Dazzle 'em!

It's taken me years to write this post as I've long been fascinated by US Navy dazzle camouflage and how I could interpret it into a project.

Widely used by the allies in the First World War and then again sparingly in the Second, it's distinct erratic line work was designed to confuse the enemy as to the size, speed, direction and angle of the travelling vessel, thus making it difficult to get an accurate bearing to launch an attack.

Inspired by the work of Carrie Schneider 2008 Dazzle Canoe, I had the idea of applying the pattern to a surfboard, but then realised that there would not be a 'glasser' anywhere in the world who would touch a project like this and so the idea got shelved.

A couple of months back on Instagram Jon of @mosquito_boat posted a photo of a chest of drawers that he had Dazzled and that photo made me think of wood instead of fibreglass and this revelation drew me to the Alaia, a finless wooden surfboard favoured by the Ancient Hawaiians. Choosing this medium made the whole concept possible and so I contacted Jon and and we worked on several ideas to arrive at a pattern to suit the profile of the Alaia board.

From here I teamed up with life-long friend @Charcoal_Smith, a talented sign writer, artist, ladder climber and hero and got down to the business end of applying paint and loads of masking tape. The final touches was the marking of the 'ships numbers', 44, the numerals of the Papa Nui Combat Beach Battalion.

Original sketches. Bottom and top.

Taping begins.

Marking out the block colour seemed the best way.

Layering on the darker shades of grey. The pattern was basically two shades of grey, sporadic white and then overlayed on top with the black stripes.

It amazes me how dramatic an effect can be had with the simplicity of line.

Taking ownership.

Battle flag and numbers.

44 numerals of the Combat Beach Battalion.

Top deck.

Cole 'Charcoal' Smith, artist and sign writer.

Papa Nui with finished Alaia.

Having finally finished this project and seeing the ideas come to life, it reminds me of the importance of inspiration and that adage that says, 'It's not where you take things from, it's where you take them to'. 
All of us need to be inspired but we need to interpret things in our own way, we need to find a connection and draw our own parallels, we need to personalise and individualise and ultimately take ownship of an idea because this is what gives substance and authenticity. There is only one true way and that is in the words of Chris Issacs, "Be yourself because everyone else is already taken".

Papa Nui wears the Eastman USN t-shirt.

How often do you read the description of products as being an authentic pattern based on a period original? All the time I bet, and yet you know its all bullshit but these companies honestly believe their customers will buy these claims. Well not this Papa!
Gary Eastman of the Eastman Leather Company has done what every other company claims to have done, except that this time its the real deal. Using several vintage WWII USN t-shirts as a base, Gary has used the best of Japanese manufacturing techniques to pull these originals apart stitch for stitch and then recreate them in especially loomed wheel-looped slub cotton jersey. The results are outstanding and worthy of the 2 years R&D it took to develop the idea.
The fit is awesome with a narrow and close fitting body shape with a shorter sleeve and a neck opening that is wider that a crew but not ridiculously scoopy either. In short, its about as perfect as you can get without buying a dead-stock original. This is high praise I know, but realistically this is perhaps the best t-shirt I've ever owned and coming from a part of the world where t-shirts are the au-rigueur you get to know real quick what's what.
Beautifully packaged and priced at UK 39.99 it's a must buy for any true enthusiast.

Packaged in a small printed cardboard container this tee is beautifully presented.

Fit reference, yes I knew you'd want to know about this so Giggles got her camera out to shoot this expose.

The Papa is wearing his new Corsairs Cap in Experimental Night Op's colourway and original American Optics aviators sunglasses.

Note fit: slim through the torso but not contemporary tight. Sleeve is short and fits just above the biceps. Neck opening is actually really flattering and doesn't choke rub and irritate like a crewneck tee does. Length is sufficient to tuck in and stay tucked but not too long as to not be worn out.

Sizing is genuine and accurate. In everyday wear I would normally wear a size medium, somewhere between a 38"-40" or around 18" across the shoulders ( the way I ensure vintage purchases fit me is always to know my shoulder measurement). In these photos I'm wearing a size 38". At first it appeared quite snug but after repeated washes and wearing the size is a beautiful fit, by far my favourite tee I own and the beginning of repeated purchases.

Nomenclature contract print is authentic and is reproduced exactly from the original samples.