Your High School Jacket - if you could go back

[AeroFan_07]

I'm eternally grateful to have grown up in the era when nobody had a camera on them at all times and pictures couldn't be shared with the world at the touch of a button!! I have had friends in England who went to schools where they had a dress code rather than a uniform for sixth form. One really interesting instance was a colleague's school where (this back in the early eighties) the sixth formers could go non-uniform (subject to a professional dress code), but it was an earned privilege which could be taken away and them busted back into uniform. I'd have liked that. I do still believe though, the reason I'm as comfortable in a suit and tie as I am now has a lot to do with wearing a collar and tie at school from five to eighteen, and a blazer from twelve to eighteen.

This right here -- +1000 to this comment.

I was a yearbook photographer (volunteer of course) in Sophomore - Senior years and trust me, that alone got me into plenty of mischief. At least it was obvious -- using a film SLR and manually focusing upon everything I took. I seriously cannot imagine this whole culture now while being in High School. Our High School did not have a dress code and most folks wore jeans all the time.

As to my own jackets - mostly all nylon - poly filled overstuffed coats with hoods and the fur around the top. Parka style. I did have a Pioneer seed jacket (bright green) that I wore, and likely some sort of denim. All long outgrown & gone.
Here is the Parka (or one similar):

This is Just like the Pioneer (Seed Company) jacket I also had:

The leather jacket topic - reading these posts, I am reminded again why my mother forbid me to own one. She grew up in the 40's and 50's so would have been in HS right after the time of the Hollywood movies came out. She was very much against that whole trend, and (I suspect) thought if I got into that style of clothing other changes would occur soon afterwards.

That said, when I went to college I was free to choose my clothing as I wanted - I just had to spend my own money on it. I'm sure my first leather jacket made her cringe (way too big, as were all jackets aorund the start of the 1990's) but I did not get a Perfecto style jacket until a few years later. Photos I see of myself in that first jacket make ME cringe today!

 

[Turnip]

That below attached has been the style I used to wear as a kid in winter when the leather has been too cold.

Had to be a bit careful with the color in specific and where to show up with in general.

Green and black were NoGo and red has been tricky too in some edges of the town. So blue has been the only halfway neutral color.

 

[jonbuilder]

I wish I had a high school jacket. I grew up on the San Francisco Peninsula during the 50s and 60s and not extra doe for the MC jackets. now over 70 I do own some bay area MC jackets

 

[photo2u]

Back in High School I did have a dream Jacket. My varsity jacket I used it just about every day in the beautiful days of Southern California. I still have it and Love it.

 

[Edward]

In my university years I had a jacket similar to a varsity / College jacket I wore a lot. I think it was marketed as a "Baseball" jacket; it was the same overall style and cut, but all-wool, and all-black with the white "Marshall" script logo of the Marshall Amplification company. Loved it a lot. About ten years later, I sold it on eBay to a guy who collected them, apparently he'd amassed several, each slightly different. My brother, a programmer in the IT industry, worked for one of the really big WAP (early mobile internet protocol) companies in the nineties; he was given a beautifully made jacket in that style, alas with a large corporate logo embroidered on the back so I don't think it got worn. If memory serves, it was a navy blue body with brown/tan suede sleeves.... and a large, purple brand logo on the back.

As to my own jackets - mostly all nylon - poly filled overstuffed coats with hoods and the fur around the top. Parka style. I did have a Pioneer seed jacket (bright green) that I wore, and likely some sort of denim. All long outgrown & gone.
Here is the Parka (or one similar):
View attachment 352236

USAF N3A/B style parkas were very much a 'thing' when I started primary school in 1979. Either navy or olive, but pretty much always with the non-milspec, MA1-style, orange liner. By the time I hit secondary level, they were viciously mocked and completely outre, but in 1979 they were the dog's whatsits, even Fearghal Sharkey of the Undertones wore one on Top of the Pops. You saw blues ones once or twice at my Grammar school, though typically they were laughed at, though they were considered a bit cool again in a kitsch way by the Britpop years in the middle nineties.

This is Just like the Pioneer (Seed Company) jacket I also had:

View attachment 352238

I remember this sort of thing being very common. I actually see a lot of similar jackets on campus among undergrads now. Interestingly, I can only think of one young man, from my undergrad class about three years ago now, who wore a leather jacket regularly. Nice kid, from South America, his dad practiced in my area back there and they apparently studied my module content together, which was cute. (One of the nice things about graduation ceremonies is you hear these stories.) Occasionally see them on the girls, usually a fashion lamb / pleather type.

That below attached has been the style I used to wear as a kid in winter when the leather has been too cold.

Had to be a bit careful with the color in specific and where to show up with in general.

Green and black were NoGo and red has been tricky too in some edges of the town. So blue has been the only halfway neutral color.

One of my postgrads a few years ago, again South American - Chile in this case, I think it was- wore an MA1. Asked him about it, turned out it was issued to his dad who'd done a spell in their air force; whether he wanted to or not I think he learned a bit from me about the MA1's history!

I have a Buzz B15C-Mod (which needs the knits replaced, damn carpet beetles....) much like this. I'd really like to pick up both a green and an orange-liner MA1, perhaps a William Gibson Buzz black one if the opportunity arose. I also really liked the red 'test pilot' one Buzz did a couple of years ago. Thing is, being a shaved-head sort, I'm somewhat leery of being taken for a skinhead since that nowadays is so readily associated with the far-right. Such a shame. I wasn't a fan of the MA1 as a kid, but I've really come to appreciate it's wonderful utility as a design as I've gotten older.

 

[ChrisDamned]

A very great english copy of this :

With a red "Clash-style star" painted on the arm... Lots of trouble with fascist skins at the time.

 

[Aloysius]

It was this, except in brown. Weird photo, though. This makes it look quite long but it's a fairly short jacket.

 

[TLW '90]

This 1977 Sew Sew m65 that my dad handed down to me was my favorite jacket when I was a kid, I loved it even more once I grew into it too.
It was my primary go-to mid weight jacket from age 12 all the way through my high school years, and it still fits me too.

If I had to do it all over again I'd still go with this m65, but I'd grab a liner for it from the local surplus store so it would be better on the colder days.
Back then I wore a hoodie under it, but don't really like hoodies these days so I'd rather have a liner for it.

 

[Bushman]

I had a plain, unassuming black leather jacket in high school, though it disappeared YEARS ago among a pile of "giveaways."

I still have my Letterman jacket buried somewhere in my parent's crawlspace. Knowing my mother, it probably smells like a mix of mothballs and cedar chips. Leather, denim, or military surplus weren't really "in" when I was in high school. It was more all about the full zip hoodies.

I did, however, have this Eddie Bauer barn coat that lasted me all through high school, and only fell apart about two winters ago. Here's me in it about 10 years ago. I would have been around 20 at the time...

 

[Fifty150]

highschool kid i used to wear a relative plain, no name leather jacket most of the time

I still have my leather jacket from high school. It fit perfectly back then, as I was not as fat. I can still squeeze into it. It's a tight fit now. Sort of like what some Fedora Lounge forum think of as a good fit. Not for me. I need to be able to move in the jacket. I now have several jackets which are similar in style, in a size which fits to my liking.

I lost my innocence wearing this jacket.

 

[Fifty150]

I had a green MA1, which I also wore with DMs

I wore an old military surplus m65

I'm guilty of wearing the MA-1, M-65, and Dr. Martens.

I wore the leather jacket whenever I rode my bike. I rode a motorcycle to school as weather permitted. I wore the MA-1 if I wasn't riding. The M-65 was what I wore when it got cold, because it had a liner. I don't have the Dr. Martens from high school anymore. My feet grew. I do have the pair from when I was about 19 or 20.

The rest of the wardrobe was Levi's 501 jeans, and a plain or pocket t-shirt. I bought the t-shirts in the multipack from the underwear section. I did have a few cotton turtlenecks from The Gap, for cooler days. And the wardrobe was rounded off with sweatshirts. Crew neck, pullover hooded, or zip up hoodie. I wasn't too particular. I bought Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, or whatever was cheap. All of my shirts were plain, solid colors, without logos. I never liked wearing brand name logos in big letters.

 

[Canuck Panda]

I still have my leather jacket from high school. It fit perfectly back then, as I was not as fat. I can still squeeze into it. It's a tight fit now. Sort of like what some Fedora Lounge forum think of as a good fit. Not for me. I need to be able to move in the jacket. I now have several jackets which are similar in style, in a size which fits to my liking.

I lost my innocence wearing this jacket.

View attachment 531727

View attachment 531728
View attachment 531729
View attachment 531730

Golden Bear? Or Grant ave special?

 

[photo2u]

I still have them. LOL. My varsity jacket still fits.

 

[Fifty150]

Golden Bear? Or Grant ave special?

Golden Bear. Off the discount rack.

I lived half a block away from North Beach Leathers on the corner of Grant & Green. Too expensive.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Golden Bear. Off the discount rack.

I lived half a block away from North Beach Leathers on the corner of Grant & Green. Too expensive.

Back in the late 90s a family member took me to Golden Bear's warehouse. Buzzed to get in. Sale rack jackets were around 200 bucks give or take, cash and carry deals. I got two bombers. The labels were taken out like yours. Two of the best jackets I've had. Unfortunately neither survived my many relocations. I bought some Golden Bear bombers about 10 years ago, paid a lot more, not quite the same. And I am quite sure my family member got a commission kickback too for taking me there. Golden days.

 

[Fifty150]

Sale rack jackets were around 200 bucks give or take, cash and carry deals.

In the late 90's, those jackets probably retailed at around 3 to 4 times what you paid. In that decade, they manufactured for a lot high priced brands.

I hate to break it to you now, decades too late......... you probably could have haggled over the price.

 

[Canuck Panda]

In the late 90's, those jackets probably retailed at around 3 to 4 times what you paid. In that decade, they manufactured for a lot high priced brands.

I hate to break it to you now, decades too late......... you probably could have haggled over the price.

I could have remembered wrong. For some reason I remembered them to be much less then. I got some newer Golden Bears years later when the mall chains did the collabs with them. And 600 was probably what I paid. And I thought they increased price a lot since. They are close to a grand now brand new, and not a lot of places carry their brand this side of the border now.

 

[jadub]

I wore a Levi’s trucker in high school until I could afford a Wilson’s CR. I was psyched. Later in collage I forgot the racer in a bar. That night was a whole thing with many bad elements. If I could pick a jacket for my younger self I would combine the two jackets into a natural leather trucker from Aero. (I’m assuming I earned a lot more money as a kid) Same jeans and T but with redwing cap toe shoes. I’m glad I didn’t have the Aero though. I’m okay with loosing a Wilson’s CR. I’d still be misty eyed if I’d lost a nice Aero with years of patina.

 

[Fifty150]

That night was a whole thing with many bad elements.

Show of hands. Who else has gone to jail?

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Show of hands. Who else has gone to jail?

Any particular ones in mind?
I’m guessing a magistrate for all of us in one town, a driver arrested in another town and an overnight “stay” in the next town would count.
It was a tough road home from Fort Bragg to Camp Lejeune that night.
Funny thing, all on the same highway. I think they just called ahead and told em we were coming.
Two made it back, i wasn’t one of them.
I know Gitmo Brig counts.
B