1940s Californian Suede halfbelt

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271232887206
This vintage leather jacket was made by the California Sportswear Company of Los Angeles, California under their “Californian” brand. It has classic half-belt styling with side belt adjusters. The front closes with buttons, which are of the leather knot/football type. This jacket has jacket style lapels instead of the shirt style collar you generally see on short leather jackets of this style. There are dual vertical breast pockets.

Chest (pit to pit): 21″
Shoulder to Shoulder: 17″
Sleeve (Shoulder to Cuff): 24-1/2″
Length (base of collar to hem): 28″

1950s Swedish / German Goatskin utility jacket

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271226620665

This vintage leather jacket was sold by Albackens of Malung, Sweden. The design is typical of what was coming out of German shops of this period. It is made of black goatskin, in a classic utility jacket style. It has a zipp zipper. There are a number of teeth missing on the zippers, but it still zips up well. There are buckle adjusters on the sides, and button tabs on the sleeves. The leather has a wonderful patina.

Chest (pit to pit): 19″ (38″ chest)
Shoulder to shoulder: 16″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 22″
Length: 23″

Zippers come to jackets, 1927-1930

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

The fully separable zipper was invented in 1927 by Gideon Sundback. It’s covered by patents 1813433 and 1813432.
From the invention of the zipper in 1913 until that point, zippers had been limited in their usage by an attached end. It was suitable for coverall suits, luggage and pullovers. But it made it inconvenient for applications in jackets. The new unlockable/ fully separable bottom end of the zipper allowed for its easy usage on jackets. By 1930, zipper fronted jackets were well on their way to becoming common.

1925. Typical 1920s style. Button front, marketed as a windbreaker, specifically for the sporting set. Suede was extremely common in this era.

1929. Before the modern separable bottom to the zipper, this pullover style was the workaround.

1930. Early zipper front style.

Lakeland Laskinlamb Grizzly leather jacket

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271198828888

This jacket is a high end reproduction of the “Grizzly” style jacket, popular in the mid 1930s. It was made by Toyo Enterprises, who make jackets for Buzz Rickson, Sugar Cane and Style Eyes. Accurate down to the last detail, it bears a reproduction of a 1930s “Lakeland” hang tag. It has “laskinlamb” mouton panels on the front and back, with a matching mouton collar. The sleeves and trim are horsehide leather. The idea of these jackets was to put the insulation on the outside so that the wearer could have an unobstructed range of motion. They were promoted heavily in an athletic context, promoted by football players, that sort of thing. This jacket is as near as you can get to walking into a store in 1934 and buying one. It has an early Hookless grommet zipper, and dot snap. The original tags are still on the jacket and include a nice reproduction piece to accompany that zip. The front of the jacket is belted, as are the sleeves. There is a snap chinstrap to cinch it up at the neck. Inside, the body has a plaid lining, while the sleeves are lined in brown twill. There are wool storm cuffs to keep the breeze from blowing up the sleeves.

Tagged size: 42
Chest (pit to pit): 23″ (doubled = 46″)
Shoulder to Shoulder: 19″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25-1/2″
Length (base of collar to hem): 26″
Waist: 20″

photo 561703_371638462913403_1678340749_n.jpg

1930s leather half-belt utility jacket

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281101000703

This vintage leather jacket was made in the 1930s. It is a classic utility jacket style, with handwarmer pockets, a zip breast pocket, and a pleated half-belt back. At the ends of the half-belt are adjuster belts. The jacket is made of what feels like horsehide, though with the labels missing, it is impossible to be positive. The leather has a wonderful patina and grain. In the 1950s, this jacket received a new brass Talon Zipper and a reline. The replacement lining is an alpaca pile, and is also sewn to the top of the collar. The sleeves are nylon, with home-knitted cuffs. Unfortunately, there is a funky tooth near the bottom of the zipper, so while you can engage it, you can’t get it zipped up very far. That should be replaced, probably with one more era-appropriate.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24″
Length (bottom of collar to hem): 24″

Silver D-Pocket Motorcycle Jacket

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281095874481

This is a truly rare and unusual early D-Pocket motorcycle jacket. It is a Harley Davidson Cycle Champ style. The label is missing, but going by the Canadian made “Lightning” zips, it would appear this is an extremely early version of the pattern produced by the British Mfg. Co. It has early bell-shaped lightning zips, for the main and the sleeve zippers, with a Lightning chain zip on the D-pocket. The sleeves zip open, whereas on later Canadian-made versions of this jacket, they had gussets. There is a little snap belt at the end of the sleeve to further secure the cuff when zipped up, though one is missing. Studs on the pocket corners and on the epaulettes (though 3 of the 4 from the lapels are missing). These studs are the early rounded variety, where as later versions had ones which were more squared off. The epaulettes are of the early stitched down variety, whereas later examples had ones with snaps.
The most unusual feature is definitely the color. You don’t see a lot of silver leather jackets, and yes, that is the original color, it is not some kind of later re-spray. This was definitely a signature piece for some biker, and he wore it long and hard.

Heavy smoke smell which I have been unable to remove. Overall wear to leather. Wear through leather at collar. Damage and stitch separation to left cuff. Missing snap belt closure on right cuff. Missing one belt loop. Heavy damage to front belt leather. Separation to stitching on cigarette pocket. Wear to lining, worn through near cuffs.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″
Shoulder to Shoulder: 19″
Shoulder to cuff: 24″
Length (bottom of collar to hem): 22-1/2″
Waist: 18″

NYPD Leather Jacket

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271192753634

This vintage leather jacket was originally used by the New York Police Department. It is a heavy leather, in a classic utility jacket. The previous owner de-policed the look by removing the false breast pocket flaps and buttons, as well as the patches. It has two-directional talon zippers. The epaulettes have brass buttons with the seal of New York. The design of the NY seal was changed in 1977 to bear the date 1625. This is the earlier variant, with the date 1664. The jacket has a removable pile lining, attached with a Talon zipper. There are two interior pockets, and a pen pocket. There are stitch marks where there was once a label. The jacket has been heavily worn.
Chest (pit to pit): 22″
Shoulder to Shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24″
Length: 24″

From the last owner:

I found this jacket in a dumpster on broadway in soho (just north of prince street) in the early 80’s. it still had the police equestrian patches and “brass” on it. I thought it was a godsend, fit me perfectly. I wore this jacket for years. I wore it on a trip through japan and china in 1986. this jacket is VERY near and dear to me, hence why I’m trying to sell it despite it’s poor condition, I can’t BEAR to throw it away, it breaks my heart to part with it, I swear I’m teary eyed typing this. I tried to give it away to 4 of my successive girlfriends throughout the years but I either got it returned to me or they told me to “hold on it for them”. I’m hoping someone with a strong desire to own a nice (“cool”) leather jacket who wants to buy one cheap will come along who also has substantial sewing skills and wants to invest the time in making the sewing repairs necessary. oh, one tidbit, one side of the zipper was starting to come undone while I was in china and I met a street tailor in beijing who kindly sewed it back in place for me. I was absolutely OVERJOYED. me, I think this is a lovely jacket, it has a magnificent patina of age and wear, I think it’s PERFECTLY aged and patinaed. if it would fit me I’d continue to wear it!!

1950s Civilian bomber jacket

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271192744622

This vintage leather jacket was made in the 1950s, and is a civilian bomber jacket style. Some fairly recently, the zipper was replaced with a USA made YKK Vislon (nylon) zipper. It’s not original, but it works well. The jacket has a nice undercurve to the collar. It has stitched down epaulettes, handwarmer pockets and a one piece back. There are vented underarm gussets.

Chest (pit to pit): 23″
Shoulder to Shoulder: 20″
Sleeve (shoulder to end of knit): 24:
Length: 24″

Leather Cafe Racer / Racing Shirt

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

I bought this one to sell, but I think I’m going to end up keeping it. It’s an old cafe racer. The main zip has been replaced, but the sleeve zippers are brass servals, and the pockets are talons. The cuffs are an open-zip style, that is, they do not have the leather gusset inside like some leather jackets do. There are no handwarmer pockets and no interior pockets. About as simple as a jacket gets.

British Cycle Leathers motorcycle Jacket

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271189228147

This vintage motorcycle jacket was made in Montreal, Canada by the British Mfg. Company under their “British Cycle Leathers” label. These are a copy of the Harley Davidson Cycle Champ design of the 1940s. It features a large D-pocket with cigarette pocket, a diagonal zipped front with snaps on the lapels, but not the collar, and studs on the pockets and epaulettes. The cuffs are zipped. All zippers are Canadian made Lightning brand, with oval pullers. Please note that all Canadian made zippers have the slider on the left track, in the European tradition. The liner is a plaid flannel, a real throwback to the 1940s roots of this design. The leather has some wonderful grain. While it has started to develop a nice patina, the usual spots (cuff, collar) are in great shape. There are several places where the stitching has let go, in particular the bottom of the zipper. These should all be easy fixes, though, as the leather and zipper tape are still in solid condition.

Tagged size: 38
Chest (pit to pit): 20″
Shoulder to Shoulder: 17″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24″
Waist: 17-1/2″
Length (collar seam to hem): 21-1/2″

For another in this model, made a little bit later, please see This Jacket

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Category Archives: Leather

1940s Californian Suede halfbelt

1950s Swedish / German Goatskin utility jacket

Zippers come to jackets, 1927-1930

Lakeland Laskinlamb Grizzly leather jacket

1930s leather half-belt utility jacket

Silver D-Pocket Motorcycle Jacket

NYPD Leather Jacket

1950s Civilian bomber jacket

Leather Cafe Racer / Racing Shirt

British Cycle Leathers motorcycle Jacket