Up for sale here is a button down plaid shirt from 45 rpm. 45 rpm is perhaps best known for their indigo products, of which they’re one of the really early adopters. The label has been around quite a while now, producing with a unique mix of vintage workwear and traditional Japanese techniques. Their use of indigo in particular is almost unparalleled. Others may imitate, but few come as close as 45 rpm.
So what we have with this shirt is a deceptively simple plaid button down in fairly light weight. The selling point, unsurprisingly, is the indigo dye. What you have here is indigo dyed threads, done in varying shades of blue, woven together with red and white threads to create the plaid pattern you see. Like any good indigo, this will of course pleasantly fade with wear. 45 rpm uses natural indigo dyes, a bit more difficult and time-consuming compared to synthetic dyes, but with a much richer color given to it.
Dye aside, material is a very soft cotton weave. The weave itself is nicely uneven, likely done on old-school shuttle looms as 45 rpm is known to use. Buttons are vegetable ivory. The “R” logo is embroidered on the left side at the bottom in white, while the chest pocket is placed at an intentionally skewed angle. The sides are reinforced in lieu of gussets, and the neck tag is both embroidered and indigo dyed. As you can see, this has a really strong level of detail, using some of 45 rpm’s best materials and techniques. Retail was about $300 in Japan.
Size is labeled a 4, fitting a large well. I measure the chest at 21.5” / 54cm, shoulders at 19” / 49cm, length at 28” / 72cm in front and 29.5” / 75cm in back, both from the base of the neck, and sleeves at 24” / 61cm from the shoulder. This shirt comes in very lightly worn, very good shape with no holes, tears or stains. Made in Japan.
Shipping from Japan to anywhere will be $24.
