Word-for-word: A custom tailored shirt

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The latest in a series of articles I’ve written for 35mmc; the original can be found here.

Style wasn’t always my thing, and spending a lot of money on a custom-tailored shirt wasn’t something I’d always wanted to do but in this case it was inevitable, I suppose.  Since 2017 I’ve been working on a photo project documenting my job driving Jeep tours around Colorado Springs, and part of that job is dressing up like a cowboy.  In the last two years I’ve been taking greater interest in my appearance, developed a bit of a clothing obsession, and gotten a reputation at work for it now.  While still studying I was encouraged to really delve into the culture as far as I could, and reading a book called Confederates in the Attic helped as well.  The book is about one guy’s journey taking part in American Civil War reenactments, how much of a lifestyle it became for him and the people surrounding him who would obsess over minute details of their appearance in the pursuit of authenticity.  The resulting application of this in my photo project work so far is the amount of money I’ve invested in my personal wardrobe (and right now I’m hearing a song by the Drive-by Truckers in the back of my head…don’t call what you’re wearing an outfit). And really, shooting film is as much a part of pursuing authenticity as anything else I do.

When your local haberdashery Rutledge’s sends you a $100 off coupon for anything in the store (valid only through December), and your boss gives you a $100 gift certificate to the same place at the work Christmas party, well then: some things are just meant to happen, I guess. I’m a sucker for a good deal, and what better way to take advantage of the opportunity presented than to make a work shirt that absolutely no one else will have? Colorado’s historic place at the forefront of Western American clothing style makes something like cowboy business casual pretty usual here, and without knowing it I was channeling the spirit of a certain country singer as well.
I have one shirt that when worn, often elicits compliments on my appearance from random women I pass in my travels, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want more of that. I don’t know if it’s the colors or the patterns (or a combination perhaps?) but I also like the way it’s cut so I used that shirt as an initial template. The defining traits of a Western shirt are that it has snap buttons and a fancy shoulder yoke. I wanted two fabrics so that the yoke would stand out: what’s the point otherwise? As Rutledge’s customer base is going to be mainly businessmen wanting suits most of the fabrics weren’t too interesting or noticeable but I worked with what was available and came up with some nice complimentary but contrasting patterns. I discovered while writing this that John Denver wore an eerily similar shirt to mine on the cover of TV Showtime magazine back in 1975, so I’d say I’m in good company. It’s one of those little coincidences but as soon as I saw the flower pattern I was thinking of the guy and it’s possible I’d seen that photo long ago.
Final price of the shirt is determined by what fabric(s) are chosen but also I was informed that the Western-style with the added shoulder yoke would cost extra, so I knew that I wasn’t getting out of the store without denting my wallet a bit. But as the saying goes, “If you have to ask how much it costs then you can’t afford it,” so I was determined to keep my mouth shut, and the final price didn’t have me running away screaming. The actual tailoring process was nearly painless as it mostly involved standing still while my regular sales associate John took measurements.

Of course I carry a camera with me nearly everywhere I go and on that day it happened to be an unmetered Nikon F2 and a roll of Kodak Tri-X. While I’m pretty good at Sunny-16 outdoors, indoors can involve a bit more guesswork, especially with the sunshine coming through the windows at 10:15AM. I believe these were taken between f/5.6 and f/2 at 1/60th, and I’m fairly confident in my ability now so shooting meterless doesn’t faze me. It took a few months between taking body measurements and receiving the shirt, and unfortunately the company that does the cutting/sewing hadn’t quite followed instructions: the wrong fabric was used for half the shoulder yoke and it had to be sent back to be redone, taking another few weeks but we got it right in the end.
I was at least able to try on the shirt and see that it fit well, which was the most important thing. So now I’m ready for another year of pretending to be a cowboy and looking halfway decent while I do it, I hope. Not that I usually go in for style shots but I wouldn’t want to leave you all without a picture of the shirt in glorious color:

Lab-developed.  Scanned/finished by myself using the Pakon F335 and Affinity Photo.
You can find my work at The Resurrected Camera or for all-cowboy all the time, my Instagram: @thefamouspdog.

I have two bonuses for my blog readers:

The shirt I was referring to, one of John Denver’s originals which I unknowingly followed pretty closely, is on the left.  On the right is a shirt I actually bought from Rockmount Ranch Wear (from their John Denver collection) and regret returning, but I’d have to slim down far too much to make a size S work for me and it was the last shirt left; I’m very bummed I couldn’t find a size M anywhere but I came late to the party so I had to make my own.

Outside

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Partiers, thankfully not too raucous: standard St. Paddy’s celebrations I suppose.  I met a couple fun people at the photographers’ open house that invited me out afterward, and I was going to meet up with them at a particular Irish pub.  They offered to share a cab with me but I wanted to put all my excess stuff in my truck instead of carrying it around with me, so I went there first and walked to the place.  Of course they never showed up and I can’t blame them because there was no way we were getting in.  I got what I wanted out of the experience, which was plenty of crowd shots.

Actually as soon as I got there I remembered why I hate the bar scene and shied away from it.  And you don’t find true Celtic culture in a gaggle of slobby drunken Americans that just want a themed party with green Budweiser.  Why do what everyone else already wants to do?  I don’t mind being in crowds but I have to remember that I’ve never benefited from being a part of them.  At the same time, staying home every night watching movies isn’t really much of a life; I just don’t know how to really strike that balance yet.


I never could sit stillI never was too hipI never caught the ride

2019 jeep tours, Pt.IV

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Laying down track and trying to stay ahead.  I’m quite a bit ahead now considering I’m just getting to these photos!  And I suppose the thing is that if I didn’t tell you I shot these nearly 5 years ago you wouldn’t have known that they were that old, right?

This collection has a handful of pictures in it that I really like from a composition standpoint.  As well, a couple of them feature my coworker Curly who is now retired and living in California.

White’s, Danner

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Two different kinds of work boots for two very different jobs I’ve had, White’s and Danner are both bootmakers in the Pacific Northwest.  My mom always liked Danner and I have to say that they’re extremely comfortable, which has me considering a pair of their hiking boots.


Ironically enough Danner and White’s are now owned by the same parent company.  There are still plenty of independent bootmakers out there like Nick’s and I would have gone with those over White’s but then I wouldn’t have the heritage of a 150yr old brand, plus they’re my trail boss’s favorite boot brand.  He’s a hard man to please so I try to keep him happy.  He does however know how to focus a camera and held it for me that day.  Thanks to Simon for mentioning boots, which got me thinking about a couple photos I’d forgotten I had.