Brando « CHRISTOPHELOIRON®

Mister Freedom® ROADSTEADER Cap, NOS selvedge denim, Spring 2018, made in USA.

Apache dancers, circa 1925
(Photo Boris Lipnitzki © Roger Viollet)

Mister Freedom® ROADSTEADER Cap
NOS selvedge denim edition
SS2018 Sportsman catalog
Made in USA

The Mister Freedom® ROADSTEADER Cap is the latest addition to our Couvre-Chef Department, consisting of a selection of vintage-inspired headwear, revisited à-la MF®.
The line-up already includes our classic Casquette “La Deffe” and ”Scuttler” Cap, both regularly issued in an assortment of vintage New Old Stock fabrics. The full released range of these two popular models can be seen at our Los Angeles HQ, and some can be spotted atop Jack Sparrow’s head.

: JD (Mark Seliger GQ 2015)

: JD Japan (2016)

: JD 2017 (Photo Ian Gavan Courtesy Getty Images EU)

Looking at photos of our new pattern, one will notice that the MF® ROADSTEADER is not a vintage replica, but rather a combo of old-school styles, a mix bag of references to bygone fashions and Costume History, all blending into an irresistible piece of accoutrement for the 21st Century snappy dresser!
We drew pointers from the early fashion of the Apaches of the Belle Époque, the flamboyant ruffians who had inspired a Mister Freedom® collection back in 2011. Late 1870’s illustrations of the infamous Parisian gangsters invariably depict their trademark hat, the Casquette Desfoux, aka ‘deffe‘. Originally a black wool or silk cap with a leather visor (casquette à pont), the style was allegedly borrowed from the Maquignons, livestock traders with a reputation for unscrupulous practices. During the 1880’s, bands of Apaches of the Ville des Lumières also seem to have adopted the Maquignons’ traditional pleated indigo blouse (the biaude or blaude, familiar today to the finest hunters of antique European textiles), along with the wide-wale corduroy trousers favored by wood-workers and farmers.

It may sound quite ironic that, considering how much these french OGs loathed physical work, rather favoring absinthe, pander and larceny, they opted for vestimentary styles so associated with the working class… Might-this have been an underworld well-thought strategy however, one that would facilitate blending in the crowd when chased by a squadron of grippe-coquin (literally “grab-rascal”), aka Gendarmes? Another case for Inspector Clouseau. On a side note for the traveller, don’t go around today addressing a Gendarme as “Monsieur grippe-coquin”, things might get out of hand, and holidays cut short.

All these fine threads could conveniently be stolen from boutiques on the crowded rue Mouffetard (5th arrondissement of Paris), retail destinations such as “Maison Panet”, workwear outfitters and novelty goods purveyors since 1829. On that same street, at number 65, stood another fine establishment belonging to a certain Auguste Bénard, local tailor and… ’inventor’ of the original fashion flares! The flared-bottom trousers that he designed in the 1870’s (“pantalon à pattes” or “pattes d’eph” -literally elephant leg- narrow at the knee with bell-shaped leg opening) were a big hit with the Apaches of the early days, as featured on Théophile Steinlen‘s amazing period illustrations. Speaking of inspiring graphics, check this vintage sheet music blog.

Today, for an older french generation who has no idea who Pikachu is, the street slang term “bénard” stills designates a pair of pants, and “deffe” a generic casquette.

: Maquignons cutting a deal with a farmer (1894)

: Horse market in Chartres (circa 1910)

: “Goualantes de La Villette et d’ailleurs” Émile Chautard (1929)

: Apaches vs. Grippe-Coquins (Petit Journal, 1904)

: Street market Rue Mouffetard, 1900’s

: Rue Mouffetard, 1930s

: (Courtesy “Images Musicales Stories)

Besides this colorful Parisian influence, our Roadsteader design obviously borrows from the traditional Greek fisherman’s cap, and recreational ‘captain’ hat styles, in-turn inspired by military naval covers. This external blog post is a fun illustrated read if you’re into nautical headgear history.

: Elvis in Girls Girls Girls (1962)

: Gary Cooper in Souls At Sea (1937) – Thank you Mr. Sam Cox!

The design process to nail the pattern and construction of our Roadsteader Cap has been quite challenging for our in-house atelier, as attest the many prototypes made. Panels size, seams, stitching, dimensions, leather grade, trims, …, were endlessly tweaked during R&D. Our aim was not to rival with mil-specs hat makers Bancroft Cap Company, or traditional yachting cap specialist Lancaster Hat Co , but we still wanted a hat worthy of being featured in the ever-growing Mister Freedom® Sportsman catalog…
The MF® Roadsteader eventually passed the final exam and survived field-testing.
So there it is.

A post shared by Christophe Loiron (@christopheloiron) on Jan 12, 2018 at 4:46pm PST

The MF® Roasteader Cap is designed and manufactured in California, USA, by Mister Freedom®.

SPECS:
An original MF® pattern, inspired by an assortment of vintage nautical covers and 1900’s french traditional working-class hats.
FABRIC:
Shell: NOS 2/1 indigo selvedge denim, about 8 Oz. (for reference, similar to the weight of a classic lightweight western denim snap shirt or vintage US Army barrack bag, as opposed to the 12~15 Oz. weight of traditional 3/1 denim 5-pocket jeans.)
Lining: Vintage NOS glazed 100% cotton fabric, silkscreen.
Leather trims: cowhide headband and visor, with genuine kangaroo hide headband lining.

DETAILS:
* Fancy old-school construction.
* Unstructured crown. (no plastic frame)
* Fully lined with NOS black glazed cotton, featuring original MF® silkscreened label.
* Cowhide leather headband.
* Unlined cowhide leather visor with indigo HBT tape piping.
* Genuine kangaroo hide headband facing, with red/white/blue bow.
* Traditional chinstrap was replaced by a riveted strap, featuring concealed denim selvedge ID.
* Made in USA.

SIZING:
The headband size in measured in centimeters. The headband will not stretch altogether, but the kangaroo lining will soften with wear and ‘loosen-up’ the fit a bit.
Size 58 (cm) roughly equates to a 7 ¼ hat size.
Size 60 (cm) roughly equates to a 7 ½ hat size.
Note that the crown of the Roadsteader is unstructured (no plastic frame) so that it will ‘slouch’ naturally with wear. We recommend cocking it to one side, and a bit to the back, for the old-salt vibe.

CARE:
Do not attempt to wash/dry the MF® Roadsteader Cap. Professional spot-cleaning only, if needed. With normal repeat wear, this cap will start to ‘slouch’ and the denim fabric begin to drape naturally. Both the indigo denim twill and leather will acquire a natural patina overtime.
We do not recommend trying to artificially hasten the normal aging process. Just wear and enjoy.

Available Raw/unwashed.
SIZES:
Size 58 (cm) (approx. 7 ¼)
Size 60 (cm) (approx. 7 ½)

Retail $249.95

Thank you for your support,
Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom® 2018

The “STANLEY” T-Shirt, tubular knit, made in USA.

: Notice the leg work

The “Stanley” T-Shirt, made in USA
Sportsman Spring 2015

The year was 1947. Manhattan was bustling, everyone had somewhere to go. A gang of weary street workers was taking a break from pouring asphalt on 8th Ave. Muggy air, sticky undershirts two sizes too small, dirty buckle-back dungarees, studded reflector belts, floppy work caps… There it was. Lucinda Ballard had her Stanley Kowalsky. She would play around with undershirts and work pants to dress-up her volatile ‘survivor of the Stone Age‘ roughneck character in Streetcar.

That winter, Broadway was about to get a treat. An unknown 23 year-old mannish kid from Nebraska would mumble his way on stage for the next two years, mesmerizing the audience of the Ethel Barrymore Theater. Some felt sorry for the kid at first, assuming performance anxiety kept him from acting, like normal actors in those days did. Kowalski was not acting, not declaiming, the kid was too realistic… Some thought a stagehand had inadvertently walked on stage and started chatting away with the cast. But that was Marlon Brando doing his thing, setting new rules and raising the bar for future generations of actors.

After the tremendous Broadway success, the play was adapted to film by Warner Bros in 1951, and shot in 36 working days. The entire original cast hit the silver screen. “Desire” was Brando’s ride to stardom.
Immortalized by Hollywood, the movie’s wardrobe won Ms. Ballard a nomination for the ’51 Academy Awards for “Best Costume Design”, and Stanley Kowalsky a permanent medal in the “Wet T-Shirt Contest” category, along with an eternal gratitude from the BVDs sales dept.

: Photo Carl Van Vechten (1947)

: Streetcar wardrobe test (1950)

: Photo John Engstead (1951)

: With Kim Hunter and Nick Dennis (1951)

: Stanley Kowalsky & Blanche Dubois

And that is the brief story behind the name of our next entry in the Mister Freedom® Sportsman catalog this Spring 2015. Meet “Stanley”, Skivvy‘s little brother.
Both Skivvy and Stanley bodies share the same T-shape design, construction and pattern specs, originally inspired by a vintage 1940’s USMC sage green undershirt, as outline when we originally released the Skivvy T-Shirt in 2013. We are still using tubular knit, flatlock seams, roping collar and fitfies-style 1/4 sleeves. And still making it in the USA.

For the Stanley T-Shirt however, I wanted a lighter gauge fabric. Our inspiration this time was more ‘old souvenir shop’ or vintage ‘PX merchandise’ than Mil-Specs. We were lucky to score a very special slubby and light-weight 100% cotton jersey, milled in the USA. Those partial to modern, oversized, heavy-weight T-Shirts might consider our Stanley fabric a bit ‘cheap’ and thin… But that’s exactly what we wanted, there’s plenty of the Beefy-T kind around.
Those familiar with vintage clothing, will notice that this specific fabric is quite reminiscent of 1960’s-70’s tourist T’s and rock T’s (often imports from Pakistan at that time). For the collector, that family of vintage T’s stands out for its loosely knitted stretchy jersey, heavy twist and distortion of the fabric, and dreadful shrinkage that often turned tourists shirts into unwearable cropped tops after the first hot wash.

We decided to get smart and conducted extensive shrink tests to make our Stanley T-Shirt actually fit after laundry. The Stanley fits pretty much like our Skivvy, although featuring much more mechanical stretch due to the looser weave. The Stanley all-cotton jersey has a ‘memory’ and reverts to its intended fit after stretch. As was the case with the Skivvy however, it is normal for a T-Shirt to feel snugger when first slipped on in the morning than at the end of the day.

To spice things up for Spring 2015, along with the white version, we have carefully selected specific color options, classic colors inspired by vintage shirts from the MF® archives.
* Black
* Gold (Yellow)
* Jungle Green (Olive)
* Red
* Royal Blue
* Heather Grey (Note that this option is not slubby jersey, but similar to the Skivvy cotton jersey)

Contrary to the dictate of the garment distressing industry, we will “let the wearers put in the years.”
These are ‘straight up’ colors, in the sense that we did not do a ‘vintage wash’ to age our Stanley T-Shirts artificially. Indeed, we have noticed that simply wearing the clothes always gets you to that ‘vintage look’, naturally and without chemicals. Due to the specific dyeing process we opted for, our colors are guaranteed to fade to attractive hues with repeat wash/wear cycles and sun exposure.

The Stanley T-Shirt is designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in the USA.

SPECS:

FABRIC:
100% cotton light-weight slubby tubular jersey knit, milled in the USA. This fabric twists and torques. This natural yarn distortion is expected and not a default.

COLORS:
* White
* Black
* Gold (Yellow)
* Jungle Green (Olive)
* Red
* Royal Blue
* Heather Grey

DETAILS:
* Original Mister Freedom® pattern, inspired by vintage 1940′s-50′s cotton T-shaped undershirts.
* Old school 1/4 sleeve length.
* Tubular knit (no side seams)
* Cover stitch self-fabric neckband.
* Normal mechanical stretch and fabric memory.
* Combination of flatlock and cover stitch construction, inspired by 1940′s USMC Government issued undershirts.
* 100% cotton thread, for natural roping on seams.
* Original MF® “The Sportsman” black woven rayon label on neck band.
* Made in USA.

SIZING/FIT:
The white options comes unwashed and will shrink to the desired tagged size after an initial wash/dry cycle. All color options have already shrunk to the desired size.
The Stanley fits like the Skivvy does, but due to the nature of its stretchy jersey, the Stanley might feel looser at first.
I wear Medium (38) on most MFSC garments, but sized down to a Small for both MF® Stanley and Skivvy, just personal taste. According to your built and silhouette preference, get your normal size or size down for a slimmer/shorter old school fit.
Refer to sizing chart below for washed/machine dried approximate measurements (measured flat, without pulling/stretching):

CARE:
Low-maintenance as a T-Shirt should be, just throw your Stanley in the washer/dryer, cold or hot water, delicate cycle. No bleach. Keep colors separate to avoid potential color transfer when doing laundry.

SIZES:
Due to the special nature of this tubular jersey, sizing is limited. (We are working on adding X-Large in the near future.)
Small
Medium
Large

RETAIL:
White Stanley: $69.95
Color Stanley: $69.95

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. We will soon be offering original MF® graphics silkscreened on the Stanley T-Shirts…
Thank you for your support.

MFSC Fall 09, the “GREASER”

$MFSC, The \"Greaser\"$ $MFSC, The \"Greaser\"$

Should keep you covered for the next thirty years…

(This original hat is part of the Mister Freeddom® x Sugar Cane FALL 2009 collaboration “MFSC Speed-Safe Clothing for Modern Riders”. Starting late September 2009, it will be available at the MISTER FREEDOM ® store in Los Angeles, and other select retail stores worldwide.)