TCB Jeans Cat Head Work Pants

Haraken visits TCB about once a year, usually making time to stop by while he is away on business.

One day, something caught my eye in one of his Instagram Stories: the face of a duck with an oddly vacant expression that was somehow incredibly charming.

Judging by its overall appearance, it did not seem to be extremely old.

Even so, the moment I saw it, I thought, “Wouldn’t this be great as a matching set with the Cat Head Jacket?” I immediately explained the idea to him, and he kindly agreed to let me have it.

For me, it really was a case of the perfect opportunity simply falling into my lap.

The original probably dates from around the 1960s.

Since the Cat Head Jacket is based on coveralls from the 1930s and ’40s, there is a slight difference in period between the two original garments.

This time, however, we decided to embrace that difference and enjoy it as part of the design. Had it not been for that duck, I might never have examined a pair of 1960s painter pants in quite this much detail.

Looking at them again carefully, the back pockets feature decorative stitching, while the pocket openings are finished with chain stitching.

As you would expect from painter pants, the main seams use triple-needle felled construction, while only the back yoke is sewn with double-needle stitching.

Compared with prewar coveralls and painter pants, the stitch length is also noticeably longer. This brings me to something I often find myself talking about whenever the subject turns to workwear.

In 1960s workwear production, durability was certainly important, but I believe manufacturers were also placing increasing emphasis on rational construction and production efficiency.

Straight seams could be sewn with chain stitching, eliminating the need to worry about running out of bobbin thread. Areas subjected to greater stress were sewn with triple-needle stitching, while the comparatively low-stress back yoke used double-needle stitching to reduce thread consumption. Likewise, because closely spaced stitches take longer to cover the same distance, using a longer stitch length could shorten sewing time, even if only slightly.

I actually counted the number of stitches per inch. Compared with prewar coveralls, these 1960s painter pants have two fewer stitches per inch.

Two stitches may not sound like much, but fewer stitches mean a greater distance can be sewn in the same amount of time, while also reducing the amount of thread used. The difference may be negligible on a single pair of pants, but when a factory is producing hundreds or thousands of garments, it becomes significant.

That kind of manufacturing logic ultimately helped create the distinctive character we now associate with workwear from that era. It is another reason I find vintage workwear so fascinating.

For this project, we used the same denim as the Cat Head Jacket so that the two can be worn as a matching set.

Until now, the Cat Head stood alone as a jacket. At last, it has a pair of pants to go with it.

□ FABRIC

The fabric is the same denim used for the Cat Head Jacket. Drawing inspiration from vintage denim, careful attention was paid to every detail, from the shape and character of the yarn irregularities to the color and dyeing method.

Recently, rather than trying to create all of the irregularity with a single yarn count, we have preferred to combine different yarns, each with its own distinctive type of unevenness.

Specifically, the warp uses No. 8 straight yarn and No. 9 yarn with short slubs in a 1:1 ratio. The weft combines No. 12 yarn with natural irregularity and another No. 12 yarn containing nep, again in a 1:1 ratio.

Using four different types of yarn in this way gives the fabric the complex, irregular character associated with vintage denim.

The warp is also dyed to a somewhat lighter shade of indigo characteristic of vintage store-brand workwear. To compensate for the lighter-colored warp, the weft is dyed grey rather than being left in its natural ecru color.

There were likely different approaches among manufacturers to making workwear appear darker and keeping dirt from showing. Some fabrics relied on a darker warp, while others used grey weft yarn to make the overall fabric appear darker and help disguise dirt.

Finally, because half of the weft consists of nep yarn, the fabric is finished without singeing so that the characteristic nep texture remains intact.

□ SIZE

Model: 180 cm / 76 kg, wearing size 34 with a slightly relaxed fit.

Spiral Comment

We’ve been waiting for these—the Cat Head Pants.

TCB Jeans’ classic Cat Head Jacket, based on 1930s–40s coveralls, finally has a matching pair of pants to complete the setup.

The design is based on a pair of vintage painter pants believed to date from around the 1960s.

Details characteristic of work pants from the era have been carefully reproduced, including decorative stitching on the back pockets, chain-stitched pocket openings, and triple-needle stitching along the main seams.

What makes them especially interesting is that TCB hasn’t simply reproduced old details—they’ve also interpreted and recreated the rational, production-minded approach to manufacturing that was typical of the 1960s.

Triple-needle stitching is used where extra strength is needed, while the back yoke is sewn with double-needle stitching. Even the wider stitch spacing compared with prewar workwear reflects the greater emphasis on production efficiency during the period.

Turn the pants inside out and you can really see just how logically and efficiently they are constructed.

Going so far as to reproduce details like this—that’s exactly what makes TCB so much fun.

The fabric is the same original denim used for the Cat Head Jacket.

The warp combines No. 8 straight yarn with No. 9 short-slub yarn, while the weft combines two types of No. 12 yarn: one with natural irregularity and the other with nep. By mixing four different yarns, TCB creates the complex, uneven character associated with vintage denim rather than a uniform surface.

The warp is dyed in a slightly lighter shade of indigo reminiscent of vintage store-brand denim. Grey yarn is used for the weft instead of natural ecru, and the fabric is finished without singeing so that the texture of the nep yarn remains visible.

Even when new, the denim has a somehow familiar, vintage feel, and with continued wear it will develop an even richer and more complex character.

If you already own the Cat Head Jacket, these are naturally a perfect choice to wear as a matching set.

They also work beautifully on their own, offering the unmistakable character of traditional work pants that feels distinctly different from a standard pair of five-pocket jeans.

Please note that the actual waist measures approximately 2 inches larger than the tagged size.

When choosing your size, please refer to the actual measurements in the size chart below rather than relying on the tagged size alone.

Spiral Note

1960s Workwear and "Stitch Pitch"

When looking at vintage workwear, focusing not just on design and fabric but also on the "fineness of the stitching" can sometimes reveal the context of the era in which it was made.

Stitch pitch, in simple terms, refers to the fineness of the stitches. Generally, it can be expressed as SPI (Stitches Per Inch), indicating how many stitches are in one inch.

The 1960s painter pants that TCB referenced this time reportedly had about two fewer stitches per inch compared to pre-war coveralls.

Reducing the number of stitches allows the same distance to be sewn in less time and reduces the amount of thread used.

While it's a small difference for a single item, it becomes a significant difference in a factory producing hundreds or thousands of items.

Assuming durability, triple stitching is used where necessary, and double stitching is used in areas of less stress.

The details of vintage workwear often reflect the answers devised by factories of the time to "make things durable, quickly, and rationally," rather than being purely decorative.

Once you know this, even a single stitch in vintage items becomes interesting to observe.