 MF® official sniffer, The Joe Greene, and his ride. ©2024 
Mister Freedom® RANGER Shirt, NOS Selvedge Woolen Plaid fabric milled in India.
mfsc FW2024 Sportsman Catalog.
Made in USA.
I learned a trick or two from my rag-picking days in the mid 1990s, one of them being that all plaids are not created equal.
When corporate design teams (the likes of Ralph Lauren, J. Crew, Abercrombie, Gap, etc) were browsing my vintage racks at the Rosebowl, I quickly noticed that some plaid shirts were definitely getting more attention than others…
An obviously initial divider is between woven and printed plaids, then you got your run-of-the-mill brushed cotton flannels, commercial wool checks and popular traditional patterns, notorious Scottish tartans that long-ago crossed over to fashion island, Pendleton classics, buffalo plaids, shadow plaids, patterned tweeds, … Once in a while, a unicorn shows up, an unusual pattern/color combo that everyone goes nuts about.
And when your main source of income relies on the bacon you bring home from your local flea market only held once a month, one tends to start paying attention to both obvious and subtle differences between vintage plaid shirts!
Fast-forward to 2024 Mister Freedom®…
We regularly reach out to our friends at Sugarcane Co to mill a special check pattern for us, always inspired by the fabric of an unusual vintage specimen. Thanks to the long-standing textile expertise of Toyo’s Japan team — scrutinizing yarn hues with color wheels and analyzing fiber content with microscopic precision — , we have released a few “unicorn” plaids in our mfsc past. Opting for a 100% cotton yarn content when the original is 100% wool is often a design choice related to our roots in Southern California and local climate.
The Secoya shirt in “McG plaid” or “Winter King plaid” — and, notably, the upcoming eye-pleasing FW2024 “Secoya Tartan”— the Dude Rancher in “Joan plaid” and “Indigo-covert plaid”, the Scrambler jacket in “Tartan Check”, the lining of our Dune Buggy, …, all come to mind.
Sometime in 2023, while out-and-about Downtown LA, CA., hunting for New Old Stock fabrics for FW2024 — under the supervision and guidance of MF® official sniffer #TheJoeGreene —, the Joe sniffed out a very interesting woolen shadow plaid, in the ocean of textiles of an overstocked jobber warehouse. The bonus was that there was enough yardage to justify a small limited production. Sold!
From what intel I could gather, that fabric was milled in India, painstakingly-woven on traditional antiquated powerloom machines. It features a fancy monogramed selvedge tape with the mill’s brand — “Premium Woollens” — an apparently now-defunct maker.
The British textile industry has a long history of weaving/printing traditional textiles in its old Empire’s colonies — see Madras fabric legacy briefly discussed here — so it is no surprise that India’s textile industry would still expertly-produce a wide range of Old Albion’s classic woolen tweeds today.
From the ombre plaid vibe, that check pattern seems to fall under the “Shadow Plaid” family, with an attractive gradient heathered combination of black/grey/blue/ivory colored yarns. The fabric is a woolen blend, exact fiber content unknown.
We opted for the Mister Freedom® RANGER Shirt pattern for this fabric score, a visual nod to the Beach Boys’ 1962 Pendleton-sponsored outfits (more here), and 60s SoCal surf culture in general. A bit of a stylistic stretch since our RANGER Shirt pattern conveys more of a 1930s-40s vibe, but, as you know, we always like to take a bit of liberty in the design process, and don’t do replicas.
This shirt is a fairly versatile and casual garment, easily wearable tucked or untucked, as an overshirt or just over a long-sleeve T-Shirt, paired with traditional denim jeans, 60s-style “wheat” jeans, chinos styles, etc…
The Mister Freedom® RANGER Shirt NOS “Selvedge Woolen Plaid” edition is designed and made in California, CA., in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co. Cut from NOS fabric milled in India.
SPECS:
FABRICS:
New Old Stock woolen plaid, woven shadow plaid pattern, selvedge ID featuring maker’s name, wool blend (exact yarn content unknown), fabric traditionally-milled in India by a now-defunct “Woollen Mills” weaver.
DETAILS:
* An original Mister Freedom® pattern, inspired by 1930s-40s workwear shirting and vintage utilitarian styles.
* Double chest pockets, inverted box-pleat, red bartack accents.
* Chin strap.
* Rounded shirt tails.
* Full button front.
* Contrast black cotton sateen collar band/button placket facing.
* Vintage-style classic “Cat Eyes” black corozo wood buttons.
* Selvedge side gussets, featuring fabric maker’s ID.
* Chainstitch construction, 100% cotton thread, tonal stitching, high count.
* MF® Sportsman signature contrast green “caballo” stitching inside.
* Mister Freedom® x Sugarcane mfsc SPORTSMAN rayon label.
* Made in USA.
SIZING/FIT:
The Mister Freedom® RANGER Shirt in “Selvedge Woolen Plaid” comes RAW/unwashed. It is a dry-clean only garment, therefore ready-to-wear as-is.
At 5.7’ ~145 lbs, I opted for a SMALL, for a snug fit.
The size that will work best for you depends on your body type and how you like your clothes to fit.
Please refer to our sizing chart and reach out to [email protected] for further sizing advice.
CARE:
DRY CLEAN only.
Machine wash/heat dryer may result in excessive/irreversible shrinkage.
Available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and fine retailers around the World.
Email [email protected] or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support.
Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom®
©2024
Mister Freedom® PIONEER Jacket, 21¼ Oz. wool shadow plaid edition.
FW2020 mfsc TRUCK STOP collection.
Made in Japan.
The Mister Freedom® PIONEER Jacket is our take on classic westernwear men’s jackets, a style popular in the 1950s-60s.
Labels such as “Pioneer Wear”, “Lasso”, “Trego’s Westwear”, “Land-N-Lakes” and others, all produced models with a similar design, feeding the demand for the “urban cowboy” look.
The fashionable western jacket style basically merged two worlds, the classic tailored menswear high lapel roll single-breasted blazer with the iconic western yoke design. The jackets reconciled rugged Wild West/dude ranch with city slicker fashions, without falling into Grand Ole Opry flashy stage garb. The commun thread was the appeal of the vanished “open range” in American psyche, still glamorized by Hollywood at the time.
The outdoor vibe of those western blazers was enhanced by the choice of fabrics, preferably a trade blanket type, woodsman style wool plaid, or other “frontier days” textile references. The functional expansion pleats “sport back” construction of 1950s models added to the utilitarian vibe.
By the 1970s, popular culture viewed truckers as “the last of the cowboys”, and many wildcatters donned their own mix of western fashion.
We put all those influences in the MF® blender, and came up with our hybrid, the PIONEER Jacket. We settled on a specific top block western yoke arcuate, scalloped pocket flaps and swing-back pattern combination. We opted for no padding for a deconstructed silhouette.
This version of the PIONEER features a vintage-inspired shadow plaid heavy wool fabric with a soft hand recently-developed by our friends at Sugar Cane, who know a thing or two about timeless textiles. The lining also highlights SC’s expertise at re-milling Americana classics, and consists of a 100% cotton woven plaid typical of vintage workwear heavy flannel shirts.
The jacket is complimented by classic woven (genuine) leather shank buttons, for an extra layer of westerner out-on-the-town goodness.
The Mister Freedom ® PIONEER jacket is designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.
SPECS:
FABRIC:
Shell: Heavy 21.25 Oz. soft-hand wool fabric, shadow plaid with dominant black/blue/grey. Milled in Japan.
Lining: 100% cotton woven plaid heavy flannel, natural/navy/red dominant. Milled in Japan.
DETAILS:
* An original pattern inspired by vintage westernwear jackets designed for the 1950s-60s urban cowboy.
* Deconstructed silhouette.
* High lapel roll.
* Western arcuate yoke on front/back top block.
* Swing-back expansion pleats construction.
* Scalloped pocket flaps with plaid flannel facing accents.
* Woven (genuine) leather shank buttons.
* Original mfsc “Truck Stop” woven label.
* Designed in California.
* Made in Japan.
SIZING/FIT:
The PIONEER Jacket comes ready-to-wear and does not require any pre-treatment or soaking.
This jacket is considered true-to-size. We recommend getting your usual size in mfsc jackets. If you are a 38 in our Ranch Blouse or Campus pattern (granted they are pears and apples), you are most-likely a 38 in the PIONEER.
Note that the vertical mechanical stretch of this specific heavy wool woven plaid fabric is quite noticeable when you pull down on the jacket’s front & back panels, giving about an inch play with an average “natural recovery” (= the fabric’s ability to return to its initial size after being stretched.)
I opted for a medium, for a comfortable fit. I am 5.7’’ approx. 150 Lbs.
Please refer to sizing chart for approximate measurements. Do consider the thickness of the shell/lining combo and mechanical stretch when comparing these measurements to those of a jacket of a similar style that fits you well.
CARE:
Professional dry clean ONLY, from your local eco-friendly facility.
Available Sizes:
Small (36)
Medium (38)
Large (40)
X-Large (42)
XX-Large (44)
Available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and fine retailers around the World.
Email [email protected] or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support.
Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom®
©2020
Mister Freedom® “DUDE RANCHER” western snap shirt, vat-dyed selvedge chambray & shadow-plaid printed poplin.
SS2020 mfsc “DUDE RANCH” collection & Surplus catalog.
Made in Japan.
The Mister Freedom® APPALOOSA introduced during Fall 2013 and released in a variety of denim-related fabrics was our first traditional “western snap” shirt. The “DUDE RANCHER” is our second spin on the style. This all-original pattern was inspired by a selection of vintage “cowboy” shirts, and initially issued in high-count cotton poplin during Spring 2019, available in solid black and white, with a limited edition “rodeo” batch custom chainstitch-embroidered.
The DUDE RANCHER features the expected western-style front and back curved yokes, but we opted for arcuate panels subtle-enough to keep the shirt not too “costumey”. The playful “M” branding on the chest pockets is disguised as decorative stitching. The tricked-out forearm pattern and intricate one-piece elbow/cuff reinforcement diamond-shaped placket is quite a garment construction tour de force, for anyone who knows his/her way around a sewing machine.
Our DUDE RANCHER features painted metal snaps, reminiscent of 50’s Ranchcraft or Blue Bell shirts, previously featured on the MF® Sportsman printed flannel Camp Shirts. If pearl snap buttons are more-commonly associated with traditional western shirts, these metal snaps are a bit more subdued and utilitarian.
For this SS2020 release, we decided to go “Hee Haw meets Oklahoma!”, with a vibrant orange/green/yellow printed plaid poplin option. This period-looking check pattern was lifted verbatim from a vintage 1920s-30s garment from the MF® archives, also printed on high-count poplin. The “shadowed” plaid pattern has a definitive Art Deco vibe, reminiscent of bygone airbrush shading techniques. See the works of Dorothy and Otis Shepard, the power-couple geniuses behind Wringley’s chewing gum wrapper and countless of other 1930s billboards, paper ads and packaging.
This flashy number in Technicolor® is in sharp contrast with the vat-dyed selvedge chambray fabric option, kinda taking after Junior Bonner rather than 1950s Grand Ole Opry. If “traditional” chambray cloth is a plain weave of a colored warp (indigo for a blue chambray) and white weft, our vat-dyed chambray features light indigo-dyed yarn in both warp and weft, giving the fabric the appearance of a solid colored textile. Closer inspection will reveal the much more interesting and attractive grainy texture of classic chambrays. This characteristic definitely sets vat-dyed fabrics apart from regular piece-dyed fabrics (dyed after milling) and their ‘flat’, solid uniform color.
Vat-dyed chambrays were a popular novelty in 1940s-50s workwear, with fabric producers like PEPPERELL (Boston, Massachusetts) boasting of their colorfast, sunfast or “Will Not Fade” qualities.
Our choice of contrast stitching for the chambray model is a nod to the classic 1970s light-weight Levi’s chambrays familiar to vintage clothing aficionados. My Dad was a big fan, as I remember that vivid orange tab on the chest pocket, magically enhancing the faded blue fabric.
We combined orange and yellow thread for the caballo chainstitch, a subtle dual color contrast touch. The DUDE RANCHER features high-count stitching, contributing to the shirt’s vintage look, without having to resort to unnecessary processing, chemical washes or sandblasting. In these days of fast fashion, very few factories are still willing or qualified to operate the machines that allow such high-count stitching and narrow seams, so we are grateful for our friends at Toyo Enterprises for keeping this quality production level available. Such attention to details also delays production drastically, as each shirt takes about 3 times longer to complete. It goes without saying that this comes at a price, which the reader is very well aware of!
The DUDE RANCHER western snap shirt is designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan by Sugar Cane Co.
FABRIC:
Two options:
a) Printed “shadow” plaid, high-count 100% cotton poplin, partial bleed-though, made in Japan.
b) Vat-dyed chambray, 100% cotton, light indigo blue solid color, solid white selvedge ID, milled in Japan.
SPECS:
* An original mfsc pattern, inspired by traditional western-style shirts.
* Traditional western-wear arcuate front and back yokes.
* Attractive pointy pocket flaps, complementing the yoke pattern.
* 1950’s-style painted metal snaps (the paint will chip with age.)
* Tonal stitching for plaid model, dual contrast orange/yellow stitching for chambray version.
* Original curvy “M” decorative stitching on pockets.
* Fancy diamond-shaped cuff/elbow reinforcement patch.
* Vintage style side gussets.
* Rounded shirt tails.
* 100% cotton hi-count stitching.
* Original MF® mfsc “Surplus” woven label.
* Made in Japan.
SIZING/WASHING:
Both versions of the DUDE RANCHER come RAW/unwashed. This shirt 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.
- Spin dry and line dry.
- Hang until fully dry.
I opted for a MEDIUM in both fabric options (my usual size in mfsc shirting), for a trim, traditional western “cowboy” shirt fit.
Please refer to sizing chart for approximate raw/soaked measurements. Soaked = 30mn cold soak, spin dry and line dry.
CHART
CARE:
Machine wash on DELICATE, cold water, mild eco-friendly detergent. Hang dry.
Wash with similar-colored garments.
Do not use the washer’s heavy-duty cycle. Heat dryer is also not recommended and could damage the garment.
Available RAW (un-rinsed)
Sizes
X-Small
Small
Medium
Large
X-Large
XX-Large
Available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and fine retailers around the World.
Email [email protected] or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support.
Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom®
©2020
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