Anybody knows how is this type of leather jacket called?

[retrofashion]

I think it is some kind of motorcycle jacket from the 40's. Maybe a pilot's jacket. But is there a name for this style to make search easier?

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[John Lever]

I think it is some kind of motorcycle jacket from the 40's. Maybe a pilot's jacket. But is there a name for this style to make search easier?[URL=http://img101.imageshack.us/my.php?image=32146678kb9.jpg]

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I believe these are German coats from the 50's and 60's. There are usually several available on German ebay. Prices are often very low.
Some are shortened longer coats

 

[tonypaj]

I believe these are German coats from the 50's and 60's. There are usually several available on German ebay. Prices are often very low.
Some are shortened longer coats

Interesting... I have a long leather coat, of German origin, that I'm thinking of having shortened (a bit too Nazi to my liking, but it has a great cut, I'd love one in heavy cotton...). It is supposedly from the 40s, but I have my doubts. Would there be anything I should be worried about here, or is it simply having it cut and sewed back together again...

tonypaj

 

[retrofashion]

So it's typically German? I thought it looked very similar to the jacket Costner wore in The Untouchables Canadian border scene when he was on horseback. So I thought it would be something more generic. It must be post war then since it doesn't really have that Nazi look.

 

[Edward]

Interesting... I have a long leather coat, of German origin, that I'm thinking of having shortened (a bit too Nazi to my liking, but it has a great cut, I'd love one in heavy cotton...). It is supposedly from the 40s, but I have my doubts. Would there be anything I should be worried about here, or is it simply having it cut and sewed back together again...

tonypaj

Eep! Don't slice that baby up, somebody will want it intact! They don't scream "Nazi" to everybody.... you'll as like find many people who'll think "Matrix" or "Blade" a long time sooner.

 

[BellyTank]

So it's typically German? I thought it looked very similar to the jacket Costner wore in The Untouchables Canadian border scene when he was on horseback. So I thought it would be something more generic. It must be post war then since it doesn't really have that Nazi look.

So what exactly is that Nazi look..?
It seems mostly to be an impression in peoples' minds, rather than anything real.

Is it just the "long, black leather coat" thing- or is there actually more to it?
The typical WW2 era styling of German leathers was traditional and carried from the '30s, through to the '50s and beyond. The "Nazi, long, black leather coat" thing wasn't a Nazi thing, it was a German thing.

This is a serious question. Looking for input.

B
T

 

[tonypaj]

So what exactly is that Nazi look..?
It seems mostly to be an impression in peoples' minds, rather than anything real.

Is it just the "long, black leather coat" thing- or is there actually more to it?
The typical WW2 era styling of German leathers was traditional and carried from the '30s, through to the '50s and beyond. The "Nazi, long, black leather coat" thing wasn't a Nazi thing, it was a German thing.

This is a serious question. Looking for input.

B
T

Isn't pretty much everything about clothes just an impression... Anyway, mine is brown, full length, pretty much exactly like the picture on the left in this thread, just longer, and like I said, I love the cut. But it feels Nazi to me. I've tried to soften the look with newsboy caps, jean shirts, but it still feels Nazi, I feel all the time that someone's going to say "Sieg Heil", to me, hate that...

In general, I find it hard to distinguish between German and Nazi when you talk about late 30s or early 40s. Too much bad stuff going on in that country at that time, I can't really block out the nastiness...

tonypaj

 

[BellyTank]

Fair enough.
Thanks for your answer.

A pet of peeve of mine.

B
T

 

[SamMarlowPI]

have one neutral/good item, someone does something bad with that item and from then on the said item is not associated with its original use, but rather looked upon as having negative meaning and stereotyped forever and vise versa...eg. black leather trench coats used by the Gestapo or small pox virus used for vaccine...or somethin' like that[huh]

 

[PADDY]

Gents. If you are discussing this jacket as a European or even German 30s/40s jacket, then that's fine.
But please try to stay away from any darker political associations you might link it to (as that doesn't deserve any voice in here).

Thanks for your understanding guys!

 

[retrofashion]

Hey Bellytank, are you German? Would you know the proper name for these jackets? If you just type lederjacke on Ebay Germany you get thousands of hits. Thanks.

 

[dhermann1]

I believe BellyTank is in wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen.

 

[retrofashion]

I've been researching these jackets and I have to agree with John Lever that they look to actually be shortened longer coats. I actually think, specifically the two in the pictures, to be Gestapo shortened coats. I found some Gestapo agents pictures sporting long leather coats that look basically identical. I tried to find some type of uniform guide online where I could confirm the style and models of leather coats worn by the Third Reich but I couldn't find any such guide. Anybody knows if such guide exists online? It actually makes sense to modify them if they are in fact Gestapo coats to make it easier to sell, since they carry a certain stigma, which reinforces the theory they may as well be modified coats.
Any inputs appreciated.

 

[Mike Hammer]

That jacket has a zipper offset to the left. Almost all true German WW2 leather coats-including those made for the U-boat crews/naval personnel- used buttons. Luftwaffe pilots' jackets used steel "Prym" zippers for a time, but switched to white nylon ones later. In fact, to my knowledge, the Luftwaffe was the only user of zippers in the entire Wehrmacht.
This coat says less "gestapo" to me than it does "Aviation" or "Motorcycle".
I suspect this is more the German version of the "Wild Ones" leather jacket than anything else.
Oh and that "stigma" that gestapo stuff carries? Not so. SS stuff is hideously expensive; true, documented, legitimate Gestapo stuff is A) made from unobtainium, and B) when encountered will certainly set you back a stiff amount.

 

[BellyTank]

Hey Bellytank, are you German? Would you know the proper name for these jackets? If you just type lederjacke on Ebay Germany you get thousands of hits. Thanks.

Hello Retrofashion, please excuse my tardiness, had a quick jaunt over to Stockholm for the weekend. Thanks, dhermann1 for defending my honour, in my absence.
No, I am not German, I'm a New Zealander, living in Denmark but since Germany is just down the road, I'm a daily eBay.de watcher.

Honestly, beyond terms such as, "lederjacke", as you have mentioned, there is no specific name- the examples you offered are both quite different though, so finding one term to describe them would be hard.
But- if you're trying to find older leather jackets on German eBay, try looking under:
Startseite>Kaufen>Antiquitäten & Kunst>Kleidung & Accessoires>Kleidung
...and using lederjacke.

or under:

sammlen & seltenes>Vintage Kleidung

or under motorcycle stuff ...


This may help but those old jackets are just listed as the German equivalent of "old leather jacket".

B
T

 

[John Lever]

That jacket has a zipper offset to the left. Almost all true German WW2 leather coats-including those made for the U-boat crews/naval personnel- used buttons. Luftwaffe pilots' jackets used steel "Prym" zippers for a time, but switched to white nylon ones later. In fact, to my knowledge, the Luftwaffe was the only user of zippers in the entire Wehrmacht.
This coat says less "gestapo" to me than it does "Aviation" or "Motorcycle".
I suspect this is more the German version of the "Wild Ones" leather jacket than anything else.
Oh and that "stigma" that gestapo stuff carries? Not so. SS stuff is hideously expensive; true, documented, legitimate Gestapo stuff is A) made from unobtainium, and B) when encountered will certainly set you back a stiff amount.

Agree 100 %. Most of the so -called Luftwaffe jackets are motorcycle jackets often French, from the 1950's. Fabulous designs though.

 

[retrofashion]

Hello Retrofashion, please excuse my tardiness, had a quick jaunt over to Stockholm for the weekend. Thanks, dhermann1 for defending my honour, in my absence.
No, I am not German, I'm a New Zealander, living in Denmark but since Germany is just down the road, I'm a daily eBay.de watcher.

Honestly, beyond terms such as, "lederjacke", as you have mentioned, there is no specific name- the examples you offered are both quite different though, so finding one term to describe them would be hard.
But- if you're trying to find older leather jackets on German eBay, try looking under:
Startseite>Kaufen>Antiquitäten & Kunst>Kleidung & Accessoires>Kleidung
...and using lederjacke.

or under:

sammlen & seltenes>Vintage Kleidung

or under motorcycle stuff ...


This may help but those old jackets are just listed as the German equivalent of "old leather jacket".

B
T

Thanks.
I know the two I posted are somewhat different. I'm just after one of them longer (I guess 3/4) and belted leather jackets with the trench coat collar and I thought that style maybe had a proper name.

 

[retrofashion]

This leahter coat would have been worn in an open motor car with a matching leather helmet and googles. When motoring became popular in the twenties Dunhill made a lot of this type of clothing. The recent book by the excellent author Nick foulkes "Dunhill by Design" illustrates this marvelously.

Thanks. I did a Dunhill and touring search in different combinations and it didn't turn up anything on Ebay though.

 

[pistolpete]

Go to.

Historical preservation society website; reproductions based on totally authentic styles. Expensive but worth it.