Good Wear, Fave Contracts.

[Sloan1874]

Easy one: for those who own them, what are their fave Good Wear contracts and why? All pics appreciated (this is part of a process for me...)

 

[pawineguy]

Point of clarification, are you talking about military, civilian, or either?

 

[Superfluous]

1. Imperial
2. Modoc
3. Ventura
4. J-100

I prefer the J-100 cut over the other three, but the first three are more uniquely GW.

 

[aswatland]

This is a tough question as there are so many great GW repros. My current favourite is the Aero 16160.
The original contract was awarded to Aero on 1st November 1940 for 4,500 jackets. It is the first A2 contract to use an auto-lock zip. Some originals had Talon zips with a rectangular puller and others like this one had the bell shaped puller. It was also the first contract to use large United Carr ring snaps and this jacket has NOS United Carr ones for the collar and pockets. It was the also the first contract to use the double-barrel eyelet for attaching the collar hook and the last Aero contract with a collar stand. John has replicated all these and other details perfectly. In short this was quite an innovative design with features found on many Wartime-produced jackets. It is extremely well made and comfortable to wear. The leather is thinner than the horsehide seen on many earlier GW jackets and it weighs much the same as my two original Aero 21996 jackets. The leather has smooth areas and also sections with much grain. All in all I could not be more happy with this magnificent work of art from the master jacket maker!

 

[aswatland]

 

[Sloan1874]

Point of clarification, are you talking about military, civilian, or either?

Sorry, I meant A-2s, though Superflous is absolutely right, the Imperial is really nice.

Fantastic jacket, Andrew. Love the details. It looks quite a slim fitting one as well.

 

[aswatland]

Thanks Craig. I think John has produced an excellent repro of this early Aero contract and yes it is quite a slim fitting jacket.

 

[Fanch]

Craig, this is a very interesting thread, and I continue to be amazed at what this exceptionally talented guy has been able to accomplish. Difficult, if not impossible, to single out any particular one, although AS did an exemplary job of illustrating one particular contract.

 

[zhz]

I thought 16160 isn't slim fit jacket，maybe it is slim compare to other aero contracts, like 21996,18775 etc.

How does it compare to monarch, werber?

 

[zhz]

Back to the topic, I've been told many times John makes the best monarch a2, and most likely it will be contract I will go for.

 

[Sloan1874]

I understand the Monarch is the trickiest contract to get a satisfying fit with, but it's among the ones I've been looking at. Anyone able to furnish us with nice pics? I'd really like to see this thread develop into a nice collection of 'owned' GWs, as up to date as possible, with people extolling the virtues of their personal faves - Andrew's got us off to a great start!

 

[aswatland]

Talking of the Monarch A2 this one from a craftsman in Seattle is by far the most accurate Monarch repro that I have seen. It is made from veg tanned, semi-aniline dull russet horse hide. Comparing it with my original it is spot on. John has even copied the square leather reinforcement tabs behind the pocket snaps. The elongated collar shape is correct and the pockets are perfect. The zipper track is a repro Talon with a NOS slider, which have been painted the correct dark brown as per the 1941 Monarch contract. Although it is marked a size 46 it fits like many of my size 44 originals. Monarchs were usually one size smaller than jackets with the same size tag from other makers. The photos were all taken indoors using a flash and the russet shade appear a little redder than in natural light.

 

[aswatland]

 

[chamboid]

Here is my Monarch, and the fit is spot on. This is a slim fitting jacket, non collar stand which lies lies low and rotated sleeve seams which make it a bit easier to wear. I asked John to construct this with the 'combat clone' stitching but not the wear.











Though I recieved this jacket last year, it has recieved little wear due to moving house and being on tour so have no updated pics to show you other than these when I first got the jacket.

The drape of the Shinki is second to none, and though smoothish to begin with get more probounced grain with wear. It's a very very nice jacket and I am very pleased with it. It was my first choice, and love the styling.

Now having said that I did change my mind about 6 times over the wait. My other top choices were the Doniger seen in the link below
http://www.goodwearleather.com/photos/Doniger_No2_44/

Or the Fried Osterman 23383 in the link below
http://www.goodwearleather.com/photos/23383_No3_42/

Both these contacts pretty hard to find ordinal of, and have some nice quirky touches to their style and construction.

 

[chamboid]

Are you sure this is the same as the 'Victory' hide or the 'Liberty' BK offers. Not being pedantic, just interested if it is in fact the former.

And could you also remind me what you painted the zip on your monarch with, want to do this with mine also.

 

[zhz]

@chamboid You should give this a2 more wear.

 

[devilish]

This picture has been posted many times before but is the best I have. My J.A. Dubow 20960. Dull russet Shinki. I like Dubow for some reason I can't really quantify. I also have a 27798. No photos though. If I were to get another it would be an SAT because I like it's evolutionary nature.

Oh and that's the USS Hornet behind me that Doolittle's Raiders flew from. Many of whom wore Dubows. In fact Doolittle himself wore one.

 

[Sloan1874]

I love the Monarch collar - great shape and sits really comfortably. Chamboid, are those the gold knits? Very nice. The Monarch is very tempting. I have been contemplating an early contract Dubow, but seeing both yours and Andrew's...

 

[devilish]

You really can't go too far wrong with any of John's jackets. I'd have one of each if I were rich enough. Haha!

 

[Sloan1874]

The idea of having John working exclusively for a wardrobe of A-2s is mind blowing...