D-Pocket leather jackets

[Dinerman]

1949

 

[Monitor]

What would be the best - or rather, most authentic position to have sleeve zippers on a Buco J-24 repro?

 

[Dinerman]

Sears

 

[nick123]

1949

It's refreshing to see a conservatively dressed model wearing these things. Hardly the edgy image they're associated with today!

 

[Monitor]

I've always thought how all these asymmetrical style jackets that are now being associated almost entirely with biker/rock/whatever scene, look quite dressy, so I wasn't surprised to learn that back in the days these jackets were meant to be worn in a manner depicted above. I wish it stayed that way because I dislike being labeled as a metalhead or a rocker or a biker, just because I truly enjoy wearing this style of jacket.

 

[tropicalbob]

Wouldn't $27.50 have been expensive in 1949? I seem to recall seeing ads from the '20's with prices of about $10.00. I could be wrong.

 

[Feraud]

I've always thought how all these asymmetrical style jackets that are now being associated almost entirely with biker/rock/whatever scene, look quite dressy, so I wasn't surprised to learn that back in the days these jackets were meant to be worn in a manner depicted above. I wish it stayed that way because I dislike being labeled as a metalhead or a rocker or a biker, just because I truly enjoy wearing this style of jacket.

Great point. It is interesting how style survives history.

 

[Dinerman]

1950s Buco J-82, cut into a vest

 

[Monitor]

It would make an excellent vest but I cannot help but feel sorry for the jacket...

 

[Dinerman]

I'm sure 40 years ago, the biker who owned it didn't know he was also cutting a thousand bucks off the value.

 

[Dinerman]

A 1970s Trumpeter channeling a 1930s style of D-Pocket.

 

[Edward]

1949

Do you know if the colouring in that picture is accurate to how the actual jackets were? The belt buckle looks like it might be black - perhaps leatrher covered (as Lewis did with their Bronx jacket when it was introduced in '56, to avoid it scratching the tank). Most of the zips look copper-toned, with the one pocket on the jacket's right (viewer's left) seems chrome... I know some of the old Indian Ranger type jackets (that's the Aero model name, though I think it's based on an original?) had a mix of chrome and brass. The coppoer tone would be unusual, but nice...

It's refreshing to see a conservatively dressed model wearing these things. Hardly the edgy image they're associated with today!

Interesting, isn't it? But then you're dealing with an era when a motorcycle was cheap and economical transport, available often to those who couldn't stretch to a car. Clearly the jackets have stayed "motorcycle jackets", their image changing to the extent that motorcycling has become more of a lifestyle choice than regular transport by now... [huh] I quite like seeing them like this, as well as with denims and boots... The jacket is what's stayed constant with the motorcycle, while what's typically underneath has casualised.

I've always thought how all these asymmetrical style jackets that are now being associated almost entirely with biker/rock/whatever scene, look quite dressy, so I wasn't surprised to learn that back in the days these jackets were meant to be worn in a manner depicted above. I wish it stayed that way because I dislike being labeled as a metalhead or a rocker or a biker, just because I truly enjoy wearing this style of jacket.

It was always a motorcycle jacket, though - ironically, the rock / metal / punk associations that these jackets sometimes have now are the only associations that have come close to being strong enough that the immediate connotation is not motorcyclist. [huh]

I'm sure 40 years ago, the biker who owned it didn't know he was also cutting a thousand bucks off the value.

Ha.... if all owners had looked after them the way we'd have liked, there'd be thousands of them available on the vintage market now, and we'd be buying them for buttons....

 

[Dinerman]

Do you know if the colouring in that picture is accurate to how the actual jackets were? The belt buckle looks like it might be black - perhaps leatrher covered (as Lewis did with their Bronx jacket when it was introduced in '56, to avoid it scratching the tank). Most of the zips look copper-toned, with the one pocket on the jacket's right (viewer's left) seems chrome... I know some of the old Indian Ranger type jackets (that's the Aero model name, though I think it's based on an original?) had a mix of chrome and brass. The coppoer tone would be unusual, but nice...



Interesting, isn't it? But then you're dealing with an era when a motorcycle was cheap and economical transport, available often to those who couldn't stretch to a car. Clearly the jackets have stayed "motorcycle jackets", their image changing to the extent that motorcycling has become more of a lifestyle choice than regular transport by now... [huh] I quite like seeing them like this, as well as with denims and boots... The jacket is what's stayed constant with the motorcycle, while what's typically underneath has casualised.



It was always a motorcycle jacket, though - ironically, the rock / metal / punk associations that these jackets sometimes have now are the only associations that have come close to being strong enough that the immediate connotation is not motorcyclist. [huh]



Ha.... if all owners had looked after them the way we'd have liked, there'd be thousands of them available on the vintage market now, and we'd be buying them for buttons....

I've seen some earlier ones with leather covered buckles. The leather covering on those never seems to hold up very well, flaking off over time, so it can sometimes be difficult looking at surviving examples to know what they were like originally. The cut-off Buco above has a black painted metal buckle and belt end, with "stitching" cast into it to look like a leather covered one. Most I've seen, though, have been nickel or brass.

Regarding the tie and slacks look in some of the ads above: They were originally published in the Sears catalog, who, even into the 1970s, had nice clean cut, slack and turtleneck wearing models for their D-Pocket motorcycle jackets.

 

[handymike]

A 1970s Trumpeter channeling a 1930s style of D-Pocket.

Wow, with a different collar (less 70s) this would make a great modern jacket!

 

[Monitor]

It was always a motorcycle jacket, though - ironically, the rock / metal / punk associations that these jackets sometimes have now are the only associations that have come close to being strong enough that the immediate connotation is not motorcyclist. [huh]

Yep, it always was a motorcycle jacket but there appears to be a difference between being a motorcyclist, and a biker - the latter also belonging to a sub-culture, so to call it, of a sort with which the Perfecto styled jacket is just as associated as it is with the punk/rock scene. And I dislike being considered a biker due to the connotations which the term brings; ie. what general population perceives 1%ers to be like. Where I am, beside the omnipresent Hell's Angels, there are several other local bike clubs all of whom are trying to emulate what they believe motorcycle gangs are all about and so naturally, I find it especially annoying when I'm being pulled over every five miles when I'm out on my bike, literally only because I am wearing a black leather jacket. I don't even ride a Harley!

Colourful, flourescent textile gear wearing folks never receive this kind of attention when they're darting down the highway on their colourful, modern racing machines.

 

[nick123]

Threads like these give me the confidence to shrug off any associations or stereotypes I may feel or encounter...if someone was to approach me on the street with their fingers in the "rock on" pose or something equally annoying, I'd let them know there was in fact a world of these jackets happening long before the stereotype takeover.
"That's right, they used to be worn with a tie!"

 

[Dinerman]

1969, the year Easy Rider was released.
Ads still had the squeaky clean look for their black D-Pocket motorcycle jackets.

 

[Monitor]

Excellent ad. Such sweaters are mostly what I wear my asymmetrical style jackets. Dinerman, please do share more of these, should you have any.

Oddly enough, I have discovered that a fur mouton collar does wonders for disguising the style. I have had people not believing that I am wearing that jacket, until I took the mouton collar off.

 

[Dinerman]

1951. Clip on bow tie and a rinkydink Allstate bike

 

[Monitor]

Dinerman, do you perhaps know if the zippers on the top/side of the sleeves were more common back in the days?