ELC Irvin 1942 with strange zipper

[entertainment]

I am going to call the leather supple rather than spongy.
Clearly, the more crinkly hides are more authentic, but I don't like how they wear.
Probably, I am just rationalizing. The zipper is dismaying though.

 

[Micawber]

I am going to call the leather supple rather than spongy.
Clearly, the more crinkly hides are more authentic, but I don't like how they wear.
Probably, I am just rationalizing. The zipper is dismaying though.

I wouldn't worry, if the jacket keeps you warm and looks acceptable to you then all is well. It's rather easy to fall into the trap of being somewhat obsessive about this or that, reproduction flight jackets included. Jacket snobbery and that includes their component parts is all part and parcel of this place.

 

[entertainment]

Unfortunately, I am all too susceptible to those obsessive tendencies!

 

[B-Man2]

Well .... of course you are . That’s why you’re here with the rest of us ..

 

[MikeyB-17]

I wouldn’t say no to it. Who’s going to stop their horse and cart to notice a bit of plastic on the zip? OK, it shouldn’t be there (and you’d expect better from ELC really), but it wouldn’t put me off. I can’t remember if the one I briefly owned had any plastic on it or not.

 

[Micawber]

I wouldn’t say no to it. Who’s going to stop their horse and cart to notice a bit of plastic on the zip? OK, it shouldn’t be there (and you’d expect better from ELC really), but it wouldn’t put me off. I can’t remember if the one I briefly owned had any plastic on it or not.

Clearly a real connoisseur of fine shearling jackets has to be able to spot an inferior zip and hide ELC offering from 10 paces, that way he can avoid fraternising with those lesser and rather sad mortals who own such abhorrences.

 

[entertainment]

Then, I will make sure to stay away from East Anglia when wearing my Irvin!

 

[Micawber]

Then, I will make sure to stay away from East Anglia when wearing my Irvin!

Not at all, at least in these parts, as I own and wear one too

 

[entertainment]

I saw in your profile that you live in East Anglia, and I feared you were one of the connoisseurs that you described!

 

[Micawber]

Mind you I have lost a bit of sleep since you reawakened the subject of zips which have small areas of plastic on them. Subsequent comments about the hide almost demanded clean underwear

 

[Smithy]

I am going to call the leather supple rather than spongy.
Clearly, the more crinkly hides are more authentic, but I don't like how they wear.

Actually the crinkly, cardboardy outer shell is wrong in relation to originals so supple is better for what it's worth.

At the end of the day if you're happy who gives a shit? A repro is still a repro no matter how good and will never be an original.

I've said it before but I'll say it again, it's like saying "my fake Rolex is better than your fake Rolex".

Jacket snobbery and that includes their component parts is all part and parcel of this place.

One of my A-2s is a WPG, admittedly one of the very first pre-release ones which were better than the production jobs, but still it's a WPG. Do I care what others think? Not one bit, it fits brilliantly and has a better hand and drape compared to originals than most repros many times more expensive.

Jacket snobbery like all forms of snobbery is based on subjective feelings of inadequacy and nothing else, it's just dick measuring for those who feel they need to. Thankfully most guys around here don't give a hoot and are just happy to have some virtual mates with the same interest/disease.

 

[Southoftheborder]

I bought one of these off of eBay about seven or eight years ago for a very good price. It was practically unworn, and still stiff and unbroken in. From messages I think the original owner, who was this man's deceased brother in law was just too fat for it and didn't realise that they fit quite slim on the gut area.

With the help of J Lever of this parish on the FD site I think it was decided that it was made around 2003. The zip bothered me a tiny bit, but not so much that it put me off the jacket. The hide was lovely BTW and much more true to period than the broken hide which was only found on US jackets I think - but is still sold as authentic for RAF ones. I moved it on several years ago because lovely to look at as they are an Irvin isn't a practical garment where I live. I used to wear a cheap British made knock off one back in the early sixties when I was young and it kept me really warm then. But the winters are nowhere near as cold now as then.

I do have a broken hide C3 which it took me a long time to love and looked horrible IMO at first. Five years later it has softened and looks okay I suppose. It's warm under a lighter jacket anyway.

 

[Griffon_301]

Some slight wetting of certain underwear parts occurred here as well after reading through this thread...but checked my ELC BoB Irvin bought in 2015 and the zip is fully metal...underwear has dried up again

 

[entertainment]

Thank you everyone for all the informative and amusing posts. At least I am now sure that it is ELC, though I am not quite sure why I ever doubted that.

 

[Grant]

No plastic on this bitch!

 

[tjoenn]

No plastic on this bitch!

View attachment 26368

Fantastic looking Irvin!!! Looks like an original... is it? If not, who made it?

 

[Grant]

Thanks! Eastman made it years ago.

 

[Smithy]

Old school Grant. Looks a thousand times better than what they currently sell, and for not as much coin!

 

[Grant]

Agree Smithy. I bought it second hand from John Lever years ago, so he may have an idea how old it is.

 

[John Lever]

Agree Smithy. I bought it second hand from John Lever years ago, so he may have an idea how old it is.

Quite an early jacket from 1990s, very robust, I washed it to crinkle it up. The only reason I sold it was because I have another that I prefer, a size 48 merino similar to this 44.

6 I am wearing Grants Irvin over an A1 in my avatar.