Interesting Irvin which is not what it seems

[Roughwear]

This two panel Irvin is being sold as an original War time jacket. There are features which suggest it is a more recent repro with Wartime zips. The finish to the skin is wrong. It is sueded, which you see on some well worn jackets, yet the seam tapes do not display much wear and the cuffs are in great order! The hanging strap is in the wrong place and the buckle is not correct. The leather pullers are crudely sewn and the sleeve zips are post 1943 and are were not fitted on early War two panel jackets. Any further thought on this jacket?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WWII-WW2-RAAF-R ... 2c6ffad2ab

 

[MikeyB-17]

It sure don't look like any Irvin I've ever seen. The white sheepskin makes it look more like an AAF jacket. Actually looks quite nice IMHO, but I also doubt it's an issue wartime jacket (for what little I know).

 

[coanda]

I have to say I agree, The back of the collar looks wrong, also the main Zip appears to start too far away from the hem?? Not sure about the sleeves?
Quite possibly wrong but I wouldn't put my money on it!
Regards to all
Rick

 

[John Lever]

Could it be a jacket made from USAAF trousers ?

 

[Roughwear]

I have seen another Irvin made in the last 20 years from the same sheepskin, with NOS Dot zips. I do not think USAAF trousers were used in this Ebay jacket or the other one as the finish does not have the polyacrilate finish.

 

[havocpaul]

Not like any Irvin I've seen. Could it be, if not a post-war "mock-up", an Australian made copy, with home sourced hides and sheepskin it wouldn't be too far fetched for them to make such a jacket back then, after all, they made their own copies of A-2's as often seen. Certainly a bit of a mystery so far....

 

[Andrew]

It doesn actually look ligit at least in terms of age. The only manufacturer of Irvin type clothing i've ever heard of on the side of the planet was "Wanganui" of NZ. I can't find it now but i've seen shots of a pair of fleece trousers with their label on. Looks as though this jacket had a fairly large label once.

 

[Peter Graham]

Whatever it is, it's not going to shift at that price.