1930s leather jackets: ad photos

[Marc Chevalier]

From Apparel Arts, 1932:

From Apparel Arts, 1937:

 

[Harry Lime]

Great photos.

Thanks for the post. Wonderful, my favorite kinds of jackets.

Harry Lime

 

[PADDY]

A1 styled jacket...corking!!

Absolutely corking A-1'ish styled jacket there (the precursor to the more famous classic A-2 north American flying jacket). Particularly like the buttons at the bottom, as opposed to the popper snaps. That's some book you have there Marc!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Thank you both! I'll post more photos in the coming weeks.

 

[BellyTank]

MUCH appreciated Mr. Chevalier- classic styled jackets!

B
T

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Zippers in 1932. I thought they did not have them then.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

They sure did. Zippers were called "slide fasteners", and the dominant brand was "Talon". Talon actively promoted slide fasteners as a better alternative to button flies: they put whole-page ads for zippers in Esquire magazine issues throught the '30s.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

That fellow in the first picture sure is dapper.
Those are some great jackets. I would wear any of them.
Thanks for posting these.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

You're very welcome. My only problem with these jackets is that the shoulders were made so narrow. You can really see this in the third picture from the top.

 

[nightandthecity]

Zippers in 1932. I thought they did not have them then.

Mad Hatter - there is a thread elsewhere in "general attire"about zippers. It petered out recently but I shall probably revive it when I have more time. Zippers can be the radiocarbon dating of vintage jackets!

 

[nightandthecity]

I shall have to take a deep breath I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m so excited. You pushed my button Marc?¢‚Ǩ¬¶..

I love thirties leather jackets. In Britain you could find that kind of styling well into the 50s, particularly in the use of ?¢‚Ǩ?ìglove soft?¢‚Ǩ? leathers like calfskin, kidskin, capeskin etc. We never went for the heavy hides, and tended to favour the A2 style patch/flap pocket too.

Re the Air Corps A-1 connection, we could get into a chicken-egg discussion here. I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m inclined to think jackets like the A-1 and A-2 were actually based on civilian styles rather than then other way round, but there does seem to have been a two-way thing going on with military combat gear and civilian sports/casual wear throughout the 30s and 40s. Incidentally, I have a great photo somewhere of Western Swing pioneers the Light Crust Doughboys posing in matching ?¢‚Ǩ?ìA-1?¢‚Ǩ? style jackets, I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll see if I can dig it out.

Marc - or anyone - what is the style collar called in picture 4 (The Weathermaster VI). My favourite British jacket has that type collar. Is it very much a thirties thing? It would help me date the jacket to know, I think it is thirties but the styles were often very conservative over here till the mid 50s.

 

[rick5150]

That weathermaster VI rocks!

 

[Baggers]

That weathermaster VI rocks!

Almost looks like Aero's "Cossack" model without a chest pocket and only one pleat per side above the half belt in back. I'll post pictures as soon as mine gets here for comparison.

Cheers!