ELC star sportswear A2

[navvet]

Congrats, Omarco. Looks like you found the perfect fit. May you have many years of comfortable wear from your A2,

 

[omarco]

hey thanks for the nice comments, i'v been wearing it solid since it arrived and really enjoying it. I'll do some more pictures soon that do it justice.

 

[Peter Graham]

That's one sharp looking A-2. Looking forward to the better pics.

 

[dmar836]

Looks great! You, my friend, are one long-torso dude.
Wear it well!
Dave

 

[omarco]

Looks great! You, my friend, are one long-torso dude.
Wear it well!
Dave

haha thanks! At 6ft 1 i new i was gonna need a long! funny thing though after wearing it for a while i think i could afford to loose an inch in the body, definitely not the sleeves though.

 

[deeb7]

haha thanks! At 6ft 1 i new i was gonna need a long! funny thing though after wearing it for a while i think i could afford to loose an inch in the body, definitely not the sleeves though.

I wish Eastman would figure out that you can shorten sleeves, but you can't lengthen them. I'm shorter than you, so as tempting as the 40L on the reissue page is, the body would be just too long ... yet I need that sleeve length.

 

[omarco]

haha thanks! At 6ft 1 i new i was gonna need a long! funny thing though after wearing it for a while i think i could afford to loose an inch in the body, definitely not the sleeves though.

I wish Eastman would figure out that you can shorten sleeves, but you can't lengthen them. I'm shorter than you, so as tempting as the 40L on the reissue page is, the body would be just too long ... yet I need that sleeve length.

Hey deeb, here are the measurements for the 40L:

ARMPIT TO ARMPIT: 54.5cm
SHOULDER SEAM TO SEAM: 43.2cm
SLEEVE LENGTH FROM SHOULDER SEAM TO CUFF:67.3cm
BACK LENGTH FROM NAPE OF NECK SEAM TO BOTTOM OF WAISTBAND:67.3cm

I got them from ELC when i was trying to figure out my size. The shoulders and chest on the 40 were very snug on me though.

 

[deeb7]

Hey deeb, here are the measurements for the 40L ... I got them from ELC when i was trying to figure out my size. The shoulders and chest on the 40 were very snug on me though.

Well hah, thankyou, that's interesting, they really have tightened up on the sizing. That would be too long in the body, and the sleeves, and a tighter fit in the chest, and shoulders than my size 40 ELC A-1.

I must have graduated to a size 42.

 

[Anonymous]

Again- I don't want to be mean about this. The jacket looks very good on you - worn in the current style. You look good wearing it! I do want to point out however that as a copy of a WW2 Star it is not so good. Why the high pockets? And why the generic collar? Stars were noted for a deep collar- the Eastman seems to be more square than originals. I know I'm being a bit of a gadfly ( translate: a***h*le ) but I feel that in a jacket forum about the characteristics of vintage jackets these things need to be pointed out!

Compare:

to an original:

As you can see the pockets on the Eastman are waaay to high. Why?

And of course- compare to the Goodwear:

For further confirmation check out Eastman's own comparison on their website- their jacket is a pale imitation. To me the biggest mystery is still those high pockets. They're not a fluke (all the Eastmans have 'em) but I can't find any originals that look like this...

 

[Roughwear]

IMO ELC have improved their Star A2 recently, but the current jacket is still not a 100% accurate repro. As Jeff says the collar shape is wrong and yes the pockets are both too high and the pocket flaps a proportionally too large. Those of us here who have owned original Star A2s really appreciate the accuracy of the GW Star. Here's a link to my mint 1942 original Star.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5895

 

[omarco]

Again- I don't want to be mean about this. The jacket looks very good on you - worn in the current style. You look good wearing it! I do want to point out however that as a copy of a WW2 Star it is not so good. Why the high pockets? And why the generic collar? Stars were noted for a deep collar- the Eastman seems to be more square than originals. I know I'm being a bit of a gadfly ( translate: a***h*le ) but I feel that in a jacket forum about the characteristics of vintage jackets these things need to be pointed out!

Compare:

to an original:

As you can see the pockets on the Eastman are waaay to high. Why?

And of course- compare to the Goodwear:

For further confirmation check out Eastman's own comparison on their website- their jacket is a pale imitation. To me the biggest mystery is still those high pockets. They're not a fluke (all the Eastmans have 'em) but I can't find any originals that look like this...

Hey no worries, thanks for the comments. I can see the differences you point out out but i wonder if thats down to not snapping the collar for the pics and the long size that i ordered? The collar certainly looks the same as the GW picture when buttoned down. Quite tight and certainly pointed. I will do more pics to clarify.

It doesn't bother me in the least but it does seem strange that it would be such an easy fix for ELC to remedy, just lower the pockets! I wonder if its an aesthetic decision on their part? they must be aware of it after all.

 

[Roughwear]

The two comparative pics on the ELC site shows that on the original the outer edge of the collar curves outwards before tapering a little to form the collar point. This feature is even more apparent on my original.

BTW. The collar shape on the GW is not typical of the Star collar shape.

http://www.eastmanleather.com/product_i ... cts_id=163

 

[omarco]

here are a couple of better (hopefully!) pics showing the collar snapped up.

 

[Anonymous]

Omarco-Looks better in the snapped pics for sure. As far as the GW- I do agree that in the photo I posted the end of the collar doesn't seem to curve in as much as originals but knowing John I'm pretty sure it's either a photographic fluke or a characteristic of the original he copied.

 

[Roughwear]

Omarco-Looks better in the snapped pics for sure. As far as the GW- I do agree that in the photo I posted the end of the collar doesn't seem to curve in as much as originals but knowing John I'm pretty sure it's either a photographic fluke or a characteristic of the original he copied.

It is neither, Jeff. John has now got an original Star which he has taken apart so he can perfect the collar shape and other minor details. Of course there was some variation in original Star collar shapes.

 

[dmar836]

Omarco's order was for a long. This could account for the additional material below the pockets..... although ELC is somewhat known for high pockets. Could this "long" option maybe be why?

 

[Roughwear]

I'm afraid high pockets tends to be a feature of ELC original maker A2s. Check out their website. The gap between the pocket bottom and the waistband is even wider on their long A2s.