My W&G G-1 getting a thorough drenching during monsoon rain on a recent trip thru Asia (my wife took the pic from a warm, dry coffee shop across the road! :))
https://www.uswings.com/product/surface-warfare-officers-jackets/
Apparently US Wings is the official supplier for these Navy Surface Warfare Officer leather jackets.
They will be made of black cowhide.
Just picked up a 1974 A-2 deck jacket off the ‘Bay in excellent condition (at a very good price!) and it’s a size XL (pit to pit of 27” so it’s closer to a XXL). Made by the Vanderbilt Shirt Company. It seems there was some general fluctuations in sizing among the various manufacturers of these...
Not to make this a LW versus Eastman debate (we all have our preferences for our own reasons), I think folks value and prefer certain characteristics of a leather jacket (or of a leather jacket company/business) in ways which appeal to us.
Some prioritize accuracy of materials over all else...
In the 1980 movie “Raise the Titanic” (pretty good flick!) you’ll see a mix of Navy deck jackets; the hero “Dirk Pitt” wears a WWII blue hook-front deck jacket while there are also
blue and green 1970-1980 era deck jackets galore.
Original Willis & Geiger WWII M-422 jackets are of course very collectible and very well made. They did after all design the M-422 jacket for the Navy and received several wartime contracts. The company went thru ups and downs over the years before going out of business in the 1990’s. If you...
Seeing that real nice russet goatskin jacket that @regius posted, I figured I’d post a close-up shot of the russet goat of my Willis & Geiger G-1 (on a recent business trip flying over Singapore Harbor).
I had an Eastman m-422a (about 8 years ago) as well as a LW G-1. Sold the Eastman but still have the LW.
The Eastman was nice but on my particular jacket the goatskin was very stiff and took forever to break in and get comfortable in it. Also the mouton fur on the collar was very curly and tight...
AE-21 was USS SURIBACHI, an ammo ship in service from 1956-1994.
I really like that you can sometimes track the history of a deck jacket thru the date of manufacture on the label and the stenciling on the back of the jacket.
Buzz Rickson A-2 deck jacket. Great quality and fit!
Ordered this off Amazon from
Rodeo-Japan. Jacket was delivered in 4 days from Japan, no extra import or customs charges.
I added the “U.S. Navy” tape over the chest pocket.
I’m thinking the black color in some small way relates to being a “black shoe” (surface warfare officer) as opposed to the “brown shoe” aviation community.
And a very common outerwear garment worn with khakis has been the black cotton “Eisenhower” jacket. So perhaps the Uniform Board figured...
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