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  1. A

    Lengthening the Arms and Tapering a Classic Vanson

    My current Best jacket is my Vanson Enfield in horsehide, and I thought Loungers might be interested in how it was lengthened and adjusted to fit. This is a 1968-1972 early Enfield with four pockets, based on its black non-flag label. It weighs 7 pounds, and to me looks like a 3 1/2 ounce...
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    Best leather conditioner for "loosening" a stiff jacket

    Stiff leather is sometimes damaged leather, but sometimes not. Microscopically, leather is lightly glued spaghetti with a little butter sauce, so that the strands can slide against each other. But old leather can be in any of several conditions. If the leather has simply dried out, the strands...
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    Leather jacket repair/restoration

    Great Leather I can endorse Dena at Great Leather without reservation. Excellent work by a true craftswoman and a very nice lady.
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    One man's system: machine washing and conditioning vintage jackets

    Shearling Comments in response to the questions that came in this weekend: 1. Yes, I end up putting a lot of conditioner on. But remember that Lexol is about 90% water, so the "solute load" of a painted-on coat of Lexol is probably less than the total applied weight of a rubbed-in coat of...
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    Zipper experts: Fill us in

    Talon and YKK zippers will have a number on the back of the slider that tells you the size. 10 is the largest generally available-- luggage/leahers/sleeping bags. The smallest I've seen is 2, which would work for barbie clothes I think. Most A2s and similar are 5s or 6s. One more point: the...
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    One man's system: machine washing and conditioning vintage jackets

    Just to be clear, I microwave the Lexol before applying, not the jacket.
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    One man's system: machine washing and conditioning vintage jackets

    My one experiment with horsehide was my 1972 Vanson Enfield, which was in a burly competition weight. After washing it came out so beefy and smooth that I've had people say "wow, new jacket?" There was no shrinkage, but that was one jacket. I have several pair of shell cordovan shoes (which are...
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    US Authentic sizing

    My US Authentic Indy in XXL had some of the oddest sizing I've seen, though it worked well for me. The shoulders were very large, the sleeves surprisingly long (on the order of 27 inches), and the waist rather trim. At least in the Indy, they seem to cut for a heroic silhouette-- tall, big...
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    One man's system: machine washing and conditioning vintage jackets

    Several Loungers have asked if I can document the process I use for reconditioning leather jackets, which involves the unusual steps of machine washing, tumbling, and some unusual conditioning steps. Recently my flea market hauntings turned up a suitable candidate jacket, and so I am pleased to...
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    A Mystery USAF Cooper-- in Capeskin?

    No receivers are there-- only the stitching holes are there on my jacket.
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    A Mystery USAF Cooper-- in Capeskin?

    No velcro stitch marks in the lining, Atticus Finch. Plus the stitch marks for the two rectangular labels are not at all the same size as in my civilian orange-label Cooper. An orange Cooper label was about twice the size of a Saddlery milspec label, so the stitching would never match up. That's...
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    Heavy horsehide break in

    I was the author of that post. My 3oz competition-weight horsehide Vanson Enfield squeaked and rustled like an old rocking chair until I put it through the washer and reconditioned it. Now it's supple and silent. So yes, the front load washer treatment will help with break-in.
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    A Mystery USAF Cooper-- in Capeskin?

    With warm weather in New England, the jacket hunting bug has bit again. Last week came my first score of the season, but with more than its share of mysteries. In a rack of flea market treasures I found the dusty remnants of an A2, looking initially very non-milspec because of the obvious...
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    Mould

    Washing Leather Jackets I've corrected fairly lush coatings of mold by machine washing leather jackets. But it involves some technique. Here's my regimen: 1. Zip jacket, buckle all buckles and snaps. 2. Place in FRONT LOAD washer. Top load washers with the center agitator column may twist...
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    Non-invasive shoulder pad modification?

    How my tailor does it I have oversized square shoulders that often require removing the shoulder pads from suits. My alterations tailor does it in minutes, as part of the initial fitting. He turns the suit inside out, uses a seam ripper to open the upper sleeve lining along the lining seam...
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    "Do the tighten up" (how to shrink leather jackets to fit better?)

    My experience with washing leather jackets I've machine washed about 30 leather jackets over the years, and routinely do so with any thrift shop find or other vintage item. They've ranged from mall type jackets to G&B and Vanson Horsehide. I use a front load Maytog Neptune, woolite, everything...
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    Goatskin vs Horsehide

    Back to Horse vs Cowhide Getting back to horse vs goat, I think it is important to define our terms correctly: many have reported that horse has abrasion resistance superior to all other common jacket materials (except possibly kangaroo). But abrasion in a scooter crash is not the same thing as...
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    Burk's Bay or Sportsman's Guide?

    Sportsman's Guide I went through a phase of being a regular Sportsman's Guide customer several years ago, and found that 20% of their stuff was a good (but never exceptional) value, sometimes with a rugged adventurous look, but 80% of it was sub-Walmart quality. Remember, they are largely a...
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    Please help identify era of this Brioni Coat

    Brioni and their Labels Brioni is an Italian suit company company dating back to the postwar reconstruction era. They are essentially the archetype of the Roman suit style, which tends toward strong roped shoulders, a bold chest, and a "man of power" look. The other Italian suit style is the...
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    my first post, and my first aero...an older steerhide highwayman.

    Dude, just as a helpful piece of background, on zippers: The moving "shoe" of the zipper is called (in English) the slider. These are made in standard sizes numbered from 0 (a doll zipper) up to 10 (heavy leather jackets or luggage). I believe Aero often uses size 5 or 6 zippers. Often the...

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