Vintage Wrangler Raglan Sweatshirt Made in USA - Red

Tagged M, and it measures small. Flat, in inches: chest 36, length 21.5, sleeve 21. That is a modern small, and short in the body, so it wears cropped rather than oversized. There is no shoulder measurement because a raglan has no shoulder seam to measure across.

Most 50/50 sweatshirts are cotton and polyester. This one is cotton and acrylic, which is a softer, loftier hand, closer to a knit than to a jersey.

Three things date it, and they agree. The tag is black: Wrangler ran cream Blue Bell tags into the late sixties and moved to black Wrangler tags around 1970, so a black tag puts this in the seventies at the earliest. The hems are single stitch, which American manufacturers abandoned for twin-needle work through the nineties. And it is made in USA, before Wrangler's production moved offshore. Seventies or eighties.

Wrangler was launched in 1947 by Blue Bell of Greensboro, North Carolina, which had bought the Casey Jones work-clothes company in 1943 and the little-used Wrangler name with it. Blue Bell ran the brand for nearly forty years, until VF Corporation bought the business in 1986.

A raglan sleeve is cut in one piece from collar to cuff, with no shoulder seam, which is why these move the way they do and why they drape softly rather than sitting square. It was an athletic construction before it was a casual one.

Modern size: Fits like a modern Women's S or Men's XS.

Condition is good.

One of one. Sold as found.

No returns - as is.