Why so much brown?

[Flightengineer]

Sorry for hijacking the thread.... and it's originally brown because of the dress standards of the time.....most European countries (which the Americans followed, especially the French) wore brown or natural tanned leather as their webbing, belt,boots and leggings up until the 50's....though Germany and Russia were the exception

You're not quite right. In Russia, only boots were black. Pilot jackets, military belts, as well as field leather officer bags and tablets, were always brown.

 

[Kermit3D]

Thinking about it, there is no black aviator jacket during the second world war (american, english, russian, australian, french, german, japanese,...). There are only shades of brown

 

[CombatWombat]

You're not quite right. In Russia, only boots were black. Pilot jackets, military belts, as well as field leather officer bags and tablets, were always brown.

Ahh I stand corrected.... I've only seen the Vinyl bonded belts and map carriers in brown....the Navy did have fantastic black leather belts (I wear one with my work pants because its thick and strong enough to keep my phone case on)

 

[CombatWombat]

It seems 'natural' to push it further down the brown spectrum. Going another colour takes extra effort (cost).

Don't feel too bad. RSMs are scarier than anyone here...

It seems 'natural' to push it further down the brown spectrum. Going another colour takes extra effort (cost).

Don't feel too bad. RSMs are scarier than anyone here...

Lol well we did do the "poo boots" in the 90's and look how that turned out.....laughed my arse off when the Pom's went down the olive green boots route about 10 years back... can't polish them to a shine,can't cover scratches and you can't colour match polish to them lmfao

 

[busdrivermike]

So in looking at the older and even more recent leather flight jackets, it seems like brown is the predominant color. We've got the reddish brown (russet), medium brown, and dark brown called seal for some reason. Is there a particular reason that these jackets were made in brown, as opposed to any other colors? (Realizing that orange wouldn't be practical for a pilot down behind enemy lines.)

Asking because I got the idea that a black A2 would probably look pretty good, and I noticed there aren't really too many of them about.

A few years ago I saw a black deerskin A2 at San Diego leather , oh my goodness it was beautiful
The deerskin was thick and soft the black was deep with no real shine absolutely beautiful
I regret not buying one sometimes

 

[Chandler]

Thinking about it, there is no black aviator jacket during the second world war (american, english, russian, australian, french, german, japanese,...). There are only shades of brown

The Hartman style is dark brown? Didn't realize that.

 

[Kermit3D]

The Hartman style is dark brown? Didn't realize that.

The hartmann style (cyclist jackets) were brown, sometimes very dark brown, but never black.
No luftwaffe jackets were black.

 

[Kermit3D]

For many people, the jackets of the German pilots are black and I think it is partly due to the movie "Battle of Britain" where we see in particular a German pilot with a black jacket. This is historically not correct... although Adolf Galland himself was a technical advisor on the film.

Original German pilot's jacket :

 

[B-Man2]

Brown was the color that most of the Luftwaffe leather gear was colored. From their belts and holsters to their coats . Flight boots were an exception as they could be brown or black.

Luftwaffe Flight Uniform to a Major

 

[Chandler]

The hartmann style (cyclist jackets) were brown, sometimes very dark brown, but never black.
No luftwaffe jackets were black.

My own impression only comes from Eastman's Hartman, but now that I think about it, I remember it being offered in both colors (whether that's still the case, I don't know).

 

[Chandler]

Brown was the color that most of the Luftwaffe leather gear was colored. From their belts and holsters to their coats . Flight boots were an exception as they could be brown or black.

Luftwaffe Flight Uniform to a Major

The German army had brown leather belts and holsters in use, too (and not just the Afrika Korp).

 

[Southoftheborder]

For many people, the jackets of the German pilots are black and I think it is partly due to the movie "Battle of Britain" where we see in particular a German pilot with a black jacket. This is historically not correct... although Adolf Galland himself was a technical advisor on the film.

Original German pilot's jacket :

View attachment 78623

View attachment 78624

Yes, a nice symmetry there I always think.

As I posted further up the thread I believe MC jackets became mostly black in the fifties and onwards from the influence of black jackets that US MC gangs wore just after the war; and those ex servicemen gang members would probably have never seen a German pilot's jacket but only pictures where they look black. So they and almost everyone else from then on assumed they were black, and mostly still do. Consequently when the film was made they used actual black MC jackets - Lewis Leather Corsairs - to stand in for the brown French cyclists jackets the pilots actually wore because that's the colour that everyone thought they were. And so the snake eats its tail...

And this was only twenty years after the war too when many people in all walks of life would have had experience of fighting in it.

 

[PeterShiao]

this is my BLACK goatskin a2 jacket !!!

 

[CombatWombat]

I've got a black goatskin A2/G1 FrankenJacket on the way myself
A fantastic looking hybrid made for the US Immigration Service according to the label
Exactly the same style as my "Border Patrol" helicopter jacket but in black instead of the weird brown