1930s women’s jacket

[Nnatalie]

Now that Christmas has happened, I can share proper photos of my 1930s jacket! It’s in so-so condition, but I love it regardless!

I can’t find any labels on it. Though if anyone has any ideas, please share! I suspect that the body was re-lined. The sleeves are lined in a tan rayon or acetate type fabric, and the pockets in a tan flannel type fabric. The zipper is a Talon that corresponds to those from the 1930s.

I’m interested to see what sort of leather you all think it’s made of. From my (limited) research in old newspaper ads, it seems like suede was the most popular women’s jacket leather of the era, followed by capeskin, with a few ads for cowhide and horsehide. That plus the peeling going on in places makes me guess capeskin (I read somewhere on here that capeskin is prone to peeling). I’m very much a novice though, so I may be completely off base.

Redone? lining:

Cool deco pocket/seam detail:

Close-ups of some leather textures:

One of the peeling/flaking spots:

Back and side on a not yet properly adjusted dress form):

 

[Geeboo]

very few female take on this hobby - vintage wear. rock-on

 

[B-Man2]

Glad to see you here. It could be capeskin or cow hide . It looks so soft I was thinking maybe calf skin or lamb. The striations in the hide should offer a clue.
Not much help I realize....Sorry.

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Hi Natalie
Great fit
1930s for certain
Capeskin
BTW
We recently run out of a virtually identical cotton lining

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Natalie
no promises but I may have spotted a couple of clues as to the maker............the lining looks familiar
Could you do a close up of where the collar joins the body at the top of the zipper and one of the side buckle

 

[Nnatalie]

Natalie
no promises but I may have spotted a couple of clues as to the maker............the lining looks familiar
Could you do a close up of where the collar joins the body at the top of the zipper and one of the side buckle

Happy to oblige! First two are of what would be the left side if I were wearing it, 3 and 4 are of the right side, and 5 is of the side buckle. If it matters, the side buckle feels pretty lightweight. Let me know if any other photos would be helpful!

 

[Pilot]

Bonjour Natalie,
very nice and sweet on you.
Also a big welcome in this rough men’s world...Happy to have you with us.
A happy New Year to you and yours.

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Virtually all leather makers fit a completed, top stitched collar between the neck of the body and the neck of the lining then top stitch around the body only including the neck hole
The construction method used here is/was very rare in leather, it's a cloth tailoring method
Joining the top collar to the facing/lining and the back collar to the body, then closing all the way round the extremities of the jacket before top stitching the collar in one continuous line up the zip edge, round the collar edge and down the other zip edge
This was virtually exclusive to Levis. Aero worked hand in hand with Levi Vintage during the set up of LVC in the late 1990s so we had access to a lot of their archive jackets. I was hoping I'd recognise the buckle but alas, not. Neither can I say the style of jacket is one I can recall but that''s doesn't really mean much, they produced quite a number of styles between the late 20s and the 40s

The lining looks very much like a 30s Levi, including the vertical centre back seam another common Levi feature, is there any sign of stitch holes where a label may have been originally sewn, if so can you photograph it please

Don't want to get your hopes up too much..............

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

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You can see the same area clearly here in the close up of the collar

 

[Nnatalie]

Virtually all leather makers fit a completed, top stitched collar between the neck of the body and the neck of the lining then top stitch around the body only including the neck hole
The construction method used here is/was very rare in leather, it's a cloth tailoring method
Joining the top collar to the facing/lining and the back collar to the body, then closing all the way round the extremities of the jacket before top stitching the collar in one continuous line up the zip edge, round the collar edge and down the other zip edge
This was virtually exclusive to Levis. Aero worked hand in hand with Levi Vintage during the set up of LVC in the late 1990s so we had access to a lot of their archive jackets. I was hoping I'd recognise the buckle but alas, not. Neither can I say the style of jacket is one I can recall but that''s doesn't really mean much, they produced quite a number of styles between the late 20s and the 40s

The lining looks very much like a 30s Levi, including the vertical centre back seam another common Levi feature, is there any sign of stitch holes where a label may have been originally sewn, if so can you photograph it please

Don't want to get your hopes up too much..............

Oh, fascinating! Was the cloth-tailoring style as rare on women’s jackets as on men’s? I’ll give it another look over when I get home from work this evening.

Also, in the picture of me wearing it half-zipped, if you look closely at the cuffs, you can see that the edges don’t match up exactly. One of the cuffs is more mismatched than the other. Would this give any clues to manufacture?

 

[mulceber]

Also, in the picture of me wearing it half-zipped, if you look closely at the cuffs, you can see that the edges don’t match up exactly. One of the cuffs is more mismatched than the other. Would this give any clues to manufacture?

We can snap some more photos of the cuffs this evening.

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Oh, fascinating! Was the cloth-tailoring style as rare on women’s jackets as on men’s?

Unless the jacket is a button up style or has a distinct bust shape it's impossible to tell which gender the jacket was designed for, not sure your's was designed specifically for a woman

 

[Nnatalie]

Unless the jacket is a button up style or has a distinct bust shape it's impossible to tell which gender the jacket was designed for, not sure your's was designed specifically for a woman

Good point. I had assumed it was a women’s because it fits me and I’m fairly petite, but it could always be a boy’s jacket too.

I did find another jacket online with very similar buckles, but the buckles could have been from a big supplier, like zippers were. The label is hard to make out, but it says “Tommy Atkins”.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/497668316/1930s-motorcycle-horsehide-jacket-ball

 

[mulceber]

I’m inclined to say it was probably a woman’s jacket: it has something of an hourglass figure, it’s made of one of the premier leathers for women’s garments, and with a pit-to-put of about 17”, it would be very small for a man. None of this is a slam dunk, but all of it points in the direction of it being a woman’s jacket.

 

[mulceber]

Also, in the picture of me wearing it half-zipped, if you look closely at the cuffs, you can see that the edges don’t match up exactly. One of the cuffs is more mismatched than the other. Would this give any clues to manufacture?

Ok, I took a photo. I think this is what you were talking about, Natalie?

 

[Nnatalie]

Ok, I took a photo. I think this is what you were talking about, Natalie?

View attachment 29629

Yep, exactly what I was talking about

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Good point. I had assumed it was a women’s because it fits me and I’m fairly petite, but it could always be a boy’s jacket too.

I did find another jacket online with very similar buckles, but the buckles could have been from a big supplier, like zippers were. The label is hard to make out, but it says “Tommy Atkins”.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/497668316/1930s-motorcycle-horsehide-jacket-ball

Clever use of name & artwork

Tommy Atkins - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Ok, I took a photo. I think this is what you were talking about, Natalie?

View attachment 29629

Cape can be stretchy when sewn, just a Monday morning or Friday afternoon sleeve seam

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

I’m inclined to say it was probably a woman’s jacket: it has something of an hourglass figure, it’s made of one of the premier leathers for women’s garments, and with a pit-to-put of about 17”, it would be very small for a man. None of this is a slam dunk, but all of it points in the direction of it being a woman’s jacket.

Looks like a lady's cut on Natalie and a boy's or (small) man's cut when lying flat

 

[Nnatalie]

One other question for people with more knowledge than me. The inside between the zipper and the lining has asymmetrical seams. Is this something big manufacturers did, or would this be a sign of a smaller maker who wasn’t mass producing jackets and wanted to use up scraps?

Also, I took another look at the inside, and couldn’t find any holes from a label having been stitched on.