The Wrangler Farmer Shirt
This vintage 1980’s Western Wrangler 27MW denim shirt from my archive was bought by a reseller that picked it up at a farm sale outside of Waco, Texas in The States. The previous owner, a farmer, had worn his shirt probably each day while being at work on his land as it shows heavy sun fadings on the front and the back. You can only achieve this kind of fadings when you wear them as many possible.
The Waco City
Waco is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is known for places like the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum and is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had 2010 a population of 124,805, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the state.
About The Old Farm
The old abandoned farm was a small white wood-sided house, probably built somewhere during the 1930s, and it was in a very poor condition. The farmhouse was sitting on the edge of a 30-acre plot of land. The reseller remembers that the whole place looked very dry, like the life of the owners of the farm who had lived there slowly fading back in time as the natural grassland came back and had grown to a natural state again.
It looked like the wife outlived the husband because the closets had only her clothes and his were gone already. Except for a few pieces that she didn’t get rid of, like this Wrangler shirt. It could be because the shirt remembers her of him, who knows…
The reseller found three of these denim shirts on the old farm, they were all tucked away in the little mudroom. Probably because he had to take off his (dirty) clothes and change them before coming into the house. Just like most women would say to their husband, probably.
Details From The Shirt
On the front of the Wrangler shirt are heavy sun fadings from wearing suspenders, and you can see that the shirt was tucked in his pants. Also, there are fadings on both chest pockets too. One of the pockets shows a ‘ring fading’ from his can of chewing tobacco, while the other pocket shows another fading form, maybe from his cigarettes?
Next to the fadings, there’re some small repairs on the front, and the sleeves are cut-off. The reseller of the shirt remembers that the other two shirts he found at the same place were repaired with exactly the same denim fabric as this vintage Wrangler shirt. So, probably the wife of the farmer used these sleeves to save the other two shirts to wear them as long as possible.
On the back, you can see the beautiful ‘cross fading’ of the suspenders, and a hole that isn’t repaired.
It Represents The American Denim Heritage
All in all, this 1980’s shirt by Wrangler, which was produced in America, shows the hard work life of a farmer. It represents exactly where denim was made for, sturdy workwear to get the job done. It also represents the strong American denim heritage, and a story that makes hunting on vintage denim so beautiful as each piece of worn denim tells a story!
