ELC IRVINS

[John Lever]

Contacted Gary about Merino skin [ used 10 years ago] Irvin and he replied that the minimum order from the tannery is 100 skins.
Shame as I do think the more recent moves have not necessarily been for the better. How many jackets would be made from 100 skins ?
Also asked whether I could buy material for one jacket. Unfortunately the answer is they do not do any custom work at all.

 

[PADDY_M]

Mid 90's ELC.

 

[Roughwear]

Paddy I would imagine your mid 90s Irvin is getting a lot of wear with the colder weather in the UK. It's a great jacket and I know a size 44 early ELC Irvin is much sought-after by one of our members!

 

[John Lever]

Paddy I would imagine your mid 90s Irvin is getting a lot of wear with the colder weather in the UK. It's a great jacket and I know a size 44 early ELC Irvin is much sought-after by one of our members!

Nice as it is, I sold this one to Paddy !!

 

[Roughwear]

So in that case was it smaller than a 44?

 

[John Lever]

No, 44.
The simple design makes them an almost one size fits all jacket. I can wear a 40, 42 or 44. Though the 40 is snug.

 

[rikbb]

Hello, this is mine, how old would you estimate it?
The leather as some tiny cracks in the elbow creases,
and at the start of the zip.

John inquired about it, sorry I have to keep it.

It's 42, but sometimes feels a bit tight in the shoulders,
and… the fleece is not as soft as the merino would suggest.

 

[John Lever]

By the dull outer coating I would say it's from the 90's after the merino type jackets.

 

[Cliff]

Contacted Gary about Merino skin [ used 10 years ago] Irvin and he replied that the minimum order from the tannery is 100 skins.
Shame as I do think the more recent moves have not necessarily been for the better. How many jackets would be made from 100 skins ?
Also asked whether I could buy material for one jacket. Unfortunately the answer is they do not do any custom work at all.

John, I think the ELC DVD quoted 3 or 4 skins for a B3 so I would imagine a similar amount (maybe slightly more) for a late Irvin and maybe less for a multipanel version. So if we could just get about 30 people or so interested to "pre- order" from Gary he maybe interested in doing a run of Merino jackets !!

Cheers

Cliff

 

[John Lever]

Contacted Gary about Merino skin [ used 10 years ago] Irvin and he replied that the minimum order from the tannery is 100 skins.
Shame as I do think the more recent moves have not necessarily been for the better. How many jackets would be made from 100 skins ?
Also asked whether I could buy material for one jacket. Unfortunately the answer is they do not do any custom work at all.

John, I think the ELC DVD quoted 3 or 4 skins for a B3 so I would imagine a similar amount (maybe slightly more) for a late Irvin and maybe less for a multipanel version. So if we could just get about 30 people or so interested to "pre- order" from Gary he maybe interested in doing a run of Merino jackets !!

Cheers

Cliff

Yeah, but no,but yeah, but. They fell out with the tannery that's why they don't do them any more. That's what the tannery told me anyway where I bought the skins for my custom Aero. Only cost £130 incl. delivery and VAT.
I asked Gary if I bought the skins would he do one for me, the answer ?
No...

 

[rikbb]

John, I have seen such a nice custom Irvin you had had Aero make (I'm very jelous). Wouldn't it be worth doing this 'Merino experiment' with Aero? (BTW, I have too great dark (black) sheep skins on my sofa, of which I dream once have a jacket made of… but I guess 2 skins is not enough and probably the tanning procedure would be different for Irvin jackets.)

 

[John Lever]

John, I have seen such a nice custom Irvin you had had Aero make (I'm very jelous). Wouldn't it be worth doing this 'Merino experiment' with Aero? (BTW, I have too great dark (black) sheep skins on my sofa, of which I dream once have a jacket made of… but I guess 2 skins is not enough and probably the tanning procedure would be different for Irvin jackets.)

Yes, I have done it. There is no need to go to Eastman.
Will is very willing to go over to the tannery I used and plans to do so this year. We just need to slightly re-shape the cuffs. The rest of the arm shape is spot on. They have great zips and a new casting for the buckle.
Although my skins were UK domestic as are nearly all those as used by The Few [from the same tannery] there weren't merino cross skins as Eastman used to use. We do have an amazing sample of some early Eastman skins from this tannery. It's just a matter of time to get the raw materials over from Australia in reasonable quantities.
The issue of having to order 10 000 feet at a time is untrue. Batches of only 50 are easily available. It takes about 40 sq. ft. or 6 skins to make one jacket and costs approximately £130.
If you want a jacket like my custom Aero just contact Will at Aero. The skins are a stock item, not a special order.

 

[m444uk]

I wear merino t-shirts jogging because of it's excellent wicking properties and the fact it doesn't get clammy with sweat. But, is it hard enough wearing to make a durable jacket ? Merino wool is soft with thin fibre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merino

It would take a lifetime to experiment with this lot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sheep_breeds
but would other traditional upland breeds be better ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Mountain_sheep

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_B ... 28sheep%29

A good proportion of the surviving originals must be made from Scottish Blackface sheep.

 

[John Lever]

I think the skins were a Merino cross breed found in Australia. A type of mule sheep, very large with scarred very ribbed skin caused by environmental factors such as thorns and insects. The man at the tannery tells me that whole containers get thrown away because they only get a salt wash before being containerised and can spoil during shipping. Eastman claim to have stopped using them because the leather tears very easily.
Look at Shiloh's jacket. The material has parted probably as a result of being stored on a coat hanger.
The wool I like is shiny, what they call semi -lustre. Not all the curly wool Eastman's have this, e.g. Rikks jacket. The wool is nubbly but dull in character. These are the later jackets after they stopped using Merino skins.
Some of the UK domestic skins have the curl or crimp, and the shine or lustre. These were the skins I selected, they are inexpensive at £3.50 per sq. ft.

A couple of shots of merino/mule cross sample 5.

The curly wool and outer character with the wrinkles are clearly visible.

 

[John Lever]

Found these two on the web -

 

[rikbb]

I was wondering. Every time I see an original Irvin (only on pictures, never touched a original one) the outside seems smooth and firm. The example you show here, John, is creased. My later ELC has a very tiny wrinkled aspect to it. I think I prefer the original. But then there must be many differences, though I imagine in the 40s all the skins were locally bred (not imported).

 

[Cliff]

John, I have seen such a nice custom Irvin you had had Aero make (I'm very jelous). Wouldn't it be worth doing this 'Merino experiment' with Aero? (BTW, I have too great dark (black) sheep skins on my sofa, of which I dream once have a jacket made of… but I guess 2 skins is not enough and probably the tanning procedure would be different for Irvin jackets.)

Yes, I have done it. There is no need to go to Eastman.
Will is very willing to go over to the tannery I used and plans to do so this year. We just need to slightly re-shape the cuffs. The rest of the arm shape is spot on. They have great zips and a new casting for the buckle.
Although my skins were UK domestic as are nearly all those as used by The Few [from the same tannery] there weren't merino cross skins as Eastman used to use. We do have an amazing sample of some early Eastman skins from this tannery. It's just a matter of time to get the raw materials over from Australia in reasonable quantities.
The issue of having to order 10 000 feet at a time is untrue. Batches of only 50 are easily available. It takes about 40 sq. ft. or 6 skins to make one jacket and costs approximately £130.
If you want a jacket like my custom Aero just contact Will at Aero. The skins are a stock item, not a special order.

Hi John
Two questions.......have Aero improved on their design of the sleeve (I have an Aero Irvin which I love except that the sleeves are not quite there) and may I be indiscreet and ask what the total cost of your custom Irvin was. Skins, labour , etc ? cheers
Cliff

 

[John Lever]

John, I have seen such a nice custom Irvin you had had Aero make (I'm very jelous). Wouldn't it be worth doing this 'Merino experiment' with Aero? (BTW, I have too great dark (black) sheep skins on my sofa, of which I dream once have a jacket made of… but I guess 2 skins is not enough and probably the tanning procedure would be different for Irvin jackets.)

Yes, I have done it. There is no need to go to Eastman.
Will is very willing to go over to the tannery I used and plans to do so this year. We just need to slightly re-shape the cuffs. The rest of the arm shape is spot on. They have great zips and a new casting for the buckle.
Although my skins were UK domestic as are nearly all those as used by The Few [from the same tannery] there weren't merino cross skins as Eastman used to use. We do have an amazing sample of some early Eastman skins from this tannery. It's just a matter of time to get the raw materials over from Australia in reasonable quantities.
The issue of having to order 10 000 feet at a time is untrue. Batches of only 50 are easily available. It takes about 40 sq. ft. or 6 skins to make one jacket and costs approximately £130.


If you want a jacket like my custom Aero just contact Will at Aero. The skins are a stock item, not a special order.

Hi John
Two questions.......have Aero improved on their design of the sleeve (I have an Aero Irvin which I love except that the sleeves are not quite there) and may I be indiscreet and ask what the total cost of your custom Irvin was. Skins, labour , etc ? cheers
Cliff

Yes the sleeves are better but the cuffs still too loose, but it's an easy fix. My jacket cost me nothing as it was a test jacket and I spent considerable time organising the skins and the new arm shape template for Aero.

 

[Roughwear]

I was wondering. Every time I see an original Irvin (only on pictures, never touched a original one) the outside seems smooth and firm. The example you show here, John, is creased. My later ELC has a very tiny wrinkled aspect to it. I think I prefer the original. But then there must be many differences, though I imagine in the 40s all the skins were locally bred (not imported).

Having handled many original Irvins I can say that there were many variations in the fleece and skin sides, largely a reflection of the different varieties of sheep and tanning processes. One thing I have noticed is that the skin itself of most originals tends to be a little thicker than on most repro Irvins. I have yet to see a repro fleece which exactly replicates a wartime one.

 

[John Lever]

Don't forget the wartime jackets are 70 years old !!