Please comment on this coat

[Brian Sheridan]

I am considering buying this coat. The seller had it listed (now down) as a 40s - 50's Western Rockabilly coat. I had one of our arbiters of style, Hemingway Jones, look and he thought late-40's and not too Western. Let me hear it all.
THANKS!

 

[Alucard73]

I don't know anything about dating vintage clothes, but it looks a bit 70's to me. Still a nice jacket.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

That's nice! Not too western at all. I'd buy it if I wasn't afraid of my wife stringin' me up for buying another jacket.

And IMHO it doesn't look very 70's.

 

[rmrdaddy]

Brian,
If it's your size, I say grab it.
I really like the bellows pockets on the front and the bi-swing back gussets. Looks like a bit of a sporting jacket to me, actually. Neat.

 

[Jay]

The lapels look a little 70s, but the slanted breast pocket and sleeve creases say otherwise. I can't date it either but it looks like a really nice coat. I'd go for it, anyhow.

 

[Paisley]

The pocket flaps look western. At least, I've never seen flaps like that on anything that wasn't.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

The pocket flaps look western. At least, I've never seen flaps like that on anything that wasn't.

Pockets on US WWII uniforms often had flaps like that and I don't think anyone really considers them to be "western". I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Feraud]

The lines of this jacket that remind me of Michael Caine from The Italian Job.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

That Caine pic is uncanny....without can! I have emailed the seller to ask him if there is a union label sewn in the pocket. Haven't heard back yet. I can't imagine for the price is selling it to me ($19) that he would have sewn in old labels and try to pass it off as a vintage piece. Those giant winged lapels did raise a flag as a possible late 60's/early 70's coat.

 

[dr greg]

research

Look's 40's to me at an uneducated glance, haver you googled the names on the labels?

 

[Feraud]

That Caine pic is uncanny....without can! I have emailed the seller to ask him if there is a union label sewn in the pocket. Haven't heard back yet. I can't imagine for the price is selling it to me ($19) that he would have sewn in old labels and try to pass it off as a vintage piece. Those giant winged lapels did raise a flag as a possible late 60's/early 70's coat.

Funny you mention the labels. When I look at the Porters label I wonder...

 

[Brian Sheridan]

Amazingly I never googled the labels. Now I did and discovered that the Porter's label IS that store's 1940s label. Apparently, the store is something of a legend. I also found the below linked online "desert" magazine from 1941. I think this internet thing will catch on...it's pretty amazing. LOL

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2095475/194102DesertMagazine1941February

 

[Rittmeister]

This looks like a riding/ranch type jacket from the late 30's or 40's - kind of gentleman rancher not cowboy look. I believe that someone wore one like it in Seabiscuit. The pockets and straight cut bottom suggest a military influence to me, which would have been popular then. In any case, I would buy it if I had the chance. In fact, I am considering having something like it made. Good luck with it.

 

[YETI]

It could be late 40s early 50s. The coat reminds of those whipcord material uniforms.

 

[DerMann]

The lapels remind me of a few coats I've seen from the 1970s, namely the one on Roger Moore from one of the James Bond movies. Cannot recall the particular one, but it was definitely Moore. I don't think it had a bi-swing gusset, but it may have had the button down pockets like that.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

A beautiful example of a 1940s western suit jacket. I thought i saw this one, and it was with a pair of trousers? The waistband treatment will be amazing! Crossed or tunnel belt loops, horizontal pockets, the works.

I have a suit in a very similar style, but without the action back.

People are saying it looks 70s because of the stitching around the edges of the lapels and collar. This is a look that the 70s actively tried to copy, and it's one way to get cheap vintage from the eBay sice many people who don't really know their stuff will shy away from this stuff (the stitching is by no means limited to western wear.).

If nothing else, the labels should certainly tell you this is old.

bk

 

[Paisley]

Pockets on US WWII uniforms often had flaps like that and I don't think anyone really considers them to be "western". I wouldn't worry about it.

That rings a bell, now that you mention it.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Get that coat, man!

When I saw the picture I thought it looked like something a Texas businessman would wear to Town, and I mean that as a positive comment. The lapels look more 40s than 70s. The labels look original.
Then I read $19 and I shouted Buy it!!!!!

 

[dhermann1]

I agree with the baron. The labels themselves, without even looking at the garment, are pure 40's. It looks like something Sky King would have worn on his ranch. A TOTALLY cool jacket.
Also, can you get a shot of how the inside is built, zoomed out from the labels? That should give a solid clue.

 

[Creeping Past]

With the polo illustration on the label, there's a hint of the sporting life... perhaps a US version of British 'country' styling (bellows pockets, shoulder pleats, etc.)

Why wait?!