{"product_id":"30s-french-vintage-indigo-linen-stand-collar-work-jacket","title":"[~30's] French Vintage Indigo Linen Stand Collar Work Jacket","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn ‘Indigo Linen Stand Collar Work Jacket’ made in France, estimated to date from around the 1930s.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA super special item has come in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIndigo linen with a stand collar. My honest first impression was: does such a thing even exist.\u003cbr\u003eAnd ninety years on, indigo of this depth still remains. I was, I admit, a little startled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen it comes to French work clothing, cotton twill and moleskin are the standards.\u003cbr\u003eCloth that is durable, inexpensive and can be made in quantity. That is what has clothed working people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis piece, however, is linen.\u003cbr\u003eAnd not a blend, but a cloth of such purity that the slubs of the flax stand out white just as they are.\u003cbr\u003eBring your eye close and you can see each fibre running at its own uneven pace.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd onto that, indigo has been let down.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIndigo is a curious dye: it does not take to the core of the fibre but stays at the surface.\u003cbr\u003eWhich is why it blanches white where it rubs. The same principle as the fading of denim.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn this piece that blanching has scarcely progressed, and the deep navy remains firmly in place.\u003cbr\u003eA single panel of a different tone has been used on one of the hem pockets, and comparing that against the body will show you just how deeply the colour has been kept.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLook at the making and you notice this was no factory-produced article.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst, the sewing around the collar is done by hand.\u003cbr\u003eThe buttonholes at the front likewise have been turned and whipped by hand, one stitch at a time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe lines of stitching are by no means straight, either.\u003cbr\u003eThey waver a little, and the spacing falls out a little. The very opposite of a machine's accuracy — the trace of a human hand, left exactly as it was.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis \"roughness in the good sense\" is what keeps the piece far from being a machine-made product.\u003cbr\u003eIt was likely ordered from a tailor, or else sewn at home, as I see it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLet us look, in turn, at the details that define the model.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe collar is a stand collar, with no turn-down.\u003cbr\u003eA shape that rises cleanly at the neck, and quite an unusual choice for work clothing of this period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is interesting is that two metal hooks are set vertically at that collar.\u003cbr\u003eA mechanism allowing the neck to be closed further, over and above the buttons.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThanks to this collar, though it is work clothing of ninety years ago, it settles into a bearing modern enough to sit among contemporary clothes without the slightest awkwardness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe front takes five buttons.\u003cbr\u003eBone or horn — in either case buttons of animal origin, in an undyed shade, which show up beautifully against the deep indigo.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is one pocket at the left chest and one at each side of the hem.\u003cbr\u003eThe hem pockets are set not at the front but shifted somewhat towards the sides, an arrangement seen in old specifications that gives priority to where the hand naturally falls when the arm is lowered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sleeves are set forward.\u003cbr\u003eThe arm hangs naturally to the front, so the sleeve is cut to that angle. The thinking of a tailored jacket.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat such trouble was taken over work clothing shows, I think, the attitude of whoever made it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe shoulder line falls towards the back, and an arced yoke crosses the back.\u003cbr\u003eBoth are makes peculiar to pieces of an early period, and elements that support the dating of this one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd running through the whole of it: white stitching.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith white lines crossing the deep indigo, the structure of the pattern rises up as a graphic design in itself.\u003cbr\u003eThis contrast is genuinely beautiful. Seams made for use have become ornament exactly as they are.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cloth has a slightly coarse handle, rather like hemp, yet at the same time one feels the quivering quality peculiar to French linen.\u003cbr\u003eA contradictory touch: hard and soft at once.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLinen loosens as it is worn and comes to follow the body.\u003cbr\u003eAnd the indigo will draw out, in order, from wherever you move.\u003cbr\u003eThis is a jacket that has come ninety years having scarcely lost its colour, so the fading from here on will be almost entirely a record of you alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe colour is a deep, sunken indigo.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClose to black in its depth, yet under light the white slubs of the flax scatter and a distinctive mottling rises to the surface.\u003cbr\u003eA colour with real depth, which never reads as a flat navy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndigo-dyed pieces are few in number within French vintage to begin with, and this is one our shop can rarely source.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeing a stand collar, the collar of whatever is worn beneath will not get in the way.\u003cbr\u003eThrown over a T-shirt is the most natural, I should think, though layering it with the collar of a white shirt showing works well too.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is workwear, and yet a certain quietness lives in it, so it sits remarkably well with cleaner bottoms too.\u003cbr\u003eWorn with grey slacks, nobody would take it for work clothing of ninety years ago, I suspect.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no size marking, but judging from the measurements I should think it corresponds to a Japanese \"XS ~ S\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is compactly made throughout, and the armholes are cut narrow.\u003cbr\u003eThese are measurements I would recommend to a smaller, slighter man, or to a woman.\u003cbr\u003eFitting a heavy knit underneath will be difficult, so worn over a shirt or a fine jersey is I think the most beautiful way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are signs of use such as soiling, but no significant damage that would affect wear, so there is plenty of life left in it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrance of this period, indigo linen, and hand sewing to be found throughout.\u003cbr\u003eTake any stage of it and modern production could not sustain it. Every piece of that labour would come straight back at you in the price.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA jacket someone had made for themselves, here now across all that time.\u003cbr\u003eI should be glad if you would take that quiet luxury upon your own shoulders, just once, and see.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"VIEUX ET NOUVEAU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47982186594482,"sku":"J01101","price":248000.0,"currency_code":"JPY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0554\/2140\/3314\/files\/J01101-1_afb55d38-2200-4d0d-ae31-f227261c9852.jpg?v=1788334773","url":"https:\/\/vieuxetnouveau-shop.com\/en\/products\/30s-french-vintage-indigo-linen-stand-collar-work-jacket","provider":"VIEUX ET NOUVEAU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}