Vintage Photos of Leather Jackets

[cordwangler]

a break away from the bloody silly costumes the hated English designed for their romanticised "Highlander".

Swerving off-topic:

It would be a fairly hefty, not to mention precipitous, revisionist step to take, to lay the blame for the invention of The Highlander entirely at the door of The English. Scottish aristocrats and England-dwelling Scots social/cultural/business influencers played a large part in this romantic venture.

And the biggest fan of the Highland image, Victoria - and her lot - was more German than English.

1/2 Scot, me - part Highlands.

 

[Capesofwrath]

Walter Scott had a lot to do with all that romantic highlander schmalz.

Difficult to picture from this distance just how famous he was and how wildly popular his books were then.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

You're right, of course. After Union, there were a very large number of different groups who coalesced to subjugate, one facet of such was the creation of the quaint be-tartanned "Scot". That this caricature (of a character who, following the Jacobite uprising, was largely despised for his brutal treatment of locals on his march south with the ridiculous Italian Princelet) has been embraced by the Scottish people themselves is disturbing beyond words.

Part Highlands, mostly lowlands here, and while a nationalist, not irrationally so (in the same way that I supported the free dissolution of Czechoslovakia and the reunification of Germany: by the free will of the people, not by Government diktat or "Act of Union").

Swerving off-topic:

It would be a fairly hefty, not to mention precipitous, revisionist step to take, to lay the blame for the invention of The Highlander entirely at the door of The English. Scottish aristocrats and England-dwelling Scots social/cultural/business influencers played a large part in this romantic venture.

And the biggest fan of the Highland image, Victoria - and her lot - was more German than English.

1/2 Scot, me - part Highlands.

 

[Edward]

According to Aero's site and writing about the HB:



So using the US inflation calculator The 1939 price is $133.91 in today's dollars, and the 1959 is $223.91. The originals weren't made of expensive CXL of course.

It's fairly easy to find the average US wage for those dates, and then adjust for inflation.

The cost which has risen most for things made in the first world is labour of course. Which is why European and US made stuff has risen so much, and so much offshoring of manufacturing has taken place. Cheap goods has also led to a disposable attitude toward products which was not the case then.

I'd love to see a detailed crunching of the numbers on this sort of thing - I often wonder how far labour costs have truly risen, in real terms, and how often it has far more to do with the fact that they have become more expensive relative to the fact that it became practical to manufacture more cheaply elsewhere in the world, as globalisation happened. That said, of course, we'd also have to compare like for like - a mass-produced Sears jacket (even if markedly better than the semi-disposable modern fashion equivalent) isn't really directly comparable to a niche luxury good, which the likes of Aero or ELC or Lost Worlds or whoever else produce today. Economies of scale come into play.

Leather jacket on the female motorcyclist on the right

She looks fantastic. I really like the wool jacket on the man with her too.

Their popularity is not reflected in how commonly we find them. Typically they were made of sheep/lamb skin or thin calf. Most of the examples I find (I think I've owned 15 or so, and only 3 or 4 wearable) are completely trashed. First scuff against a wall and the leather shreds badly.

The modern equivalent, fashion leathers on sale via the likes of Grattans and GUS in the mid-nineties were exactly the same, too. I don't imagine many of those have lasted long either.

If you try Old Town (Holt, Norfolk http://www.old-town.co.uk) they have a variety of similarly-styled trousers. I have several pairs: High Rise, Vauxhalls and Dreadnoughts (along with waistcoats and jackets) and I swear by them for everyday wear - extremely well tailored.

Cracking stuff- yet to buy myself, but I know a lot of folks who wear a lot of OT. I hope he's serious about getting into some Thirties (maybe Forties!) styles too. If only he'd produce a four-pocket waistcoat... that's a real ommission in the current line.

And cool and unusual shoes on both of them

I'd have initially assumed those shoes on the right were a mid-Fifties, rockabilly thing... That said, looking again at the very square toe-shape and chunky sole (it looks like), I've seen co-respondents so proportioned from, if memory serves, the early mid-Thirties. I think they look great!

BK: the kilt and leather jacket combination makes me think of the modern/traditional combination that gets pushed by shops in Glasgow (kilt, leather jkt, t-shirt etc) but which you never actually see anyone wearing.

Outside of fitba fans and weddings, has anyone every actually seen a Scot in a kilt at all? A rare thing indeed.

Like the J-P Gaultier leather kilts. A nice idea and a good attempt to get men wearing something other than trousers, but fell flat on its face.

Dear me, no. A very bad idea. Even allowing for my natural prejudice against Axl Rose...

I'm not a fan of the modern trend for a kilt with big worker boots, kilt socks and laced-front shirt, but at least it's a break away from the bloody silly costumes the hated English designed for their romanticised "Highlander".

Shamefully, I like quite a lot of Highland dress. Never cared for the Ghillie brogues, though... A bit too ballet for my tastes. The black tie version I like, at least. The more formal (and almost never seen, apart from on Sean Connery, of course) white lace jabot business.... eh, it's a bit shortbread tin for me. Not that trying to look like the fella off the Porridge Oats ad is any better, mind.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

German, 1930s. From an album I found on the fleamarket.

 

[Dinerman]

 

[Dinerman]

Button front with knit collar (forerunner to the military A-1)

 

[Dinerman]

 

[devilish]

Everything about this young lady pretty much rules.

And these two lads have more style than 98% of the adults I know.

 

[Two Types]

From 'The Woman in Question' (1950):

 

[handymike]

The one on the motorbike looks a lot like my LVC Menlo Cossack!

 

[Edward]

Everything about this young lady pretty much rules.

Doesn't she just!

And these two lads have more style than 98% of the adults I know.

I love how what I take to be little brother isn't quite so sure in front of the camera as elder sibling, who knows how to pose! Wish my nephew was keen to dress like that...

 

[Stearmen]

I am surprised, know one has posted the most iconic vintage jacket of them all!

 

[Seb Lucas]

That film is so dated it has become one of my favorite comedies.

 

[thor]

A-1 style jacket worn by marine salvage worker aboard wreck of SS Morro Castle, 1934.

 

[regius]

This is a screen shot I took while watching this 50s? documentary on the Inuits. The family went to the village store to trade, surprisingly, the store owner wears what seems to be an A2!

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[buler]

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

From another photo album I found on the fleamarket (in germany)

 

[hpalapdog]

I'd love to see a detailed crunching of the numbers on this sort of thing - I often wonder how far labour costs have truly risen, in real terms, and how often it has far more to do with the fact that they have become more expensive relative to the fact that it became practical to manufacture more cheaply elsewhere in the world.

In the 1954 issue of cycle magazine there is a mail order ad for a Trojan horsehide motorcycle jacket. It's priced at $34.95. During the same year average income was $2300
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...EIaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hyMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3044,5950263
Lets round that to the jacket being a 66th of annual income.

A Lost Worlds Trojan today costs $1250
http://www.lostworldsinc.com/Leather_Motorcycle_Jacket_Trojan_Horsehide.htm
Average gross income is $47000 so a jacket is a 38th.
So, circa 74% more expensive today for the same jacket.

Other jackets though, for example the Alexander Roadster HH, are selling for between £300 and £500 GBP, which possibly makes them the same or cheaper than past eras.

 

[Two Types]

Dirk Bogarde in the 1952 film Hunted: