SCUBA Utilities - Okinawa Denim

FABRIC:
Fancy “Okinawa 301” denim, 12 Oz. left-hand twill indigo premium denim, “hairy” and slubby, solid white selvedge ID, a Sugar Cane Co proprietary fabric. Milled in Japan on narrow shuttle looms, from a blend of 80% cotton and 20% Okinawan recycled sugar cane fibers.

PATTERN:
An original mfsc pattern inspired by vintage military swimmers trunks and UDT shorts, US Navy dungarees, Army field trousers and other utilitarian classic garments.

SPECS:
* Old school high rise, classic straight leg cut.
* Adjustable waist strap with Mil-Specs double D-ring buckle, ½ inch ~ 1 inch cinch.
* Waistband facing displaying denim selvedge ID.
* No belt loops.
* Front patch pocket original pattern, sandwiched in flat-felled outseam.
* Double rear pockets, concealed selvedge ID on inside fold.
* All four pockets cut using horizontal warp, in contrast with vertical warp of legs.
* Button fly, black painted metal “donut” wreath tack buttons.
* Chainstitch seam construction.
* Black tonal stitching, 100% cotton thread.
* Original mfsc Frogsville woven rayon label.

The MF® SCUBA Utilities are true-to-size after a cold rinse/machine spin dry/line dry.
We recommend the following simple initial process.

• Cold soak garment for about 30 mn in bathtub or washing machine, with occasional hand agitation.
• Spin dry (spinning cycle) if using a washing machine.
• Line dry/drip dry. 

The resulting stiffness of the garment is due to the reactivated starch in the denim fabric, and is normal. Stiffness will easily subside with normal wear, fabric will soften.

CL's Advice: The D-ring waist strap allows for about ½ inch to one inch cinch. I opted for a W31 in the Scuba Utilities, fully cinched, for a comfortable fit (I wear a W32 in all models of Scuba Trunks.) I’m about 5’7 / 145-150 lbs.

Wash when necessary, using appropriate methods pertaining to premium denim.

We recommend turning garment inside-out to avoid potential marbling of the denim fabric. Wash separately from light-colored garments.

Machine wash with cold water, gentle cycle, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry. Using a heat dryer may result in excessive and irreversible shrinkage.

As with all indigo-dyed denim, temporary croaking (color bleeding) is to be expected, as the indigo color could potentially rub on light color garments and furniture. Indigo rubs can easily be spot cleaned using a small amount of laundry detergent on a clean damp cloth.

These came about as we were considering turning the Scuba Trunks pattern – inspired by old school UDT combat swimmer shorts – into a pair of pants. The mission? Coming up with a pair of dungarees not related to the ubiquitous 5-pocket jeans, that could have existed.

“Wanna turn shorts into pants?”, I quipped, “Here it is, Barney-style, just add legs!”

The Mister Freedom® Design Dept kindly remarked that morphing our swim trunks into a pair of practical work pants may take a few more cups of brain juice.
First, we needed front pockets for functionality, so we borrowed the patch pocket design (sandwiched in the outseam) of our Utility Trousers from 2015.
For the back of the pants, the single square pocket of the trunks felt too plain, so we tapped our Swabbies for a more visually-pleasing rear pocketing design. We also needed two pockets, to balance with the absence of back yoke, also a feature of our classic Speedways, anecdotally. The four pockets are cut using horizontal warp, in contrast with the traditional vertical warp used for the legs, which always makes for interesting fabric roping and patina.
We of course kept the no-belt loops style waist band and D-ring cinch strap, pure vintage UDT shorts legacy.

There it is. A modern day wearable blending vintage military aesthetics and utilitarian clothing functionality.

The MF® Scuba Utilities are designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.