TCB Jeans_Uncle Cat Shirt_Betashan

We've recreated a 1940s UNCLESAM vintage shirt.

The asymmetrical chest pockets are commonly known as "gacha-poke."
The left chest features the E-Z REACH POCKET, which I also love.

This design, patented in 1937, consists of a "two-story" structure with one pocket layered on top of another.
While it certainly increases storage capacity, it was also intended to protect cigarettes, which were not yet cellophane-wrapped at the time, from body sweat and moisture.

Today, it looks like a design.
But back then, there was a proper reason for it.
I think this is what makes vintage workwear so interesting.

The pen holder section has a shirt buttonhole.
And the eye-catching red bar tack at the stress points.
At TCB, we intentionally made this yellow. Normally, TCB doesn't make many work shirts.
So, if we were going to make one,
we chose a half-zip type this time.

Vintage pieces used TALON zippers, but considering strength and stability for modern clothing, we had some concerns. So, TCB opted for Waldes.
What's also interesting is the zipper's bottom stop.

Typically, these are box-shaped, but the vintage piece we referenced had a bottom stop that truly resembled underwear, commonly called a "pants stop." I found it strangely appealing, so TCB also adopted the pants-shaped bottom stop.

Vintage pieces tend to have quite long body lengths.
At TCB, you can tuck it in if you want to.
But it's also balanced enough to wear untucked.
We've modified the body length and sizing to achieve this.
And another thing I'd like you to notice is the bobbin thread in the stitching.

You sometimes see it in vintage coveralls, but the chain stitching bobbin thread of triple-stitched felled seams and the bobbin thread of pockets can sometimes be colorful.
We considered using randomly colored threads at TCB as well.
But this time, we meticulously picked up each "seemingly random thread usage" from the vintage piece.

This color here, then this color next.
We've sewn it with the same color scheme as the vintage piece we referenced.
Please pick it up and turn the shirt inside out to check when you get a chance.

And,
when I hear "half-zip work shirt," an episode comes to mind.

Over twenty years ago,
I listed a certain brand's half-zip work shirt on Yahoo! Auctions.
At the time, when an item was won on Yahoo! Auctions, the buyer's personal information was revealed, and the rest was left to the two parties.

Checking the buyer's address, it was Kojima.
Extremely close.

A few months after the transaction, for some reason, I suddenly contacted him, and we ended up going out for a meal together. That's where I met Tate-san, who would later become the founder of WORKERS.
The catalyst wasn't TCB's clothes or WORKERS' clothes.
It was a single half-zip work shirt.

Just like two zippers interlocking, it brought us together. The fact that it was a half-zip, not a full-zip, also feels very "us" (lol).
Like "Notting Hill" or "You've Got Mail" type of encounter.
...Even though it was two men (lol).

I hope that in the future, the clothes we make will continue to bring people together from all over the world. I'd be happy if such moments are born.

With that wish in mind,
Uncle Cats is now on sale.

□ Fabric
What's known as "beta-shan," seen in 1950s vintage.
This shirt's fabric was created from scratch as a TCB original, based on that vintage beta-shan.

The indigo is made with 20s single yarn for both warp and weft.
It's a lightweight 4.4oz fabric.

Typical chambray uses dyed yarn for the warp and white yarn for the weft.
This creates a mixed white surface, giving it a light, frosted appearance.
On the other hand, beta-shan uses dyed yarn for the weft as well.
Its characteristic is that white dots are less visible, resulting in a nearly plain, rich, subdued look. However, what we wanted to create this time wasn't simply "fabric dyed entirely in the same blue."

The warp uses rope-dyed indigo.
The weft uses cheese-dyed sulfur dye.
Furthermore, we've introduced a slight difference in concentration between the warp and weft.

If the warp and weft settled into exactly the same color, it would become a flat blue.
But by leaving just a slight color difference, a deep blue with a matte expression was born. It's easy to see in the photos, but it's not the frosted look of a white-threaded chambray; instead, it looks like blue layered upon blue.

And another important aspect this time was "horizontal slub."
When looking at old chambray, some pieces exhibit a unique horizontal unevenness. We believe this might be due to the way threads were used back then.
During weaving, the warp, which undergoes strong tension, requires somewhat even and strong threads. On the other hand, the weft doesn't experience as much tension as the warp, so loosely twisted threads with some unevenness could have been used.

We hypothesized that the weft, with its fullness and unevenness, was directly woven into the fabric's texture. Especially in the case of beta-shan, since dyed yarn is used for the weft, as it's worn, the color gradually wears off from the raised parts of the unevenness. This results in the horizontal unevenness becoming more pronounced.

For this fabric, we aimed for that expression.
Since the quality of raw cotton and spinning precision are now high, simply loosely twisting the threads won't produce the kind of unevenness seen in the past. Therefore, for the weft, we intentionally designed a thread that, despite being fine, has strong and long slub shapes.

We deliberately wove in the unevenness that old threads had as a result. As you wear it more, the vertical fading and horizontal unevenness will intertwine.
We believe you can enjoy the unique aging process of this fabric.

The black version was intentionally made heavier than vintage.
For the black parts of the warp, we used 20s single yarn with sulfur cheese dyeing.
For the off-white parts, we used 40s two-ply yarn, twisted together to form a杢糸 (mokuyarn - mixed-color yarn).

By intentionally varying the thickness of the black and off-white threads, natural irregularities are created when they form a single thread. These irregularities appear as a vintage-like depth when woven into fabric.

For the weft, we used 10s single yarn, also with sulfur cheese dyeing.
Furthermore, by weaving it at high density, we achieved a substantial thickness of 9.5oz.

It has a weight that could be used for a coverall as well as a shirt.
It has a rougher and heavier feel unique to black杢糸, different from the blue beta-shan.
Even with the same "beta-shan" theme, the indigo is lighter, offering depth of blue.
The black is heavier, offering the unevenness of the杢糸.

In both cases, rather than just imitating vintage, we took the discrepancies and charms we felt and saw in vintage and incorporated them into the fabric in TCB's own way.
It starts quietly, but develops character as you wear it more.
I believe we've achieved such a fabric.

Above text is an excerpt from the manufacturer's official statement.

Spiral Comment

At first glance, it's a simple half-zip work shirt, but the details are packed with the ingenuity characteristic of 1940s workwear.

From the asymmetrical "gacha-poke" and the E-Z REACH pocket devised to protect cigarettes from moisture, to the colorful stitching faithfully reproduced from vintage pieces, each detail has a reason from an era when practicality was key.

Furthermore, TCB's original beta-shan fabric develops unique character as you wear it, with vertical fading and horizontal slub intertwining over time.

It's a TCB piece that can be enjoyed by both vintage connoisseurs and those encountering it for the first time.

Personally, I find half-zips to be fun items that can be used in various outfits. A classic Henley t-shirt or a colorful striped t-shirt would work well as an inner layer. Letting a bandana peek out is also a nice touch.

Spiral Note What is the E-Z REACH pocket?

It's a workwear pocket structure patented in 1937.

It features a double-layered construction with a smaller pocket placed on top of a regular chest pocket. This not only increases storage capacity but also served to protect cigarettes, which were not yet film-wrapped at the time, from sweat and moisture.

While it appears as a unique design today, every detail back then was born out of practicality.

Spiral Note What is Beta-Shan?

"Beta-shan" is an abbreviation for "Beta Chambray."

Typical chambray uses white weft threads, resulting in a light, frosted appearance. In contrast, beta-shan uses dyed threads for the weft as well, making white less noticeable and giving it a calm, almost plain appearance.

TCB further combines different dyeing methods for the warp and weft, creating a fabric that offers unique aging, with vertical fading and horizontal slub appearing as it's worn.

Rope indigo warp and cheese sulfur weft, right? It makes you excited to see what kind of aging it will develop.