An Original Star G-1.for a Good Buy It Now Price Size 42

[ZuZu]

Ok guys … I’m always preaching to buy originals . Well here’s what I would consider a steal . A Vietnam Era Star G-1, in reasonably good condition for seriously cheap money .
Cheaper than any repros out there .
Here ya go … my compliments…

Vietnam era 1973 USN USMC G -1 Aviator Pilot's Flight Jacket - SIZE 42 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vietnam era 1973 USN USMC G -1 Aviator Pilot's Flight Jacket - SIZE 42 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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I agree that buying this jacket for $99 would be way better than a $400 repro from Pakistan. These particular Stars have beautiful grainy goatskin in my experience. The only problem is that awful fake mouton Dynel collar. It never looks right and it always announces a jacket at the end period of quality G-1s.

That being said I had a white label Star that I picked up for $40 that was one of my favorite jackets. It was a true wearer. As I get older I'm finding that my 1940s Edmund T Church is a true wearer however. Age has made me brave.

 

[ZuZu]

Thats one of the best colors of Mouton in contrast with the dark leather I've seen. I don't want to open an old can of worms here but more for answers really, if the suns rays is the only way to bleach the collar, which I assume was on the carrier deck and in the cockpit would the inside of the collar be much darker protected by the wearers neck?

I ditch my G1's roughly in April/May here in the UK as its quite humid for me, so I cant see the carrier wearers spending time on deck for safety reasons, so how would they bleach to golden that much? Could salt still be in a factor?

All the mouton collared jackets are at least 50+ years old. God only knows how they were worn- in real life back then and then as work jackets for a while and then as precious collectibles. One bright summer was probably enough for some mouton to turn gold- other pieces are as dark as the day they were sewn in (say on some Caglecos). The fun scenarios are probably the fantasy- worn on a carrier deck or in a cockpit. A lot more were probably just worn tooling around in people's weird lives IMO...

 

[Capt]

I know over in the US the ultra violet is way way stronger than over here in the UK, back when eastman started selling the G1 and after gaining a few pounds I tried a little experiment. For approx 2 years I left the jacket in my rear shelf of my car in the day with my job and draped over a chair in the back garden over both summers. The changes in the jacket were the collar turned a green/yellow colour, the front leather panels faded, the stitching and burgundy lining turned bright pink. Looked a mess.

 

[mulceber]

I also wonder if flying might do it - up at high altitudes, where the atmosphere is thinner, there wouldn't be as much protection against UV. Just a thought.

 

[B-Man2]

I agree that buying this jacket for $99 would be way better than a $400 repro from Pakistan. These particular Stars have beautiful grainy goatskin in my experience. The only problem is that awful fake mouton Dynel collar. It never looks right and it always announces a jacket at the end period of quality G-1s.

That being said I had a white label Star that I picked up for $40 that was one of my favorite jackets. It was a true wearer. As I get older I'm finding that my 1940s Edmund T Church is a true wearer however. Age has made me brave.

Zu
I get it regarding the Dynel collars on these things but…the prices are so reasonable for these original issued USN jackets and as you said they’re goatskin not pressed leather , that for a few bucks you can have the Dynel collar switched out for a mouton one and still be a few hundred the cost of a repro one .

 

[ZuZu]

Zu
I get it regarding the Dynel collars on these things but…the prices are so reasonable for these original issued USN jackets and as you said they’re goatskin not pressed leather , that for a few bucks you can have the Dynel collar switched out for a mouton one and still be a few hundred the cost of a repro one .

I agree. I'd rather have one of these Star "D"s with the right leather and fit even with the dynel collar. Functionally it works as well as mouton and actually looks I think the way the Navy intended for these collars to look which was pretty much matching the leather.

Still- it's such a tell- never going to be quite as cool as the original material jackets.

 

[ZuZu]

The collar on the brand spankin' new Ralph Edwards "B" I had looked very close to the new Dynel collar on the jacket you posted:

RE:

Star "E"

 

[ZuZu]

That General puller isn't very durable. Mine broke- puller and zipper teeth.

 

[johnwayne]

All the mouton collared jackets are at least 50+ years old. God only knows how they were worn- in real life back then and then as work jackets for a while and then as precious collectibles. One bright summer was probably enough for some mouton to turn gold- other pieces are as dark as the day they were sewn in (say on some Caglecos). The fun scenarios are probably the fantasy- worn on a carrier deck or in a cockpit. A lot more were probably just worn tooling around in people's weird lives IMO...

Both ‘57 Cagleco’s - taken obviously with light from window but both quite dark still!!

 

[ZuZu]

I also wonder if flying might do it - up at high altitudes, where the atmosphere is thinner, there wouldn't be as much protection against UV. Just a thought.

I don't know about mouton but Nylon it would seem-yes! Buzz Rickson or Real Mcoys used to make a cockpit faded MA-1 which I'm sure they copied from an original.