"Aviator" shirts

[Fletch]

Huh. Learn something new every day. Is that an Air Force or civilian thing? I'm a 13 year navy airdale and have never seen that acronym.

AIUI, it dates to WW2. Not sure which branch of the service, possibly just aviation generally.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Those Bob Hope shirts rock! I've got a couple of similar-styled shirts I had Indy Magnoli make a few years ago; check out his 'aviator shirt', a repro of a 1930s shirt.

 

[repeatclicks]

Id say the gray one would look cool with some navy hollywood trousers and a narrow white belt.

Its do-able. Barely. The Bob Hope thing makes it less cool though.

 

[Indy Magnoli]

That's basically the shirt (minus the buttons) that the Rebel Troopers war in Star Wars and similar to what Han Solo wore in Empire:

Yeah, I think our Aviator Shirt is even crazier:

Kind regards,
Magnoli

 

[Gene]

Slanted Zipper-Front "Hollywood" Shirt?

Won an auction on eBay recently for this very interesting shirt. It went for $19.99 because of the rust stains, of which I was able to get about 80% off with the vinegar-salt method.

Now that I've got it looking good, how does one wear this thing? It's got a slanted metal Conmar zipper painted the shirt color that zips all the way to the neck, long lapels and a single western-smiley pocket. Should I wear it with a pair of high waisted slacks or jacket?

If anyone's got any information on this style of shirt or photos of someone wearing one, please share!

eBay photo (with stains I managed to fade out):

Labels:

 

[Gene]

Ohhhhh an "aviator" shirt, well that makes sense. Much obliged!

I think I've found how to pull it off okay:

 

[Matt Deckard]

Now if they could only make the zipper go in a zig zag pattern.

 

[Qirrel]

Didn't see this thread before. Interesting. The shirts look very much like early examples of shirts with buttons all the way down the front ("coat" shirt, as opposed to the ones you pull over your head). They were made so that the fronts overlapped and buttoned way to the sides, kind of like a double breasted jacket, but with the buttons further apart.