Fresh batch of MF® “Boro Shorties”, neckwear up-cycled from antique Japanese indigo textiles.

Meet the lovely Beverly, our ship’s figurehead.

Bruce likes Beverly.

Beverly likes Bruce

Mister Freedom® “BORO SHORTIES”, antique Japanese textiles.
Up-cycled in USA.

We put together another fresh batch of these shorties for this joyous holiday season!
Still made from antique textiles loomed in Japan, some over 100 years ago, these ties are the shorter version of our Indigo Boro Ties, originally introduced in 2011.
These narrow shuttle loom fabrics are of assorted patterns, textures and colors, all one side selvedge and the other side frayed. Their vintage ranges from turn of the century to the 1960′s. A mixture of home spun, cotton, hemp, natural indigo, katazome prints, kasuri weave, plaids, solids… each scarf is pretty much one of a kind.
Although the MF® Boro Shorties all vary from one another, with specific fade/condition/size/repairs/holes/yellowing due to age, we loosely classified them by textile family groups (there are obvious cross-references):
* Boro Shorties Aizume: mostly solid indigoes.
* Boro Shorties Kasuri: fiber-dyed woven patterns.
* Boro Shorties Katazome: resist-paste dyeing.
* Boro Shorties Nihon: Miscellaneous Japanese patterns. 
* Boro Shorties Stripes: striped patterns.
* Boro Shorties Checks: Check/plaid patterns.

Wrapped once around the neck with a simple single knot, they’ll work with different outfits, dressed up or down, worn out or tucked inside the shirt, ascot-style, bolo tie-style or á-la J. Depp. We do insist on the ‘rough and rugged’ nature of the kerchiefs, this is not Brooks Bros neckwear. Think “Salaire de la Peur” rather than “The Great Gatsby“.
Our Shorties come with a Mister Freedom® original vintage metal slider, bench-made in our LA atelier. Sliders are all one-of-a-kind, with different shapes and sizes, up-cycled from antique silverware.

Refer to original release blog post or previous blog update for additional info. This December 2017 updated inventory will soon be available on the Mister Freedom® webstore. More one-of-a-kind assorted specimen are available in-store only.

The Mister Freedom® “Boro Shorties” are up-cycled in USA, and made from antique textiles loomed in Japan.

Retail: $129.95 (including MF® vintage slider, not pictured)

CARE:
Hand washable, cold water, eco-friendly detergent. Line dry.
The condition of some of these fabrics are beyond the wabi-sabi of a little imperfection, and feature fraying, occasional holes, repairs, fragile spots, etc…As the fabric continues to age with wear, your own hand-made repairs will add character.

These vintage Mister Freedom® “Boro Shorties” are available from our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and from www.misterfreedom.com.
Email sales@misterfreedom.com or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support.

Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom®
©2017

Mister Freedom® indigo “Boro” Tie

MF Boro Tie 4

We have cooked up this little accessory to wrap around your neck this winter: The MF® “Boro” Tie

Boro is a Japanese term describing patched up textiles. Repairing and patching was a necessity in early Japan, when new fabric was scarce and expensive.
A garment may have had many lives, often ending up in small pieces to repair a futon cover, monpei pants, yukata, furoshiki
I came across some original folk indigo boro  in the early 1990’s, while in Japan, and have been an admirer since then. Although not originally done for aesthetic reasons, some surviving examples are to me Folk Art at its best.

This is the background story of our little neck ornament here.
We have used some ‘scraps’ of rare antique Japanese indigo textiles to put together our “Boro” Tie (boro~ bolo…get it? and yes, I’ll be here all week…)
The fabrics are assorted, ranging from circa 1850’s~1930’s, and selected from our textile archives. Home spun, cotton, hemp, natural indigo, katazome prints, plaids, solids… We have mixed some red cotton antique japanese
fabrics on some of the ties, red being the sugar if indigo is the tea.
We also hand made those leather ring sliders, using vintage recycled leather, some tooled, some plain.

Very limited edition, all one-of-a-kind, none are perfect, hand made in our studio in Los Angeles, CA.

Retail $229.95

Please call John or Jordan at (323) 653-2014 or Email sales@misterfreedom.com to get yours while they last.
Thank you again for your support 😉