Freewheelers and Co.

[veloaudio]

Hmm, glad you like it. Sorry it fits bigger than you expected. How about the fabric? Thoughts?

[mclaincausey]

I'm completely in love with the shirt! The fabric is amazing, buttons, construction, etc all on point. I'm wearing it with pride tonight!

[Chiba J.]

Congrats MCL. Looking forward to some fit pics.

[davito]

@Chiba J. Beautiful parka is it waxed? Like the colors too

@mclaincausey yes please some pics

[Chiba J.]

Davito, yes it is (British Millerain Co. Ltd.  Traditional Waxed Fabric)

http://freewheelers.co.jp/blog/archives/10527

[mclaincausey]

Last night

[Chris]

@Chiba:

Davito, yes it is (British Millerain Co. Ltd.  Traditional Waxed Fabric)

http://freewheelers.co.jp/blog/archives/10527

That is a link I should not have clicked.

Damn, there is some seriously good looking gear in there.  Must resist the urge to buy wildly inappropriate jackets…

[veloaudio]

^^CPO looks good McLain!

[mclaincausey]

Thanks @veloaudio –-It's so great. It was near single digits last night and I just wore what you see there, no jacket.

[Chiba J.]

Looks great MCL. For the sake of science, what are your (bodily) measurements?

[davito]

Thanks @Chiba J. That is an incredible nice coat and great pix on fw page, really tempting wow

@mclaincausey great CPO wear it well

[mclaincausey]

@Chiba:

Looks great MCL. For the sake of science, what are your (bodily) measurements?

Thanks!

Not exactly certain, I'm usually a 40R in American suiting, 5'10" 165lbs. Large usually in Iron Heart. 25" arms.

Keep in mind, the fit is definitely generous–the 17 would be a better fit on me, but these are cut pretty slim, so if you want a vintage CPO fit you probably want to upsize once (this being a 2x upsize). I may try to shrink it down but I don't mind the fullness of the fit, wore a sweatshirt under it tonight and was cozy in 9 degrees Fahrenheit.

[Chiba J.]

I'm surprised you can wear the 17.5. I'm 6'2", 185lbs. and I think the 17.5 would be big for me. The 17 fits me well, great for a smaller sized overshirt.

My feeling is that FW sizes these as 'slim-for-an-overshirt'. In other words, about as slim/small as you can go and still be considered an overshirt. Their Hammersmith, on the other hand, is sized as an overshirt.

P.S. I think the only way you'll get shrinking with this is with some hot water. (or with a dryer, but I would be very leery of going that route). But the guys at DR did say that a wash can result in marginal shrinkage….

[mclaincausey]

Just did a hot soak for maybe a half hour with minimal agitation and spun it through the drier on high heat in a cotton pillowcase to inhibit pilling. I now have what I would call a vintage-correct CPO overshirt fit–not the slimness that Freewheelers intended, but the fit I was looking for, room for layering but no longer feel like I'm swimming in it.

[Chiba J.]

Awesome! Brave and valiant effort, with great results. Good to hear.

Any noticeable changes in the fabric? Did you do pre- and post-treatment measurements?

[mclaincausey]

I didn't do any measurements. I think the fabric might have a slightly softer hand, and the satin taping may have a few more ripples from the asymmetrical shrinkage of the different thread materials, and the buttonholes are a bit tighter, but ultimately it's the same shirt, just a trimmer fit through the body and slightly less length. I'll be wearing it tomorrow and will post a fitpic.

Incidentally, if anyone ever wants to experiment with shrinking wool, you could probably ease into it a bit more than I did with a spray bottle and a drier.

[Chiba J.]

Looking forward to the pics man.

[veloaudio]

I'm glad it shrank up for you! I am very curious what the length measurement is now.

[mclaincausey]

I'll measure. Not a ton different, still a long shirt, but the body cinched in perfectly.

[mclaincausey]

Post hot soak and dry CPO: