We have recreated a vintage Uncle Sam shirt from the 1940s.
It features asymmetrical chest pockets, a vintage shirt pocket design commonly called in Japanese Gacha-poke. The left chest pocket is the E-Z Reach Pocket I personally love. This specific pocket design was patented in 1937. It features a two-tier structure where one pocket is layered over another.
While it certainly increases storage capacity, the design originally served a specific purpose: protecting cigarettes, which weren't yet wrapped in film packages back then, from body sweat and humidity. To our eyes, it looks like a stylistic choice. But at the time, there was a practical reason for it. This is exactly what makes vintage workwear so interesting.
□Details
There is a buttonhole specifically for a pen. And there is an eye-catching red bartack at the corners of the chest pockets. On our repro shirts, we've decided to make that bartuck yellow instead to add a bit more cheapskate flair. We don't usually make work shirts at TCB. So, we figured if we were going to do it, we’d do it right and unique.
We've chosen the half-zip style. The vintage shirt originally has a TALON zipper, but considering the durability required for modern clothing, the vintage zipper is not strong enough.So, we've opted for a Waldes zipper instead. Another interesting detail is the zipper's bottom stop.
While the standard is usually a box-shaped stop, the vintage piece we referenced this time has a stop shaped like a pair of briefs we really liked that quirk, so we've adopted the pants-shaped bottom stop for our version as well. Honestly, people working in the clothing hardware companies call this detail briefs-stop, haha.
The vintage original has a very long dress length but we've modified the length a bit shorter so it's up to you if you tuck in or out.
There’s one more detail I want you to notice: the bobbin thread used in the stitching. You sometimes see this detail on vintage chore coats and similar items on triple-stitched seams or pocket stitching but the bobbin threads are in various different colors. I think it was just purely because of the production efficiency. I mean unless you flip it inside out, you don't see the color of the bobbin thread. Then, why change it?
This kind of so-to-say half-hearted construction can hardly be seen on the clothings of today but it looks cute & vintage-like to our eyes. So, our shirts are made with various different colors of threads used for the bobbin thread.
□Fabric/ Beta-Shan
It's what is known as beta-shan in Japanese (solid-color chambray), a type of fabric seen in the vintage garments from the 1950s.
For this shirt, we've created our own original fabric based on that vintage solid-color chambray. For the indigo version, we used count 20 single yarns for both the warp and the weft.
It is a lightweight 4.4oz fabric. Standard chambray typically uses dyed yarn for the warp and ecru yarn for the weft. This results in white flecks appearing on the surface, creating a light, heathered look.
In contrast, beta-shan uses dyed yarn for the weft as well. This prevents white dots from showing on the surface, resulting in a rich, subdued appearance that looks almost like a solid color. However, what I wanted to create this time wasn't simply fabric dyed entirely in the same shade of blue.For the warp, we've used rope-dyed indigo yarn for the warps and have used cheese dyed & sulfur-dyed yarn for the wefts. Also, we have intentionally made the indigo tinge subtly different between the warp and the weft so that the fabric looks more true to the vintage fabric. If the warp and weft were to blend into the exact same shade, the result would be a flat, uniform blue. By retaining a slight color variation, however, a blue with real depth emerged from within the matte texture.
Another key element we've focused on is horizontal unevenness (or yoko-mura).
When looking at vintage chambray fabrics, we often notice a distinctive horizontal irregularity in the weave.We hypothesize that this stemmed from the way yarns were selected and used in the past.
During weaving, the warp is subjected to higher tension, so it requires strong, relatively uniform yarn. On the other hand, the weft isn't under the same level of tension, so it was possible to use loosely twisted yarns that naturally contained some irregularities. We've imagined that the loft and unevenness of those weft yarns were woven directly into the fabric's character.
With solid-color chambray (beta-shan) specifically, where the weft is also dyed, repeated wear causes the color to gradually abrade from those irregularities.
As a result, the horizontal unevenness becomes more pronounced and rich in character. That is the specific aesthetic I aimed to achieve with this fabric.
Today, the quality of raw cotton and the precision of spinning technology have improved so much that simply using a loose twist won't easily produce the kind of unevenness seen in the past.
To address this, we've intentionally designed a weft yarn that despite being a fine count features strong, elongated irregularities. We have deliberately woven in the kind of unevenness that occurred naturally in vintage yarns. As you wear the garment, the vertical fading and horizontal irregularities will intersect. I hope you enjoy the unique way this fabric ages over time.
□ Fabric/ Black Chambray
For the black version, we've intentionally made the fabric heavier than the original vintage shirt. For the black parts of the warp, we used a count-20 single yarn dyed by the sulfur cheese-dyeing process.
For the other parts appearing in an unbleached tone, we used a count-40 two-ply yarn, twisting them together to create a moku (heathered/marled) effect.By intentionally varying the thickness of the black and natural yarns, a natural unevenness emerges when they are combined into a single thread. This unevenness manifests as a sense of vintage fabric. For the weft, we used a No. 10 single yarn, also sulfur cheese-dyed.
By weaving it at a high density, we've achieved a substantial weight of 9.5 oz. It has enough thickness to serve not just as a shirt, but also as a fabric for a chore coat. It possesses a ruggedness and weight unique to black moku distinct from the character of beta-shan. While sharing the same solid chambray theme, the indigo version offers lightness and depth of blue, whereas the black version offers weight and the textured unevenness of the moku blend.In both cases, rather than simply imitating vintage styles, we have translated the nuances and appeal we perceived in vintage garments into a fabric that reflects TCB’s own modern interpretation. It starts with a quiet appearance, but develops a rich character the more you wear. That is the kind of fabric we believe we have created
