Salv
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,247
- Location
- Just outside London
Which is your favourite?
McGregor have been in business since 1921 and the Drizzler was originally introduced in 1947. It was recently relaunched with promotional material accentuating the jackets history:
The new Drizzlers are still 100% cotton, but they now have a checked lining (also 100% cotton) with a plain nylon sleeve lining and an internal pocket, but are essentially unchanged. One of the first items of vintage clothing I ever had was a light blue 50's Drizzler that I 'liberated' from my dads wardrobe.
The Barracuta G-9 has a slightly longer history, being first produced in 1937 in Manchester. In the UK it became the jacket of choice for skinheads in the early 70's, after being sold at one of the most influential clothes shops in London, The Ivy Shop in Richmond, which specialised in classic US fashion. The owner of the Ivy Shop, John Simons, called it the Harrington, after Ryan O'Neals character Rodney Harrington in Peyton Place who wore one, and the name stuck. There are now many rip-offs of the design to be found all over the UK, but John Simons still sells the original G9 in his shop in Covent Garden, alongside US labels such as Bills Khakis, Spiewak, Pendleton, Woolrich, Bass and Florsheim. (The shop is always my first stop if I'm shopping for shoes.)
Drizzlers retail at about $85.00 but brand new jackets with tags can be found on eBay for $19.00 in four different colours. Brand new G9s can be bought directly from Baracuta for ?Ǭ£135.00 in the UK and around $195 from various retailers in the US.
Personally I prefer the Drizzler. I like the rounded square design of the pockets, and prefer the buttoned cuffs and the elasticated waist on the Drizzler to the knitted cuffs and knitted waistband on the G9. Plus there's the nostalgia factor - my dad wore a Drizzler in the 50's - and the fact that the generic "Harrington" is very common in the UK, and G9 copies can be seen in every high street in the country.
So, over to you...
McGregor have been in business since 1921 and the Drizzler was originally introduced in 1947. It was recently relaunched with promotional material accentuating the jackets history:
The new Drizzlers are still 100% cotton, but they now have a checked lining (also 100% cotton) with a plain nylon sleeve lining and an internal pocket, but are essentially unchanged. One of the first items of vintage clothing I ever had was a light blue 50's Drizzler that I 'liberated' from my dads wardrobe.
The Barracuta G-9 has a slightly longer history, being first produced in 1937 in Manchester. In the UK it became the jacket of choice for skinheads in the early 70's, after being sold at one of the most influential clothes shops in London, The Ivy Shop in Richmond, which specialised in classic US fashion. The owner of the Ivy Shop, John Simons, called it the Harrington, after Ryan O'Neals character Rodney Harrington in Peyton Place who wore one, and the name stuck. There are now many rip-offs of the design to be found all over the UK, but John Simons still sells the original G9 in his shop in Covent Garden, alongside US labels such as Bills Khakis, Spiewak, Pendleton, Woolrich, Bass and Florsheim. (The shop is always my first stop if I'm shopping for shoes.)
Drizzlers retail at about $85.00 but brand new jackets with tags can be found on eBay for $19.00 in four different colours. Brand new G9s can be bought directly from Baracuta for ?Ǭ£135.00 in the UK and around $195 from various retailers in the US.
Personally I prefer the Drizzler. I like the rounded square design of the pockets, and prefer the buttoned cuffs and the elasticated waist on the Drizzler to the knitted cuffs and knitted waistband on the G9. Plus there's the nostalgia factor - my dad wore a Drizzler in the 50's - and the fact that the generic "Harrington" is very common in the UK, and G9 copies can be seen in every high street in the country.
So, over to you...
