The Official RRL Thread

[gumercindo]



I'm not familiar with Freewheelers, but I think the price is more justified for a piece from Mr. Freedom in terms of the quality and labor that went into making a piece. Not necessarily about which is the cheapest. I think that was his point.

I don't think the construction of RRL is any better than POLO or Rugby. (Excluding suits or some limited edition pieces) I bet they're all made in the same factory in China on the same machines. I've had buttons comes come off and seems come undone on sweaters. However I find the materials used by RRL are way nicer.

Copy that; makes sense.

 

[notwithit]



I'm not familiar with Freewheelers, but I think the price is more justified for a piece from Mr. Freedom in terms of the quality and labor that went into making a piece. Not necessarily about which is the cheapest. I think that was his point.

I don't think the construction of RRL is any better than POLO or Rugby. (Excluding suits or some limited edition pieces) I bet they're all made in the same factory in China on the same machines. I've had buttons comes come off and seems come undone on sweaters. However I find the materials used by RRL are way nicer.

I assume he means this: http://www.freewheelers.co.jp/english/

 

[Maitiu]

Correct. I think it was Lord Nick who mentioned them a while ago.

 

[zissou]



Att full retail, RRL costs [almost] as much as Mister Freedom, and Mister Freedom is higher quality (plus everything is raw/unwashed, unlike the majority of RRL which is pre-distressed to an extent). If I'm paying full retail I'll generally go with Mister Freedom, unless RRL comes out with something really special. That is pretty much why I'll buy RRL only on sale - at these discounted prices, the game changes.

My feelings exactly. Compared to RRL, MF is an entire level above in terms of construction and fabric, generally. All of the MF I own, which is quite a lot, was made by Sugar Cane in Japan. The construction is comparable to the Made in England Cabourn garments I own. Much of the RRL that I have is fairly obviously not as well constructed, and not worth anywhere near full retail. RRL's pre-distressing is a big turnoff for me, and I pretty much only buy rigid/unwashed RRL garments. I'll happily buy Made in China rigid officer's chinos at 75% off. That Nautilus coat looks amazing, but it just makes me sad that it is pre-washed.

 

[Dave_SFU]



My feelings exactly. Compared to RRL, MF is an entire level above in terms of construction and fabric, generally. All of the MF I own, which is quite a lot, was made by Sugar Cane in Japan. The construction is comparable to the Made in England Cabourn garments I own. Much of the RRL that I have is fairly obviously not as well constructed, and not worth anywhere near full retail. RRL's pre-distressing is a big turnoff for me, and I pretty much only buy rigid/unwashed RRL garments. I'll happily buy Made in China rigid officer's chinos at 75% off. That Nautilus coat looks amazing, but it just makes me sad that it is pre-washed.

This.
I love RRL but alot of items I like in theory are things i would never wear because i personally dont like wearing pre-distressed clothes. Not to say i dont think its still awesome, just pre-distressing isnt for me.
Alot of MF is made in the USA too, theres a few awesome pieces i want to pick are that are Made in USA - Campus Cardigan, Appaloosa Shirt, Trooper boots. The Road Champs are made by Julian in LA.
That said im not one who generally cares where something is made. Ive had Made in USA stuff fall apart as fast as Made in China

 

[Dave_SFU]

Does anyone have the most recent RRL Brown CXL Engineer boots that they wouldnt mind sharing some pics of? I want to see how they look with some wear

 

[potemkin_city_limits]



Mister Freedom is awesome and has some real winners but their stuff alot of the time feels too "costumey" for me, even more so than some RRL. Both are around the same price point at full retail but the MF i have is better constructed.

I own a few Mister Freedom pieces. They are pretty nice but they come with a whole other set of weird fit issues really. If you look at the measurements on their website their fits are also all over the place. A lot of their older stuff really stood out and had a great distinct look but these days it seems like they are just making the exact same shirt with ugly square pockets in 50 different fabrics. Even though the retail prices of RRL are close to MF I dont consider them even close to the same price bracket though since as everyone knows RRL is easily obtainable at a minimum of 50% off if not 70% in a lot of cases. I always look at RRL retail divided in half as the price I would most likely pay and then decide if I feel like its worth it. Mister Freedom very rarely goes on sale so their retail prices are pretty much the price you pay no matter how long you wait. The fits on Mister Freedom are a lot more generous than RRL, especially if you consider how overly slim RRL has gotten these days.

 

[stickshift]

True points. Never got into the newer MF stuff yet, the older stuff was too good and fit much slimmer (i.e. fitted). The new RRL shirts are just too slim and weirdly cut for me. The standout piece from last season was the limited-edition chambray shirt with the eagle stripe shoulder patch - the fabric was just too beautiful and came unwashed, however the fit is still the weird slim chest that I'm hoping to stretch out with wear.

That limited edition peacoat looks very interesting, but the website pictures make it look distressed

 

[zissou]

Fair point on Made in China, Dave. I'm not necessarily concerned where something is made. But, when I know a MF piece was made by Sugar Cane in Japan, there is a very high expectation in my mind. I only own MF from the Naval Tailor line (and a Mulholland Master), so I haven't seen much of the Made in US stuff with the exception of a couple of tees.

 

[Dave_SFU]



Fair point on Made in China, Dave. I'm not necessarily concerned where something is made. But, when I know a MF piece was made by Sugar Cane in Japan, there is a very high expectation in my mind. I only own MF from the Naval Tailor line (and a Mulholland Master), so I haven't seen much of the Made in US stuff with the exception of a couple of tees.

My MF stuff is limited to a few tees, some Road Champs and a Bronco Champ (which is made in Japan). Im a big fan of Sugar Cane though so like you said i have high expectations as well.

 

[mrbig]

I just saw The Expendables 3, there seemed like *alot* of RRL used. Nice to see some old-fashioned action characters in the stuff!

 

[FlaSurfer]

Oh man, loving the latest iteration of the "Clyde" trousers. Looks like a combination of the best aspects of the Clyde and Officer Chinos IMO.

These are definitely too heavy to be warn in the summertime right?

Also, this might be an odd question but are the suspender rivets flat enough that these can be worn comfortably with a belt? I used to have some RRL denim with suspender rivets and I could feel them poking my waist when I had a belt on.

I have these and love them. I live in Florida and have worn them several times already - so unless your going to be standing around outside - you can wear them now. In regard to your belt question, I personally never wear belts with pants that have external suspender buttons as I think it takes away from the aesthetics of the pant. I do think that these suspender buttons may dig into your waist if you wear a belt, though do seem to be of a lower profile than the fly buttons. Hope that helps. Cheers!

 

[Coldsnap]

Going to need a good 1.5" of stretching to make these comfortable. Thigh is 12", I need something like 13". They do seem like they might stretch, but I'm not expecting that much. Damn slim jeans! I like them though. Anyone know similar style white jeans what have a bigger top block? Wearing Sugar Canes 1947s a lot makes me like really comfy pants..

 

[hoit1981]

^ Did you size down on those?!

 

[Coldsnap]



^ Did you size down on those?!

No Waist is actually 2" too big. Which is normal for me.