A-1 Jacket / A1 Flying Jacket - The ultimate Golden Era flying accessory!

[handymike]

bummer- the cotton was nice.

 

[zhz]

Thanks,
Looks like they are using snaps rather than buttons

No, they use buttons, snaps are for pocket I think.

 

[Blackadder]

There is a batch of Chinese made 37J1B on Rakuten if anyone is looking for a cloth A-1 style jacket and not wanting to pay the Buzz or RM price.
http://global.rakuten.com/en/search/?k=37j1b&l-id=search_regular

 

[CBI]

Decent A-1 for $400.00

 

[Blackadder]

Flightjacket's USD489? Anyone own one?

 

[bentusian]

If you have chance to shop on Taobao, I also recommend this one.
http://xzbronson.taobao.com/?spm=a1z10.1.0.0.8RBlXN

Thanks for the info. It is an interesting shop - they surely are catching up fast.

 

[John Lever]

No, they use buttons, snaps are for pocket I think.

They are much smaller and different in colour to the buttons on the neck then. They look odd to me.

If you want to buy an item how do you pay, is there some kind of registration required ?

 

[zhz]

They are much smaller and different in colour to the buttons on the neck then. They look odd to me.

If you want to buy an item how do you pay, is there some kind of registration required ?

I know it is looks different, but it is button thats my point. Never said it is an accurate repro. And I agree with you that A1 looks odd.
If you want to buy from Taobao, you have to register first, and also you need alipay to pay I think. which similar to paypal. TBH, I am still try to work out how to buy from outside China...

 

[bentusian]

They are much smaller and different in colour to the buttons on the neck then. They look odd to me.

If you want to buy an item how do you pay, is there some kind of registration required ?

It is quite evident that their leather A-1 mostly uses dot-snaps except on the knitted collar.
Even their G-1/M-422 seems to use snaps on the front pockets and for the throat fastener where normal buttons are supposed to be used.

I would look for a proxy shopping service to buy items from Taobao, such as this: http://www.bhiner.com/

 

[zhz]

It is quite evident that their leather A-1 mostly uses dot-snaps except on the knitted collar.
Even their G-1/M-422 seems to use snaps on the front pockets and for the throat fastener where normal buttons are supposed to be used.

I would look for a proxy shopping service to buy items from Taobao, such as this: http://www.bhiner.com/

Thats true, the button issue has been discussed in a Chinese forum as well.

I would not use that proxy for only one reason, they use a mobile phone number instead of a landline on the website.

 

[Blackadder]

According to their website, they accept Visa, Master except those issued in Washinton State. There is a limit on the amount. You need to verify your card to raise the limit.

 

[Dinerman]

 

[Deacon211]

Call me crazy, but isn't that the jacket De Niro wore in "Taxi Driver" with that faux Marine jump wings patch?

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[Edward]

Call me crazy, but isn't that the jacket De Niro wore in "Taxi Driver" with that faux Marine jump wings patch?

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Different jacket. The one Bobby De Niro wore was a cloth jacket, at least based on the second pattern WW2 US Army Tanker jacket. If it was the real thing, it had been relined; at several points in the film you can see that the lining is a burgundy, quilted nylon rather than the issue grey wool. The one thing that makes me thing it might have been a genuine jacket relined is that the zips, at least in that and otherf photos, on his jacket appear to stop midway up the knit collar, a feature of the originals which many repros get wrong. UIt laso has the high level slash-handwarmer pockets, which again many repros place too low.(I also wonder if there actually were any repros on the market in the early 70s when this costume item would have been sourced.) Anyhow, I'm digressing. The short anser is no, it's not an A1.

 

[Deacon211]

The tags (Photos from their shop at Taobao). I guess RTWB is their English brand name. They do make repro B-10, N-1 and tanker etc in addition to A-1 and A-2. View attachment 19089 View attachment 19090

Actually, I was speaking of this one...


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[bentusian]

Actually, I was speaking of this one...


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Yes there are multiple brands out there that make 'Taxi Driver Tanker Jacket', from cheap to high-end, with those patches and stencil on the back. Or you can buy only the patch set and decorate your own tanker.
But as far as I know it was only RMJP who makes (or used to make) the jacket correct to every detail such as purple colored quilt lining and all. I think RMJP actually owns the copyright.

 

[thor]

Orvis goat suede jacket. Nice looking but not cheap ($950!).

 

[Deacon211]

Yes there are multiple brands out there that make 'Taxi Driver Tanker Jacket', from cheap to high-end, with those patches and stencil on the back. Or you can buy only the patch set and decorate your own tanker.
But as far as I know it was only RMJP who makes (or used to make) the jacket correct to every detail such as purple colored quilt lining and all. I think RMJP actually owns the copyright.

Interesting. I have to say that I'm surprised that that particular jacket would be all that popular.

I remember seeing the movie and thinking that it was a shame that they had to choose such fake looking patches on a non VN era jacket. But I guess that it became sort of a self generating icon.

Anyway, thanks for the illumination!


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[bentusian]

I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but just found another cotton-based lightweight A-1:

https://www.schottnyc.com/products/cavalry-twill-a1-flight-jacket.htm
https://badowers.com/shop/schott-bros-perfecto-p874-cavalry-twill-a1-flight-jacket-olivecream/

..but I guess the price isn't so friendly for a cotton jacket.

 

[Blackadder]

Wonder if anyone had purchased an A-1 from Doursoux. Any comments? Their US Army boots are by Corcoran. Wonder who made their jackets.