Show Me Your Jacket Accoutrements

[HoosierDaddy]

Drilled the ivory dice(for the jacket and my bike) myself and fed leather zip pull down throught the hole. Easy to do.



Four set of dice on front pouch under the head light....

 

[rocketeer]

I have always decorated my zippers with pulls etc, usually just to make the zips easier to pull up. So here are a few on some modern and some older jackets.
1st Up, this Capri souvenir on my Lucky 7 Seven A2, I have not seen one of these here so thought it would make a change from the usual bells.

Also attached to the zip pull, a miniature cola bottle, any idea of age? it looks very old.

On My Aero Highwayman, some pre-war French centime coins

A Portuguese cockerel worn on my Dianese jacket on my 3765 mile tour of France, Spain and on to Portugal this year. It is just the talisman from a holiday key ring

An old Watneys barrel on my Eastman B3.

Awaiting a jacket, this Jack o Lantern, something I found in the street.

A railway button from the 1960s attached to my badge display jacket(as well as the usual Esso figurine)

Hope you like them J

 

[nick123]

For all of the diehards:

 

[IXL]

Thanks much for posting these! I think you guys will flip when you see the patch I'm having done! Keep 'em coming.

I just got in, and saw the patch, Nick. It will be pretty cool!

 

[Joao Encarnado]

A Portuguese cockerel worn on my Dianese jacket on my 3765 mile tour of France, Spain and on to Portugal this year. It is just the talisman from a holiday key ring

From Barcelos, near Braga, near Oporto.

 

[Big J]

Here's where mine came from

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A-2-Flight-Jacket-G-1-Flight-Jacket-Zipper-Pull-Double-Dice-/390909860213

Brilliant! Thank you for posting that- I was just thinking that some dice on the puller of one of my VN G-1's would be awesome!

 

[Big J]

Recently Eastman's new biker label has a selection of trinkets, and whilst the only jewelry I wear is my wedding ring, I was thinking about getting one and breaking it up to attach to the pullers of different A-2's.

 

[scotrace]

Bullet zip pull from Pacific theater. Engraved..' Japanese Prisoner of War..DMOP 3-23-42'.

Wow!

 

[Edward]

Some really nice stuff here. I'd love to see some photos of the jackets as a whole, see 'em in context. I've long tended towrds keeping my jackets fairly plain/stock, though a while back I picked up a used Johnson D pocket that has a few rhinestones here and there (especially on the belt) as added by a previous owner, and a few other bits. Somewhere I have a handful of old Chinese coins with the hole in 'em. Probably repros, as I picked them up cheap in a Beijing street market, but they look the part. Eventually those will go on my planned AVG project jacket for a zip pull.

Recently Eastman's new biker label has a selection of trinkets, and whilst the only jewelry I wear is my wedding ring, I was thinking about getting one and breaking it up to attach to the pullers of different A-2's.

Yeah, did you look at the price of those? Jinkies. Look nice, but they're a serious chunk of money.

 

[Big J]

Some really nice stuff here. I'd love to see some photos of the jackets as a whole, see 'em in context. I've long tended towrds keeping my jackets fairly plain/stock, though a while back I picked up a used Johnson D pocket that has a few rhinestones here and there (especially on the belt) as added by a previous owner, and a few other bits. Somewhere I have a handful of old Chinese coins with the hole in 'em. Probably repros, as I picked them up cheap in a Beijing street market, but they look the part. Eventually those will go on my planned AVG project jacket for a zip pull.




Yeah, did you look at the price of those? Jinkies. Look nice, but they're a serious chunk of money.

They sure are expensive, which I why I haven't bought any.
The Chinese coins is a nice idea!

 

[Worf]

Here's where mine came from

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A-2-Flight-Jacket-G-1-Flight-Jacket-Zipper-Pull-Double-Dice-/390909860213

That's cool as hell. But I'd have to use something stronger than that chain to keep it from pulling off.

Worf

 

[Edward]

They sure are expensive, which I why I haven't bought any.
The Chinese coins is a nice idea!

I've seen it done on original AVG/CBI jackets, which is where I got the idea... heck of a lot cheaper than the ELMC stuff! Worth seeking out if you make a hop over to Beijing at all, you'll find them in any tourist tat market. Should still be able to haggle half a dozen for a dollar or less. I suspect mine are made of stamped brass; no idea what the originals were, but these certainly look the part.

 

[rocketeer]

Some really nice stuff here. I'd love to see some photos of the jackets as a whole, see 'em in context. I've long tended towrds keeping my jackets fairly plain/stock, though a while back I picked up a used Johnson D pocket that has a few rhinestones here and there (especially on the belt) as added by a previous owner, and a few other bits. Somewhere I have a handful of old Chinese coins with the hole in 'em. Probably repros, as I picked them up cheap in a Beijing street market, but they look the part. Eventually those will go on my planned AVG project jacket for a zip pull.




Yeah, did you look at the price of those? Jinkies. Look nice, but they're a serious chunk of money.

Hi, did you mean my bits n pieces Edward? i posted the pics like this so really people could see the pullers etc and didnt want to bore members with yet another view of a Highwayman or my old A2 jacket.

But maybe the bike jacket deserves a viewing.
I bought this old 1950s-60s ket jacket purely as a means to display some old biker badges and patches etc.
The jacket is not really wearable as the zip has teeth missing on pockets and main zip in more than one place, the lining is a satin gold cloth but not nylon but the leather facing is so fragile that whenever I pin another badge to the jacket it sometimes simply pulls through.
I thought this a better way to display pin badges rather than in a display case, most are from the era 1960-70s when this jacket would have been worn, it hangs on a hanger in my garage so anyone can view it.

The Chinese coins seem a great idea for an AVG jacket. I got the idea for my French coins from a guy who had a bunch of Japanese coins on his A2, but I would not have the bullet on a jacket if I was using an air service as they like to use any excuse to show that they have the power to refuse you to fly and may class it as ammunition.
All these do make a change from the usual rescue whistles that may hit you on the chin if you need to run wearing your jacket

Keep em coming now.

 

[Otter]

RAF escape whistle usually to be found on one of my sheepskins, a pre war centime on one of my European A-2's and a bomb safety tag on my CBI A-2.

 

[rocketeer]

RAF escape whistle usually to be found on one of my sheepskins, a pre war centime on one of my European A-2's and a bomb safety tag on my CBI A-2.

Got any pics? I found the bomb tags from Paddy a little bulky, excellent for pulling a zip with gloves on mind, but I took a chunk out of the paint on my fridge putting on an A2 one time.

 

[Edward]

Hi, did you mean my bits n pieces Edward? i posted the pics like this so really people could see the pullers etc and didnt want to bore members with yet another view of a Highwayman or my old A2 jacket.

But maybe the bike jacket deserves a viewing.

It really does! I think htere's a few jackets I'd like to see the bits in context, but this one in particular was a draw. Reminds me a lot of the British jackets of the 'Rocker' heyday... a very full-on look, much more accesorised and customised than anything I've seen anywhere else, outside of some corners of the punk rock world. There's the metal thing, of course, but that seems to me rooted in the Rocker look. I suppose to some degree the punk vibe, at least those who took the jacket decoration to extremes, comes back ot the rocker thing too.

That old jacket is a superb display spot for those badges - definitely looks better than a case, and also gives purpose to an old jacket that sounds like it isn't wearable anymore. Good move all round.

The whole rocker vibe of heavily decorated jackets always reminds me of Tim Curry's old Lewis Plainsman, which he most famously sported on stage and later screen as Doctor Frank'n'Furter, though it was his own personal jacket at the time:

In all my years on active duty in the Fishnet Army, I never quite managed to replicate that jacket (I have an 'inspired by' version that I used to wear when I performed, themed around Bettie Page), though I did pick up a fair few of the correct badges and patches (including the very hard to find Hells Angels patch). Still got a bit of a hankering to do it one day.... Lewis are now beyond what I can justify for a jacket I'd never wear other than as part of a costume (the fringing, the Union Flag, and the swastika preclude me being comfortable with wearing that out casually... Mostly the fringing, though)... but I see Magnoli has done a version that comes prestudded and chained - all I'd need to add would be patches and pins.... hmmn....

Part of me has long been tempted to pick up a cheaper, seocnd hand jacket - maybe one of the many decent-enough Seventies Lightning copies - and give it a bit of a Rocker make-over. something from Camden market (well... what's left of it) for thirty quid, which I wouldn't mind sticking badges in... The other one I've long been tempted by is a Perfecto style, onto which I could have the Ramones Seal airbrushed, but that's a whole nother ballgame...

The Chinese coins seem a great idea for an AVG jacket. I got the idea for my French coins from a guy who had a bunch of Japanese coins on his A2, but I would not have the bullet on a jacket if I was using an air service as they like to use any excuse to show that they have the power to refuse you to fly and may class it as ammunition.
All these do make a change from the usual rescue whistles that may hit you on the chin if you need to run wearing your jacket

Ha! They do that.

 

[Otter]

Got any pics? I found the bomb tags from Paddy a little bulky, excellent for pulling a zip with gloves on mind, but I took a chunk out of the paint on my fridge putting on an A2 one time.

Probably the same batch then! Mine came from Aero about 8 years ago when that bunch or repos were doing the rounds.

 

[scotrace]

Sterling silver lucky bell from Capri on my Eastman 1401-P.

 

[rocketeer]

I'm not sure if the Hells Angel patch is official and I will try to explain why.
The Hells Angels bike club have no problem with aviation items connected with either the film with Ben Lyon and Jean Harlow or the 303rd Bomb group aircraft of the same name, but are notorious for protecting their trademark insignia and name when anything concerning motorcycles comes along.
Now, some years back I had a sticker version of this patch, there is also an enamel badge. I just used it as a bookmark as I thought it was a little dodgy to try to sell the sticker. Then, reading a book entitled "Buttons the making of a President", [Of the English Hells Angels] by Jamie Mandelkau, contained an photograph of a bike club member bearing a tattoo with this winged skull motif as on your patch and my sticker, so I thought it may be ok to sell the sticker.
I put it up for sale on the dreaded ebay and it was there for a couple of days when I received a polite email from ebay saying the trademark owner had asked for this item to be removed as it was not part of their official regailia. But, a Canadian biker collector did contact me off ebay and offer me £20 for this simple 3inch sticker, adding that he paid the best prices around for offcial patch club memorabilia which is virtually non existent.

I think these patches and stickers etc were popular with bikers back in the 1970s as the Hells Angels were a bit of a novelty, often in the news for making mischief here in the UK. On Tv a few documentories were made and also a lot of cheap pulp novels around featuring outlaw bikers, I even shared a few beers with Hells Angels at biker parties back in the 70s though now all the patch clubs tend to be a little aloof with us normal bikers.
cheers, John.

 

[Edward]

It's a patch that has been much debated over the years for those very reasons. To the best of my understanding, at one time that particular design was legit (though a memorabilia thing, never colours... tim was no Walter Mitty!), but any versions of it you see nowadays are copies. The Angels have very strong legal representation and are extremely quick off the mark with legal protection of their Registered Trade Marks, so any time repros of this appear online, they get shut down fast (it's happened a few times within the Rocky Horror community, as there have been a handful of people over the years dedicated to reproducing the hard-to-find and oop bits and bobs on that jacket... You think the A2 hardcore in these parts are bad, you've seen nothing til you've seen Rocky Horror folks in full on costume details mode...). I can understand it, really - doubly so with anything that looks like colours.

Actually, a few years ago, the owners of the rights in The Warriors did a run of merchandise including pleather waistcoats bearing the Warriors' colours; the Angels via their lawyers them to remove these from sale as the winged skull was too close to their registered marks and designs. Darryl in The Walking Dead wears what are clearly meant to be colours on his leather 'vest' - two big angel wings. Complete absence of skull, though - I'm sure the legal department went over that one.

Fascinating people, patch clubs, though a lot of them are pretty scary too... I think the novelty status of the Angels disappeared completely in more recent years when they were implicated in executions and the likes.

As for your sticker, I'd have been very tempted to take twenty quid for that one myself - as long as I thought it couldn't be traced back to me....