ALL ORIGINAL Irvin RAF type Jackets - Loving that Wolf in sheeps' clothing!

[Doctor Damage]

Oops, I really missed the thread here. To be honest, didn't notice there are two different threads dedicated to the iconic Irvin jacket.

No worries, man. Make sure you look through both threads, there's tons of details and photos in both threads and they're excellent resources. We have some super knowledgeable people around here!

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[aswatland]

He really loved his Irvin judging by the number of pictures of him wearing it! The jacket dates to 1941-2. I have yet to see enough close up pictures to try and determine the maker.

 

[aswatland]

It's getting a lot of exposure on Twitter at the moment (https://twitter.com/holland_tom/status/747018798855774208) in response to the shameful racist graffiti scrawled on the Polish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, London in the wake of the referendum result. The Hurricane pilots are Poles who fought alongside the British in the RAF.

They are from 303 Squadron and are all Polish pilots apart from the Canadian F/Lt Johnny Kent, who is second from the left in the photo. Nice array of early flying kit including two-panel Irvins.

 

[jeepjeep13]

Found an Irvin online (which they claim is an original WWII garment) and it says that the lining is bearskin. This is the first I've heard of this sort of fur being used. Typically all I've seen so far has been sheepskin lining. Any thoughts or ideas, lads?

 

[aswatland]

Do you have a link to the jacket? I have never heard of bear skin used in the manufacture of Irvins. I suspect the seller is mistaken.

 

[jeepjeep13]

Do you have a link to the jacket? I have never heard of bear skin used in the manufacture of Irvins. I suspect the seller is mistaken.

I do it's http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-...650755?hash=item3ac4034103:g:zwsAAOSwubRXN3uS or if you look up ebay item #
252396650755

Kind of unique because I've never seen a "heated" one before. Is this something rare or does the seller not have any clue what he's talking about?

 

[aswatland]

OK. Thanks for the link. I know this jacket well as it has been on Ebay for months. It is of course made from sheepskin. The contractor, DGL, was based in London and was a relatively small maker of Irvin jackets. Irvin jackets were never heated. This is an electrically wired jacket, which means it carried the wiring loom which heated the gloves. The trousers carried the looms which heated the boots. The jacket dates to 1941 and the four snaps on the main zip's seam tapes are theatre additions.

 

[jeepjeep13]

OK. Thanks for the link. I know this jacket well as it has been on Ebay for months. It is of course made from sheepskin. The contractor, DGL, was based in London and was a relatively small maker of Irvin jackets. Irvin jackets were never heated. This is an electrically wired jacket, which means it carried the wiring loom which heated the gloves. The trousers carried the looms which heated the boots. The jacket dates to 1941 and the four snaps on the main zip's seam tapes are theatre additions.

Thanks for the help! Doesn't seem to be a viable option for me either way since it would be significantly short (I'm cursed being 6'4") and they don't offer shipping. It does look significantly more "plush" and soft than my current one however, which is what intrigued me.

 

[aswatland]

It's over priced for sure. You would need a size 7 or 8 Irvin and these are very hard to find these days.

 

[Paulgo253]

I didn’t realise until re-reading one of the replies in this amazing thread (I think by Andrew) that the brass DOT zip pullers were originally painted black. It wasn’t until this morning, when wearing my Irvin for a chilly early Autumn walk with the dogs, that I noticed that one of the sleeve zip pulls appears to retain most of it’s original black paint. This isn’t the original pull however and replaced a broken double-trunnion cast slider when I bought the jacket - but I can’t believe I’ve never noticed it up until now!

Paul

 

[Paulgo253]

Me again - sorry, could any admin please remove the attached thumbnail images under the sleeve zip pics at the bottom of my above post - they are for a different topic and I didn't realise they would show up here. I must've left it too long to delete them myself (is there a 30 min period?) - thanks! Paul

 

[Siggmund]

Me again - sorry, could any admin please remove the attached thumbnail images under the sleeve zip pics at the bottom of my above post - they are for a different topic and I didn't realise they would show up here. I must've left it too long to delete them myself (is there a 30 min period?) - thanks! Paul

Paul, I'm actually quite interested in the thumbnail pics you accidentally posted. Can you refer me to the site of the "different topic" you mentioned so I can understand their context? They appear to be a Irvin re-use project. Thanks.

 

[aswatland]

Yes, it looks like there are parts from an original Irvin and from a post War civi Pride and Clarke style jacket. Do I detect a marriage between the two jackets to produce a cross breed Irvin?

 

[Paulgo253]

Thanks gents. So, I recently took a punt on a box of miscellaneous panels with very little info, thinking they might come in for repairs and at least there looked to be a half decent collar fleece and a sleeve zip in among it all. The box actually contained the panels from practically a full late war, mutli-panel Irvin albeit of a very small size and in poor condition (with a lot of the fleece either abraded away or clipped off, but with a nice original Lightning zip and FF sleeve pull remaining ) and the larger set of panels from a second jacket project as in the pics.

I was intending to stick the pics as a post up to try and get some info on what they might be. There's almost a full jacket there, barring zips and belt (the 'doner' multi-panel would be too small) The original owner obviously had a project in mind and has took some of the seam tapes from the back of multi panel and applied them to the back of the 'Frankenstein' Irvin - but hadn't got too far in whatever was planned. Generally, the main panels are in decent shape, the outer surface is a dull reddish brown with a similarly coppery close-cropped fleece. The sleeves tho are very poor and the arm fleece (the lighter stuff) is truly awful as is the outer surface and I've no idea what's going on with extended arm / cuff thing.

So quite an intriguing little Pandora's box and I'd be grateful for any thoughts - here's a few more pics!





Paul

 

[aswatland]

The sleeves, made from white fleece, are from Pride and Clarke post War low grade jackets.

 

[Paulgo253]

Thanks Andrew, you can certainly tell the difference in quality - any thoughts on the other panels, dates or manufacturers (very little to go on tho!)?

 

[aswatland]

I have had a close look at your photos and the lack of a central seam tape on the back panel is telling. They all look as if they are from a post-War Pride and Clarke jacket. I am wondering if the horizontal seam tapes have been recently added to the back panel to create the multi-panel effect. Pride and Clarke Irvins had a one piece back.

 

[Paulgo253]

Thanks - you've confirmed my suspicions that the panels were not 'genuine' Irvin. The horizontal seam tapes have indeed been added and I can see where they have been removed from the back panel of the donor original multi-panel and transplanted across. A few things about quality and the condition of the outer surface didn't seem quite right about the panels. Just out of curiousity when roughly do you think they might've been made?

 

[aswatland]

These low grade Irvins were made in the 1950s and 1960s. They either had Clix, Lightning or Aero zips. Complete versions sell for around £100 on Ebay.