How many new jackets do you have coming (and how many potential ones)?

[red devil]

What's your recent order from LW?

J24, still in production

 

[Bushman]

Picked it up at the mall. It's cotton twill, with faux-leather shoulders. Clearly meant to be inspired by the suede jacket in the new Han Solo movie.

 

[jacketjunkie]

That unbranded jacket arrived. Sorry for the low quality crap shots, don't have the means to do better this weekend.

A few things to note: Jacket is made of extremely few panels. Two piece sleeves, one piece back, no yoke on the front panels, no side panels. This and the detailing on the cuffs, the collar, overall stitching quality and the quality of the leather make me believe this must have been some fairly high quality production. Unfortunately there is no label nor any way to identify its age; the original zipper has been replaced at some point in the past.. what else...? The shoulders are extremely wide, the jacket has 20" shoulders at 22" pit to pit.. the sleeves are blousy yet very gathered at the wristcuffs and there is a 1,5" wide Highwayman-ish hem at the waist of the jacket where it can be gathered by up to 2" on each side, too. This jacket wears and feels like a blousy bomber style jacket, except it has no woolen knit cuffs and hem.. an all leather college jacket basicly which I like a lot.

Geez, these pics really are of embarassingly bad quality, sorry again, will take betters once I am home again.

 

[sweetfights]

I have to get more pics of this hide up. Man it's thick!! I've been groping and inhaling it all night. Perhaps I should just start collecting sample cuts. This hide positively reeks of a moonshiner. Would be the coolest jacket on the planet, hands down, end of story, game over and other cliches...but seriously. It would.

Thanks for keeping us updated!!

 

[Technonut]

Have a new (to me) addition on the way.... An Aero AN-J-3 (AAF version). THIS is the AN-J-3 I've been wanting for years. I've had others, but most have fallen short of my expectations. Aero is known for some great goatskin, and from what I see, this jacket won't disappoint me. The condition is stated as 'virtually unworn', and the goat, 'sumptuous'...

From what I gather, Aero patterned both their AAF and USN version AN-J-3's directly from originals, and does look very close to pics of originals I have, as well as looking more detailed than other repros I've owned in the past. Tagged a size 44, the numbers look bang-on for me:

 

[Flightengineer]

Eastman Star Sportswear coming next week, have to own at least one A2

Congratulations!
This is my favorite jacket. The most beloved of the three A2s I own. And the longer I wear it, the more I love it.

 

[Hh121]

Congratulations!
This is my favorite jacket. The most beloved of the three A2s I own. And the longer I wear it, the more I love it.

Thank you, I returned that jacket because it is unbelievably thin and softer (Thinner than lambskin), I am not sure it is normal.

 

[Flightengineer]

Thank you, I returned that jacket because it is unbelievably thin and softer (Thinner than lambskin), I am not sure it is normal.

This is strange.
My Star was made in 2014. It is not thin. Normal HH, very beautiful, dense but flexible.



Is it now something changed ...

 

[Hh121]

This is strange.
My Star was made in 2014. It is not thin. Normal HH, very beautiful, dense but flexible.



Is it now something changed ...

That's mine. I would rather believe it's counterfeit

 

[Technonut]

That's mine. I would rather believe it's counterfeit

Actually, it looks pretty good to me. More original wartime A-2's were of thin hides like above, than the thicker most associate with an A-2. It was designed as a Summer flight jacket after all... more or less a tough, leather windbreaker.

EDIT: I'll bet it would have looked pretty damn awesome after a couple year's of wear...

 

[Flightengineer]

It is difficult to estimate the thickness from the photo.In any case, of course, the choice is yours.

My personal jacket corresponds to what is written on Eastmans website (about the military specification and about the thickness and weight). I like it. Excellent jacket, pretty leather, beautifully growing old.



And this beautiful smell of leather ... I adore it.

 

[nick123]

That Star is not a counterfeit. Rather, it is a seemingly thinner, but accurate A-2 weight leather Eastman uses. 2.5oz I think. This issue has been raised before; another member had the same reaction, wondering if he’d been ripped off as his jacket felt thinner than the thicker ones he’d owned. Not to worry. It’s intentional and the horse is strong.

 

[Hh121]

That Star is not a counterfeit. Rather, it is a seemingly thinner, but accurate A-2 weight leather Eastman uses. 2.5oz I think. This issue has been raised before; another member had the same reaction, wondering if he’d been ripped off as his jacket felt thinner than the thicker ones he’d owned. Not to worry. It’s intentional and the horse is strong.

My house a2 is 3.5 lbs, and this one is only a touch over 2lbs

 

[Flightengineer]

Gentlemen, you force me to go and to weigh my Star while I'm still at home

 

[Flightengineer]

My house a2 is 3.5 lbs, and this one is only a touch over 2lbs

It seems I'm beginning to understand why you returned it.
My Star weight is 1.7 kg or 3.75 lbs for size 40.

2lbs - it is less than 0.9 kg....my goatskin AVI A2 weighs more.
With your Star something really wrong ... it should not be so lightweight.

 

[JMax]

Or @Hh121 needs a new scale

 

[Technonut]

Damn.. Got me at it. Interesting, my Morgan weighs more at a bit over 3.75lbs than my Shinki Good Wear RW at a hair over 3.5lbs.

I do know that I remember seeing more than a few Eastman's with the thinner hides. One A-2 in a thin Warhorse caught my attention in particular.. Had almost a marbled grain to it, VERY nice. I also have seen many group pics of airmen wearing their just-issued A-2's, and the drape & creasing in many appear to be of thinner hides. I know most paying the kind of $$ premium makers command wouldn't like receiving a jacket of thinner hides for the cost, but from what I understand, is accurate in many originals.

If I had the disposable income, I wouldn't mind having one with a nice finish like above in a thinner hide.. Over time, it would develop into one helluva nice A-2 I'm sure..

EDIT: OT, but speaking of 'thinner' HH, I just blinked this morning, and missed this pretty sweet seal-brown US Authentic custom civvie AN-J-3 kind of jacket, with a very 'Dubowesque' collar. It was in fantastic condition, and only went for $165.00 USD.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-AUTHENT...XqX0NWacVjddqH5GfQlQo%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

 

[Hh121]

It seems I'm beginning to understand why you returned it.
My Star weight is 1.7 kg or 3.75 lbs for size 40.

2lbs - it is less than 0.9 kg....my goatskin AVI A2 weighs more.
With your Star something really wrong ... it should not be so lightweight.

Anybody touched that jacket don't need scale, I never see any leather jacket can be that thin and light, more like faux leather weight

 

[Flightengineer]

That Star is not a counterfeit. Rather, it is a seemingly thinner, but accurate A-2 weight leather Eastman uses. 2.5oz I think. This issue has been raised before; another member had the same reaction, wondering if he’d been ripped off as his jacket felt thinner than the thicker ones he’d owned. Not to worry. It’s intentional and the horse is strong.

Interestingly, but I now see information about the specification and leather thikness only on the HPA site now " Correct USAAF spec. 3-ounce weight, vegetable-tanned horsehide leather outer shell dyed in a gorgeous dark brown aniline finish"

https://www.historypreservation.com...-jacket-star-sportswear-co-contract-no-28857/

and on the Eastman site there is no more about the thickness.

https://www.eastmanleather.com/type-star-sportswear-contract-28557-p-163.html

But it seems to me that it was there earlier, if I do not confuse anything.

 

[tmitchell59]

Should be here tomorrow. Seller calls it steerhide. I don't see a label, but it does look like steer. Maybe a 38, will know tomorrow.

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