ALL REPRO R.A.F. Irvin type jackets

[John Lever]

Hi everybody!
Here´s a few pictures of me wearing my ELC Irvin Jacket 1942 pattern!
It´s an older example from the eighties..
Hope you enjoy it!
Best regards, Andreas!

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Andreas,
I have owned that version of the Eastman, they have great sheepskin with very nice fleece. It suits you, nice jacket.

 

[aswatland]

On it's way from Canada as we speak [ I hope]BTW it's not the WPG from ebay...

Of course its that special early ELC 1942 jacket which you have finally bought back. I hope it reaches your exacting standards John.

 

[aswatland]

The jacket Andreas is wearing could easily be mistaken for an original from two metres, unlike the current offering.

 

[miger]

Seen the photo of the offering from 'Thefew',misplaced on the original Irwin thread, and i have to say it looks absolutely terrible!
Whoever makes these things has surely never seen an original Irvin!
I'd love to know how many of these they actually sell.

 

[Philrs]

Do you find that the inner seam of the cuff zips digs in at the top ?

Yes. The problem appears to be that the carton tubes that are the arms of the jacket are so rigid that if I bend my arms the inside of the cuffs rubs quite hard against my wrists because the arms do not flex enough.

Just imagine inserting your arms into two carton tubes, with your hands coming out the tubes, roughly at the level of the wrists. If you try to bend your arms in the tubes, your wrists will rub against one end of the tubes.

Consequently, the shearling is already bald where the rubbing happens. I have had the jacket for 6 months! My original 1943 Irvin does not have this problem. 6 months vs. 67 years... There is something wrong in the new design here...

 

[B-24J]

Hi Philrs,

When I was considering an ELC Irvin, they were kind enough to send me samples of the sheepskin. This was very good of them to do and quite fortunate as the photo of the 1940 model RAF jacket on the website is a bit misleading in regards to color. As I had mentioned on another post, I tried different leather treatments on the sample as an experiment. The Pecards Antique Leather Dressing worked best on the sample to soften the skin - something most regulars in the Lounge I'm sure already know!
I applied two light applications with two days in between each to allow for drying. After several days of drying, I then did a light buffing to cut down on the shine.
Of course if you do apply something to soften the skin, always do a little test on an inconspicuous area first.

My favorite repro Irvin is a toss-up between John Lever's 1993 ELC and Soren's Aero. John's does look a bit like Andrew's original 1941-42 Wareings. The ELC in Merino wool he sold just after he got the 1993 looked good too! Soren's Aero has a perfect fit and great skin color.

John

 

[Andyboy]

John, as there´s a lot of discussion about the newer ELC Irvins and the loss of quality and different colours of the sheepskin and fleece I´ve just compared my early ELC and my original Irvin which dates from 1938/39. Both sheepskin AND the fleece are nearly identic to the original (though I know that some details as the zippers are incorrect which in my opinion don´t affect the great looks of the jacket)!
BTW do you still own the ELC with the reddish finish and the great merino whool size 40? This one´s a real beauty!

 

[John Lever]

No as you also found out, though it was a large size 40, it was still too small for me. I have a 44 identical to the 40 and will post some photos soon.

 

[John Lever]

Here's a nice old repro made by the Cockpit of Southampton, long gone unfortunately. They called it The Flyers Jacket, it's as good an early Eastman.

Now for sale in Classifieds

 

[FRASER_NASH]

Is Gary a member here so that he can gauge the feedback on ELC fleeces? As it's constructive feedback

 

[ButteMT61]

This is interesting stuff. Several of us have said that the current batch of broken grain ELC Irvins are not great and are certainly inferior to ones made ten + years ago. For the same price you can buy a wearable original rather than a cardboard garment with tubes for arms.

Yeah, some of the pix were really disturbing on those. The skins look awful, and not what I'd expect for the money or reputation of that company.

 

[Andyboy]

John, this jacket looks really good! Does cockpit usa still produce this one?

 

[Smithy]

As a matter of interest when did the ELC fleece go downhill?

The fleece on my 1940 Pattern which I bought new in 2007 is fantastic and very similar to the originals I have seen.

 

[John Lever]

John, this jacket looks really good! Does cockpit usa still produce this one?

No, Cockpit went bust. I have three Vintage Eastman's now, so I think I might sell the Flyers Jacket.

 

[aswatland]

John, has your early size 44 jacket arrived in this country yet? It would be nice to see some current pics of the jacket.

 

[Spitfire]

Read something on the VLJ forum on how to get new, thick - almost standing - lambswool in repro Irvins to get a more original - flat, curly - look:
Soak it and let it dry in the sun.
Anybody ever tried that?

My Aero Irvin still has very thick fleece - and I would like it to be more flat and less cumbersome.
(In fact I think if Aero used more original sheepskin - instead of thick lambskin - I could have gone several sizes down.)

 

[John Lever]

Hi Andrew,
Somewhere between Canada and the UK.....I hope to receive it this week and will post some pics.
Here's an old photo -

 

[Andyboy]

The most original looking repro I´ve ever seen!! Great Jacket!!!

 

[miger]

Hi Andrew,
Somewhere between Canada and the UK.....I hope to receive it this week and will post some pics.
Here's an old photo -

Note to repro Irvin producers:
This is what a good repro should look like!

 

[Dr H]

Hi Andrew,
Somewhere between Canada and the UK.....I hope to receive it this week and will post some pics.
Here's an old photo -

Surely that one will keep you happy when it's back in your hands, John? Top repro, looks all that it should be...