Freewheelers, Bootleggers Reunion, Bubo, etc.

[Duke Mantee]

@Flash that’s very kind mate - but I’ve no doubts you could wear this type of coat too

[Iron Horse]

Some more wear on the 1943s:

[Duke Mantee]

Wigwam, Slingshot and Derrickman

Edited April 13, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[JDelage]

@Duke Mantee - That jacket is a repro of the depression-era CCC jacket, right?

[Duke Mantee]

@JDelage I wouldn’t say repro, perhaps ‘influenced’ is better - FW rarely make reproductions, although there are exceptions

 Maybe a better view of the jacket this way

[JDelage]

Very nice. Pretty close, but yes, not a true repro as the original has a shawl collar.

[Thor]

Would any helpful chaps be able to assist in identifying these Freewheelers/ Bootleggers pants? They have a v at the back of the waistband. I'm told Duke Mantee may be able to help? Cheers

[Duke Mantee]

@Thor Those are the Promontory Overalls in double square dot indigo wabash from winter 2012 (there’s a black wabash version too). They were originally issued in grained stripe wabash and a grained black random stripe the previous year. I’m pretty sure they’re a bootleggers design but my records are sketchy for that period

Here’s a couple of sharper images:

Edited April 14, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[Thor]

Thanks mate. 

[Duke Mantee]

Bootleggers Wavy Cap, FW Ironhead, FW Rivet Gunner, Tender Belt, Bootleggers 1951, RMC N-1 boot

[SLAB]

Iron head ftw 

[Duke Mantee]

Utility Jacket, ‘The Driver’ Shirt, Garage Worker Overalls

[shredwin_206]

Really like that jacket! Is it canvas or nylon? 

[Duke Mantee]

@ecsong187 it’s cotton - a micro cord fabric they call cordlane. It’s an earlier iteration of the Deck Worker Jacket that’s just been released

[Duke Mantee]

FW does acronym 

Recon, Ancient Sea Monster Tee, Krafty 

 

[Flash]

Always thought this was a strange direction freewheelers took but still a cool piece 

[Duke Mantee]

@Flash It was an era of clothing they hadn’t covered - a couple of the pieces are really nice but in the main I don’t associate the label with FW and I doubt it’ll feature much in my collection. I think if I was buying technical wear I’d stick to my mountain gear and steer away from pretend-y streetwear

[Duke Mantee]

Again the colours are f-cked but anyway here’s the snappily entitled Barnstormers 1910s Baseball Style Warm-up Sweater - brightest beach cloth I’ve seen

Edited April 22, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[JDelage]

Also, it's the most buttoned beach cloth I’ve seen...

[Duke Mantee]

Ok, you’ve had fair warning. I’m unemployed, I’m locked in the house and I’m getting bored so I’m going to bore the tits of you lot too.

I’ve concocted a mini-studio from old cloth and clothes pegs, an unsafe lighting rig and I’ve got myself a tailor’s dummy (original Stockman dontcha know ) and since I always carry out my threats I’m going to photograph all my gear -  hopefully in a photographically consistent manner ... but if not then it’ll because of your monitor/screen calibration or you’re just looking at it wrong 

I’ve only got Freewheelers stuff - and for that reason it’s getting dumped here so as not to frighten the locals away from other threads. Initially I thought this would be better as a blog but who the f-ck would want to read my ramblings on ‘best of’, ‘better than’ or God forbid a FW t-shirt top ten?

This is number 1 of something north of 300 - and I might need to repeat it as I refine my, ahem, studio technique.

FREEWHEELERS - SANDLOT BASEBALL SHIRT ‘ROSWELL ARMY AIR FIELD’

[Iron Horse]

Sorry to hear about your unemployment Duke, looking forward to the incoming flood of photos though.

[mpukas]

@Duke Mantee Sorry to hear about the unemployment. Questions: When did you get into FW, why originally, and why is it the only brand you have? You're single handedly starting a new SuFu trend; there didn't seem to be that many fellas that had much FW stuff, or knew much about them.  You're pics and gear have always been excellent. 

[Duke Mantee]

@Iron Horse Thanks Bryan - it’s just something that I’m sure everyone has faced at some point

@mpukas Again, thanks for the sentiment, but really I’m not overly concerned. Shit happens - I’ve now got more time for other stuff ... unfortunately for you guys 

I guess I’ve been ‘formally’ collecting  (I call it a collection but I wear it all) FW for about 6 or 7 years but I’ve been buying the brand for a lot longer. I’ve owned all sorts of labels over the years - Mister Freedom, SC, Warehouse, SDA - you name it I’ve sampled it; but all of those had some issue that irked me (e.g MF shirts are weirdly sized), only FW for no apparent reason never ‘annoyed’ me.

The build quality is generally excellent, although not wildly different from many of the other popular brands, but the patterning I find to be a lot better.

They also make a wide variety of styles and garments, so it became easy for me to wear whatever I thought was appropriate for the circumstances - the suits are lovely so that’s my formal wear, the denim is top notch so that’s my casual wear and then there’s everything in between. I wear FW every day - everything except underwear ... but they haven’t started making that yet.

I think that might be the biggest problem for anyone interested - too much choice, and maybe too ‘costume-y’ (made up - but all words are made up, right?) - I don’t think that’s the case but we make our choices. Plus way too many folk take this shit far too seriously and maybe FW never really got enough street cred or whatever it might’ve took.

Anyway, it’s what I like, what I do and I’m happy to share and even help if that’s necessary. But in no way am I an influencer - you should all be adult enough to make your own minds up 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[MJF9]

@Duke Mantee best wishes for the journey ahead... looking forward to the FW download...

[Duke Mantee]

@MJF9 thanks man

The download will be as and when - I’ll need to iron most of the shirts first 

[the shivman]

Those baseball shirts are nice Duke. I've got the navy version. The grey one that you have and grey striped one are both on my list of FW items to get someday.

[Duke Mantee]

Easy to wear Nate - really comfortable

I’ve this, the baseball groundskeeper (and the grey/white version too) - is this the one you mean?

[Snake]

Looking forward to your photos Duke

66MJ

Trackwalker and M1942

[Duke Mantee]

@Snake and great to see more of yours buddy 

[SLAB]

oh yes, duke's collection in all it's glory! sorry to hear about your unemployment 

perhaps its best to organize these pictures in a thread of its own so it does not get dispersed over the other FW ramblings?

I'm already on ice for awhile as EMS does not ship to Belgium anymore since beginning April. No idea when services will be resumed so it'll be great checking other peoples wardobe