options come raw/unwashed.
After shrinkage, both fabrics will shrink to the same specs.
We recommend an initial cold rinse and line dry. The vests fit true to size. I am a 38 and wear a 38 in the Faro vest.
Just as you wouldn’t boil a fancy suit, please treat with care or take to your environmentally friendly dry cleaner for future cleaning.
Available RAW/unwashed
Sizes 36 (small), 38 (medium), 40 (large), 42 (xlarge), 44 (xxlarge)
Retail $499.95
Call 323-653-2014 or mail sales@misterfreedom.com to get yours while they last. We ship internationally to select Countries. Thank you for the support, friends.
Hear, all ye good People…
As some of you may know, and may deplore, Mister Freedom® Originals are never on sale at our Los Angeles brick store…
We make clothes that we do not consider seasonal or trendy, and believe a Peacoat style we made 10 seasons ago will stay a relevant addition to a Gentleman’s wardrobe in years to come.
Moreover, our margins on original MF® and MFSC® products do not allow flexibility for markdowns.
For some, mass production, where profits are made by selling thousands of cheap units, is a profitable approach. For us, and because of the nature of our products/designs/niche/ethics, our production stays limited, our cost high, our work days full.
We chose to invest money in the manufacturing of our clothes rather than in advertising/paid PR networking/trendsetting blogosphere elbow rubbing (meaning sending out free samples for blog plugs in return)/air conditioning…
We are happy to believe that none of our clothes make it to the landfills. Instead, we have reassuring testimonies that they get cherished, collected, passed on or re-sold as they retain high market value.
BUT (here it comes) we need to actually free some storage room for our up-coming Fall2012 “Men of the Frontier” merchandise. Space is money in Los Angeles. So we decided to temporarily break our ‘no sale’ policy this year with a “LABOR DAY” SEPTEMBER 2012 Sale! Woop Woop
We are offering a 25% price reduction on selected items from our vault (click on item link to go to original post with specs):
* Utility Chambray (White)
* Chemise Hirondelle (Black Moleskine, Cream Moleskine)
* Chemise Fantaisie ( Red, White, Blue)
* Mulholland Master (Black, Brown)
* Paletot Apache (Black, Cream, Indigo)
* Pantalon Apache (Brown stripes, Blue stripes)
* Pantalon “Peau de Diable” (Cream, Black)
* Palladenim®
Not so fine print:
Size availability is limited to current stock.
The sale starts on Saturday September 1rst and will end on Sunday September 30th.
No return on sale items, all sales final.
All items are sold RAW (unwashed), even if pictured worn-in in the original MF® blog post.
To kick the sale with a bang, we are CLOSED on Labor Day.
When Emailing john@misterfreedom.com or Jordan@misterfreedom.com with your original request, please include as much info as you can (such as full name/size/measurements/item color/exact shipping infos/method of payment…) in order to limit the amount of back and forth exchanges. We do not yet have a hot line relay in India, and attending to everyone needs in a timely manner is at times challenging for the J’s, while running the store, bearing with me etc… 😉
Thank you kindly for your support, Friends. Still doing it our way thanks to you.
Happy LABOR DAY to my fellow Americans.
MFSC Fall 2012 “FRONTIER CHINOS”, raw NOS denim
It is about that time of the year for the Fall chapter of our Mister Freedom® x Sugar Cane MFSC “Men of the Frontier” Collection. The first installment for Fall 2012 is the “Frontier Chinos”.
We took some liberties with the concept story for this item and transported our characters in a somewhat later setting of life in the city. From the ranches, to the saloons, to any job that paid the bills… The back drop for the “Frontier Chinos” could be an old filling station on route 1, or the truck depot of a So Cal orange grove Company…
These trousers are a combination of several vintage work pants styles. The construction and pattern are inspired by 1930’s ~ 40’s light weight twill work chino uniforms rather than the traditional and widely replicated US military type chino pants.
However, the silhouette could be reminiscent of a late 50’s ‘Ivy League’ classic slacks type, with its slimmer legs, fitted seat and mid rise. You can always size up for a ‘roomier’ look, and use the cinch back strap. We wanted pants that didn’t ‘scream’ skinny or baggy, but just looked like… men’s pants.
We used two types of USA made New Old Stock (NOS) denim for the production of these trousers. The fit is consistent in both options, only the denim weight/feel differ. We opted for a ‘tailor shop’ look and left the bottom open, so you get to choose your preferred way of hemming them.
They are made in Los Angeles, USA. Cut & sewn by skilled workers in a clean and solid American factory.
SPECS:
PATTERN: An original MFSC® pattern, influenced by vintage work type chino pants.
FABRIC: Two limited batches of raw NOS selvedge denim, made in USA.
* Type A: Dark indigo sanforized denim. White selvedge with black stripe. 3 by 1 twill, about 12 Oz. (more of a regular ‘five pocket’ type denim feel)
* Type B: Dark indigo sanforized denim. White selvedge with blue stripe. 2 by 1 twill, about 10 Oz. (more of a lighter USN denim dungarees feel)
DETAILS:
* Slender silhouette, mid rise.
* Metal ‘Deco’ riveted waist/fly buttons, gun metal color.
* Cinch back strap, with vintage French NOS metal slider buckle.
* Wide and slim belt loops combination.
* Open length, tailor style (I opted for a traditional 1 ½’’ trousers style cuff on my own pair.)
* Flat felled seam sit and inseam construction, selvedge leg side seam.
* Front slash pockets (with concealed selvedge opening fold), coin pocket, back welt pockets.
* Traditional 100% cotton unbleached ‘Sail Cloth’ pocket bags and lining.
* Black 100% cotton thread construction.
* Original MFSC® woven rayon label, concealed under the belt.
* Made in USA.
PACKAGING: For the USA, the Frontier Chinos come in an old school cardboard box with original MF® artwork. This sturdy box is not the collapsible cheapo kind, and can be used for storage of small items. Please re-use.
SIZING/SHRINKING/WASHING: The trousers come unwashed/raw. Because the denim is sanforized, the shrinkage is minimal in length/width (1%~2%).
They are true to size, meaning a tagged Waist 32 measures about 32’’ before and after rinse. If you are a 32’’ waist, you need a tagged 32. Do not boil/machine dry your pants to get them to fit: get your correct size instead.
The un-cuffed inseam is about 37 ½’’, plenty room for non NBA players to hem to their liking.
As always, we recommend an original cold soak for about 15-20 mn/spin cycle/line dry. The Sail cloth lining shrinks slightly more than the denim does therefore giving a nice ‘roping’ effect after dry.
As with all raw denim, indigo color bleeding/rubbing is expected in the early months of wearing.
Available Raw/Unwashed
Waist: 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38
Retail: $ 289.95
Call 323)653-2014 or mail sales@misterfreedom.com to get yours while they last. We ship almost everywhere internationally. Much obliged for the support, Friends.
A slightly anticipated (by us) batch of the “Road Champ” moto boots is being processed…
Just sayin’
We decided not use our original cardboard boxes for packaging anymore. Instead, the new boots will be coming in a re-usable simple raw selvedge denim bag that you can take along for grocery shopping. Saves you from answering the “paper or plastic?” million $ question every time 😉
A quick visual recap of our past and present MFSC collections in collaboration with Sugar Cane.
Thank you all for your support through the years.
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