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Workshirts


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Just now, julian-wolf said:

Missed this post, somehow. Beautiful! Thanks for searching this out. What's the best way to contact Desolation Row? I've never actually ordered from them before, and their web shop doesn't seem to have much inventory listed.

The gold Hammersmith is one that’s available from Hoosier 

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9 hours ago, lance said:

Well I wore my Buzz Rickson chambray workshirt today and it’s time for retirement. Owned it for 10-15 years and got my money’s worth. The chambray is so worn, is is starting to fray just from handling the shirt. Time to break out the new one.

Was that the blue chambray shirt? Impressive!

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@JDelage thanks and yes, it’s the same blue Buzz chambray, a classic  see last photo above, label says it all, see below

@SLAB thanks

@Flash thanks, no, not for manual labor, desk job. Presently, particularly in high stress areas, the chambray has the consistency and strength of tissue paper so it’s retired and the new (same) Buzz blue chambray workshirt is on deck

@bartlebyyphonics thanks

Thanks for the rep everyone!

On Deck

B605A1D5-DE2C-4880-9E82-1F181AAD6A12.thumb.jpeg.3d58a4f4e68be3c54b7b6c5bddf4b57f.jpegB3E3B4C9-57ED-45E8-8837-A9520E063D3B.thumb.jpeg.de9e665ad4b0405bd57b497018124f0a.jpeg

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@oomslokop ha made me laugh... I ran up stairs immediately yesterday checking pocket placement on my humble two chambrays... Roy bang on placement (big cheer), RMC a touch above (scratched chin before rationalising to acceptable tolerance with possible factory wonky lines but, dear me, probably never again :))

@bartlebyyphonics and you our esteemed literary equivalent... I’m adding ole Hardy (a new acquaintance) to my look-up list for this afternoon...

@lance has set a stretch aspiration for wear there

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Checked last night and all my Flat Head, Mister Freedom and Iron Heart workshirt pockets all slightly above 3rd button (down). Same on Duke’s Freewheelers wholesalers (Freewholers!).

Edited by Maynard Friedman
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@MJF9 you are too kind sir...

button placement on my old Eddie Bauer (no idea of the date: made in Hong Kong so not that old...) is spot on... and the fabric is heavy heavy: some details...

n1EZZUfh.jpg

LISSxxsh.jpg

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... on an old dickies shirt (m.i.u. but cotton / polyester blend - presumably made 80s?) - a half button width off...

d6Pns1xh.jpg

and on new anatomica big yank; pleasingly just over and the other just under; a lovely repro shirt, just exact enough and yet off kilter enough to get all alignment obsessive compulsive tendencies in a spin...

FcA8TFWh.jpg

and, from the lightning book on workwear; even big yank didn't keep to the rules in the 40s...

xUu51Ulh.jpg

qaTPqF1h.jpg

but one from the 30s perfectly below!

BQp8BTjh.jpg

Edited by bartlebyyphonics
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I’ve created a monster! :tongue:

Bartle, you’re right about the ‘40s and this is one of the reasons I mostly stick to pre-war workwear. Once the ‘40s hit a lot of stuff seems to either go out the window or go sideways, so I’ve pigeonholed myself to about 1910-1939.

But speaking of that Buzz ‘40s-style USN chambray, here’s an original for reference:

il_794xN.1688648283_g8h6.jpg

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2 hours ago, bartlebyyphonics said:

he is the workwear equivalent of hardy amies giving us all kinds of histories and rules to live by...

Now now, I’m no authority or the self-proclaimed Pope of workwear. :D Feel free to break the rules, but do it with poise.

“The only thing more important than style is poise.“

Edited by Iron Horse
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2 hours ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Checked last night and all my Flat Head, Mister Freedom and Iron Heart workshirt pockets all slightly above 3rd button (down). Same on Duke’s Freewheelers wholesalers (Freewholers!).

How many buttons on the placket? What length is the shirt? What size are the pockets?

You need to measure all of this - get back to your checking and complete the task properly.

must do better/10 :dry:

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@Iron Horse - you are too modest - your pronouncement on shoulder measurements should be carved in stone and hung in all rugged-dandy-menswear outlets...

for those who haven't looked at the freewheeler's thread: Iron Horse's excellent contribution below [which already makes the point about 40s shirts buttons a-wandering]. For anyone who hasn't seen them: I would also point to his two excellent histories of work shirts; here and here

as @SLAB has said elsewhere: we anxiously await revelation of zipper pullover once in action... 

On 5/6/2020 at 11:17 PM, Iron Horse said:

Warning: Thread derailment, feel free to move this to another (new?) thread if it's too much.

Bartles is right, these are many details that are often wrong on modernized work shirts like the kinds you’ll find at the mall or department stores, the latter being ironic, and also sometimes in repros.

Shoulders should fit at or below the shoulder; speaking personally, if I buy a shirt the only measurement I look at closely is the shoulders. If the pattern is correct then all other dimensions should fall in line, though obviously in the past, and for various brands, one orders by neck size.

Re: pockets, and cigarette pockets, the button on the pocket should never go above the third button on the placket. On vintage shirts it varied, but the pocket button can match up with the third placket button, sit slightly below, or even 3/4s of the way down, almost to the fourth button. This is good if you find yourself stopping over regularly and don’t want things to fall out of flapless pockets. Cigarette pocket shirts generally get this wrong, even from big repro brands.
 

Shirts were almost always advertised as being cut full for freedom of movement:

617241D4-8668-4AEA-891F-E6969D56DB39.jpeg

10C69E98-4D6B-4512-8A06-69CE64345816.jpeg

0D1EC77E-29B6-472F-B919-A6BF119BA6F9.jpeg
 

0D7EF5F0-1D4E-4B0D-9651-9F4A33A43F12.jpeg

Here’s an example from the 1930s, shoulders slightly low, pockets slightly below third button:

IMG_4430_1024x1024.JPG?v=1555247423
 

Shoulders should V shape down decidedly, pockets lower than they are high. Think of the third button as the horizon in a perspective drawing and you’re a bird flying down the road with the buildings at or below eye level:

DA462CCA-58EF-41B2-A20C-B0B36484075D.jpeg

Some more examples:

F3B9D3E2-E21F-4AFF-8817-17D99A24E357.png

Note the thin, high back yoke:

2CE42199-B883-41B5-8D3F-51E1EF5B6E68.jpeg

22CB6776-0714-4548-AA05-6F5771807604.jpeg

Big Yank cigarette pocket shirt (standard version, not the premium Flyer version); the left-hand (from our vantage point) pocket, the larger one (meant to hold a pencil/pen as well as the ability to store a looseleaf tobacco tin) should be level with the third button in 1930s-style cig pocket shirts. In the '40s the large pocket was raised above the third button:

C352C4BA-073E-4A59-8B66-C6EC90C49D00.png

Big Yank Flyer and standard versions:

BigYankFlyer1930_1024x1024.jpg?v=1555241

big1930_grande.JPEG?v=1555245016

This, for example, is not right in my eye:

Barnstormer - Japanese denim shop - International orders available ...

Back to the originals: Most likely J.C. Penney Compass shirt:

4EC6235B-EC03-429D-ADA9-8464423A7E7D.jpeg

1920s pullover as worn by Gary Cooper:

8CE57370-7B3E-491C-B605-2D0E34685120.jpeg

A pullover in the '30s:

DC4FF73A-03E7-48FF-B0AB-B3C68A8F2DED.jpeg

73B33648-2054-4380-8D22-B41FEF690FCC.jpeg

974CE89C-66AF-4429-A5DB-AAB5B4685EA4.jpeg

Double front chest shirt, similar to the Cast Iron shirt, most likely Wards Pioneer though; note the double shoulders:

878F964A-19B8-4439-AC20-6136F86EE590.jpeg

7B66C347-426B-4A37-8478-DAE0D32E2168.jpeg
 

And for good measure, a vintage 1930s chambray shirt I have:

65684EFE-E4F2-45FB-AA11-D30D41D3934F.jpeg

 

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Are the sleeve width in modern repro accurate to that of their forebears from before 45? Asking because I generally find them near impossible to roll more than twice, unless I roll them a third time before putting it on (and then it's rather tight). I don't have very big arms...

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7 hours ago, JDelage said:

Are the sleeve width in modern repro accurate to that of their forebears from before 45? Asking because I generally find them near impossible to roll more than twice, unless I roll them a third time before putting it on (and then it's rather tight). I don't have very big arms...

Generally speaking the sleeves on most repros are more tapered than on vintage originals by anywhere from 1.5 to 3 cm midway down the sleeve, for example. Armholes vary; I have repros that have armholes that are wider than vintage originals, some the same, and some that are smaller. But even if they’re the same or larger, the sleeve will still have more taper.

Hmm, something else to mull over. To add an extra 1cm or 1.5? :ph34r:

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All this talk about pockets is very interesting indeed. It has also raised a question about a Momotaro shirt I have with a pocket detailing I quite like - I think they call it a jail pocket. Is this something that has an historical reference or is it something they made up?

The shirt in question:

imgrc0075230937.jpg

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I think Momotaro have got creative with the naming. 

The pockets were on US army issue pullovers through the 30s and 40s. The denim uniform was replaced by the green cotton, wool and twill etc, but they remained in service as a work uniform by the U.S. Army and Civilian Conservation Corps during the war. 

They were issued to POWs. 

Pics courtesy of Mr Freedom:

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F16C5EC7-7453-4DFF-9420-6D0F5A5E2E43.thumb.jpeg.61eee796155c8f6c4371e749f344318b.jpeg

Orslow have a repro out at the moment that is very tempting. 

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