Mister Freedom® infos « CHRISTOPHELOIRON®

Mister Freedom® “NOUVELLE VAGUE” Slacks, NOS cotton-linen crosshatch denim. Made in USA.

Mister Freedom® “NOUVELLE VAGUE” Slacks, NOS cotton-linen crosshatch denim.
mfsc SS2023 “Sportsman” catalog.
Made in USA.

We are introducing a new trouser pattern with these swinging Mister Freedom® “NOUVELLE VAGUE” slacks.

Inspired by an unusual pair of vintage late 50s/early 60s French casual cotton twill pants from our archives – probably tailor-made according to the simple seam construction, and the fact that they bore no branding – we revisited the design to merge the vibes of dressy slacks and denim jeans.

The frogmouth front pockets, single rear flap pocket, extended tab waistband with snap closure, narrow belt loops, choice of fabrics and unpretentious suiting vibe all blend together to give the trousers a “French Riviera” casual 1950s-60s fashion flair.
We kept the overlock inseam/outseam/seat construction of the vintage custom-made original, for easy fit alterations with a single-needle machine. See the original twill pants below, with a bit of the R&D process.

The term “Nouvelle Vague” (French for “new wave”) is a reference to avant-garde French art cinema popular at the time. Not for everyone, but it had a worldwide impact on film-making and acting.
“Nouvelle Vague” is also the title of a cool 1959 French pop song, a cover of the Coasters’ “Three Cool Cats“. Dig it!

The style of our NV slacks is a nod to classic early 60s looks sported by the likes of Jean-Paul Belmondo in “A Bout De Souffle” (1960), or – the original silver screen Tom Ripley – Alain Delon in “Plein Soleil” (1960), etc…

For this initial release, the trousers are cut from an old mfsc fabric favorite, the elegant NOS crosshatch denim twill (cotton-linen blend 60/40, 8 Oz., milled in Italy) we had scored a while back in two distinct shades of grey, charcoal and slate.
“Crosshatch” refers to the slubby grey warp & natural weft yarns of this twill, which will tend to develop a more pronounced crisscross fading pattern than other denims.

The slacks are quite versatile and can easily handle from a simple T all the way to a fancy shirt.
For a casual suiting vibe, consider pairing them with their matching Continental Sportcoats, slate grey and charcoal grey twills. A matching vest is even available for the Thomas Crown in you, and mis-matching always a cool option.

Side note, the slim belt loops will accommodate 1¼ wide belts, and we are working on a Mister Freedom® x VEB Leather collab!

The MF® Nouvelle Vague slacks, NOS crosshatch denim twill edition, are designed and manufactured in California by Mister Freedom®, in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.

SPECS:
PATTERN:
Inspired by 1950s-60s French casual trousers fashion, merging aesthetics of dressy slacks and denim jeans.

FABRIC:
New Old Stock (NOS) crosshatch denim twill, 60% cotton – 40% linen blend, 8 Oz., milled in Italy.
Available in two color options, slate grey and charcoal grey.

Pocketing: Lightweight NOS woven stripe fabric, navy stripes on white background.

DETAILS:
* Vintage French 1950s-60s fashion, casual yet elegant sportswear vibe.
* Straight leg period silhouette.
* “Frogmouth” front pockets.
* Button fly, corrozo wood buttons.
* Extended tab waistband with snap waist closure, with original MF® branded brass snap button.
* Single rear welt pocket with buttoned flap.
* Slim belt loops, will accommodate 1¼ wide belts.
* Fancy woven stripe pocketing.
* Flat front & darted rear panel for an attractive top block profile.
* Overlock inseam/outseam/seat construction.
* Tonal stitching.
* Tailor shop-style unfinished overlocked leg bottom, to suit your cuffing preferences.
* Original “The SPORTSMAN” woven rayon label on rear waistband, concealed when wearing your VEB belt.
* Made in USA.

SIZING/FIT:
The MF® Nouvelle Vague slacks come UN-WASHED and are cut so that actual measurements match the labeling AFTER an initial cold soak/line dry.
We recommend this usual protocol before wearing the garment:

Cold soak for about 30-40mn, with occasional hand agitation.
Machine spin dry cycle, and line dry.

These trousers are considered true-to-size, with somewhat of a generous waist.
A tagged W32 will most-likely be the right size for an individual with an approximate measured waist of +/- 32 inches, and with average body proportions. Note that your natural waist is a bit bellow belly button level, not bellow the hips.
At 5’7 ~145 Lbs, I opted for a W31 in the Nouvelle Vague, for a very comfortable straight leg silhouette and somewhat fitted top block.

The size that will work best for you depends on how you like your pants to fit. Please refer to our size chart and our way of measuring pants.

For the leg bottom, I went with a DIY blind (hand) stitch 1¼ inch hem.
Make sure you fully rinse the garment before you commit to cropping the leg to your cuffing preference. Style-wise, we recommend hemming and not “roll-up” cuffing.

CARE:
Machine wash on DELICATE when needed, cold water, mild eco-friendly detergent. Hang dry.
Refrain from using the “heavy-duty” cycle setting on your home washer. Using a heat dryer is also not recommended and may result in excessive and irreversible shrinkage.

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®
©2023

Mister Freedom® RANCH BLOUSE “Randall” & CAMPUS BLOUSE “Midnight denim” evolution. Made in USA.

Evolution:
Mister Freedom® RANCH BLOUSE “Randall”, natural veg-tan cowhide leather
&
CAMPUS BLOUSE “MD”, 16 Oz. “Midnight” denim.
Made in USA

Mister Freedom® CALIFORNIAN Blue Jeans Lot64 OG23, NOS Cone Mills 12.75 Oz organic denim, mfsc SS2023. Made in USA

Mister Freedom® CALIFORNIAN Lot64 Cone OG23, new & worn (~3 months + 1 full wash)

“Who, moi?”

Mister Freedom® CALIFORNIAN Lot64 Cone OG23, worn ~3 months + 1 full wash.

Mister Freedom® CALIFORNIAN Lot64 Cone OG23, new & worn (~8 months + 3 washes)

Mister Freedom® CALIFORNIAN Lot64 OG23, NOS Cone Mills 12.75 Oz. organic selvedge denim.
mfsc SS2023 Sportsman catalog.
Made in USA.

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:
PATTERN:
Inspired by vintage 1950s-1960s era five-pocket blue jeans. Our LOT64 cut features a traditional fit, classic rise, with a slightly tapered leg for a 50s-60s vibe.

FABRIC:
New Old Stock (NOS) Cone Mills organic denim, 12.75 Oz., white/indigo stripe selvedge ID.

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:
* Classic vintage five-pocket blue jeans pattern.
* Button fly, original MF®-branded ‘silver’ tack buttons.
* Selvedge leg outseam.
* Selvedge ID is actual indigo!
* Fancy NOS fabric pocketing.
* MF® original white “M” stitch design on rear pockets.
* Natural cowhide leather MF®-branded patch on rear pocket. Will patinate with age.
* Twelve types of 100% cotton threads used for construction (gauge and color combination.) Main colors are yellow and orange.
* Coin pocket with concealed selvedge.
* Selvedge button hole fly placket.
* Hidden back pocket reinforcement rivets, with top pocket bar-tack stitching.
* Unmarked copper riveting for pocket reinforcement.
* Original MF® paper pocket flasher (brown).
* Made in USA.

SIZING/FIT:
The Californian LOT64 OG23 blue jeans come UN-WASHED and are cut so that actual measurements match the labeling AFTER an initial cold soak/line dry. We recommend the usual protocol before wearing:

Cold soak for about 30-40mn, with occasional hand agitation.
Machine spin dry and line dry.
Wear briefly before fully-dry to shape and set creases, then hang until fully dry.

These Lot64 OG23 are considered true-to-size, with somewhat of a generous fit.
A tagged W32 will most-likely be the right size for an individual with an approximate measured waist of +/- 32 inches, and with average body proportions. Note that your natural waist is a bit bellow belly button level, not bellow the hips.
I (5’7 ~145 Lbs.) opted for a W31 in these, for a very comfortable silhouette, and went un-hemmed and un-cuffed for “sloppy” period stacking for a change.
The size that will work best for you depends on how you like your jeans to fit. Please refer to size chart.

CARE:
Launder when needed.
We recommend turning indigo blue/denim garments inside out to avoid marbling during laundering. Machine wash, cold water, gentle cycle, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry.
Please note that dark indigo might cause color transfer, and potentially “bleed” on light-colored garments, furniture, and skin. This indigo color “crocking” is temporary.
Potential attractive patina will develop according to one’s activities, and frequency of wear/wash.

Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom®
©2023

Mister Freedom® SNIPES Shirt, slubby indigo HBT denim, mfsc SS2023 “FROGSVILLE x SAIGON Classified”. Made in Japan.

Mister Freedom “SNIPES” Shirt, indigo warp/white weft Herringbone Twill (HBT) “denim”
SS2023 mfsc “Frogsville x Saigon Classified”
Made in Japan.

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.
This is the third MF® iteration of the SNIPES, with the first 2020 release cut from Buzz Rickson’s Chambray. Followed an OD cotton poplin version in 2021, a visual reference to classic US Navy N-3 type shirts.
This season, the SNIPES gets a new fancy skin, a very slubby herringbone twill (HBT) milled in Japan, about 6 Oz., light indigo warp x white weft, which we are (with great liberty) calling “HBT denim” because of the denim-like yarn color combination.
Technically speaking, this textile is not of the denim family (usually right or left hand twill fabric with indigo warp x natural weft), definitely not chambray (a plain weave fabric), but kinda looks like the latter, from a distance. Besides fabric nerds, most will probably refer to it as “chambray”.

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:
100% cotton herringbone twill (HBT) “denim”, light indigo slubby warp x white weft weave, ~6 Oz., milled in Japan.
SPECS:
* Pattern inspired by a vintage 1930’s US Army wool uniform classic, revisited.
* Full 6 button front opening.
* Rounded tails.
* Vintage USN chambray shirt style urea buttons.
* Two large utilitarian chest pockets with pen compartments.
* Unstructured one-piece collar.
* Elbow reinforcement patches.
* White poplin button placket facing.
* Chainstitch construction with narrow folder.
* 100% cotton contrast stitching, white.
* Red bartack in lieu of side gussets.
* Original mfsc “Frogsville x Saigon Classified” woven rayon label.
* Made in Japan.

SIZING/FIT:
The HBT “denim” SNIPES Shirt comes RAW/unwashed. It is cut so that the measurements match the labeling after an initial cold soak/line dry.
We recommend this usual protocol before wearing:

Cold soak for about 30-40mn, with occasional hand agitation.
Machine spin dry and line dry.
Hang until fully dry.

At 5.7’ ~145 lbs, I opted for a SMALL for a trim uniform-like fit.
We recommend sticking to your usual mfsc shirt size.

Please refer to sizing chart for approximate raw/soaked measurements. Soaked = 30mn cold soak, spin dry and line dry.

CARE:
Machine wash on DELICATE, cold water, mild eco-friendly detergent. Hang dry.
Heat dryer may result in excessive shrinkage.

Mister Freedom® BOONIE Hat “stingy” brim, TAP47 French lizard camo, mfsc SS2023 “FROGSVILLE x SAIGON Classified”. Made in Japan.

Mister Freedom® BOONIE Hat, Stingy brim,”French Lizard” TAP47 camo.
mfsc SS2023 “Frogsville x Saigon Classified”
Made in Japan

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.
This specific French camo pattern was introduced in Sept. 1950 and inspired by WW2 field-tested British Denison smock camouflage (source: “Paras Français Algérie 1954-1962”, Histoire & Collection ISBN: 978-2-35250-164-0), and many different versions of the Lizard camo exist, not unlike its Tiger Stripes American successor.
We opted for the TAP47 pattern (tan/khaki background with green and brown horizontal brush strokes, adapted for tropical theater as opposed to the darker/greener version of the European ETO), and as featured on French military M51-M56 tents.
Our reference fabric was a genuine vintage NOS French M1956 canvas quarter-shelter tent. We chose a plain weave canvas base, instead of the HBT of our previously-released Lézard printed fabric interpretation from 2015.

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.

: Darrell G Moe Elmore, Project DELTA Recon (May 1968)

: Party hat

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:
FABRIC:
French Lizard camo, 100% cotton canvas, about 10 Oz. Printed TAP47 pattern, tan/khaki background with minimal bleed-through (= the reverse of the fabric is solid tan)
Crown lining: 100% cotton Lowland ERDL camo ripstop.

PATTERN:
* Inspired by vintage military bush hats and local-made boonies, soft crown with stiff/short brim.
* “Stingy” 1 ½ inch brim.
* Four crown ventilation mesh screen eyelets.
* Contrast crown lining, Lowland ERDL.
* Foliage ring hatband.
* Original mfsc Frogsville woven rayon label.
* Made in Japan.

SIZING/FIT:
Two MF® Boonie hat sizes available: 58cm (approx US 7¼) and 60cm (approx US 7½). Both 58 and 60 options are cut quite generously.

We recommend the following simple initial process for the hat to shrink to tagged size.

Cold soak for about 30mn in bathtub or washing machine, with occasional hand agitation.
Spin dry (spinning cycle) if using a washing machine.
Shape and line dry/drip dry.

CARE:
Hand wash when necessary, cold water, eco-friendly detergent. Shape and line dry.