OldBlue Co. Duck Canvas Jacket

When people think of quality selvedge denim what automatically pops in to the mind is Japan or the USA.

However, there’s some great things coming out of places like Indonesia. One such label is Oldblue Co.

Can a Man Have Too Many Jackets?

Founded in 2010, Oldblue Co. is, perhaps unsurprisingly, inspired by work wear of the late 1800's to the 1950's. The label take a lot of their styling from Levi’s Vintage Clothing (LVC.)

I’d been on the look out for a duck canvas jacket for a while so when I saw this one I knew it had to be part of my collection. I must admit here that I own far too much denim... I couldn't justify buying more of the indigo stuff, so duck canvas seemed like a good compromise.

An Alternative to Levi's

As with the LVC original, the first jacket the company ever made in 1878, the key features of the garment are characterized by the triple pleats front and back with box stitching, round bottom pockets (with no arcuates) and a cinch back. The waistband has a little tilt on it, so shorter in length at the back than the front.

Old Blue added their own details to the jacket. The front pockets are larger and they’ve added a hidden pocket on the left chest. All the seams are felled for added strength. There’s black selvedge line detailing on the hang loop and down the centre seam.

The cut is also more like a modern jacket, longer than the original vintage blouse, cut to sit on the hips.

You Want Duck?

For fabric Oldblue Co. use an 11oz brown duck selvedge. (It says 12oz on the label and 11oz other site, I suspect the former is the post wash weight.)

The duck fabric is produced by Cone Mills, their famous vintage shuttle looms using single continuous threads to produce a tighter, heavier and more durable fabric. (The same mill where the bulk of LVC’s fabric is produced.)

This duck fabric starts out quite rigid and gets heavier after it’s first soak

For the hardware Old Blue have used Japanese made 100% copper washers - burr rivets and silver "Laurel Leaf" iron plated doughnut buttons. The custom-made brass cinch back hardware is made in Indonesia, and given an antique copper finish.

The leather patch is a bison hide imported from its origin, USA. According to Old Blue it varies in thickness, 3-4 oz on average, or 1.4 – 1.6 mm. Genuine American bison leather is more than 40% stronger than the traditional cowhide and known for its strength and durability. Compared to the cowhide, bison leather grain is more pronounced, and the fibers are also thicker.

The fabric sanforised, however after a first soak there's just under a centimetre of shrinkage on the sleeves and the jacket in now nice and snug across the chest.

So, the verdict? This is great little jacket and very well made. I hope labels like this grow and thrive to make the denim industry, or the selvedge part of it at least, a more diverse place.

The jacket is available from Oldblue Co. here.

Weekend Man-Food - Spiced Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

As regular readers will know I've been away with the British Army for a long while and, horror of horrors, have had to subsist on the slop provided by their civilian contractors for the last year. The MOD should be utterly ashamed of what it feeds its troops, but I digress.

Well, I'm home now and have had an emotional reunion with my kitchen! So, here's the first Weekend Manfood post for a long time. I had this at a restaurant last year whilst nursing the mother of all hangovers after a friends' wedding. I knew immediately I had make this dish at home.

I give you meat stuffed with cheese... or mozzerella stuffed meatballs.

Meat. Cheese. Oh yes!

Assemble the following:

500g beef mince
100g chorizo, diced in to small cubes
1 hunk mozzarella, diced in to small cubes
250ml bread crumbs
100ml milk
2 eggs, beaten
3 tbs of Herbs de Provence
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground garlic
1tsp ground black pepper
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp chilli flakes

Throw the whole lot in to a large glass bowl and mix thoroughly.

Form the meat in to ball and press the mozzarella cube in to the centre and re form.

Brown the meatballs in a large pan, then pour in some tomato sauce. Bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer partially covered for an hour. (I have to admit I cheated here and used a jar of ready-made passata but it's easy enough to make your own sauce.)

Serve with penne. Simple as that. Have a good weekend chaps.

Andersen-Andersen Seamen Sweater - Italian Looks, Danish Heritage.

After nearly 25 years of faithful service my original Channel Island made guernsey pull-over has been relegated to 'old work jumper' status.

Looking for a smarter replacement (read: not full of holes) I immediately thought of Danish knitwear label ANDERSEN-ANDERSEN - a label I came across at a Copenhagen fashion show in 2014 and had mentally filed away for future reference.

Yep, it's a grey jumper, but a jolly well made one.

ANDERSEN-ANDERSEN is a small family run company founded in 2009 by Product Developer Cathrine Lundgren-Andersen and Art Director Peter Kjaer-Andersen. The company arose from the idea of making one durable and classic sailors sweater.

Today the collection has grown to 7 styles. The one which caught my eye was The Seaman, perhaps unsurprisingly very similar in style, construction and fit to my faithful guernsey. 

Long ribbed cuffs

The wool is single knit seven-gauge 100% new merino, sourced from South America. In collaboration with their Italian spinning mill the company developed its own yarn, now used for all their wool sailor sweaters. The extra spun fibres and the fact the yarn is made of pure new merino wool, makes it both soft and durable. The sweaters are then knitted by another small family concern in Northern Italy.

The detailing and construction is simple, but spot on - the bottom, collar & cuffs are all ribbed with thumb holes in the latter. For strength all seams are bar-tacked. 

The fit is pleasingly slim, making it an ideal base layer - the symmetrical cut means it can be chucked on quickly either way - this jumper may be stylish but the working sailor's heritage is clear to see.

ANDERSEN-ANDERSEN have their flagship store in Copenhagen, but I bought my jumper from that treasure trove of heritage fashion Maritime Antiques - a must visit for any vintage minded chap if you're in town. Yours for 1,200 dkk.

(All images courtesy of ANDERSEN-ANDERSEN.)

Gentlemen's Undergarments - JBS Underwear

When you realise that some of your t-shirts are older than your 11 year-old step daughter it is perhaps a good time to upgrade.

Such was the case with me last month, so off I went to the sales looking to replace some of my more worn long-sleeve undershirts.

Founded by Jens Bjerg Sørensen, Danish company JBS have been making quality underwear since the start of World War II. Today the company is still family run and employs 300 people; and as the blurb on the company website has it, they are one of Denmark's leading underwear manufacturers.

Their Classic range is a good place to start for those looking to keep out the chill of a seemingly endless winter.

In terms of workmanship and production it's spot on, though nothing particularly special compared to for example the premium loopwheel construction of Buzz Rickson's cottons - just a decent well made ribbed cotton undershirt for everyday wear. The contrasting white stitching on the non white versions and plain cotton button placket are nice touches too.

Aside from the traditional plain white and black the undershirts are available in several colours. I plumbed for navy blue, grey and coral red - these all look perfect underneath a heavy denim or chambray shirt.

Apparently the company are now doing an a range endorsed by the association footballer Christiano Ronaldo, but please don't let that put you off.

Find out more here.

FOR SALE: Beautiful Double Breasted Harris Tweed Overcoat Size 40'' - £99

Fantastic 1970's Harris Tweed overcoat from Willerby of Oxford Street.

Biscuit brown & white herringbone tweed - the material is quality thick & very heavy Harris Tweed. Though the coat dates from the 1970's it's styled after the military 'British Warm' great-coat and could easily pass as a 1940's era garment - great if you're after the correct period detail or simply a very stylish vintage overcoat. I'd love to keep it but it's too big for me.Lining is viscose. Exterior buttons are leather covered wood, the interior ones look like horn.UK P&P - £10


Please see my other items - I'm clearing out the bulk of my vintage clothing collection.

Contact me on mark@new-utility.co.uk for details.

  

 

How Not to Buy an Old Motorcycle: The Perils of Vintage Life.

It’s all change here at New Utility. The best part of 20 years of vintage VW ownership came to an end last month as I posted the keys and documents for my 1953 Beetle to the new owner, ready for him to collect from it’s garage in southern Sweden.

It was a tough decision, but one that fellow vintage chaps will be familiar with – the struggle between owning a mode of transport that actually works vs. something that, despite looking and sounding brilliant, is still 60 years old and full of mechanical quirks and character. (Read: unreliable.)

Looking for an alternate mode of propulsion I had every intention of simply purchasing a cheap, 4 wheeled, run-around.

That is, until I started researching motorbikes.

Now, common sense says that I should have bought something modern. I’ve been broken down by the side of the road often enough to know this. Did I do it? No.

Why? Because I’ve chosen to live my life a certain way – a way that does not involve a few hundred quid’s worth of characterless modern bike or car. That’s just how it is.

How Not To Purchase A BSA

I am now the proud, yet rather nervous owner of the 1952 BSA C10 you see here. I did something that I would never have done in my VW days – I bought the thing sight unseen from a classified ad on Ebay. After a long conversation with the dealer up in Wigan and a bank transfer the bike was mine.

As purchases go it’s a big one - it cost me rather more than its original £42. 10s! Yet, for those looking for a way in to classic riding 250’s like my C10, or the even lighter Bantams, are more financially accessible bikes than their bigger cousins.

BSA’s are undoubtedly beautiful machines. The marque helped to define the golden era of British motorcycling and is very much part of our motoring heritage. 

Another factor in choosing BSA is that after-market parts are still readily available. When the bike inevitably goes wrong I won’t have to scour the earth to find the obscure bits I need.

For those more willing to compromise than I am Royal Enfield Bullets are well worth a look – with the longest running production history in the world they are still made in India and have British distributors.

I should also confess at this point - until recently I’d never ridden a motorcycle, and I know precious little about the mechanics of classic British bikes.

That said the principles are the same as an air-cooled VW.

Much like its new owner the bike is pretty simple, so I’m hoping I should pick this side of things up quite quickly.

For those who don’t know, old Brit bikes were all right foot shift. Modern bikes (ie the one I’ll soon be doing my test on) are left foot shift. Some riders struggle to ride ‘goofy foot.’ However, as I’m a total newbie and haven’t really developed any muscle memory I seem to be able to switch between the two. That doesn’t make me clever I suspect, just the biking equivalent of a bilingual toddler… 

A New Challenge

My new baby in it's garage.

Clearly I’ve taken on a new challenge here and have a lot to learn. I mentioned what I’d bought to my instructor. He said simply, ‘You’re a brave man.” Time will tell whether I am just a fool.Predictably there are a few small jobs to do but I'm genuinely excited to have a new project to work on. I’ll need to take some time to give it a proper once over with a BSA service sheet to hand.

As I toodled around my army camp yesterday getting to know my new machine (I legally can’t ride a 250cc on public roads yet) I had a huge grin on my face. And, that’s what it’s all about. Vintage vehicle ownership can be difficult and expensive on occasion but also immensely rewarding. You don’t get that feeling sitting in a Ford Fiesta.

I should say a thank-you to the chaps at Bike2Bike in Berkshire for the training they’ve given me so far. They took me from total novice to a 2 hour road ride within a day. I can’t recommend them highly enough.

More updates to follow soon.