September 21, 2021
THE LEGEND OF B.D. BAGGIES SHIRTS
The shirt is one of the most fundamental items of a man’s wardrobe and beyond. A garment so simple yet loaded with so many meanings that it can say everything about an attitude, a style, an entire aesthetic. This is the case of B.D. Baggies, the American brand that invented the concept of the lived-in shirt - that formally impeccable shirt to which an intangible yet perceptible patina of time has been added - a type of softness, of relaxation that emerges from the finishing of the material more than their classic design.
The origin of the brand is shrouded in legend. We are in 1919 and the founder of the brand, Bradford Dexter Bagg, was still very young. Just as young people often do, Bradford was rummaging through the closets of his house for clothes when he found a veritable treasure chest - a trunk full of his father's old shirts. They were made according to the Made in USA tradition, meticulous, elegant and hard-wearing, but over time they had taken on a worn look that had softened the fabric, made the shape supple, the texture dense.
When Bradford wore them, his friends and fellow students instantly admired them, being in stark contrast to the stiff, formal apparel of the day, evoking relaxation but also an elegance that did not take itself too seriously. The affectionate nickname they received, B.D. Baggies, a play on words between baggy and Bradford's surname, became synonymous with a style that is evergreen.
The slightly old-fashioned ease of those shirts led to the birth of the brand's philosophy: shirts wearable naturally as a t-shirt. In later years, it was designer David Mullen who took the brand back to its origins, making it a massive phenomenon on the American 80s fashion scene and that of the yuppies, who updated and reinterpreted their preppy college culture with elegance but a sense of youthful relaxation. Even today the brand is completely Made in the USA, a leader in the use of pre-washed, soft fabrics with an agreeably lived-in look and has anticipated the vintage craze and appeal of distressed looks by decades.
