The all-original Mister Freedom® DUDE RANCHER is our spin on the traditional “western snap” shirt. The design features the expected western-style front and back curved yokes and arcuate panels. The playful “M” branding on the chest pockets is disguised as decorative stitching. The tricked-out forearm pattern and intricate one-piece elbow/cuff reinforcement diamond-shaped placket is quite a garment construction tour de force, for anyone who knows his/her way around a sewing machine.
The shirt's buttons are painted metal snaps, reminiscent of 50’s Ranchcraft or Blue Bell shirts, initially featured on the 2013 MF® Sportsman printed flannel Camp Shirts. If pearl snap buttons are more commonly associated with traditional western shirts, these metal snaps are a bit more subdued and utilitarian.
For this iteration, we opted for a rare selvedge 100% cotton woven plaid, combining indigo yarns, covert yarns (a.k.a. salt & pepper), and black yarns, in a sturdy, dry hand, 9 Oz. fabric.
The inspiration for this unusual yarn combo came from the check lining of a vintage 1940s French corduroy coat (in Velour d’Amiens). The lining was just too good not to be replicated as-is, so we had the textile experts at Toyo Enterprises painstakingly mill a selvedge rendition of it in Japan, woven on vintage traditional machinery.
The DUDE RANCHER western snap shirt is designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan by Sugar Cane Co.