Russian VOGUE traveled to Central America for a dramatic editorial, “The Heart of the Mountains,” and they brought along some Pendleton beauty.
Below, a Pendleton Serape (in black) and Compass Stripe blanket:
And the Heroic Chief backpack in this shot:
Serape and backpack available at pendleton-usa.com.
We have woven many blankets that celebrate American patriotism over the years, from the Grateful Nation and Code Talker blankets that celebrate the contributions of our veterans, to retired blankets like Chief Eagle and Home of the Brave.
Here are two beautiful blankets that summon the patriotic spirit of this Independence Day.
“O say can you see by the dawn’s early light.” These words were penned on the back of an envelope in 1814 by young lawyer and poet Francis Scott Key. Key was held captive on a Royal Navy ship as British ships in Chesapeake Bay bombarded Fort McHenry throughout the night. When dawn broke, the fort was still standing, the American flag still waving. It was a turning point in the war of 1812, and the birth of our national anthem, the “Star Spangled Banner.” This blanket, woven in our American mills, commemorates the Bicentennial of that momentous morning in U.S. history. Fifteen red and white stripes and stars represent those on the flag at that time. Each star is shaped like an aerial view of the fort, which was built in the shape of a five-pointed star. Striations and imprecise images give the design a vintage Americana look.
This contemporary interpretation of the American flag is a celebration of the patriotism of Native Americans. In 1875 Indian Scouts carried messages from fort to fort in the West. Native American soldiers saw action with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in Cuba. And soldiers from many tribes battled in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and Iraq. Five Native Americans have been awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery “above and beyond the call of duty.” The design marries modern asymmetry and vintage Americana. The unique striations, using pulled out yarns, reflect an era when dyes were made from plants.
Have a great Fourth!
ed. note: Happy Summer! This post originally ran a few years ago, but with the weather like it is, we hope you’ll enjoy it again today.
In the early 1960s, a group called The Pendletones adopted their name in honor of the surf uniform of the day: Pendleton shirts worn over tee shirts with khakis. The original lineup included brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine.
The Pendletones soon changed their name to the Beach Boys . Even though only one member of the group had ever been on a surfboard, they sang about the California surfing scene; waves, sunshine, cars and girls. This might have been simple subject matter, but layered instrumentation and soaring harmonies made these songs anything but simple. Under the unique artistic leadership of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys defined surf music. And though their name changed, their uniform didn’t. The band wore this blue and charcoal plaid shirt on the covers of 45s and LPs throughout the early 1960s.
The Beach Boys’ Pendleton shirts were part an existing trend. When surfing came to California in the late 1950s, surfers devised performance wear: swim trunks and plaid Pendleton shirts over a layer of Vaseline. Surfers wore the same shirts over light pants on the shore, and a fashion trend was born.
This look hit the radio airwaves courtesy of the Majorettes, whose song, “White Levis” became a number one hit in 1963. As the lyrics said, “My boyfriend’s always wearin’ white Levi’s…and his tennis shoes and his surfin’ hat and a big plaid Pendleton shirt.”
That’s a Pendleton shirt cover of that 45, even though they named the song after the pants. You can give it a listen here, and don’t be surprised if you start singing along. But let’s get back to the shirt made so popular by the Beach Boys.
In 2002, Pendleton celebrated eight decades of Pendleton shirts by bringing back iconic shirts from each decade. To celebrate the 1960s, we brought back the Board Shirt in the same plaid seen on all those record covers. We officially named it the Blue Beach Boys Plaid.
The shirt has stayed in the line ever since. We’ve used it in caps, hats, bags and jackets. It’s still made in the original 100% virgin Umatilla wool as it was back then, but we’ve interpreted it in rayon for campshirts and cotton for sleepwear.
We have done a few colorations of the plaid. Whether it’s in blue, coral, rust or olive, the pattern is easily recognizable.
Because of its strong ties to surfing history and culture, this pattern was used in key collaborations with Hurley and VANS in the late 2000s.
There is a discussion now and then in Pendleton’s Menswear division about which is our most enduring men’s item of all time. Some say it’s the Topster, the shirt jacket that defined collegiate wear in the 1950s and 60s. Some say it’s the Westerley cardigan worn by the Dude in “The Big Lebowski.” Others claim the honor for the Beach Boys Board Shirt.
This shirt is almost as beloved as the band that made it famous! It’s one of our top-sellers each year, regularly chosen by winners of the wool shirt giveaways we have on our Menswear Facebook page, and still worn by surfers, boarders, musicians, sons and fathers. The shirt is still going strong, and so are the Beach Boys. The band is currently out on tour, and they still love Pendleton.
Our Surf Pendleton collection draws inspiration from our history with the California surf scene, where our Board Shirt was featured in songs and on album covers. The collection also celebrates the robust surf culture of our home state, Oregon, where we’ve collaborated with Blackfern on two limited edition surfboards. But surfing was born in the Hawaiian islands, and nothing says the islands like a Reyn Spooner shirt.
To quote the company:
It is true that in Hawaii, time has a way of stopping. Our way of life here has roots in the ancient, with nature and in Hawaiian culture. We are committed to enhancing the past by bringing our lifestyle right to you. We’ve been in business since 1956 using unique archival prints, exclusive vintage artwork, and work of celebrated artists to evoke the island life.
Our designers worked together on to incorporate traditional Pendleton patterns into Reyn Spooner’s Spooner Kloth®. This fabric is woven in Japan and sewn on the reverse for a distinctively weathered appearance. Shirts and shorts made with Spooner Kloth® are cool, easy care, and they last forever.
So there you have it; a little bit of Hawaii with Surf Pendleton style. Mahalo!
The weather is right for hitting the waves. We’re celebrating summer this year with a Blackfern collaboration; two boards that are part of our Surf Pendleton collection. So here, in their own words, are all the steps that go into making these fine boards–one at a time, all by hand.
Click to view slideshow.Making the Pendleton Limited Edition Surfboard
Each Pendleton Limited Edition Surfboard is shaped, painted, glassed, sanded, and glossed by hand in Blackfern’s fabrication studio in Portland, Oregon.
Retro Styling
For the Pendleton Limited Edition Surfboard, a 1960′s era single fin model was chosen. This timeless retro board embodies the lifestyle of the era; clean, simple, and stylish. Many of these retro shapes are having a resurgence in popularity because of their versatility in a range of surf conditions. The board style pays homage to an era in which Pendleton was a vibrant force in Californian surf culture.
The Process Starts
The first step in the fabrication process is to trace out the outline of the board onto a blank, which is a rough-cut piece of foam that resembles a surfboard, albeit not a very functional one. The outline is cut out of the blank, not unlike making Christmas cookies, and the excess foam is removed. The outline is then tuned by a rasp-like tool called a surform, in order to hone the perfect curve that will define the finished board.
From Bottom…
The next step is to craft the bottom of the board. This process begins by power planing or “skinning” the protective outer shell of the blank that protects the softer foam within. After the skin is removed, the bottom contours are shaped in by removing material with additional passes with the power planer, surform, and finally, sanding blocks. The single fin model features shallow concavity through the middle of the bottom, blending into a V contoured tail. These contours give the board a loose and nimble feel with higher performance than would be achievable with a flat bottomed board.
…To Top
At this point it is time to flip the blank over and begin working on the top of the board. Similar to the bottom, the first step is to remove the protective skin of the blank. During this process, I start to flesh out the top contours and the “foil” of the board. Foil refers to the changing thickness, both from the center towards the rails as well as from the tip to the tail of the board. It is during this process that a shaper’s ability to visualize in three dimensions becomes crucial. Knowing where to remove material and in what quantity can be tricky. The goal is to produce a smoothly foiled board; maintaining volume in helpful areas and removing it where unneeded.
Forming the Rails
After the top has been shaped and foiled, its time to move onto the rails of the surfboard. At this point the board has a functional top and bottom but with its boxy, vertical rails, it would be miserable to surf. To form a smooth curving rail, I begin removing rail material in the form of rail “bands.” Bands are sloped ridges that run the length of the board; thickest at the middle and thinner towards the tip and tail. By removing rail material incrementally in these stepped ridges, it is possible to produce a rail that changes shape and thickness in a controlled and consistent fashion. Once the bands are crafted to satisfaction, the board is turned onto its rail and I begin passing a sanding screen over the ridges of the “bands.” After screening repeatedly, the ridges disappears and a smoothly curving rail emerges.
Finishing Foam Touches
The final steps of the shaping process are to install the slider single fin box and to finish sand the entire shaped surfboard to a buttery smooth finish. The board is signed off to the customer who ordered it. I write the customer’s name, the dimensions of the board, and finally “Pendleton Surf Limited Edition.”
Getting that distinctive Pendleton look
The specialized Pendleton artwork is applied before glassing the board. The two color versions vary on their preparation. To produce the characteristic plaid pattern, I start off by creating a series of vertical stripes that represent the four primary colors of the pattern. I then lay out horizontal bands that cross directly over the vertical bands. I use the same four primary colors and spray through a sanding screen, producing the blended color tones featured in the plaid print. Finally, I add a band of dark color around the rails of the surfboard to form a frame of sorts.
For the striped version, I tape off three zones of the board; center, nose, and tail. Within these zones, alternating colored bands of varying thicknesses are laid down to form the distinctive, classic pattern.
Onward to Glassing
Glassing is only achievable in incremental steps, similar to the process of shaping the foam of the board. Glassing consists of four separate treatments of resin that constitute the glassing process; two laminations and two hotcoats. A lamination is the process through which fiberglass cloth, saturated with resin, is bonded to the fragile foam core. A hot coat is an additional layer of resin that helps protect the fiberglass cloth and completely seal the inner foam core.
Laminations
The first lamination occurs on the bottom of the surfboard. To prepare for the lamination, the top of the board is taped and masked to avoid being exposed to resin prematurely. A piece of fiberglass cloth is rolled out over the length of the board and is cut so that the fabric drapes over the rails, usually extending approximately 2-4 inches below the beginning of the rail. Surf Pendleton and Blackfern decals and fin boxes are dry fitted to ensure that no mishaps occur. The entire surface of the board is then “wetted out” with polyester laminating resin. A squeegee is used to work the resin into the porous foam of the board and to fully saturate the fiberglass cloth. The cloth is carefully wrapped over the rails and the board is left to harden or “cure”.
Once the bottom is cured, the board is flipped over and the same process is done to the top, this time with two layers of fiberglass cloth to add additional strength to the deck. After wrapping the top layers of fiberglass onto the bottom of the board, the resin and fiberglass are left to cure once again.
Hotcoats
To hotcoat the board and finish glassing the board, another coat of polyester resin called sanding resin is applied to each side of the board. This process is among the most simple of all the steps of surfboard fabrication – resin is poured out of a small pail and then spread evenly over the surface of the board with a large paint brush. Each side is left to cure before flipping the board a final time to hotcoat the other side.
Hot coating produces a slick, imperfect surface. In order to make it ready for use, every square inch of the board must be sanded. Sanding makes the surfboard finally feel like a surfboard; smooth, strong, and perfect. Many boards are considered finished and ready for use at this stage but the Pendleton boards receive one additional treatment – a gloss coat.
Glossing
The gloss coat is nearly identical to the hotcoat. The only major difference in the processes is that the gloss coat resin is slightly thinner and is applied to a perfectly smooth, even surface. As a result, less resin is required and a perfectly smooth surface is formed. Even so, the entire board is sanded again to make it ready for use. Successive sand paper treatments, each one higher grit than the last, are used to form completely smooth and scratch free surface.
Finishing Touches
To bring a shine to the finished product, buffing compound is applied using a woolen compounding bonnet. Finally, a treatment of polishing compound is applied to all surfaces of the board using a polishing pad to give it a candy-like luster.
Launch
Tools and hands have passed over every square inch of this board dozens of times and, at last, this Pendleton Limited Edition Surfboard is ready to ride! Get ready to catch some great waves!
Pendleton’s spa towels are having a field day all over Instagram.
You can see our towels on the beach:
On the water:
On the rocks:
Instagram by @wanderinlayers
On the deck:
At the river:
And on the dawg:
You can see our current selection of towels at www.pendleton-usa.com right here. And if you decide to join the fun on Instagram, please tag us with @pendletonwm . We’d love to see where you take Pendleton.
Since we showed you the shoot here, we thought you’d like to see Princess Carly in the finished product. The dress by Janine’s Custom Creations uses our Rock Art fabric, available here at http://www.pendleton-usa.com.
We’re proud to help sponsor Carly. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter as she travels throughout Europe and Canada as an ambassador for the Calgary Stampede.
Blake Lively in August’s VOGUE. The blanket is our Midnight Navy Stripe in Pendleton Eco-Wise Wool. You can see Ms. Lively’s new American lifestyle blog, Preserve, here.
As ususal with Japanese PR, we have only a vague idea of what’s been written, here. We do know these travel spreads are alive with enthusiasm and full of Pendleton. Our Reyn Spooner Kloth shirts are shown, as well as the Surf madras shirts , and towels, and muchacho blankets, and hey, that’s our CEO, Mark Korros, relaxing at the Pendleton Home Store!
Our favorite is this shot with the Original Surf Plaid Board Shirt as worn by the Beach Boys way back when.
Thanks to POPEYE for the visit and for the press.
We had a gorgeous feature in German VOGUE this summer. The weathered walls and dry landscape make an atmospheric backdrop for our Native American-inspired blankets.
Cover with the NIKE N7 blanket, which benefits the American Indian College Fund: 
The Crossroads blanket.
The San Miguel blanket.
The Saxony Hills blanket.
All blankets are available at pendleton-usa.com.
We’re celebrating nine decades! yes, that’s right. We have been making men’s wool shirts for ninety years. The Pendleton shirt story starts in 1924, when the Bishop family decided to enlarge their business from trade and bed blankets into men’s apparel.
To quote http://www.pendleton-usa.com:
In 1924, a man could have a wool shirt in any color he wanted – as long as it was grey. Wool shirts were utilitarian items; warm, durable, an excellent first line in the defense against the elements. They were uniformly drab. Of course, all that was about to change.
At Pendleton Woolen Mills, Clarence Morton Bishop envisioned a different kind of fabric for a man’s wool shirt. Pendleton’s sophisticated weaving capabilities were producing vibrant Indian trade blankets. Why not bring that same weaving and color know-how to flannel shirting?
He wrote to his father, Charles Pleasant Bishop, “I believe we should add such goods as shirts and hosiery.” C.P. Bishop agreed, replying “I am more and more impressed with the opportunity we have here in Oregon.” While his son investigated production options, C.P. Bishop did the early marketing work. He wrote to his son that “I am impressing it on the minds of my employees and patrons…that we are putting a new fabric on the market, something better than other mills can or will make.”
After much weaving experimentation and hard work, Pendleton’s innovative Umatilla shirting fabric rolled off the loom. The rich colors in Pendleton’s woolen plaid shirts were completely new to the market in 1924. The positive response was immediate. It has also been enduring.
Ninety years! To celebrate, we’ve released a poster that elaborates on the design features of our most enduring models. Click for a larger view, though the best view is in person at one of our many retailers.
Here’s the styles you know and love in photos.
Fall 2014 brings our Decade shirts, each made a style and fabric that represents a decade of Pendleton shirtmaking. We will be taking a closer look at those in the next few weeks. But for now, it’s kind of awesome to sit back and consider how many Pendleton wool shirts we’ve put on the backs of men over the last ninety years. Thank you for your loyalty, and here’s to the next decade!
There’s nothing quite as inspiring as a blank notebook. We might be doing away with cursive handwriting and sending email rather than letters, but we still love a blank book full of empty pages that are waiting for our own words.
The advantage of a notebook lies in its portability. It weighs less than a laptop, and is even thinner than a tablet. You don’t have to power it on, wait for a signal or connection or three bars or whatever else to make it work. It’s ready to go, and though it might run out of pages, it will never run out of power. You can refer to it without plugging it in. And you can make sketches quite easily.
All you need is something to write with.
Inspiration usually requires fuel. Sometimes that’s travel, sometimes it’s solitude. Very often, inspiration comes in the form of coffee, whether hot:
Or iced:
When you’re ready to record your deepest thoughts, your secret dreams or just some recipes and grocery lists, you can get your Pendleton notebooks here. The covers are based on our wool blankets, combining National Park Blanket stripes with Native American-inspired geometric patterns. The covers are sturdy, the books are stitched, and the pages are ruled. Just add a pen, and you’re ready to go.
Happy inspiration, from Pendleton Woolen Mills.
Stana Katic, a small-screen favorite on “Castle,” is lighting up the pages of Good Housekeeping this month with our womenswear. Below is a behind-the-scenes video. It looks like this was a fun shoot!
Here she is in our Juneau Vest (this color will be arriving soon).
This fall, we’re offering a limited edition Guide shirt in an edition of 1863. Why 1863? Because, of course, that’s when our legacy’s founder, Thomas Kay, opened his woolen mill in Salem, Oregon. We made the shirt in an amber and brown ombre plaid that appears to be straight out of the Pendleton archives, but was developed just for this year. Each shirt has a hand-numbered label:
This shirt model first appeared in our 1927 men’s shirt line. Back then it was called The Buckaroo. Thanks to the Pendleton archives, here’s a look at the Buckaroo’s debut (you can click to enlarge):
Yes, we understand that it looks comical to the modern eye to have a man going hunting wearing a bowtie and trilby. Perhaps sportsmen really were that much more dapper in 1927.
He also oddly resembles Peter Sellers, but this was long before Inspector Clouseau’s time.
But back to the Buckaroo. As a manufacturer of Native American trade blankets, Pendleton Woolen Mills was (and still is) headquartered in the west. It made sense to capitalize on America’s fascination with all things western in the early part of the last century, so our garments were named accordingly. But despite the rodeo name, the Buckaroo was meant to be worn in a variety of settings. The dressiness of the shirt depended on the fabric, not the cut; plaids for hunting, solids for fishing, and broadcloth solids or stripes for “dress-up.” The plaids/solid demarcation is a bit baffling. Were the plaids better for forest camouflage? Would plaids startle the fish? Despite these marketing mysteries, America responded to this shirt line with enthusiasm. The Pendleton wool shirt became a wardrobe staple.
Of course, you become a part of this history every time you choose a Pendleton shirt. The limited Edition Guide Shirt is available at pendleton-usa.com and other retailers. Enjoy some special shots of this shirt taken by Portland photographer Taylor Painter, who you should immediately follow on Instagram.
Click to view slideshow.
First, anyone reading this from out-of-state needs to understand that Oregonians love Oregon. We love the mountains, the rivers, the ocean, the cities. We love the biking, the hiking, the climbing, the skiing. We love the dining-out scene, the wine country, the craft breweries, the makers’ markets. Oregonians love all these things, but what do we love most of all?
Our dogs.
Yes. That’s right. We love our dogs more than anything! We want to share all our best adventures with them. That’s why dogs are everywhere here, on trails, on the beach, at dog parks, on the leash at the Oregon Garden, under the tables at so many places that let us dine out with our dogs. Oregon is Dog Nirvana.
And that’s why there’s Dawg Grog. Because Dawg Grog is beer. For dogs. Well, it’s as close to beer for dogs as you can get.
Please understand, there’s no alcohol in this brew. No hops, nothing that would harm a dog. In fact, there’s a lot in Dawg Grog that will help your dog, especially if he’s getting a little creaky in the hips.
To quote the company website:
Daniel Keeton launched his business in the summer of 2012 with one idea in mind, to supply the dog friendly community of Bend, Oregon with a delicious and nutritional liquid treat. Living in Bend since 2001, Daniel’s love for craft beer and dogs spawned an idea – Develop a liquid treat for dogs that incorporated the craft beer side of things while having a nutritional value specifically for dogs. Knowing that hops are poisonous for dogs and that dogs don’t process alcohol like us humans do, Daniel discovered that the brewers wort, made in the primary process of beer making, would make for a delicious base for his product. The brewers wort with the addition of K9 vegetarian glucosamine and a trace mineral supplement would make for the ultimate liquid dog treat.
And there you have it! A craft-brewed, healthy treat for your dog that satisfies your own urge to crack a cold one with your canine, because (as we’ve stated here repeatedly) in Oregon, we want to share all our best experiences with our dogs.
Here’s Dawg Grog’s founder, Daniel, AKA Danimal, with Lola Jane. As you can see, they travel in style in a ’63 Fairlane.
This is the official Dawg Grog ride, with a header and dog lap (remember those?) upholstered in Pendleton’s Sugar Skulls wool.
It was customized by Doug from the Auto Clinic in Bend, who made the headliner from the material and installed it.
Erik Elbek – AKA Grind King – completed the back package tray of the headliner to tie it all together, and gave the ’63 Fairlane the finishing shine for the photo shoot with Skyler Hughes of Skyler Hughes Photography.
The remaining fabric went to Lola Jane for her own custom Sugar Skulls blanket, perfect for a nice lie-down after a drink of her favorite treat. The blanket was sewn for her by Maddy Wasserman.
It’s a dog’s life, yes? Be sure to visit the Dawg Grog website to learn more. You can find a distributor near you, and even learn how your dog can become a Spokes-Dawg for the brand. And follow them on Instagram, while you’re at it.
Thanks to Danimal for letting us feature him, his car, his company and Lola Jane. All photos by Skyler Hughes of Skyler Hughes Photography, copyright 2014. Photos used with permission.
Greg Hatten is our guest blogger today. Usually he writes about heart-stopping whitewater river journeys in his wooden boat, the Portola. Today’s post is about another kind of adventure, and it’s more heart-tugging than heart-stopping. We hope you enjoy it.
My youngest daughter and her serious boyfriend, Josh, took an Oregon river ride in my wooden boat one hot summer weekend last year. Despite the lack of fishing time, we all had a great time. This trip was about the water, the waves, and the old man checking out the young man in my daughter’s life. He checked out fine. I liked him much more than the others that had come and gone before him.
One year later, he was eager to come back to Oregon. He was ready to get back in the boat and maybe catch a steelhead on a fly. Understand, this is an accomplishment that requires thousands of casts and years of suffering broken rods, broken leaders, broken spirit. But he had a goal, so we saved the date. As it approached, his interest and questions about the details of the trip increased.
It was going to be a hot, sunny day. We started early. ‘0 dark 30 early, 4:30 AM early. Mentally making our offerings to the steelhead gods, we climbed in my FJ40, pulled the choke, turned on the headlights and headed up river, boat in-tow. We pulled into the boat launch. Judging by the lack of trucks and boats at the ramp, most fishermen had stayed in bed, conceding the day before it even began.
The most elusive of Pacific Northwestern fish proved to be just that. For two hours we fished some of the best pools and slots on the river and felt nothing – not a bite, not a hit, not a take-down, no sign of a steelhead. A familiar fishless ache in my gut prompted me to remind Josh of the degree of difficulty and disappointment associated with chasing steelhead on the fly. And then–WHAM! Josh felt “the tug” — a strong one – and suddenly line was peeling off the reel and the rod was doubled over in a rainbow arc. I heard him say, “WOW.”
It was a great fight with impressive runs and a few sharp jumps caught in vivid HD by the Go-Pro mounted on the bill of a fishing hat. A thirty minute tug-of-war brought a tired fish to the net and into the boat. He did it! On one of the hottest, sunniest days of the summer, Josh had hooked and LANDED his first steelhead on the fly.
We took the required pictures. He sat there holding the big fish in my boat, looking very serious and clearing his throat. Then he asked my blessing to propose to my daughter. Then it was my turn to feel “the tug,” and Josh heard me say “WOW.” But this had nothing to do with a fish. I thought, are you kidding me? Who’s writing the script for this? He’s holding a trophy fish in my wooden boat and asks for my daughter’s hand in marriage. What could a fly fishing father say but, “Let me shake your slimy hand and welcome you to the family, Son.” Especially since fifteen minutes later, in the very next pool, Josh hooked up and landed a second steelhead in a battle that was even more dramatic than the first. That time, we both said, “WOW”.
That evening, after a dinner of fresh steelhead on the grill, Josh pulled out a ring and proposed to my daughter Sarah by the light of the campfire over the sound of the McKenzie River flowing behind Eagle Rock Lodge. She said yes. And then I’m pretty sure she said, “WOW.”
Quite a day.
Our congratulations to the happy couple. Be sure to read about Greg’s river adventures here, here and here.
The Pendleton Decade Shirts for men celebrate our ninety years of shirt making using re-creations of fabrics from each decade. We went deep into the archives to find the wool shirt fabric that best expressed the men’s fashion ethos of each decade, and here’s what we chose. 
We used these special fabrics in your favorite Pendleton shirt styles; those that have stood the test of time, just like a Pendleton should. That includes the Gambler, a western shirt that first debuted in the 1930s.
And Sir Pendleton, which is turning sixty next year.
We are offering the Lodge, Trail, Epic, Guide, even the Zephyr shirt from early in the 2000s. And the Board Shirt is offered twice, including a labeled version of the shirt made famous by the Beach Boys in their Surfer Girl days.
If you want to make sure you’re getting a Decade Shirt, check the front placket. You see a special label there, letting you know you’re getting the goods.
And here they are: all the shirts and all the fabrics and all the styles and all the decades.
Of course, there are nine decades and ten shirts. The tenth is the numbered limited edition Guide Shirt, that you can read about here. All the shirts are currently available at pendleton-usa, and in most of our retail stores.
We are fairly certain that there’s a shirt for every man in that assortment. But quality shirts are not just for men. We marked the Nine Decades with some beautiful Pendleton wool shirts for women, which we will talk about next week.
In the meantime, ladies, just steal his shirt.
Macklemore is originally from Seattle, WA. Maybe that’s why his videos use Pendleton wool letting us act as a signifier for the west and the wilderness. We’re glad he hasn’t forgotten his Pacific Northwest roots.
The train seats are upholstered with our Canyonlands fabric, and bring to mind the Portland Express run by AMTRAK last year. The blanket on the camel (okay, so maybe we don’t get that one, either) is one that benefits the American Indian College Fund called the Earth blanket. These are both great songs, but we’re still partial to his first big hit, which also celebrates a Portland passion; going to the thrift store. We don’t have anything in this one, but hey, don’t you love finding Pendleton when you’re thrifting?
Women have been carrying on a love affair with men’s style since the 1940s.
Call it Boyfriend Style, call it Menswear-Inspired, call it dressing like boys or whatever you want to. Women have always loved wearing male-inspired fashion and men’s garments. Especially, it seems, men’s Pendleton wool shirts.
Boyfriend style is hot right now, but it’s not new. The Pendleton 49’er grew directly from this trend. To quote our blog post on this iconic jacket:
Pendleton’s success with men’s shirts had happened twenty years earlier, but during WWII, men were not the only people enjoying distinctive plaids and ombres in pure virgin wool. Women began to borrow men’s work shirts for both work and warmth.
It’s possible that by wearing their husband’s shirts, women kept the memories of their husbands, fiancés and brothers close, though many undoubtedly needed some serious work wear that was simply not available for women at the time. Whatever the reason, women loved Pendleton shirts.
We answered this love by introducing the Pendleton 49’er jacket in (you guessed it) 1949. (As an aside, how much does the woman on the right resemble Peggy Olson?)
Women loved the 49’er, but continued to raid men’s closets. Here are two 1950s icons of femininity, rocking their Pendletons.
These photos of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield offer a clue as to why Boyfriend Style was so popular in the 1950s. It was associated with relaxation, home, comfort, ease, the outdoors. It probably offered them a break from their sexpot styling, though this Life magazine series of Jayne Mansfield cooking breakfast in a Pendleton shirt still manages to radiate her kittenish allure.
(As another aside, clearly Jayne inspired today’s selfie-pout).
The desire to steal his shirt didn’t end in the 1950s. Diane Keaton’s Annie Hall style showed up in the 1970s, creating a wave of skinny-tie-and-vest wearers. Women tucked shoulder pads under the bigger shoulders of men’s shirts and jackets and belted them tightly to create the signature silhouette of the 1980s. The 2000s brought the rise of thrifted style. Countless women reworked shrunken men’s Pendletons into their looks. And when we introduced our Fitted line, market intelligence informed us that a surprising amount of these slimmer-cut shirts were selling to women. Women still love wearing Pendleton men’s shirts.
When we decided to celebrate our Nine Decades of Pendleton Wool Shirts, we knew that women would want to celebrate this milestone, too. So we developed three Decade Shirts for women using plaids from our archives.
Three styles, five fabrics, all available at pendleton-usa.com. The Prineville is a popover with a 3/4 placket. The Ranch Hand is based on our Men’s Canyon model, the original High Grade Westernwear shirt. The Ponderosa uses our beautiful Sir Pendleton worsted fabric, meaning there’s almost a mile of yarn in every shirt.
To finish things nicely, because we love to do that, each shirt has a special Decade Shirt label in the placket. We wanted to give you everything you love in our Men’s shirts with Women’s more fitted shaping.
Here are the Decade Shirts for Women in action.
You can see the special Decade label in the shot above. Copyright 2014, Lauren Field All rights reserved by Pendleton Woolen Mills
Copyright 2014, Lauren Field All rights reserved by Pendleton Woolen Mills
Copyright 2014, Blaire Russel All rights reserved by Pendleton Woolen Mills
Copyright 2014, Travis Hallmark All rights reserved by Pendleton Woolen Mills
Our Decade Shirts for women celebrate our past and inspire our future. But even so, we know from experience that you’ll continue to steal his shirt.
Note: In honor of the Pendleton Round-Up, we’re sharing an older post about Jackson Sundown, who is one of the great riders of the American West. We’re adding new photos to make the read worth your while. Let’er Buck!
The Pendleton Round-up is going on right now—an amazing rodeo adventure in Pendleton, Oregon, celebrating its 102nd year. Our designers travel there for inspiration, entertainment, and to watch our westernwear in action on rodeo competitors and fans. Oregon Public Broadcasting has a video titled “Pendleton Round-Up: The Wild West Way” that’s well worth watching, and Cowboys & Indians magazine has some great background.
Among the historic images, you’ll see this shot:
This is Roy Bishop and Jackson Sundown posing at the Pendleton Round-Up. This image actually made the fashion blogs in 2009, when recreations of Roy Bishop’s fringed coat and Jackson Sundown’s oval-print shirt were part of Pendleton’s Centennial offering. But the story is about more than fashion history. This photo is about rodeo history.
The association of Pendleton Woolen Mills and the Round-Up goes back to the very beginning, when along with his brothers Clarence and Chauncey, Roy Bishop established the first mill at its current location in Pendleton, Oregon. The brothers combined their production and retailing expertise with an idled mill, a river, and fine fleece provided by local wool growers. Back then, PWM was a blanket company. Our first and most valued customer was the Native American, and the Bishop brothers worked hard to fill the strong demand (we still sell approximately 60% of our blankets to Native customers every year).
The Bishops were key to the conception of the first Round-Up. Rodeos are big business now, and they were big business then. It was an undertaking to get to a rodeo, especially for a working cowboy. The Round-Up needed something special to draw the crowd. It was unheard-of to include Native Americans to a Western rodeo, but Roy Bishop rode out to meet tribal leaders and invite their participation. He was politely received and quietly listened to, but he left without receiving a definite answer.
The rodeo’s starting date approached, and still he waited. On the morning before the rodeo began, Roy stepped out on the mill’s loading dock. In the distance, he had his answer when he saw the dust of the tribes as they made their way to the Indian campground. The cooperation between the Columbia Basin tribes and the Pendleton Round-up, unique among modern rodeos, continues to this day.
So what about the other person in this photo?
Jackson Sundown was born Waaya-Tonah-Toesits-Kahn in 1863 in Montana. During the Nez Perce war of 1877, he rode with Sitting Bull, retreating to Canada with the Sioux. He eventually returned to Washington, then to Idaho, then to Montana, supporting himself by working, breeding and breaking horses.
In 1912, at the age of 49, Waaya-Tonah-Toesits-Kahn began entering rodeo events in Canada and Idaho using the name Jackson Sundown. The crowds went wild when he tied his braids under his chin, lifted his sombrero and started the ride, his wooly angora chaps streaming.
He took so many prizes that other riders refused to challenge him. Stock owners pulled their animals when they saw his name on the list of possible riders, as after Jackson Sundown rode a horse, it might be so thoroughly mastered that it never bucked again.
Jackson Sundown entered the Pendleton Round-Up several times, placing but not winning. In 1915, in a controversial decision, he placed third and decided to retire from rodeo riding. But a sculptor named Alexander Phimister Proctor prevailed upon him to try one more time. In 1916, he did. Jackson Sundown came out of the gate on a horse named Angel, and the spectacular ride that followed has become legendary. The crowd went wild, and threatened to take down the grandstands board-by-board if Sundown wasn’t awarded the title he had so clearly won.
At twice the age of his competitors, the lanky six-foot tall Indian not only won the bucking championship, but the all-around title as well. He lived out his life on the Nez Perce reservation, raising horses and passing on his skills until his death in 1923. He’s been inducted into more rodeo and athletic halls-of-fame than I have space to list. He is a key character in a novel by Ken Kesey, The Last Go ‘Round.
Jackson Sundown is also featured in a terrific documentary called “American Cowboys.” This is a detailed look at the frustration of competitive riding for contestants of color. It was playing at the Tamastslikt Cultural Center just outside Pendleton, which is a fantastic place to learn about the history of the tribes of the Columbia Basin. It may or may not be part of their permanent installation, but this documentary includes footage of Sundown riding. Sadly, photographs of him riding rare; this may be the only one.
It is sad that a man who possessed such incredible skills in horsemanship isn’t memorialized while sitting a horse. But there are plenty images of Jackson Sundown that show just how much he understood the role of wardrobe in a great performance. Chaps, hat, and that aloof expression. Jackson Sundown had it all, a fact well-illustrated by this logo for the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Yes, that is Jackson Sundown.
So today, in honor of the Pendleton Round-Up, please enjoy these images of Jackson Sundown; Nez Perce warrior, compatriot of Sitting Bull, bronc rider, horse breeder, main character, documentary subject, fashion blog icon, Round-Up Champion and Inductee into the Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
And a true proponent of individual style.
