Workshirts

[428CJ]

Lee 101 EU Sawtooth at 212 days. About to get its first wash. This was a very dark, very mildly rinsed denim when new. It almost could have passed as rigid.

I wear this tucked/buttoned or untucked/unbuttoned, as the situation and weather dictate.

[Broark]

Man I am convinced that I have the world's sharpest elbows or something.
I blew out both elbows on my Buzz chambray, but that was after years of owning it.
I've had this Mister Freedom chambray for a few months now and both elbows are almost threadbare. What gives?

[JDelage]

I love chambray but it is too light for workshirt, IMHO. IH has a heavier one, and I don't understand why other makers don't match that.

You could use a destroyed pair of denim and have someone make elbow patches with them. That would be cool...

[julian-wolf]

Don't know what sorta work you're doing, but getting sweaty in chambray is a hell of a lot more comfortable for me than getting sweaty in heavy denim or duck

Lightweight workshirts are the way to go

[peter1]

I have two heavyweight chambrays, one from Battenwear that is basically a 6 oz denim in weight. Maybe not that much but it's burly. The other is from EG Workaday (underrated and fairly priced, especially compared to EG mainline).

My favorite workshirt is a bit of an oddball: It's a USN repro from August 8.15, with patch flap chest pockets, internal taped seams and USN anchor buttons. It's lightweight and comfortable as hell. They don't make it any more but it's a good brand, just don't pay retail...https://shop.augustfifteenth.com/collections/mens-shirts/products/classic-engineer-work-shirt-br-premium-chambray

[JDelage]

I just got the Warehouse base chambray shirt. It's perfectly nice, and according to the website dyed with indigo. Strangely it has wide shoulders for its torso, like TFH (but nowhere as bad), as opposed to other models I've seen on the store, where the measurements are biased the other way round (so, boxy).

[JDelage]

11 hours ago, julian-wolf said:

Don't know what sorta work you're doing

Doing work with a workshirt? That's crazy. :-)

[BionicEye]

no love for the tcb workshirt?

[BionicEye]

and i heard some good things about this cheap chambray shirt
https://www.uniqlo.com/eu/en/product/men-chambray-slim-fit-work-shirt-regular-collar-426848.html?dwvar_426848_color=COL67&dwvar_426848_size=SMA002&cgid=

[428CJ]

On 2/5/2020 at 6:47 PM, Broark said:

Man I am convinced that I have the world's sharpest elbows or something.
I blew out both elbows on my Buzz chambray, but that was after years of owning it.
I've had this Mister Freedom chambray for a few months now and both elbows are almost threadbare. What gives?

Might be a fit issue. Is it a tight fit in the sleeves? I have the same shirt I posted above, but in a size larger (and black), with almost the same length of wear. It has nowhere near the amount of elbow wear as the blue one above. The fabric is the same aside from the color of the dye. Fit radically affects wear.

[Double 0 Soul]

Our mom's were right all along... don't put your elbows on the table!

..it'll fuck your shirt's up.

[Broark]

2 hours ago, 428CJ said:

Might be a fit issue. Is it a tight fit in the sleeves? I have the same shirt I posted above, but in a size larger (and black), with almost the same length of wear. It has nowhere near the amount of elbow wear as the blue one above. The fabric is the same aside from the color of the dye. Fit radically affects wear.

Actually the Buzz sleeves are tighter than the MF shirt. Would make sense, but this one fits looser. 

[428CJ]

6 hours ago, Broark said:

Actually the Buzz sleeves are tighter than the MF shirt. Would make sense, but this one fits looser. 

Must just be a fabric that is highly susceptible to abrasion, then. I wouldn't call that a characteristic of chambray in particular, FWIW. Probably has more to do with the strength of the individual yarns and the tightness of the weave. I've got chambray shirts that are over 20 years old with minimal wear and tear, but they're very strong, being 65/35, and very tightly woven.

[428CJ]

Here are some progress pix of the same Lee 101 EU Sawtooth that I posted above. I started wearing it as it came, with no initial wash. After almost three years of ownership and 212 days of wear, I washed it for the first time. I have included the pre-wash photos again so you don't have to scroll up and down to compare.

The before and after shots can be directly compared, because the variables between the photographs were very well controlled. I left my entire studio setup exactly the same since I photographed the shirt pre-wash, and I applied exactly the same Lightroom edits to all of the photos.

I didn't photograph this shirt when it was new, but I do have an unworn one. It's a slightly different edition, with chest embroidery and a "Japanese Fabric" tag inside, but the fabric and cut are the same. I photographed that as well, so you can see what the fabric on the broken in one looked like when it was new.

I don't need to caption each one, because it will be obvious what they are. Brand new are dark, pre-wash are worn and filthy, and post-wash are worn and clean.

 

 

As far as washing procedure, I gave the shirt what I would call an "aggressive hand wash" using Woolite Dark in cold water. I soaked in a plastic storage bin in the bath with cold water and the Woolite for an hour or two, giving the shirt a general agitation a couple times during. Then I aggressively agitated it for about 10 to 15 minutes, both generally and on specific areas. I dumped that water out, and it was so saturated with dye and filth that it was a DARK opaque blue.

I then gave it another Woolite soak and wash sequence, but with a shorter soak time and shorter agitation time. I dumped that water out (very blue, but translucent and bright this time), and quickly rinsed with the detachable shower head.

Then I gave the shirt about 30 minutes of soaking with intermittent general and specific agitation, with about two cups of vinegar in the water. Dumped that, and it was a lot closer to clear.

Then a soak and agitation in plain water. Dumped that, and it was nearly clear. Then a rinse with a detachable shower head, before hanging to dry indoors.

I'm just going to put in a word for Woolite Dark here. It cuts grime EXTREMELY well, but it isn't harsh on the dye. It seems to really pop the naturally faded areas, while leaving your background dye field alone. Supposedly it somewhat smooths frayed yarns as well. Though I don't know how that works, I have to say that it does have a different effect on frayed yarns and threadbare areas than any other detergent I've tried. And I like the scent. Not the detergent to use if you like classic fades, but it's great stuff if you want high contrast.

Edited February 10, 2020 by 428CJ
Added wash information.

[dylanbooth78]

that came out really nice mate!

[BionicEye]

On 2/8/2020 at 5:29 AM, 428CJ said:

Must just be a fabric that is highly susceptible to abrasion, then. I wouldn't call that a characteristic of chambray in particular, FWIW. Probably has more to do with the strength of the individual yarns and the tightness of the weave. I've got chambray shirts that are over 20 years old with minimal wear and tear, but they're very strong, being 65/35, and very tightly woven.

Now you make me curious

which brands?

[428CJ]

8 hours ago, BionicEye said:

Now you make me curious

which brands?

Defense Supply Company Philadelphia...A.K.A. my old USN utility uniform shirts.

[MileHighEvertonian]

Grabbed the ELMC Workshirt made by John Lofgren from S&S a couple weeks ago. The mock twist/covert chambray fabric in coral is really something else:

[JDelage]

I don't get those weird repro details on work shirts... 

[Flash]

What weird details ? 

I think a lot of vintage workwear was really over engineered ( in a good way ) , I think one of the reasons was that they didnt have much options for marketing with the exception of catalogues and all these little details like the ventilation holes , chin strap , pencil pocket and others set there brand apart from others competing for the same customers 

Edited April 11, 2020 by Flash

[Thanks_M8]

Same here, pencil pockets and different pocket shapes makes for a more interesting look. And I don't lose my pen while doing stuff

[JDelage]

Pencil pockets are useful ... if they are deep enough to accommodate normal sized pens. However, the cigarette pack pockets are less than useful, the ventilation holes are horrible looking (I admit they can be useful for those actually doing work in their workshirts), and the chin straps are useless for us nowadays...

[Flash]

9 minutes ago, JDelage said:

Pencil pockets are useful ... if they are deep enough to accommodate normal sized pens. However, the cigarette pack pockets are less than useful, the ventilation holes are horrible looking (I admit they can be useful for those actually doing work in their workshirts), and the chin straps are useless for us nowadays...

But they are reproductions ....

[unders]

14 hours ago, MileHighEvertonian said:

The coral looks real nice in this photo. 

[Double 0 Soul]

23 minutes ago, Flash said:

But they are reproductions ....

 

That's what i hate about repro's, all they do is copy vintage details, why can't they be more original?

[Flash]

Enjoying this weather while it's here 

Warehouse / big yank  chambray 

 

[mpukas]

7 hours ago, JDelage said:

I don't get those weird repro details on work shirts... 

Agree

5 hours ago, JDelage said:

Pencil pockets are useful ... if they are deep enough to accommodate normal sized pens. However, the cigarette pack pockets are less than useful, the ventilation holes are horrible looking (I admit they can be useful for those actually doing work in their workshirts), and the chin straps are useless for us nowadays...

Agree. Mostly... Great for something like a framing pencil w/ no clip. I find pencil pockets reduce the size of the pocket too much for the rest of it to be useful. I've unpicked the stitching on a couple shirts, since I carry a pen w/ a clip. 

"Back in the Day" (whenever the F' that was), workshirt details were designed to accommodate the conditions and items at the time. I don't get the resistance to making workshirts today reflect the items and conditions of today. And not just in workshirts, in jackets and jeans as well. I get that repro guys want authenticity so they can cosplay and reminisce about by-gone old-timey times when times were so much better because we had to dig ditches by hand and plow fields behind a team of oxen from sun-up to sun-down, and then didn't have to wash our own clothes 'cuz the missus did that once a fort-night as part of "her" chores, ensuring sik fadez.  

Asymmetrical and small useless cigarette pockets give me that uncontrollable OCD twitch in left side of my neck... 

The most useful pocket type on workshirts - and can be found one real working-class workshirts today - is w/ a flap and a pen slot in the of the flap. I have cheap Wrangler western workshirts w/ this feature. It's such a small detail yet so awesome. 

[Flash]

10 minutes ago, mpukas said:

 I don't get the resistance to making workshirts today reflect the items and conditions of today. And not just in workshirts, in jackets and jeans as well. I get that repro guys want authenticity so they can cosplay and reminisce about by-gone old-timey times when times 

You know they ( someone ) make these types of shirts too ... Don't you ? 

 

I really don't understand this line of thinking . Why want or wish for something to change when there is another option out there to suit you ? 

[Double 0 Soul]

Agreed, this^^ doesn't make any sense at all.

There is no "resistance towards making modern workshirts reflect the conditions of today" you can buy modern workshirts from any workwear/saftey supplier, you can also buy techwear in an array of modern materials with pockets to accomodate all kinds of devices should you wish to do so, it's your choice, we have a techwear thread on sufu, go check it out for yourself.

Just because some folks prefer their clothing to have repro deets doesn't make them in anyway misogynistic or yearn to plow fields it's a fucking idiotic suggestion..

..it might have escaped you but the vast majority of 5 pocket jeans we discuss on this forum are in actual fact repro's.

[mpukas]

First off, I'm being sarcastic. Just ranting. I'm not criticizing you guys, or trying to insult or start a row in anyway. And I'm certainly not making assumptions about why you choose to wear what you like. I look to you fella's for styling cues, brand info, historical info, etc. (and most importantly community) and I'm genuinely interested in what you like and why. But I have my own weird tastes and preferences. 

My issue is that I, too, like the quality, attention to detail, fabrics, etc. of Amekaji. I just want pockets on shirts, jackets, jeans that are useful. I have 0 f's to give about historically accurate cigarette pocket details. And I have even less f's to give for street techwear. @Double 0 Soul c'mon, really? Did you have to go that low? 

@Flash it is a lovely shirt