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Eastman B-17 W.A.S.P. Jacket for ladies.

Stand By

One Too Many
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Canada
@Deacon,
Yeah, my Eastman seems to be a heavy, tough jacket. Should make a great daily wearer. And since the previous owner has done most of the breaking in and given it a few scrapes and scuffs, I don't feel the need to baby it.
I just finished reading Such Men as These. It's a great read. It looks at the actual guys Michener sailed with who inspired his book. A lot more Corsair and Skyraider pilots that you'd have thought, being the jet age and all. Reading that really made me want to do a Toko-ri jacket. But I don't want it to look like a straight up repro of a movie jacket, so I thought a pin up on the back would be a neat touch.
You found the guy I was talking about. His work is pretty good. I like the pic you posted; good looking dame with great curves and a winning smile. That's the spirit. And do I spot an EGA on her cap?

@Stand By,
Naughtical but nice!
That's pretty good! I might go with that!

It was 15 degrees C on Christmas morning, which is just plain weird. I was outside with a beer and a t-shirt. I didn't want to let that go to waste. Man's best friend was keeping an eye on the meat for me, it was all good. This time of year though, I have to keep an eye on the dog. In winter wild boar often come around looking for food, and they can be quite aggressive (biting off fingers and such), and the dog doesn't seem to appreciate the danger.

Your gal must be pretty understanding about your dog refuge, but this must cost you a fortune in dog food. At least you've got a big yard for them to run around in, taking 10 dogs for a walk would be a major operation.
You're gonna need a bigger jacket!

Wild boar?!? Jesus.
And I thought we had something with the coyotes at night in the distance to the north of us. Wow!
But I know what you mean about watching your dog’s back. We do the same with the coyotes - and the hawks could take the little ‘un, so I watch the skies when she’s on the back too...
And what’s great about living here is that we’re on 1.78 acres and back onto a forest with a big fenced back yard - so it’s like the dogs have their own dog park! So I no longer do the daily two one-hour dog walks in the neighbourhood anymore - they run out, do their thing and all run back in! :)
So as a result, I dont wear my Irvin and B3 and sweaters like I used to... don’t need to! :(

And the rescue thing is all her. But happy relationships are all about compromise. I’d like 2, maybe 3 dogs. She’d wanted 9, so we compromised - and so we have 9 dogs and 3 cats.
 

Stand By

One Too Many
Messages
1,741
Location
Canada
I walked the dogs in the forest yesterday, musing on titles for your jacket. In the hour I came up with:

No Step
Sick Bay Calling
Nurse Says Now
Sally Forth
Remove Before Flight
Calling All Hands
Attention All Hands
Angel One
Follow Me
Naughtical Horizon
Pacific Latitude
Nursing Station Bravo

And I’d use the same military stencil for No Step and Remove Before Flight as seen on USN aircraft.
 
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Stand By

One Too Many
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1,741
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Canada
... and for more inspiration on names/titles, look up Wikipedia’s Glossary of Nautical Terms.
There are more ideas than you can shake a stick at there!!
 

Big J

Call Me a Cab
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2,961
Location
Japan
Hi Stand By,
9 dogs and 3 cats; your house must be crazy! But yeah, having a huge yard is great so you don't have to do the walking. I still get to wear my B-3 regularly in winter. Bernese loves the cold and long slow walks that go on, and on, and on...
The wild boar have never given me any trouble, even when I got right up close to them without knowing, but my dog is too curious and maybe that could aggravate them.
Do the coyotes howl at night?

Thank you for the list of suggestions! I'll think it over and see what appeals.

Have a happy new year!
 

thor

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2,009
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NYC, NY
8989C0F8-682F-4B84-A0FA-0BEC344F8B34.jpeg 3AF76B2F-5AB4-4E90-8F1A-A5DF0F358578.jpeg 832B2AEE-EFF7-494A-B847-572D2A0477DE.jpeg
Just a quick word on Marilyn in Korea; she toured the country in January 1954. She performed 10 shows in 4 days, entertaining 100,000 troops. She wore military gear as she traveled, then changed in make-shift dressing “rooms” and performed in pin-up worthy gowns in the 30-degree winter temperatures.
Quite a gal!
 
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thor

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2,009
Location
NYC, NY
Merry Christmas everybody!

That’s a good looking jacket. From what little I know of the subject, indeed for most of the war the female pilots were forced to wear male flight gear. What Charles said about it being a late war issue and so not widely distributed makes perfect sense. It really seemed that, as with all wars, the amount and variety of special issue gear was directly related to how long the war went on.

As my wife is retired Air Force, I had bought her a great book about the WASPs. She related to me one, likely typical, story from the war wherein a WASP delivered an aircraft to a military base and, either because she diverted or because her ride home fell through, was left stuck at this base in nothing but her flight gear. Because she did not have at least a service dress uniform (i.e. khakis) with her and because there was nowhere she was likely to find one for females in the 1940s, she was prohibited from entering any of the mess facilities on base and she went to bed hungry.

Truly this would have been the case for any aircrew that wound up at a base without a proper uniform. But it presented a few special challenges to the women pilots who couldn’t exactly buy off the rack! [emoji16]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
That’s an interesting story that your wife related @Deacon211. It reminds me of a Navy sea story: it was 1985, I was stationed aboard a Navy tugboat. Women were not allowed as crew aboard ships at that time, but they were allowed aboard harbor tugboats. My tug had a crew of ten, 6 men and 4 young women. Our tug was assisting a destroyer and the job was supposed to take an hour but lasted pretty much all day. We were off the coast of Hawaii and the tugboat had no food on board. An officer aboard the destroyer invited us aboard their ship to eat in the galley (dining facility). You can imagine the destroyermen’s reaction when they saw a group of tugboat crew members (including the four young female Sailors) clamber aboard their ship and enter the galley area and join them for dinner! We were very grateful for the hospitality, despite the Navy regulations that prohibited women from being aboard warships at that time.
 

Big J

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,961
Location
Japan
@thor,

Happy New Year to you!

Thank you for the information about Monroe! That's amazing! And the photos are great! I never realized that she did 10 appearances in 4 days in sub-zero temps, that's impressive, especially in that dress.

I wasn't attempting to malign her at all, but now knowing that there was even a blue nylon flight jacket issued to ladies at that time, why on earth would they have given her a man's jacket? It's a shame. She would have looked great(er).
 

thor

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2,009
Location
NYC, NY
Happy New Year @Big J!
Yeah, a more fitted female uniform would’ve looked better but I suppose they just gave her whatever was on hand to keep her warm.
Seeing Marilyn in that blue B-15 made the jacket instantly iconic for me.
 

Stand By

One Too Many
Messages
1,741
Location
Canada
Hi Stand By,
9 dogs and 3 cats; your house must be crazy! But yeah, having a huge yard is great so you don't have to do the walking. I still get to wear my B-3 regularly in winter. Bernese loves the cold and long slow walks that go on, and on, and on...
The wild boar have never given me any trouble, even when I got right up close to them without knowing, but my dog is too curious and maybe that could aggravate them.
Do the coyotes howl at night?

Thank you for the list of suggestions! I'll think it over and see what appeals.

Have a happy new year!

Happy New Year to you too - and to all here!! :)

Would pepper spray work on a wild boar? Like a bear spray??

Oh yes, they howl, Big J. But it’s a slightly weird sound. Not quite what you imagine (werewolf howls in movies) but it’s them alright. And what they do is send one of the bitches out in heat to lure any dogs in the area and she lures them - and the pack gets it. Very crafty and organized. Not to be trifled with. I’m glad they’re distant. But they travel, so we keep an eye out on the weekend dog walks in the forest...

I still quite like Naughtical But Nice, myself!! And you’re very welcome. Check out that Wikipedia page though. So many more terms for inspiration...!!
 
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Stand By

One Too Many
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1,741
Location
Canada
... and no, not a crazy house. It’s surprisingly clean and orderly. We need it that way and not have all the tails wagging the dog, so to speak!
The dog food bill just is what it is though ... but I’m not complaining. At the end of the day, all the dogs give more than they take away, and we’re blessed to have this much love under one roof.
 
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Big J

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,961
Location
Japan
@Stand By,
Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to infer that you don't keep an orderly home at all, I just had this image of dogs and cats going round in a whirl like something out of a Loony Tuned cartoon!
And I was thinking that the food bill must be a little high coz we've only got one dog, but he eats so much! I buy dog food the way normal people buy milk; every other day.

I had this image of coyotes howling like wolves in a Hammer Horror film. I didn't realize how devious they can be.

There's no wild boar spray here that I know of. We have bear spray because bears can also get a bit hungry in winter and wander into gardens, but they are generally pretty timid. The locals carry little bells tied to their rucksacks when they go hiking; the noise alerts the bears who usually stay away.

Yeah, Naughtical but Nice has a good feel. I'm in your debt!

@thor, yes, it seems that Marilyn in a ladies jacket would have been recruitment dynamite! She totally owns the B-15c look, which is why I went for a B-15c (mod) and a B-15d. When I tried on the B-15c I felt like I was doing her an injustice!
 

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