http://www.ebay.com/itm/271679975768
This vintage vest was made in New Mexico from Chimayo indian blanket / rug fabric. It was tailored and sold by Pioneer wear. the vest has a denim back with a western style yoke and is fully lined. There are stitch marks from what appears to have been a larger label behind the Pioneer Wear one,. Unlike many of these square bottomed Chimayo vests, this one has buttonholes instead of loops.
Chest (pit to pit): 21-1/2″ (doubled = 43″)
Length: 24-1/4″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271662283492
This vintage vest was made in the mid-late 1940s by Taylors of California out of russet colored capeskin. Despite being made of smooth leather, it bears the “Desert Suedes” label. It is a high-cut zip front vest, with size vent zips on the hips. There are handwarmer pockets as well as semi-concealed chest pockets in the front yoke seam. The vest has a plaid lining and salt-and-pepper pocket linings. The zipper, with its square holed slider and Talon branded stopbox help date this jacket to the years immediately after WWII, somewhere in the 1945-1949 range.
Chest (pit to pit): 19″
Length: 23-3/4″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271654532285
This vintage hunting vest was made by the Gem Shirt Company of Dayton, Ohio in the 1910s. The Gem Shirt Co. was founded c.1888, and diversified into canvas hunting clothes in the early part of the 20th century, innovating the usage of lined waterproof game bags. They were a high end maker at the time, making their products from an excellent grade of cotton canvas duck. They ceased production by the 1920s.
This vest is their budget version, with sewn on buttons instead of changable ring-backed ones, and without the side adjusters or buckle back which other models featured.
Chest (pit to pit): 21″ (doubled = 42″)
Length (front): 22″
Length (rear): 19″
For other vests made by the Gem shirt company, see here and here
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281450518796
This vintage hunting vest was made in the 1930s by the Utica Duxbak Corporation of Utica, New York. It is made of the high quality canvas Duxbak products of this era are famed for. It has 32 shotgun shell loops and a five button front, with the original Duxbak branded buttons. The buckle is an EM Southwick design, patented in 1906.
Chest (pit to pit): 19″
Length (back): 16″
Length (front): 20″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281433550983
This vintage jacket was made in the 1950s in Utica NY by the Utica Duxbak corporation, maker of high-end hunting garments for most of the 20th century. It is made of their Sahib Poplin, a lightweight cotton which they marketed primarily for African safari hunting. The jacket has a leather gun pad on the right shoulder, for right handed shooters, as well as leather reinforcement on the pockets and leather patches on the elbows, added by the original owner. The jacket is a half-belt style with front norfolk-style straps to help support heavy cargo in the front pockets. There is a bellows breast pocket, shaped just perfectly for a pack of cigarettes. There are patches on the back from the NRA- the original owner was a certified pistol instructor, rifle instructor, hunter safety instructor, home firearm safety instructor, and club instructor at the Clayton Rifle and Pistol Club
Chest (pit to pit): 24″ (doubled = 44″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 23″
Length (base of collar to hem): 29″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281433509205
This vintage vest was made in the late 1920s. It was sold by Sears under the Fieldmaster Gun Coats label. This label design is the early version used by Sears during this period. In the 1930s, these were mostly sold under the Double Duty label, and had slightly different detailing. The vest (or sleeveless coat as period ads always refer to these as) has an interior game pocket with a belt adjuster. The half moon pocket gives front access to this pocket. The shoulders are reinforced and the vest has two large wraparound bellows pockets.
Chest (pit to pit): 25″ (doubled = 50″)
Length (collar to hem): 24″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271563636887
This vintage style fair isle pullover sweater vest was made by Ralph Lauren as part of their Polo line. It is made of a camel hair, wool and lambswool blend.
Chest (pit to pit, unstretched): 21″ (doubled = 42″)
Chest (pit to pit, stretched): 27″ (doubled = 54″)
Length: 24-1/2″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271548021785
This vintage sweatervest was made in Canada for Penmans and was sold under the Glen Isle Sportswear label. It has a brown and cream body with brown trim and back.
Tagged size: 44
Chest (pit to pit): 22″ (doubled = 44″)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281349001502
This vintage vest was made in Woolrich, Pennsylvania by the Woolrich Woolen Mills. Woolrich changed their label design frequently, which makes them easy to date if you know what you’re looking for. This variant on the label was used from about 1940-1945. The design of the United Carr snaps are also a giveaway for this vest’s date of manufacture. In the 1930s, Woolrich used snaps with one of two variations on a greek key pattern. During WWII, they switched to a plain topped design, featured on this vest. Starting in the late 1940s, Woolrich switched to snaps bearing the Woolrich name, before switching back to a different variation on the plain topped snaps in the 1960s. The design of the back of the snap further confirms this dating.
The vest is made of Woolrich’s signature mackinaw wool. The vest has a snap front, and bound seams. Although some examples you see are the sleeved variation with the sleeves removed, the construction on those is different. The vest has a belt adjuster back and asymmetric top and bottom patch pockets. Comparisons to Brown’s Beach Jacket vests of the same period are inevitable. This vest has a single large interior pocket.
Woolrich still makes a version of this model, however, the snaps have given way to a zipper, the cut has been lengthened, the armholes lowered, the shape of the front and rear changed, the wool fabric is now a blend, the pockets are a different shape, the construction is different and the taped seams altered. There is really no comparison the the original.
Chest (pit to pit): 20″ (doubled = 40″
Length (back) 20-1/2″
Length (front): 23-1/2″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281345326835
This vintage leather jacket was made by the Joseph Buegeleisen Company of Detroit Michigan, in the mid-late 1950s. The J-82 model was introduced by Buco c. 1955, and going by the style of Talon zippers on this example, it dates from this 1950s time frame. Although this jacket was cut down into a vest by its original biker owner, the detailing of the J-82 model is highly distinctive and makes it immediately recognizable. The jacket is made of heavy steerhide leather, with a D-pocket (also known as a pistol pocket or a map pocket). Whereas many other D-pocket models had a patch cigarette pocket overtop the map pocket, the J-82 had a cleaner design, leaving that pocket uncluttered. There is a zipper breast pocket, somewhat of a holdover from aviator jacket styles of the 1940s, and a zippered slash handwarmer style pocket. The jacket has an attached belt, with a blacked out metal buckle and a metal tipped belt end to make threading it through easier. The belt loops and all pockets are reinforced and embellished with nickel plated rectangular high-dome studwork. The lapels snap down and there are additional snaps that a mouton collar could have originally been attached to. The jacket has a bi-swing back. The main zipper is a no.5 Talon of 1950s design, and all pocket zippers are bell-shaped Talons.
Wear this jacket over a denim jacket or like Lee Marvin in The Wild One over a striped shirt.
Chest (pit to pit): 19″
Length (base of collar to hem): 23″
Waist: 17″
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