Your views on this Luftwaffe style jacket please?

[robrinay]

I took delivery of this latest eBay find earlier today. It's Luftwaffe in style has original brass with black tape pocket zips stamped 'RES', a replacement (brown tape YKK) main zip and a variety of makes of press studs. The heavy duty, brass pocket zips are stamped 'RES' (not Ries or Ritsch) and one of the press studs is stamped 'C S' -all of the others just have symbols. The body lining is black moleskin and the sleeves a thick grey rayon? The hand warmer pockets are lined with light brown chamois leather. Any ideas chaps? For what it's worth, based on the slim evidence of a shopping list in German on a torn out page from a diary stamped Sonntag, I think it might be East German in origin and perhaps from the 1950's? = perhaps the RES is a lookalike copy of Ritsch or Ries?

http://s1258.photobucket.com/user/robri ... %20leather

 

[robrinay]

I've found a couple of bits of information about the snaps/press studs found on this jacket - apparently these 'caged' type are older than the more usual domed type and the CS type with two stars and a Maltese cross stamp have been found on a 'Luft gauntlet' owned by a member of the war relics forum. Perhaps it's older than the 1950's or is that just wishful thinking?

 

[CBI]

No idea from but its a pretty cool looking jacket and I hope you enjoy it. I would love a Luftwaffe style jacket but I just can't pull it off. They look too "biker" on me. I wish I could!!!

 

[robrinay]

No idea from but its a pretty cool looking jacket and I hope you enjoy it. I would love a Luftwaffe style jacket but I just can't pull it off. They look too "biker" on me. I wish I could!!!

Thank you - I'm not sure what it looks like on me yet - I put it on briefly, noticed the 'old charity shop' odour and cleaned it immediately and when its dry I'll follow John Levers advice and freeze it for a day or two.
According to a couple of members on the Fedora Lounge where I posted it after no-one replied here, it's a 1950's or 60's West German or Austrian motorbike jacket made by a tailor or small workshop using new old stock snaps. If Austrian it may have been made in a tailors shop that supplied Luftwaffe jackets towards the end of WW2. - or WW3 if some historians are to be believed, (I read somewhere that some experts class the Napoleonic Wars as WW1??

 

[a2jacketpatches]

No idea from but its a pretty cool looking jacket and I hope you enjoy it. I would love a Luftwaffe style jacket but I just can't pull it off. They look too "biker" on me. I wish I could!!!

I was going to suggest but wasn't completely sure that it was a motorcycle jacket. From time to time ebay has similar jackets all dressed up as Luft leather. I think real ones are more likely to have epaulettes for the shoulder boards.

 

[robrinay]

There's a deal of debate as to how many Luft jackets were issued and how many were private purchase European cycling jackets which fitted the generic style - shoulder boards added later.

 

[Peter Graham]

There's a deal of debate as to how many Luft jackets were issued and how many were private purchase European cycling jackets which fitted the generic style - shoulder boards added later.

Where is this debate ? The answer is none. The Luftwaffe never issued a jacket in this style, ever.

 

[robrinay]

There's a deal of debate as to how many Luft jackets were issued and how many were private purchase European cycling jackets which fitted the generic style - shoulder boards added later.

Where is this debate ? The answer is none. The Luftwaffe never issued a jacket in this style, ever.

Apologies - I did say it rather clumsily. When the subject is discussed the conclusion is that the so called luftwaffe leather jackets in similar styles which turn up in period photographs and on eBay were purchased

 

[Roughwear]

It's a post War (1950s/60s) German-made bike jacket. Civilian bike jackets were of course Luftwaffe private purchase items. Too often on Ebay these bike jackets are marketed as "Luftwaffe" jackets and even badged up to given the impression they had been there. I suspect 99% of those sold on Ebay as "Luftwaffe" jackets had no connection with the Luftwaffe pilots or aircrew.

 

[oose]

Hi,
So many styles on these private purchase jackets, here is a selection for you...








All the best
Stu

 

[robrinay]

Thank you to all for your help and advice.

 

[Peter Graham]

Cool photos Stu.

 

[FtrPlt]

These guys are both wearing issue, cloth jackets -- part of the Kanaljacken series of items