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Jacket fit.
- Thread starter Steve27752
- Start date
Brettafett
Well-Known Member
They likely lived in them. And imagine, wearing in the cockpit in the heat on the ground and low level, then in the ice cold of 30 000ft and then the sweat of battle.... etc
Soon fit like a glove.
Soon fit like a glove.
Smithy
Well-Known Member
No it's just not that Greg. There's a definite difference in terms of drape, most likely leather difference due to tanning and as others have pointed out also in some cases leather thickness.
I'm not saying that the high end repros don't look good, they do, but it would be erroneous to think that they are precise facsimiles of the jackets they are meant to reproduce. They're not and can't be if the leather is not exactly prepared the same as a wartime jacket. That's probably difficult to swallow for some who think that their repros are exactly the same as what a recruit was issued in the 40s.
Here's Ken's jacket after over a decade of hard wear, and it's still not draping the same as one of the jackets in the period photos above.
I'm not trying to slaughter anyone's sacred cows here but the idea that a veg tanned repro is a 100% exact replica of a wartime jacket doesn't ring true. Even the really high end repros are very close approximations of the jackets they seek to copy but without exactly the same leather and tanned in the same method they can't ever be 100% the same.
It's like copying Botticelli's Primavera and using modern acrylic paint and not egg tempera. You can make it look very similar to the original but the paint won't have all the nuances of the original.
Geeboo
Well-Known Member
It is always the drape - mostly unmentioned / unnoticed . Carl & Smithy are almost the 1st one mentioned the importance of drape => IMO, very, very, very important - to look good. Very difficult to replicate.
It does not limited only to leather but to other fabrics as well - cotton & nylon. That is why the originals always have an attraction to me - the patina & the drape.
I find this quite awkward for someone wearing a wrinkle free RMC or Eastman or GW alike - almost as if he were wearing a business suit
It involves leather aging + cutting as well - can't drape if it is too tight, isn't it ?
It does not limited only to leather but to other fabrics as well - cotton & nylon. That is why the originals always have an attraction to me - the patina & the drape.
I find this quite awkward for someone wearing a wrinkle free RMC or Eastman or GW alike - almost as if he were wearing a business suit
It involves leather aging + cutting as well - can't drape if it is too tight, isn't it ?
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Pilot
Well-Known Member
Love the last few words. “ cant drape if its too tight” well said!
raulm1961
Member
Couple of moths ago I bought a Saddlery/Cooper (made in 1989) A2 jacket. Goat skin very supple and very comfortable. And just like the a2 jackets on those pics. it drapes. What's even better is the jacket is the real thing. A GI. USAF a2 and not a ridiculously expensive a2 repro. And the only a2 jacket I need.
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silvio76
Well-Known Member
Made in 1989? Cooper sportswear/Saddlery had contracts 1988, 1992 (with Branded garments Orchard), 1995 and 1996.
raulm1961
Member
Sorry. You're right Was not wearing my reading glasses when I tried to look up the year. It is 1988.
silvio76
Well-Known Member
No problem, just a mistake. 1988 was their first contract for USAF for so called "reissue jacket"..
Officer Dibley
Well-Known Member
There's a lot of turning up of noses snobism about the re-issued A-2. Unfairly directed imho.
Buy a size down from your suit size and you have a good leather jacket.
I work on a US fighter base and i see a lot of aircrew wearing baggy A-2's because it's just an item of uniform and they who walk the walk & talk the talk really don't give a flying F about "The Look" or sleeve tunelling. They don't have to because they are real combat pilots. Same i believe went for the WW2 guys.
Vainity was for REMFS
Buy a size down from your suit size and you have a good leather jacket.
I work on a US fighter base and i see a lot of aircrew wearing baggy A-2's because it's just an item of uniform and they who walk the walk & talk the talk really don't give a flying F about "The Look" or sleeve tunelling. They don't have to because they are real combat pilots. Same i believe went for the WW2 guys.
Vainity was for REMFS
silvio76
Well-Known Member
Cooper sportswear? Which contract?
Smithy
Well-Known Member
It's amazing how many get all snobby and snotty and turn their noses up about certain repro jackets and even where they're made FFS. Yes some repros are closer to the jackets they want to copy but even the very best repros are never 100% facsimiles. Because of this the whole repro jacket snobbery thing is flawed from the start and I've never understood what effectively amounts to "my copy is better than your copy" when the thing is a copy to start with - what a bunch of arse.
Wear what you like, what you can afford, no matter who made it or where it was made. And if anybody has a problem with it, tell them to go and get...
Pilot
Well-Known Member
I am on a business trip until coming Sunday night.
I dont have this jacket with me right now.
As soon as I can grab it I will tell.
Its not a Saddlery version but with the orange tag.
Did not get it new but slightly used.
Will revert.
silvio76
Well-Known Member
no need for that. You have "civil" version, and only difference is that your jacket is not treated with fire retardant, and it is not mde under Saddlery label.
Pilot
Well-Known Member
OK.
Thx for the Info. Now I know why the price was very low...
Will sell it and get a real good issued one ASAP.
Again, Thx.
silvio76
Well-Known Member
The easiest way for recognition of issued jacket is that all of them is made under Saddlery brand. jackets made under 1988. and 1992. contract must have DLA number. Jackets made under 1995. and 1996 contracts must have SPO number. If you need more information, just ask. You can find it on ebay and they are not expensive. Good luck!
Pilot
Well-Known Member
Thx, will check it out.
Are they all goat or also horsehide ( issued ones) ?
Thx. appreciate.
