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The short jacket thread

tmitchell59

I'll Lock Up
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jeo

Call Me a Cab
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You can see the RMC at 6 minute mark. The jacket in the picture is a California Sportswear, cape skin.

That vintage Californian with the small collar is grail worthy imo.

Yes, I’ve seen those videos. I scour yahoo auctions japan everyday in hopes of finding that RMC.

And that Alexanders is super cool. I eventually want something like this. Out of all these styles I’ve seen, I like the Freewheelers sunset the most.

fa01e78a1f780e6c4a8e92bd1b7fb0f5.jpg



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Edward

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Captain America jacket??? Or this must be the jacket they copied for the movie!

OP confirmed above it's an Alexander Leathers, so it'll be a direct copy of the Captain America jacket. The Captain America jacket was an Aero Bootlegger with modification to the pocket spec; AL also made a Bootlegger in their early range to the same Aero pattern (no idea if Simmon Bilt carry the model on now). Wested also do their own take on the Captain America jacket.
 
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View attachment 152288

Now here’s a short jacket. Thoughts?

That guy is a bit too tall for it so it appears small but it is a vintage (European, if I'm not mistaken) racing jacket which did fit really tight and often short like that. Okay, maybe not that short but these jackets are super short because they're just a part of a motorcycle suit.
 

Gamma68

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That guy is a bit too tall for it so it appears small but it is a vintage (European, if I'm not mistaken) racing jacket which did fit really tight and often short like that. Okay, maybe not that short but these jackets are super short because they're just a part of a motorcycle suit.

It makes sense that this jacket would have been part of a racing suit. The sleeves aren't terribly short. The image I found of this jacket only notes that it's "Swedish leather."
 

Gamma68

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It's the snug waist which makes this jacket work so well.

While all the jacket's TM posted look great on him, the only one that appears short in the photos is the Windward, the one he moved on that was too small for him at size 40.

To my eye, it appears easier to get away with a short jacket when it isn't snug at the waist, thus showing exactly where it hits (at or above the belt line). I don't think any of the jackets TM showed were belted. If they measured short for him, that small gap at the waist makes a difference.

Even Michael A's jacket in one of the first posts in this thread is without a belt.

I returned the Windward I recently picked up. Just too short. Too bad, because it fit everywhere else. I can't justify buying a pair of high-rise trousers to make a jacket work. It reeked of cigarettes and mothballs and had some undisclosed damage anyway.

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11.jpg
 

Sloan1874

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My shortest jacket is a cafe racer at 24.5 inches at the back; the front is shorter and that is where the problem is. I did inform Aero that I'd look odd in a jacket shorter than a Highwayman and was reassured that the cafe racer jacket would be long enough, but it isn't at the front. The way that I compensate for it is by yoinking my jeans up so that the length looks tolerable and it sorta works. Oddly, some people have complimented me on it, but most tell me it's a bit short. I'd not buy a cafe racer jacket from Aero again, although the other styles that I bought from them have all been great. The cafe racer is more of an effort to make 'look right' than any other item of clothing I own- it's both too short and too tight, even if I've lost significant weight due to rowing, swimming, etc., and is mainly worn in warmer weather (although I feel embarrassed about it after a day of wearing it...). It just about covers my belt in the morning and hits it by about 2 PM. Jackets that are shorter would need to be that way for a definite industrial function, and I'd only wear them for that function- much above the belt and people look jammed into the jackets, like those cartoons where someone is wearing a short cardboard box after losing clothing.

Funnily enough, I tried on an Aero CR and it didn’t suit me at all. It was as if my body shape just was wrong for it. I’ll stick to my slightly longer tapered Board Racer.
 
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So Monitor
You seem to be saying that racing suit trousers fit way up above the naval so the jacket in question balances out and then doesn't appear as a child's jacket on a grown man. Do you have any photos that may illustrate this phenomenon ?
Thanks
HD
 
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16,842
So Monitor
You seem to be saying that racing suit trousers fit way up above the naval so the jacket in question balances out and then doesn't appear as a child's jacket on a grown man. Do you have any photos that may illustrate this phenomenon ?
Thanks
HD

European professional racing jackets do - or used to - fit like that, but taking the fit out of context like that, well, of course it'd appear silly worn causally on a pair of jeans but that's not really how it's meant to be worn. These jackets are a part of a leather suit. But yeah, it's actually an optimal fit for a pro motorcyclist. There are many examples all over the net.

Vanson has their entire Sportrider line which is all very similar albeit a bit boxier. But these are all extremely short, at 22", 23" back or even less.

Then there are Dainese, Alpinestars, etc. which still stick to the this cut...


And then you've got vintage leather suits...
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DAINESE-Vintage-2-Piece-Leather-Suit-Jacket-Trousers.jpg



Borje+Jansson-Jarno+Saarinen-Kent+Andersson-Oldebroek+1972.jpg



italian-road-racer-giacomo-agostini-practising-at-silverstone-uk-20th-picture-id656213753
 
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Chicago
In most cases the jacket zipped onto the pants. They weren’t meant to be worn separately. That’s why the jackets alone look so ridiculous. And I do think they look silly apart and only good together if you’re on a track earning $$. Here’s one that Vanson still offers. It zips together as well. I believe this is so it can be be taken on and off a bit easier and wear to critical points can be repaired with greater ease than a one piece suit.
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zebedee

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Shanghai
So, we're saying that unless you're very lucky, short jackets make you look like a social outcast?

I can see that.
 

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