TENDER CO 444 BOOMERANG SHIRTS & A FISTFUL OF LEEKS AND DANDELIONS

Images via Neighbour

Cymru am byth, bitches! This Welsh check 444 Long Sleeve Boomerang Shirt from English workwear wunderkind William Kroll’s Tender Co. is a bit of pure British badassery, innit? Better grab a fistful of leeks and dandelions, mate, because the construction on this piece is right fucking tidy, from the neat little stand collar to the bloody massive patch pockets. Unlike the bulk of workwear brands, which are inspired by classic Americana, Tender takes its aesthetic cues from Victorian engineering and the Second Industrial Revolution (a.k.a. the Technological Revolution). The First Industrial Revolution saw the introduction of many garment-related mechanical advancements, such as sewing machines, power looms, spinning frames, and flying shuttles (for weaving, not space travel), but it makes a poor source of modern fashion inspo, unless you fuck heavily with waistcoats and cravats and the like. No offense intended to all you dandies out there; I just don’t get down with corsets. The Second Industrial Revolution was all about iron, steel, and steam, with a massive increase in mechanization and an explosion of railway development. It’s a pretty cool backdrop for Tender Co., which produces some of the workwear world’s most meticulously crafted goods. If you’d like to learn more about the brands ethos and process, check out some interviews with William (linked here, here, here, here, and here, for your browsing convenience). Wow, this post is in danger of being almost entirely informative. Time to remedy that. Have you ever considered abandoning your friends, family, and career to pursue your lifelong dream of training hamsters and/or other small domesticated rodents to perform abstract theater? Please answer honestly; I’ll know if you’re lying. I’m quite intuitive that way. Keep in mind that the hamsters or gerbils (or chinchillas if you want to get all exotic with it) won’t be able to read lines, due to their inability to speak English or any other language other than high-pitched squeaks, making it somewhat challenging to put on a Rodentia rendition of your favorite Shakespeare play, unless that play happens to be The Taming of the Shrew. Booyah! Nailed that fucking pun. The Bard would be proud. End of post -RB