ALL ORIGINAL Irvin RAF type Jackets - Loving that Wolf in sheeps' clothing!

[ALM]

I like the two tone effect of the different fleeces... It makes the jacket stand out from any perfect repro... very nice

 

[B-24J]

Later War Irvin

Here are some pictures of a later War jacket that I recently bought. I really like the chestnut skin colour. The fleece is very soft and shows little wear. The main zip is a standard Lightning, whilst the sleeve zips were made by Flash Fastener Ltd. All zips have their original triangular pullers. The additional three eyelets on the belt are odd and maybe a theatre job. The buckle is the heavy weight chromed variety seldom seen on Wartime jackets, but is original to the jacket. I have seen them used on later Links jackets.The collar shape is similar to Wareing's collars and is made from a darker fleece than the rest of the jacket, which was often the case with jackets made from recycled flying trousers. It is a very comfortable fit, being a decent size. So many of these late War Irvins were a size 3 or 4 and this one is a little larger than a marked size 5 multi-panel jacket in my collection.

Great jacket Andrew!

The skin colour is nice. The trousers from which the jacket was made must have had very little wear.

Too bad the manufacturer of the buckle didn't stamp their mark.

The extra eyelets are interesting. Perhaps a modification to suit a female ATA pilot? I can't think of anyone else THAT slender.

John

 

[BP1]

Fantastic jacket Andrew. Should you ever wish to sell it....
I have recently acquired a pair of trousers (sadly although only lightly worn they had been poorly stored so all the metalwork had corroded very badly). They have an IAC label in them, with a date stamp 17th Mar 1940. Can anyone tell me if this was the date of manufacture, the date of issue or the date at which they had been inspected / passed by the AM?

Brian

 

[aswatland]

Thanks Brian. I have seen a jacket with the same date on the label. It would not be the date of the contract as they were never more specific than the year. It is more likely to be the A.I.D. inspection date. I would be interested in seeing a photo of the label.

 

[BP1]

Hi Andrew, the label is in fairly poor condition but here's a photo I've taken of it. Above the date is the stamp A.I.D.D 26

 

[aswatland]

Yes it looks like the date when the inspector passed it.

 

[ALM]

Q - Were these labels just tacked to the sheep skin or sewn right through to the leather - ?

 

[aswatland]

Q - Were these labels just tacked to the sheep skin or sewn right through to the leather - ?

Both methods were used, although far more were just hand tacked to the fleece.

 

[ALM]

Thanks, My Irvin did have a label that was hanging off.... I also tried to tack it in but this didn't prove easy... in fact I gave up!

 

[ALM]

This is my Irvin.... A bit to big on the arms but in great shape and wearable... It gets quite a bit of use in the Tiger, very warm and looks the part... The belt was a bit weak and the buckle was a horrible heavy chrome piece that I assumed was a fake so this has since been rectified by Byson leather with an original....

 

[aswatland]

Your jacket appears to be an early War Irvin Air Chute jacket. The large chrome buckle is not original to the jacket as this type of buckle was used later in the War( It is not a fake, just a replacement!)

 

[ALM]

Ahhh I see.... Well iv had a belt replacement now and an original light weight buckle attached.... It was quite heavy actually and made the belt hang low when not done up.... Thanks for the info Andrew

 

[ALM]

IRVIN finally arrived in Bahrain however its over 40C at the moment! Perfect for airing the sheepskin for an hour or so in the sun to neutralise the smell a bit..... then bk to the UK for some pecards before another airing at Flying Legends in the T6......Should get some nice upside down pics for the loungers to see...

 

[aswatland]

Here are some pictures of a very well preserved Irvin Air Chute jacket from the mid 1930s. It was most likely made before 1938 when IAC started to use 9 underarm vents on many of their jackets. It is made of a thinner close pile fleece and retains all the original polyacrilate coating on the skin side. Sadly the label is long gone. The zips are the rarer unmarked Dot nickel variety and the slider box is marked Dot British. It is a very comfortable jacket to wear.

 

[aswatland]

 

[aswatland]

I particularly like the contrast between the darker sheepskin and the russet leather used behind the collar, for the seam tapes and for the belt.

 

[HDRnR]

Anyone see the original Irvins on Aero's sale/used/vintage section ?

 

[Sloan1874]

They are lovely. I've tried a couple on. If I had the cash, I would gladly snap this one up:
http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/product-detail.php?id=1990

 

[HDRnR]

Yes, i was looking at that one, top notch.

They are lovely. I've tried a couple on. If I had the cash, I would gladly snap this one up:
http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/product-detail.php?id=1990

 

[rocketeer]

Some great Irvins on this book cover.

I just got this via a Facebook link to Lewis Leathers, I have no idea of the contents but a great cover pic.
Nice heated suit pics from the era.

As a note, there are a few copies on Amazon UK.
JTee