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100% wool A2-inspired jackets

cvohr

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7
What's out there? What are your favorites?

I'll start the conversation with the Filson Ballard jacket, which I'm currently on the hunt for, size S, over in the classifieds section, if anybody hears of anything!
 

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cvohr

New in Town
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7
For me it falls into the broad A2-inspired category on account of the collar, one piece back, hip length, and two front top flap pockets (as opposed to say the angled pockets of a Harrington). It's not an A2 obviously, but if the A2 had never existed, perhaps this jacket wouldn't have been designed in exactly the same way? Thinking in broad terms here.
 

Aloysius

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,053
For me it falls into the broad A2-inspired category on account of the collar, one piece back, hip length, and two front top flap pockets (as opposed to say the angled pockets of a Harrington). It's not an A2 obviously, but if the A2 had never existed, perhaps this jacket wouldn't have been designed in exactly the same way? Thinking in broad terms here.

Flapped patch pockets, a shirt collar and blouson length even with a zipper did not start with the A-2.

Here's a 1920s kids jacket from another thread.

192905.jpeg~original
 

cvohr

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7
Cool, thanks for the picture! Do you think it's fair to say regardless that those jacket attributes are, in the popular imagination of the present day, most associated with their manifestation in the A2, even if they didn't originate with it? I'm wondering what else I could have named the thread to convey the same message succinctly.
 

Aloysius

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4,053
Cool, thanks for the picture! Do you think it's fair to say regardless that those jacket attributes are, in the popular imagination of the present day, most associated with their manifestation in the A2, even if they didn't originate with it? I'm wondering what else I could have named the thread to convey the same message succinctly.

No, not at all. When I'm wearing a wool zippered jacket with big patch pockets, absolutely no one associates it with a pilot look. And I'm talking general audiences, not clothes enthusiasts.

If anything people assume it's a hunting jacket, which in some cases is accurate.
 

cvohr

New in Town
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7
Not sure I can agree with you there. Filson's own official moniker for this jacket is "Filson 10201 Wool Ballard Bomber." Maybe different audiences have different associations depending on their frame of reference?
 

navetsea

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6,886
Location
East Java
For me it falls into the broad A2-inspired category on account of the collar, one piece back, hip length, and two front top flap pockets (as opposed to say the angled pockets of a Harrington). It's not an A2 obviously, but if the A2 had never existed, perhaps this jacket wouldn't have been designed in exactly the same way? Thinking in broad terms here.
you mean o_OIndiana Jones wears A2?
 

Aloysius

I'll Lock Up
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4,053
Not sure I can agree with you there. Filson's own official moniker for this jacket is "Filson 10201 Wool Ballard Bomber." Maybe different audiences have different associations depending on their frame of reference?

Filson putting "bomber" in the product name is a meaningless indicator in terms of how people generically use these terms in real life. The full product names for various Schott and Vansons are similarly bizarre. Like the 519 is called the 50's Motorcycle Jacket but it's not especially 50s style and other jackets in the collection are closer to their 50s models. It's just for sorting merchandise.

I've worn wool jackets like the one in your post in public many times; if I get any comments or questions, they are always about outdoor wear, shooting, etc.

I get "bomber" comments when I wear a G-1 or MA-1, sure. Note that the MA-1 doesn't have patch pockets!
 

cvohr

New in Town
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7
At a company like Filson, would product names not likely come from a marketing department making decisions based on market research? It would surprise me if they themselves would refer to their product names as meaningless indicators with so much at stake as to how the product is then perceived by the consumer.

Maybe the disconnect you pointed out is a reflection of a company's priority to sell its product? Product names are chosen presumably not based on assumptions regarding how the consumer will perceive the product, but on whatever sells the most units. Over time, the latter shapes the frame of reference of the former until the two ultimately become one and the same, perhaps?
 

Aloysius

I'll Lock Up
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4,053
No, product names in that sense are driven by SEO, simple as. "Bomber" is in the name because they know people will be searching that term.

If you go to a Filson store (like a Schott store for that matter) they refer to the products differently.
 

navetsea

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6,886
Location
East Java
bombers is all about sealed / elasticized cuff and hem and center zip, the pockets or collar don't matter, can be fur collar, can be stand collar, can be shirt collar.

when the zip is replaced by by snaps then it becomes varsity jacket
 

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