Stars

[ZuZu]

From my morgue file- guys in WW2 wearing Stars showing big,sometimes droopy shoulders, the thin epaulets, the pockets low towards the waistband and that distinctive large curved collar.

 

[ZuZu]

Yes- there's even a "seal" Star- again though- not a "trim" fit...

 

[CBI]

cool "Star" characteristics.............how much of these are simply that folks might be wearing larger jackets ........... big creator of droopy shoulders (upsizing) and can make the collars look very large. Not "Questioning"- just asking

 

[ZuZu]

The Star collars are almost universally long and curved in a very distinct way.
It's not very common when looking through WW2 photos to find droopy shoulders- big Aeros do it too sometimes but Stars are consistent;y the ones I find that do this in my obsessive comaprisons.
The larger jacket thing is a factor but if you look at some of these photos you can see that the jacket isn't too big- the shoulders are wide and droop. eg.:

As far as the collars 90% or more are long and curved- examples:

 

[ZuZu]

My favorite Star is the one worn by Robert Lansing in the TV 12 O'clock High show, It definitely fits him- in fact the sleeves are a bit short- but you can see those big shoulders:

 

[ZuZu]

The Good Wear is closest IMO- collar and fit.
Here's my son wearing a 48 GW- it reallyt does fit like the Robert lansing jacket:

Here's some collar comparisons:

 

[Blackboxr1200S]

Throwing some of these lovely wartime pictures in Google lens, brought me this old post

The All-Star Game: Looking at Originals and Reproductions of the Star 28557

Introduction and preliminary photos Jan Hi all, it’s been about a year since I did a jacket comparison review with Burt, and we felt like it was time for another one. In November of 2020, my new BK Star arrived in the mail, and we decided to do another comparison thread. At about the same...

www.vintageleatherjackets.org

 

[CBI]

cool info

 

[leper-colony]

Star on far left back row. Richard Murphy. He was one of the first crews to fly on Nine O Nine of the 91BG. 'Murph' was actually from Lynn Mass and spent his life there. He even did his own artwork on the back. He wanted me to put it on once, but as soon as one arm was in, I knew it was not going on. He egged me on,giggling, but it was not to happen. Murph was the best.

 

[Silver Surfer]

From my experience with original stars, and the one I own for some 25+ years, I would say that stars had slightly longer bodies that say, Aeros, dubows, rws, etc. that would explain the front of the body folding over (pockets touching or nearly touching the waistband). Also, like dubows, stars generally had narrow shoulder to shoulder measurements. My observations are based on only handling 5 or 6 over the years. I might add that the waistbands on stars that I have handled all been 3” top to bottom. I might also add that the one I own, and wear is tagged a size 40, but is a generous size 40, even though it is only 21+” pit to pit.

 

[ZuZu]

From my experience with original stars, and the one I own for some 25+ years, I would say that stars had slightly longer bodies that say, Aeros, dubows, rws, etc. that would explain the front of the body folding over (pockets touching or nearly touching the waistband). Also, like dubows, stars generally had narrow shoulder to shoulder measurements. My observations are based on only handling 5 or 6 over the years. I might add that the waistbands on stars that I have handled all been 3” top to bottom. I might also add that the one I own, and wear is tagged a size 40, but is a generous size 40, even though it is only 21+” pit to pit.

The body folding over pockets is not what I'm talking about- Star pocket bags were closer to the waistband than say Broncos or United Sheeplineds. I can definitely say that generally Stars did NOT have narrow shoulder to shoulder measurements but the opposite. Maybe armpit to armpit measurements were small (as in yours) but in larger sizes at least Stars had a wide shoulder measurement. I obsessively researched this when I had my 46 Star made and sure enough JC gave me 20 1/2" wide shoulders when he scaled up. Is all of the visual evidence I've provided for nought?

The 44 John scaled up for his pattern had 20.25" shoulders- not small:

a 48:

21 inch shoulders!



Saying the Star is a "trim" jacket isn't quite correct IMO. A "cool" jacket- yes. A "sharp" jacket- true.

 

[ZuZu]

These pictures show a modern person wearing a size 42 brand new original Star. If you look honestly at these photos you see big shoulders. This is typical.