So a few weeks ago, I was back in England for one week to visit family – and, as well as using it an opportunity to get my ELC RW B-6 repaired and having it sent to my parents to collect it from there, I also took a chance and ordered one of their USN wool sweaters.
Disposable income is rather tight for me these days, what with the usual bills, groceries, pet food etc. all going up, but still, as much I find that buying a new jacket to be just beyond my means (and justification – as I have a nice collection for myself already), I still consider it a good and worthy investment to buy a fine quality sweater which will provide many, many years of service to go as a good layer beneath the leather jackets I do have (namely an ELC RW B-6 and B-3, ELC 1942 pattern Irvin and Luftwaffe plus the Aero ANJ-3 and the vintage N-3 from the 1950's).
Canadian Winters are reliably cold and very long and I like to have a variety of sweaters as they are all in daily rotation for months on end. Where my sweaters are concerned, I don’t like to have two-of-a-kind in terms of colour or style (that’d be unnecessary) and I’ve wanted a blue Submariner from North Sea Clothing for many years now, but each time I look at their website at this time of year, their prices have always given me pause and they increase each year and I feel they’re rather cost-prohibitive to me now – and reviews say they’re on the itchy-side of things too, which doesn’t help me pull the trigger. Plus I already have my Aero RAF sweater and it’s both a classic and a total winner– so I just couldn’t talk myself into another roll-neck for this Winter. But still, I wanted something quality and new - and in blue – but with a different collar from anything I have in my collection.
I looked all over the web for a sweater that would go with all my jackets – so it needed to have a vague military look so that it would to go with my jackets – but I didn’t want something that shouted MILITARY to over-do my look, so to speak – and I’d looked at the ELC website before for this sweater, but they’d never had my size in stock before.
But this time (last July. It pays to think ahead, it seems!) they did have a full range of sizes!
I gave Gary a ping and, as I’ve ordered many jackets from him over the last 12 years or so, and he has seen me enough times at RAF Duxford to know my size, he recommended a size 40.
And lo, the sweater was there at my parents when I got there and, in terms of quality and fit, I knew it was a bulls-eye from the instant I opened the old-style heavy-gauge paper package!
Made of worsted wool, it’s beautifully made and is a nice medium weight and is just a little scratchy on the skin – but not unduly so. I expect that, like my similar “mechanic” style sweaters in this type of knit, it will settle down with a good hand-wash in quality wool detergent and a good fabric conditioner (and drying flat over a couple of days). When Winter gets going, I expect to wear it over one of my long-sleeved River Driver shirts by L.L. Bean, so there won’t be any itch factor.
And I love the tight waistband – as it’ll prevent any upward draughts in winter! The B-3 has a “boxy” cut on the body so it tends to be a little open, so that can happen with the wrong sweater.
The reproduction label is a very nice touch and is all-quality and the stitching is perfect.
The fit is great – neat with no slop. Although I wear a variety of jackets from my ELC Irvin in a size 40, through my Luftwaffe, RW B-3 and B-6 in 42 and to my Aero ANJ-3 which is labelled as a 44, I do wear a 40R suit and Gary’s suggestion of a 40 was spot-on (Thanks Gary!).
Here are some photos.
Disposable income is rather tight for me these days, what with the usual bills, groceries, pet food etc. all going up, but still, as much I find that buying a new jacket to be just beyond my means (and justification – as I have a nice collection for myself already), I still consider it a good and worthy investment to buy a fine quality sweater which will provide many, many years of service to go as a good layer beneath the leather jackets I do have (namely an ELC RW B-6 and B-3, ELC 1942 pattern Irvin and Luftwaffe plus the Aero ANJ-3 and the vintage N-3 from the 1950's).
Canadian Winters are reliably cold and very long and I like to have a variety of sweaters as they are all in daily rotation for months on end. Where my sweaters are concerned, I don’t like to have two-of-a-kind in terms of colour or style (that’d be unnecessary) and I’ve wanted a blue Submariner from North Sea Clothing for many years now, but each time I look at their website at this time of year, their prices have always given me pause and they increase each year and I feel they’re rather cost-prohibitive to me now – and reviews say they’re on the itchy-side of things too, which doesn’t help me pull the trigger. Plus I already have my Aero RAF sweater and it’s both a classic and a total winner– so I just couldn’t talk myself into another roll-neck for this Winter. But still, I wanted something quality and new - and in blue – but with a different collar from anything I have in my collection.
I looked all over the web for a sweater that would go with all my jackets – so it needed to have a vague military look so that it would to go with my jackets – but I didn’t want something that shouted MILITARY to over-do my look, so to speak – and I’d looked at the ELC website before for this sweater, but they’d never had my size in stock before.
But this time (last July. It pays to think ahead, it seems!) they did have a full range of sizes!
I gave Gary a ping and, as I’ve ordered many jackets from him over the last 12 years or so, and he has seen me enough times at RAF Duxford to know my size, he recommended a size 40.
And lo, the sweater was there at my parents when I got there and, in terms of quality and fit, I knew it was a bulls-eye from the instant I opened the old-style heavy-gauge paper package!
Made of worsted wool, it’s beautifully made and is a nice medium weight and is just a little scratchy on the skin – but not unduly so. I expect that, like my similar “mechanic” style sweaters in this type of knit, it will settle down with a good hand-wash in quality wool detergent and a good fabric conditioner (and drying flat over a couple of days). When Winter gets going, I expect to wear it over one of my long-sleeved River Driver shirts by L.L. Bean, so there won’t be any itch factor.
And I love the tight waistband – as it’ll prevent any upward draughts in winter! The B-3 has a “boxy” cut on the body so it tends to be a little open, so that can happen with the wrong sweater.
The reproduction label is a very nice touch and is all-quality and the stitching is perfect.
The fit is great – neat with no slop. Although I wear a variety of jackets from my ELC Irvin in a size 40, through my Luftwaffe, RW B-3 and B-6 in 42 and to my Aero ANJ-3 which is labelled as a 44, I do wear a 40R suit and Gary’s suggestion of a 40 was spot-on (Thanks Gary!).
Here are some photos.
