Spearhead Taxi Driver jacket

[fnoprx]

Spearhead keeps coming out with interesting jackets - their latest is a copy of the Taxi Driver tanker jacket. Looks great - and they even get the quilted lining right! No back stencil, but that should be an easy fix.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Taxi-Driver-Edition-Quilt-Lining-US-Tanker-Jacket-40-/360377648050

I am still a bit doubtful about the quality of their jackets though. Any first hand experiences??

 

[Edward]

OHHHH! WANT! I hear good things about them generally. Wouldn't expect much of their leathers at the price, but I hear their wools etc are good.

BTW, are those sizings not quite the same as US/UK? It looks like I should be considering the 46, where normally I'd be a 42-44. Basing this on chest measurenents, as compared to similar jackets I own.

 

[Gijoe]

Sperhead has a few very stylish Jackets. I got last Week the US Navy Deck Jacket. Not a Museums Quality Replica but a very nice Casual Jacket well sewed , Talon Zipper and strong cotton Fabric . Fits true to ( vintage) sizes. I wear a 42 /44 and ordered a L.
http://cgi.ebay.com/WW2-US-Navy-Win...175?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e7bf3be7



O.k a bit off Topic.....another cool Spearhead jacket the modified Fliegerbluse

 

[Metatron]

Very nice stuff! Are they a Chinese company or do they just outsource there?

 

[Gijoe]

Maybee a outsourcing thats start a own life.

 

[fnoprx]

Thanks for the info and pics Gijoe! Maybe I should order a jacket - the Taxi Driver is really nice (though I already have a tanker jacket), but my current favourite is their wool A-1.

 

[Sgt.MikeHorvath]

hi there,
i had some troubles with their sizes,especially about the lenght of their tanker jackets,they are too short.I purchased a M SIZE and a L size tanker jackets and both theme are too short for me,about 62 and 63 cm,instead i'm about 178 cm tall(not too tall).They reaches above my belt.

 

[Sgt.MikeHorvath]

By the way,if anyone can be interested in,i'm going to sell both theme(tanker jackets FIRST TYPE WITH PATCH POCKETS size M and L),they are absolutely new and never worn.I'll sell theme for a good price.

 

[Edward]

A few weeks ago I bit the bullet and bought one of the Travis Bickle Tanker jackets referred to above. Picked it up from the Post Office this morning (though they had had it for me for about ten days, shipping was about two to three weeks, I believe, which isn't bad). It came in from China, and the communication I had with the seller, which was very sweet if occasionally awkwardly phrased, had all the hallmarks of a Chinese-based operation. Not a thing wrong with that, in my view - the Chinese are, in my experience, adorable people as a rule. Very helpful. I am very pleased with the quality of the jacket. The Talon zip is nice, and the details of the jacket, while not accurate to the military issue item in some respects, are as best as I can make out spot on for the item in the film. Whether it was intended to represent genuine military issue (I understand over the years there has been some debate about whether Travis really was ex-military or simply a fantasist) or not, the one worn by Bobby De Niro was clearly a commercial copy. The quilted, burgundy nylon lining is present and correct. I am especially pleased with this, as any other version I have looked at before with intent to turn into a Bickle jacket has lacked this. Both the patches (wings, plus the King Kong Company badge) are in place on the jacket. This is a distinct bonus, as the cost of buying a cheap, repro tanker and adding the patches (sourced from either eBay or Amazon) would exceed the cot of this jacket plus shipping to the UK by some ten or twenty pounds - and I'd still have the "wrong" lining. The one thing missing from this jacket is the stencilled "Bickle T" on the back. I hope to have this added. While in some respects out of my normal, vintage comfort zone, this is a jacket that will be worn casually with a rockabilly-type vibe, and it will still 'work'. So far I've only tried it on in my office, but it seems nice and warm. Over a shirt, I'd consider it one step up from an A2 in terms of warmth, while maybe not quite as warm as, say, a B15. On the advice of the seller, who informed me that the chest-size given in the auctions refers to the wearer, not the jacket itself, I ordered a 42. I am glad I did - a 44 would have accommodated a heavy sweater with ease, but I wanted this to be worn most often over a flannel shirt or similar (again, think of deNiro's wardrobe i the film as a rough idea). The fit is true to what Bobby wore, or, indeed, what looks standard (or as near to that as you ever get) in its military counterparts. Slightly blousier than an A2, less so than an MA1.Photos to follow at some point....

 

[Feraud]

Looking forward to your pics Edward.

Btw, I've always felt Bickle a fantasist who picked up his jacket in an Army/Navy shop.

 

[Edward]

Looking forward to your pics Edward.

Btw, I've always felt Bickle a fantasist who picked up his jacket in an Army/Navy shop.

That would be the interpretation towards which I would lean too. At a time around Vietnam when the prevailing culture in the US was perhaps considerably less inclined to venerate the military in the way it did before or has often since, it would fit with his outsider persona to be seeing a somewhat warped version of the military mindset as something to which to aspire in the way that he does. I sometimes wonder (although I do doubt this in equal measure) how much of it takes place entirely in his deluded fantasies. Great character.

 

[Sgt.MikeHorvath]

That would be the interpretation towards which I would lean too. At a time around Vietnam when the prevailing culture in the US was perhaps considerably less inclined to venerate the military in the way it did before or has often since, it would fit with his outsider persona to be seeing a somewhat warped version of the military mindset as something to which to aspire in the way that he does. I sometimes wonder (although I do doubt this in equal measure) how much of it takes place entirely in his deluded fantasies. Great character.

Hi there Ed,
i'm very curious to see your pics,especially wearing it.Please,can you tell me about your height?

I'm 178 cm tall,more or less,and i usually dress 42/44 sport jackets(as you do),but my tanker jacket first model in size M(42) is too short for my taste.

Please let me know,i'm considering to buy this taxi driver repro but i fear it could have the same shortness of mine.

Many thanks.


PS:About the movie,if i remember correctly,beginning of it,when trevis goes to the taxi station to enlist as ''taxi driver'',he explain to the recruiter that he was a marine and he returned home from Vietnam in 67'.So he really was a soldier,not a fantasist...at least i think so..

 

[Edward]

Hi there Ed,
i'm very curious to see your pics,especially wearing it.Please,can you tell me about your height?

I'm 178 cm tall,more or less,and i usually dress 42/44 sport jackets(as you do),but my tanker jacket first model in size M(42) is too short for my taste.

Please let me know,i'm considering to buy this taxi driver repro but i fear it could have the same shortness of mine.

Many thanks.

I'm 5'10", which is..... let's see, seventy inches... about 175cm tall. My Spearhead jacket is labelled a 'L'. Pretty good fit. It's ideal for what I wanted, comparing it to the film, though if you wanted to fit more than a thin sweater over a shirt under it, you'd need to be going up a size I should think. As to length, on me it sits the same as an A2 or any other waist-or-thereabouts- leather jacket. IMO, it would depend what you wear with it - low waisted jeans would probably make it look short. It pays to remember that these jackets were originally designed to be worn over a one-piece tanker suit which didn't have the same obvious waist point you get with trousers.

Here are some shots of mine being worn (all self-takies, I'm afraid, so no back-shots, but it's even length back/front).

In terms of a movie-jacket, the quilted body-lining is a really nice touch. Sleeves are lined in the regular wool, which Travis' may or may not have been.

PS:About the movie,if i remember correctly,beginning of it,when trevis goes to the taxi station to enlist as ''taxi driver'',he explain to the recruiter that he was a marine and he returned home from Vietnam in 67'.So he really was a soldier,not a fantasist...at least i think so..

Either that or he's deluded to the point where he'll retell his fantasy life to others, believing it to be true. I like the ambiguity, myself.

 

[Sgt.MikeHorvath]

I'm 5'10", which is..... let's see, seventy inches... about 175cm tall. My Spearhead jacket is labelled a 'L'. Pretty good fit. It's ideal for what I wanted, comparing it to the film, though if you wanted to fit more than a thin sweater over a shirt under it, you'd need to be going up a size I should think. As to length, on me it sits the same as an A2 or any other waist-or-thereabouts- leather jacket. IMO, it would depend what you wear with it - low waisted jeans would probably make it look short. It pays to remember that these jackets were originally designed to be worn over a one-piece tanker suit which didn't have the same obvious waist point you get with trousers.

Here are some shots of mine being worn (all self-takies, I'm afraid, so no back-shots, but it's even length back/front).

In terms of a movie-jacket, the quilted body-lining is a really nice touch. Sleeves are lined in the regular wool, which Travis' may or may not have been.

Thank you for your exhaustive explanation Ed.Besides,a really good fitting.I must conclude that this tanker jacket is too short for my usually wear,couse i dress low waist/at waist trousers or jeans.

However,i remember that BarryLyndon from Spearhead can do some customomized jackets if it's asked,maybe i could order ones a pair of inches longer...

 

[Sgt.MikeHorvath]

I'm 5'10", which is..... let's see, seventy inches... about 175cm tall. My Spearhead jacket is labelled a 'L'. Pretty good fit. It's ideal for what I wanted, comparing it to the film, though if you wanted to fit more than a thin sweater over a shirt under it, you'd need to be going up a size I should think. As to length, on me it sits the same as an A2 or any other waist-or-thereabouts- leather jacket. IMO, it would depend what you wear with it - low waisted jeans would probably make it look short. It pays to remember that these jackets were originally designed to be worn over a one-piece tanker suit which didn't have the same obvious waist point you get with trousers.

Here are some shots of mine being worn (all self-takies, I'm afraid, so no back-shots, but it's even length back/front).

In terms of a movie-jacket, the quilted body-lining is a really nice touch. Sleeves are lined in the regular wool, which Travis' may or may not have been.



Either that or he's deluded to the point where he'll retell his fantasy life to others, believing it to be true. I like the ambiguity, myself.

Thank you for your exhaustive explanation Ed.Besides,a really good fitting.I must conclude that this tanker jacket is too short for my usually wear,couse i dress low waist/at waist trousers or jeans.

However,i remember that BarryLyndon from Spearhead can do some customomized jackets if it's asked,maybe i could order ones a pair of inches longer...

 

[Edward]

If they'll do a longer fitting in the body, that might be your best option.

 

[Sgt.MikeHorvath]

If they'll do a longer fitting in the body, that might be your best option.

yes i agree