Bush Jackets

[1961MJS]

Hi

I own the WPG model, and it's tan, but not green at all. It does have a HINT of orange in a way, but it's TAN, very, very TAN.

Later

 

[Doctor Strange]

Well, that's good to hear. Certainly, the price is right. What about the sizing? (For me, it's always about having enough room for my gut! I'm usually a 46 or 48... but it's not for shoulders, it's for my 44 waist.)

 

[L'Onset]

This is my WPG Bush Jacket. Is that "tan" what you're looking for?
The buttons were green plastic, but I changed them for brown football ones

 

[Doctor Strange]

Hey, that color is actually very nice. Thanks for posting the pic!

 

[1961MJS]

Well, that's good to hear. Certainly, the price is right. What about the sizing? (For me, it's always about having enough room for my gut! I'm usually a 46 or 48... but it's not for shoulders, it's for my 44 waist.)

Hi

They're authentic WW2 sizing, so if you want to fit a gut, you might email them or ask about it. I wear a 48 Long suit coat and my 50L Bush Jacket is a little tight.

Later

 

[1961MJS]

Well, that's good to hear. Certainly, the price is right. What about the sizing? (For me, it's always about having enough room for my gut! I'm usually a 46 or 48... but it's not for shoulders, it's for my 44 waist.)

Hi

They're authentic WW2 sizing, so if you want to fit a gut, you might email them or ask about it. I wear a 48 Long suit coat and my 50L Bush Jacket is a little tight. I never liked the belt hat well, mine is in the pocket.

Later

 

[Doctor Strange]

An update... WPG advised me to order a size 48, which arrived yesterday. It fits just right in the shoulders and sleeve length, but is a bit short in the body - I am going to exchange it for a 48L. (It didn't occur to me that I might need a Long, because I'm not tall, only 5'8". However, I am wide, and while I have no problem closing the buttons or belt, my big gut pushes the fabric outwards all around, effectively shortening the length.)

As far as the jacket itself, I was expecting the fabric to be a bit heavier: it really feels like a shirt, not a jacket. And, at least in indoors lighting, the khaki does have some green in it: it's not really the golden tan/beige I was expecting. I'll have to see how it looks outdoors in the sun this weekend... But there's no question that it's a very solid garment for the price, and I am looking forward to giving it plenty of use.

However, my quest for a classic heavier-weight, more constructed and finished, tan khaki or (even better) off-white safari jacket will continue... That's the way of this crazy interest!

 

[Doctor Damage]

Interesting... sounds like they've changed the jackets again. The one I ordered last year was really heavy and had a strong orange colour to it.

 

[Doctor Strange]

After viewing it outdoors in open shade, it clearly doesn't have the greenish cast that I was seeing inside under artificial light. It's a nice golden tan - I see zero trace of orange in it. And while it's made of a solid twill fabric, it's only slightly heavier than a chambray or oxford shirt. (And that's fine for the warm-weather use I got it for.... but I definitely wouldn't characterize it as "really heavy".)

 

[Phog Allen]

Gents, love the thread. One of my favourite styles. Since originally posting to this thread years ago I finally got round to checking Filson's site for latest pricing on the bush jacket. Imagine my horror when it was no where to be found. And I was unable to find any shirts with ptoper epaulets and styling as well. What was going on? A quick web search(imagine Fedora Lounge coming up in the results ) revealed what I feared. Filson is part of some larger conglomerate now. They made that bush jacket for decades. Now I cannot even find a safari styled shirt there. Probably time to start looking at vintage. Maybe Willis & Geiger?

 

[TM]

I returned my Filson bush jacket. The sizing was way too weird and wrong and the fabric seemed way too light weight. Unfortunate that they are now part of some conglomerate. That spells doom.
Tony

 

[de Stokesay]

I just got my WPG Bush Jacket a little over a week ago. The fit is interesting. It is marked as a 44L but fits more like a 46. The sleeves are very long which is great as I tend to have monkey arms and most sleeves only come to somewhere between my elbow and wrist. It could be a couple inches longer in the body but this isn't really a problem. I washed and dried it 3 times in a hot drier to try to shrink it up a bit and while it shrank a little bit it really didn't have much effect. At least I know how future washings will affect it.

I took it in to my tailor today to have him put a couple more darts in the back to take some of the fabric that bunched in the waist when the belt was done up. I wouldn't call this a military fit at all to be honest, particularly WWII era fit but the styling is nice and the armholes are higher than I expected. With a couple darts in the back it should solve the fit problems nicely. Another issue is that the back has a centre vent, which I'm not a big fan of at all as I prefer side vents. When you bend over in a centre-vented jacket your butt sticks out. This jacket isn't long enough to require a vent anyway though so I am having it sewn up.

The fabric in mine is indeed quite heavy, very close in weight to my old army combat jacket (field jacket for you Yanks out there). The big difference from most jackets is that the WPG bush jacket is not lined at all. This is fine with me as a lined jacket is often too warm in the summer and when the temps get a bit cooler I can put a light sweater on underneath it. Nylon linings never seem to breath very well anyway. This fabric is also very densely woven, almost like canvas, much heavier and stiffer than any shirt I have ever had even after the 3 washings it's had so far (perhaps I got an older model or something) and looks like it will stand up to much wear and abuse.

Oh, and I picked off those wee little snaps on the corner flaps of the breast pockets as well as the inside of the belt and their accompanying little straps. I just poke the belt through the sewn-on loops.

Generally very impressed for the price and with some minor tailoring should be just what I have been looking for. Now to find a decent belt buckle.....

de Stokesay

 

[TM]

Brentwood Associates purchased a majority stake in Filson in 2005. The installed a new president, one Doug Williams, former group president of Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. Williams "retired" from Polo at 39 years of age. If Brentwood was a real estate investor, they'd be what you would call a "flipper". The idea is to inject money, debt and "expertise" to grow the company and then sell it to someone else. In 2012, that someone else was Bedrock Manufacturing Co. Bedrock's brands include: Clare Vivier, MOLLUSK, SHINOLA and Steven Alan.

Now of course Filson is saddled with debt. The bean counters are going to reduce costs, and so quality. The marketing people are going to expand into the mass market and reduce the value of the brand.

Hopefully it won't go the route of Willis and Geiger.

http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2005/01/24/daily5.html?page=all

http://www.brentwood.com/News/tabid/101/post/brentwood-associates-announces-sale-of-filson-holdings/Default.aspx

Tony

 

[Curmudgeon]

From the look in the catalog, this one is absolute ideal . . . or would be if it came in real sizes instead of SML, etc.

Well Sarge, I'm in a curmudgeonly mood tonight, so blunt and abrasive prevails. The problem I have with Peterman is they are long on hype and through the roof on price. Every time I read one of their descriptions I think I'm listening to a polyester clad used car salesman with greased back hair and his dentures clicking. They pretend to be exclusive, but probably don't sell a single product made in the U.S.

For that price I would expect to see genuinely sized clothes, not SML. If that's what I want, I'll go to Cabela's and get one for less than half the price. (In fact I have one of the Cabela's safari jackets, and like it very much.) Or I'll go to Wal-Mart and get a wannabe for 30 or 40 bucks, maybe less.

All that said, that Peterman jacket looks like a very nice jacket, and I would agree with your assessment. But since it's probably made in China, Pakistan, or some other third world country sweat shop, they could sell it for half that amount and still make an obscene profit. And to top it off, if you search for Peterman reviews, you will learn that they have lousy customer service.

 

[de Stokesay]

Well I got my WPG bush jacket back from the tailor a couple of weeks ago but have only had one occasion to wear it yet. The addition of a couple of extra darts in the back makes quite a difference in fit. He took a good 3-4 inches out of the waist so it fits much better now. This jacket is certainly not a military fit as it arrives.

I removed the buttons and replaced them with some of my left-over metal, light infantry buttons that I had kicking around from my service days. Perhaps brass might have looked a little better than the silver but at least they mean something to me as I served for several years in a Canadian light infantry regiment. They are a big improvement over the green plastic ones that come with the jacket.

Now I guess all I need is a new belt buckle and to shorten the belt.

It's been my experience that a little bit of extra effort put into details such as tailoring makes a huge difference in comfort as well as looks of most garments

de Stokesay

 

[Mojave Jack]

The sleeves are very long which is great as I tend to have monkey arms and most sleeves only come to somewhere between my elbow and wrist. It could be a couple inches longer in the body but this isn't really a problem.

I feel your pain there. I can't stand sleeves riding up, and most shirts off the rack these days ride up something fierce. I just scored a W&G bush jacket, large tall, NWT, and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival. Good to know that the WPG bush jacket may be an option for those of us blessed with more simian proportions in the arms. My wife likes that I can reach stuff on the high shelves, though.

 

[de Stokesay]

People with regular proportions are the bane of my existence Mojave (or rather the fact that most clothing is made to fit them and not me). My very long arms are bad enough but my 17 1/2" neck, 44 inch chest and 36 inch waist is a recipe for disaster. If I find a shirt or jacket that fits in the arms and neck it's almost always big enough to take a friend in the waist. If the waist fits, then there's no hope of doing up the top button and the shoulders are usually too small. I inherited my father's barrel chest which my mother says reminds her of a grade 2 chicken.

Back to topic though, this is a very good jacket for the money and with a bit of supplemental tailoring is well worth having.

de Stokesay

 

[Oldsarge]

Speaking as another of the gibbon-proportioned, OTR clothing of almost any sort is hopeless. I am able to purchase shirts but everything else has to be taken from the store to the alterations tailor before it goes in the closet. Fortunately, I guess, I have reached the time of life when my need to be well-dressed on a daily basis is no longer and that leaves me able to buy fewer, more expensive clothing. When next I feel a need for a bush jacket, possibly sometime in the coming Spring, I'll just have it made MTM. MyTailor.com does a good one.

 

[de Stokesay]

There used to be a wonderful bespoke tailor who was about 8 blocks from my house. I had several suits made by him with fabric I had acquired in Europe but he died a couple of three years ago. He wasn't that old, only mid 60s or so but I guess he had a sudden stroke and that was then end. I really miss him as the next closest option for me is about 6 hours away in a different province.

Do you have a picture of the MyTailor.com bush jacket per chance Oldsarge? I know there will be options with these made to measure tailors but they usually adapt the details on a standard pattern and was curious what their base model before styling tweaks was like.

It really helps to get things like shirts custom made if you are hard to fit, and not really much more than off the rack, even before alternations.

de Stokesay

 

[Mojave Jack]

My W&G bush jacket, large tall, new (with tags) arrived today. This thing is absolutely perfect. Every detail is there: bush poplin, perfect weight, shoulder pad. It does have those annoying sleeve tabs, but I guess I could overlook that.

And it doesn't fit.

So...if any of you gents are in the market, I got a pretty good deal on it, and I'm only looking to get out of it what I have into it. I'm a 42L, 6', 180 lbs, and this thing fits exactly like a 44L. I figured I'd give the readers of this thread first shot, since you obviously appreciate a good bush jacket! I'll put it up in the Classifieds after a while if I don't get any bites.

Well, back to the drawing board!