TCB has been continuously producing the USN Shawl Collar Jacket, “Seamen Jumper” and “Seamen Trousers.”
Thankfully, they've been supported for far longer than we ever imagined as it was actually the very 2nd item TCB's ever made.
That's precisely why we deliberately refrained from producing an item that had always been in the back of our minds.
We worried that the product range might overlap. By increasing the number of products from the same era and with the similar fabric, the sewing specifications, etc,
we worried that the individual presence of each item might become diluted.

There was an item that we had been holding back on for that reason. We've owned the vintage one for a long time, and in fact, we even made a sample about 7 years ago. But for the reasons mentioned above, we shelved the project, thinking, "We already have the Seamen series..." That item was the US ARMY M-35 Pull Over Shirt. One day, when I picked up that sample again after a long time, for reasons I can't explain, I felt an overwhelming urge to make it now.It was like flipping through an old photo album. The atmosphere from that time still lingers, and conversely, I felt that this is the right timing to release these shirts. When that happens, TCB moves quickly.

We thought a lot about the name of this new product until the very end.

I really liked the word "Seamen," so I wanted US ARMY to have a name that was on par with it.

Army Men?
A-Men?
None of them felt quite right. That's when I came across the word "Dogface."
It's slang for an infantryman in the US Army.

But instead of using it as is, how should we translate it for TCB?
It was not long before we reached the word, Catface, haha.

Military clothings are originally designed for fighting. But at TCB, we don't just reproduce that as is; we see it as a "culture" that can be incorporated into everyday life.

It's military clothing based but the cut is relaxed and nice even today and the map pocket on the chest looks fresh and cute as workwear and casual daily wear.

A garment that had been dormant for a long time has finally taken shape.

The variation of sewing machines at TCB factory keeps increasing every year. We need those vintage sewing machines to do a faithful reproduction on vintage clothings so that acquiring the right sewing machine is always the first step. As we organized the sewing machines used and decided the production procedure for this Catface project, we noticed some interesting aspects unique to the military supplied goods.

For the double stitching on the collar, it was a 1/4-inch (approximately 6mm wide) sewing machine used.
On the other hand, for the rectangular chest pockets, also double-stitched, it was a 3/16-inch (approximately 5mm wide) sewing machine used.
This difference in seam width is something that sewing factories definitely want to avoid. Why? Because the production is all about efficiency. If you need more machines with a different machine setting, it'll slow down the production.

If it's 5mm, then everything should be 1/4 inch; if it's 6mm, then everything should be 6mm. If you want to cut down the cost for your business, the width of the double stitching must be absolutely uniform.

However, the vintage models we referenced this time were different.
This is purely my speculation, but...let's say once the order from the military was placed and the sewing specifications were set, there were two processes involving two-needle stitching and the factory had two double-needle sewing machines. One was set with 1/4inch and the other one was 3/16 inch. Even though the widths were different, they decided to use those two machines without changing the machine setting. I think it was just a practical, on-the-ground decision made by the sewing factory. Of course, "2 sewing machines" is just a hypothetical example; in reality, the decision was made on a much larger scale .

I think the interesting thing about military gear is the interpretation of the civilian factories towards the military specifications.
Back then, factories had to come up with many ideas as to how to meet the strict specifications with the equipment that the manufacturer had, sometimes they had to get through difficult specs by doing an almost foul play. I mean that it looks okay on the first look but if you look closely at how they are really sewn, it doesn't really meet requirements. That ingenuity and compromise ultimately manifest the product's uniqueness.

Originally, this wasn't clothing for sale but clothing to be supplied.
That rationality and the accumulation of on-the-ground decisions might be what makes the details most interesting when you look at them now.

We thought a lot about the name of this new product until the very end.

I really liked the word "Seamen," so I wanted US ARMY to have a name that was on par with it.

Military clothings are originally designed for fighting. But at TCB, we don't just reproduce that as is; we see it as a "culture" that can be incorporated into everyday life.

□Fabric

-Denim

It's TCB exclusive 10.5 oz fabric we've made in reference to the M35 pullover shirt that the US Navy officially adopted as a shipboard workwear in 1935.

In order to replicate the uneven shapes of the vintage yarns, we have made these yarns mixed with long slubs. The tinge of indigo was a bit green-ish. It's often said that the purity of the dyestuff back then was not good, which caused more green casted blue in the process of the indigo oxidation.

-Black Chambray 7.5oz

Based on a vintage M-35 denim pullover jacket, I wanted to create another fabric besides denim.By choosing a different fabric from the original, I feel that TCB as a sewing factory were actually selling these mil-spec but civilian version of these shirts.

The fabric is made using a technique called "kabe-yori," which leaves variations in the strength of the twist.Some parts are tightly twisted, while others are slightly looser. This gap creates a black chambray with depth and character.
It's not a uniformly finished fabric, but rather has a somewhat undulating appearance. Back then, the spinning or the weaving techniques were immature so that they had to be more uneven.That's what I believe we call vintagelike!

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