The Rite Stuff Atlas Salt & Pepper Work Shirt (Sage)

The Atlas work shirt is based on the style of work shirts first appearing in the 1910s and 1920s. It can be worn comfortably in all seasons for both work and play.

The shirt is made of a robust 6.5 oz medium-weight fabric selvedge salt & pepper chambray, also referred to as covert cloth*, that’s milled in Japan. This fabric is one of the only remaining selvedge salt & pepper fabrics made in the world today.

The Atlas shirt is chock-full of 1930s details, such as the ‘chinstrap’ (originally known as an ‘extension neckband’) for a tighter, cleaner fit and to keep out the elements. There’s also ecru stitching, including chainstitching, set to a period-correct thread gauge. Then there’s the high, thin back yoke, just like many early 1900s work shirts had. Dig the foldover cuffs, the pocket shapes, and urea cat’s eye buttons too. Rounding out the package are selvedge gussets, chainstitch run-off, and a garment workers’ tag with my name on it. It’s the guarantee that all The Rite Stuff items are ethically made.

For those who bought the first Atlas, you’ll find the new one a touch longer, so it stays tucked in even better, and the cut is straighter with no taper to the waist. The end result is a more period-correct cut.

And as always, the Atlas shirt is made in Japan with John Lofgren & Co. to John’s exacting level of quality and fair treatment of workers at every step of the way.

*Covert (pronounced “cover”) traces back to fox hunting in England, where a covert is the name given to a fox’s hiding spot and where hunts usually began. Starting in the late 1800s, covert cloths were made, often in dark grey, by doubling and twisting different coloured yarns before weaving. What resulted was a good-looking fabric that was resistant to showing dirt or wear.

The Rite Stuff is a label created by Bryan Shettig, a devotee and great connoisseur of the workwear used in American factories in the early and mid-20th century. All the products from The Rite Stuff are painstakingly made in every detail in Japan by John Lofgren and his staff of highly qualified Japanese workers. John Lofgren is a Californian living between Japan and the USA, known for taking to extremes his obsession with quality and detail when producing one of the best Engineer Boots in the world under his own label. As well as boots, John Lofgren produces for The Rite Stuff some of the highest-quality garments in the world.

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