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is this a real irvin b foster g1 enquirys on repairing

Jason

Jason

Active Member
Hi Mindful,
It looks like you do indeed have an Irvin B Foster 7823B G-1, and I think I can just make out the 63 in the contract number in the blurred photo of the tag there, so that dates it to the last year that IBF made their G-1s, 1963.

The auction says that the cuffs & waistband are original to the jacket. Sorry to say, that is most definitely wrong. The waistband of all 7823B G-1s was the bi-weave type, single ply. Yours looks like the single weave, two ply, and two distinct stitch lines are visible on one of the closeups of the pocket in the auction meaning that the waistband has at least once been replaced. The cuffs also look wrong, so I strongly suspect they've been replaced too.

However its not all bad news. You paid quite a reasonable price for it, and the goatskin leather is in decent condition. Its going to be a good restoration project for you.

First you'll want to find matching (colour, weight, correct weave if you can) waistband & cuffs. Finding a bi-weave single ply waistband is not going to be easy - and when you're looking, make sure the waistband is both long enough to go around the circumference of the waist, and tall enough to suit the zipper 'box' plus a little bit of margin to be held by the stitch line without stretching. If you can't find a bi-weave waistband, then single weave, two ply waistband should be easier to find - it won't be correct for the contract, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

Then you'll want to find someone who'll do a reasonable job of installing them. Normally you'd want someone to reuse the very same stitch holes so that the replacement is almost invisible. But since someone has already replaced the knits and not reused the same stitch holes, it already looks a bit 'repaired' in that way, ie two stitch lines visible / old holes still visible. So you probably don't need to find someone who'll be that fastidious in re-using old stitch holes for your replacements, but their workmanship should still be good, otherwise having three stitch lines visible will definitely detract from its appearance. That person will need to be experienced in working with leather clothing. A shoe / saddle repairer might do in a pinch but since they don't work with clothing ordinarilly, I wouldn't recommend them. If you're in the UK, then the ladies at Aero Leather in Scotland will probably be able to help you out with both new knits and most definitely installing them - they do very fine work with replacements just like this.

Lastly, if you'd like to know more of the general history of the G-1, take a look at Roger's fantastic web pages on the G-1, along with some very detailed photos of each iteration of the G-1:
http://moorecustom.com/jackets/Moore_Jackets_navy.htm
(hope you don't mind me promoting your web page Roger!)
 
Dr H

Dr H

Well-Known Member
ButteMT61 said:
Dr H said:
But be careful - my A-1 (44) was ruined as a result of poor repair work.
Click to expand...

To be clear - was it Aero that did that?
Click to expand...

Yes Scott, sadly it was - shortened the sleeves to different lengths (and even with my T rex-like limbs the jacket was no longer useable). Previous repair work on my vintage Perry had been fine prompting me to use them.

The stitching was also not up to snuff - I sent in an ELC A-1 with 12 stitches/inch very near the cuff edge and what came back was a long/short sleeved A-1 with A-2 style stitching (8 stitches/inch) and several millimetres from the cuff. The latter doesn't sound much...unless you have A-1 OCD... :roll:

Needless to say I wasn't a happy camper...

A lengthy discussion with Will led to him buying the jacket.
 
ButteMT61

ButteMT61

Well-Known Member
Dr H said:
ButteMT61 said:
Dr H said:
But be careful - my A-1 (44) was ruined as a result of poor repair work.
Click to expand...

To be clear - was it Aero that did that?
Click to expand...

Yes Scott, sadly it was - shortened the sleeves to different lengths (and even with my T rex-like limbs the jacket was no longer useable). Previous repair work on my vintage Perry had been fine prompting me to use them.

The stitching was also not up to snuff - I sent in an ELC A-1 with 12 stitches/inch very near the cuff edge and what came back was a long/short sleeved A-1 with A-2 style stitching (8 stitches/inch) and several millimetres from the cuff. The latter doesn't sound much...unless you have A-1 OCD... :roll:

Needless to say I wasn't a happy camper...

A lengthy discussion with Will led to him buying the jacket.
Click to expand...

Wow, sorry to hear that. At least Will made good - minus your jacket of course. What does one do though? You have to trust someone at some point, and when you go to a reputable dealer, you expect you'll be OK.
 
mindful

mindful

Active Member
thanks for that Jason i couldn't ask for more info i will take your advise regarding the knits, hopeful wont cost me to much as i got the jacket for a good price as i thought. what do you think about replacing the collar as i would like to put a fresh one it. ;)
 
mindful

mindful

Active Member
Jason said:
Hi Mindful,
It looks like you do indeed have an Irvin B Foster 7823B G-1, and I think I can just make out the 63 in the contract number in the blurred photo of the tag there, so that dates it to the last year that IBF made their G-1s, 1963.

The auction says that the cuffs & waistband are original to the jacket. Sorry to say, that is most definitely wrong. The waistband of all 7823B G-1s was the bi-weave type, single ply. Yours looks like the single weave, two ply, and two distinct stitch lines are visible on one of the closeups of the pocket in the auction meaning that the waistband has at least once been replaced. The cuffs also look wrong, so I strongly suspect they've been replaced too.

However its not all bad news. You paid quite a reasonable price for it, and the goatskin leather is in decent condition. Its going to be a good restoration project for you.

First you'll want to find matching (colour, weight, correct weave if you can) waistband & cuffs. Finding a bi-weave single ply waistband is not going to be easy - and when you're looking, make sure the waistband is both long enough to go around the circumference of the waist, and tall enough to suit the zipper 'box' plus a little bit of margin to be held by the stitch line without stretching. If you can't find a bi-weave waistband, then single weave, two ply waistband should be easier to find - it won't be correct for the contract, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

Then you'll want to find someone who'll do a reasonable job of installing them. Normally you'd want someone to reuse the very same stitch holes so that the replacement is almost invisible. But since someone has already replaced the knits and not reused the same stitch holes, it already looks a bit 'repaired' in that way, ie two stitch lines visible / old holes still visible. So you probably don't need to find someone who'll be that fastidious in re-using old stitch holes for your replacements, but their workmanship should still be good, otherwise having three stitch lines visible will definitely detract from its appearance. That person will need to be experienced in working with leather clothing. A shoe / saddle repairer might do in a pinch but since they don't work with clothing ordinarilly, I wouldn't recommend them. If you're in the UK, then the ladies at Aero Leather in Scotland will probably be able to help you out with both new knits and most definitely installing them - they do very fine work with replacements just like this.

Lastly, if you'd like to know more of the general history of the G-1, take a look at Roger's fantastic web pages on the G-1, along with some very detailed photos of each iteration of the G-1:
http://moorecustom.com/jackets/Moore_Jackets_navy.htm
(hope you don't mind me promoting your web page Roger!)
Click to expand...

ive found these knits what do you think will they be right for this g1 they dont state what size they or does that matter http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brown-Kni...391?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab2529c97 and these come in a cherry red which might look good http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VTG-knitt...516?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6e9b7344
 
MikeyB-17

MikeyB-17

Well-Known Member
Those are not navy knits-the correct ones for a 7823B G-1 have a bi-weave on the waistband ie. a band at the top woven in one direction, and another at the bottom going at right angles to it-I don't have a pic handy right now nor the time to find one (off to work soon), but hopefully someone else might help out. They also don't fold over (double ply) like that. I've had several Irvin B. Fosters, excellent jackets, in fact my current wearer is an Irvin B. C series. I had my cuffs done by Aero, who didn't do a bad job, although a small hole has appeared since which I'm not sure isn't due to their stitching, and they took months to do it. The collar doesn't look too bad to me-on a fairly beat-up jacket a little bit of minor fur loss isn't a big deal, but if it bothers you it can be done.
 
Peter Graham

Peter Graham

Well-Known Member
Dr H, sorry to hear of your problems with Aero. I've had work done by them on quite a few occasions with the quality of work varying from average to fantastic but I'll never use them again as I've got fed up waiting for months for the jackets to come back. My advice is to source the parts you need and find a good local tailor. If you find the right one the work should be every bit as good as Aero, a lot cheaper and you might get your jacket back before you forget what it looks like !
 
mindful

mindful

Active Member
Peter Graham said:
Dr H, sorry to hear of your problems with Aero. I've had work done by them on quite a few occasions with the quality of work varying from average to fantastic but I'll never use them again as I've got fed up waiting for months for the jackets to come back. My advice is to source the parts you need and find a good local tailor. If you find the right one the work should be every bit as good as Aero, a lot cheaper and you might get your jacket back before you forget what it looks like !
Click to expand...

how much do you think it would cost me to replace the knits with aero
 
Peter Graham

Peter Graham

Well-Known Member
mindful said:
how much do you think it would cost me to replace the knits with aero
Click to expand...
I can't actually remember. It's been a few years. Around £50 springs to mind, which includes the price of the parts. Email or ring them for an up to date quote.
 
mindful

mindful

Active Member
around £50 that's not bad including parts if so i will stick with using aero to replace the knits only problem i hate waiting for things ;)
 
R

Roughwear

Well-Known Member
These should be fine. I would find a local tailor to do the work or do it your self. It is really quite straight forward to replace the knits and the waistband.
 
mindful

mindful

Active Member
Thanks Andrew ive found a good tailor with good reviews on leather jackets based in Cornwall called byson don't know weather you've heard of them .
 
MikeyB-17

MikeyB-17

Well-Known Member
In Cornwall? If that's true I'll be all over them. I live in Cornwall and I've not heard of them-only Byson Leather I can find are in Hertfordshire, although they look pretty good. Interestingly they say they have wartime sheepskin for Irvin repairs. Are these the chaps you mean?

http://www.bysonleather.co.uk/
 
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