Freewheelers, Bootleggers Reunion, Bubo, etc.

[Duke Mantee]

Freewheelers Bakehead, 90% Cotton / 10% Linen Vintage Chambray, Traffic Gray #1523011

[Duke Mantee]

Freewheelers Bakehead, 90% Cotton / 10% Linen Vintage Chambray, Sand #1523011

[Duke Mantee]

Freewheelers Kesey, Vintage Block Check Flannel, Purple x Mix Gray #1433008

[Duke Mantee]

And to round off, a little batch of what are some of my favourite designs and fabrics 

Freewheelers Trackwalker, Original Wabash Chambray, Indigo Star Stripe #1423001

Edited May 7, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[Duke Mantee]

Freewheelers Trackwalker, Vintage Chambray, Black #1323003

[Duke Mantee]

Freewheelers Locomotive Engineer, Original Wabash Chambray, Indigo Star Stripe #1223006

[Duke Mantee]

Freewheelers Conductor, Original Wabash Chambray, Indigo Polka Dot #1123004

[Double 0 Soul]

What's the slanty button hole for^ i never really figured it out, my Dapper's shirts have it.

[Duke Mantee]

Freewheelers 1920 U.S. Navy C.P.O., Wool, Navy #0933003 ... the daddy of all FW shirts (I might have to photograph this on a white background - the fabric sucks light in)

[Duke Mantee]

2 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

What's the slanty button hole for^ i never really figured it out, my Dapper's shirts have it.

Pocket watch chain ... or headphone wires

Edited May 7, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[Double 0 Soul]

Thanks Mike, i suspected it would be headphone wires.

[Maynard Friedman]

I thought it was simply the result of a FWxCSF collaboration.

[Duke Mantee]

7 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Thanks Mike, i suspected it would be headphone wires.

I’m not sure where the rest of the gear went though ...

[Iron Horse]

16 hours ago, Duke Mantee said:

So let’s get up to 90 (that’s all I have access to - the rest are in another location about a pandemic away) ... and continuing the theme @Iron Horse has expanded for us, here’s the original Neal Cassady which has the pre lawsuit label (yep, everyone from Levi’s to the Cassady family has had a go at FW). Bryan - what’s your thoughts on this pattern which FW says is based on a 1930’s work shirt? Note the Neal only has 6 buttons, I think a lot of your references have 7. Anyways ...

Freewheelers Neal Cassady Rail Road, Vintage Chambray, Indigo #0533006 (but actually from the Spring 2010 collection)

@Duke Mantee The overall silhouette is good actually; if I were to change anything, again I'd lower the pockets some, at least to the point of the pocket buttons lining up with the placket's third button. The collar is also more on the square side, which is a bit more of a 1900-1920s detail than it is '30s. For the latter the collar should be a touch more spearpointy, though not as much as the rather exaggerated examples that sometimes came out of the '40s and '50s.

For example, the more squared collar of a late 1910s / early 1920s Milton F. Goodman shirt from Reliance Mfg. Co. (precursor of the Big Yank shirt):

Whereas for a ‘30s shirt I'd lean towards a collar like this, but these are minor quibbles:

 

Length of the collar point here is somewhere in the range of 7.5 cm as anything north of 8 would look quite long.

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Iron Horse

[Duke Mantee]

@Iron Horse thanks Bryan, I appreciate your views. I know FW rarely make direct copies of any vintage wear they research/own so it’s good to be given a different perspective ... maybe I should’ve just bought Rite Stuff instead ... 

 

[Iron Horse]

@Duke Mantee Well, I’ve taken some liberties as well; for example the sleeve length of the original Heracles, and so far the collars have been on the smaller side (though I’ll change this after much thought and further acquisition of vintage examples and measuring to determine the sweet spot). Mine are also 6-button shirts as many people do like to wear their shirts untucked. Besides, I’m quite critical of myself and the product too and don’t feel satisfied or like I’ve nailed it with anything, so there’s still room for improvement.

So, nothing against FW, they make a great product! And enough about me! 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Iron Horse

[Double 0 Soul]

Regarding direct copies, (in the fit departmant) workshirts are quite forgiving, if you buy your regular size, chances are it's going to fit like a workshirt should, but we also need to take body shape into account, a lot of 'workwear' garments were patterned for American manual workers so if you have a body shape akin to such, it's all gravy but many don't.. take a Chilean friend of mine, he has a similar build to me but his chest is massive, he reckons all Chileans are disproportionately broad chested due to the lung capacity needed for the thin air so my workshirts would fit him fine but he wouldn't be able to button up my 506 repro's in the same size, if he sized up the sleeves would be way long.

You see it regularly with the Japanese body shape, take the CSF group shot for instance, they're wearing a single or double cuff on the sleeve just to get the chest to fit and because they're shorter in stature their arms are shorter, so it's understandable why we often see tweaked for a Japanese market, if not you're making clothes which don't fit 80% of the folks who buy them, if we insist on accuracy we're guilty of repro-racism...

[Duke Mantee]

1 minute ago, Iron Horse said:

@Duke Mantee Well, I’ve taken some liberties as well; for example the sleeve length of the original Heracles, and so far the collars have been on the smaller side (though I’ll change this after much thought and further acquisition of vintage examples and measuring to determine the sweet spot). Mine are also 6-button shirts as many people do like to wear their shirts untucked.

So, nothing against FW, they make a great product! 

If it looks right then it is rite ...

You, Lofgren, FW and many many other brands put a lot of time and effort into creating the stuff we wear (and discuss) here. Ultimately everything is down to personal choice which is as influenced by today’s culture as it was back in those days. I really appreciate that and I really appreciate your input now - thank you

[Duke Mantee]

2 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Regarding direct copies, (in the fit departmant) workshirts are quite forgiving, if you buy your regular size, chances are it's going to fit like a workshirt should, but we also need to take body shape into account, a lot of 'workwear' garments were patterned for American manual workers so if you have a body shape akin to such, it's all gravy but many don't.. take a Chilean friend of mine, he has a similar build to me but his chest is massive, he reckons all Chileans are disproportionately broad chested due to the lung capacity needed for the thin air so my workshirts would fit him fine but he wouldn't be able to button up my 506 repro's in the same size, if he sized up the sleeves would be way long.

You see it regularly with the Japanese body shape, take the CSF group shot for instance, they're wearing a single or double cuff on the sleeve just to get the chest to fit and because they're shorter in stature their arms are shorter, so it's understandable why we often see tweaked for a Japanese market, if not you're making clothes which don't fit 80% of the folks who buy them, if we insist on accuracy we're guilty of repro-racism...

And where repro doesn’t venture is to make a variety of fits

[Iron Horse]

Oh yes, if only I had the wherewithal to make three different patterns for body types:

 

[oomslokop]

 

 

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 Advanced issue found

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44 minutes ago, Iron Horse said:

 I'd lower the pockets some, at least to the point of the pocket buttons lining up with the placket's third button.

thanks for yr recent treatise on the pocket placement @Iron Horse! now it's the only thing i see when i look at shirts!

[Iron Horse]

You’ve taken your first step into a larger world @oomslokop, one in which you’ll find yourself staring disapprovingly at men’s chests online and in public.

[unders]

And my own. Great insight gents. Thank you. 

[the shivman]

7 hours ago, Duke Mantee said:

A modern day right and wrong IMHO - the wrong being the trendy western interpretation 

Damn, that fit is Spork Liberty CPO level bad.

[Duke Mantee]

43 minutes ago, the shivman said:

Damn, that fit is Spork Liberty CPO level bad.

[Duke Mantee]

The story so far ...

[Dr_Heech]

Woah, impressive collection when you view it like that!

 

[Duke Mantee]

There’s another couple of dozen to go Doc - but that’s what I have at the moment

[JDelage]

Now, pants....

 

:-) Seriously, thank you for all those pics. It's been very helpful. Now I'm really thinking hard about getting that Ironall...

[the shivman]

Great project Duke. I would be able to fill 1 row at this point.