So I was chatting with some girl online...

[Otter]

Was she going for a TecNoir William Gibson type look ?

 

[Big J]

The key is the fit. Too big, and you look like you're wearing an olive.

Whilst the mating habits of the Big J must remain a secret, I can say that your fit comment is incisive. I think that because these are short jackets, the uninitiated choose to wear them too baggy as they attempt to get a back-length that they think appropriate. It's important to be in pretty good shape to make most flight jackets look good, but with these very short jackets, any paunch will just make you look like you're wearing a jacket a size too small. I suffer.

 

[Monitor]

I'm still reeling from this (@_@)
I'd have let her have both barrels for that, and ''Good riddance to you madam!'' (or rather, given that it was Halloween, made the sign of the cross, rubbed her down with a clove of garlic, and splashed her all over with holy water).
Your self-control is to be admired.

lol Big J, but in her defense, it is entirely possible that perhaps she didn't want to come off as an insane leather jacket nerd and just used the term most people are familiar with. For any of my Cafe Racer or Perfecto jackets, I just say they're "motorcycle jackets", when someone asks - which doesn't happen a whole lot to begin with. I don't even want to imagine what manner of confusion the word cafe might cause to a normal person, who isn't familiar with the term. Hell, I'm not sure if I'd like it if a if the girl I was chatting to suddenly went on about the... I don't know, war-time, post service... patch placement on an A2. That's what I have you guys for. <3

 

[Big J]

lol Big J, but in her defense, it is entirely possible that perhaps she didn't want to come off as an insane leather jacket nerd and just used the term most people are familiar with. For any of my Cafe Racer or Perfecto jackets, I just say they're "motorcycle jackets", when someone asks - which doesn't happen a whole lot to begin with. I don't even want to imagine what manner of confusion the word cafe might cause to a normal person, who isn't familiar with the term. Hell, I'm not sure if I'd like it if a if the girl I was chatting to suddenly went on about the... I don't know, war-time, post service... patch placement on an A2. That's what I have you guys for. <3

For real. Maybe she was downplaying her jacket addiction?

 

[Doctor Damage]

Big J is in Japan and comparing his seduction techniques with my (limited) knowledge of Japanese porn, it sounds like he's gone native...

 

[Doctor Damage]

MA-1 jackets were bomber jackets in the sense that plenty of USAF aircrews wore them while flying bombers.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Did she look like this?

 

[nick123]

No guys. She actually looked good in it. Not some superficial runway model vibe.

Anyhow, idc about dating anymore because I contemplating a new jacket to buy ASAP. Lol

 

[nick123]

MA-1 jackets were bomber jackets in the sense that plenty of USAF aircrews wore them while flying bombers.

That's what I was getting at. I had a feeling MA-1s were worn by bomber pilots too, so technically it would be a bomber jacket.

 

[Fanch]

Generally when one makes a joke at someone's expense, everybody is laughing except for one person. Nick, it has been pure fun razzing you on this thread, making jokes at your expense, although I will say you are a guy with broad shoulders who doesn't take offense at being poked in the ribs by the rest of us.

 

[nick123]

Generally when one makes a joke at someone's expense, everybody is laughing except for one person. Nick, it has been pure fun razzing you on this thread, making jokes at your expense, although I will say you are a guy with broad shoulders who doesn't take offense at being poked in the ribs by the rest of us.

No Fanch, 18-18.5" shoulders from seam to seam...not very broad. Like a size 40.

Anyhow, zero offense taken! I hope it was noticed that this thread is an exxaggerated poke of fun at myself, so I'm laughing along with it.

 

[Fanch]

Nick, it is well adjusted guys who are able to laugh at themselves. You are definitely in that category.

 

[Edward]

But yeah, she was aware of the skinhead connotation, which shows some cultural knowledge. She called it a "bomber" jacket, but I didn't say anything. Did SAC guys wear these things on missions?

That's been standard terminology for them for years over here in the UK and Ireland; I think I'd known them as 'nylon bomber jackets' for twenty years before I chanced upon the MA1 nomenclature in a surplus shop.

I know they wore the standard green MA-1 in cold climates. I never saw any pilots wearing a black MA-1, but it has been a while since I was in, and things may have change a bit since then.

When I was growing up, everything in surplus stores came in two colours - green, and black. The black stuff (clothes, not boots) was invariably stuff that had been mass-overdyed by wholesalers after purchase from the military - partly a fashion option, and partly- I always suspected - to hide any stains that they couln't get out of an otherwise fine garment. When the nylon bomber jackets started being produced directly for the civilian market, I assume they just started doing them in black as another alternative; I also used to see them in burgundy and navy. Always with the orange lining. Presumably that lining became a fashionable element of its own later on, as you see it in so many civilian versions of military nylons that never had it - like the N3B, for example.

As for MA-1 jackets, I agree. I didn't see the appeal for a really long time, and then just last year saw two originals in my size and bought them both. They are great and I love them.

Funny how things grow on you, isn't it? I didn't like Irvins much before I came here, then Ma1s grew on me.... bow ties outside black/white tie... there's a lot of stuff I love now in which I wasn't interested a few years ago. The most recent thing like that for me was the N3B. Wasn't a fan until not long before I bouhgt one, now I adore it.... (just acheap civilian version with the orange lining, but fantastic in the Winter!).

 

[Big J]

Edward, there's a lot of stuff I think is cool now that I never would have liked before. I guess I just didn't understand some things right until I got good info from other Lounge members. Then I could appreciate them.

 

[Sloan1874]

The odd thing is that, the more you know about the origins of designs and styles, it makes you shy away from the high street designs.

 

[Big J]

The odd thing is that, the more you know about the origins of designs and styles, makes you shy away from the high street designs.

True. I feel like I've been inducted into a 'secret society' that knows 'the truth' about the fashion industry.

 

[Edward]

Edward, there's a lot of stuff I think is cool now that I never would have liked before. I guess I just didn't understand some things right until I got good info from other Lounge members. Then I could appreciate them.

I think it's exactly that. Seeing the purpose behind the design, the how and why, really does give a new appreciation.

The odd thing is that, the more you know about the origins of designs and styles, it makes you shy away from the high street designs.

Ha, very true.... I think once your eyes are opened to the finer details, well.... it's like when the buy in They Live puts on those sunglasses for the first time...

 

[Stand By]

In a world when meeting people isn't always easy, I just think it's great that one of the good guys managed to break the ice with someone in this way and <blip!> he's on her radar …
Fingers crossed for you, Nick.

 

[Speakeasy]

The odd thing is that, the more you know about the origins of designs and styles, it makes you shy away from the high street designs.

Yep, quality level too. Once you've experienced a quality shirt, jacket, or pair of shoes, there really is no substitute.

 

[tropicalbob]

We're getting rather far from Nick's love-life (the bit about the girl, not the jackets), but this thread has made me realize that I haven't bought anything clothes-wise from a brick-and-mortar in longer than I can remember. Hours wasted at a mall seem like hours I'll regret on my deathbed, and the only other place around here to buy clothes is South Beach, which I avoid at all costs. Besides, it would be absolutely impossible to find anything unique or interesting at those shops that wouldn't have me laughing out loud at the price-tags. And yeah, I suppose I've become a kind of a clothes snob due to the pernicious influence of this forum and a few others.