Dating a vintage jacket: Anyone familiar with Custom coat company deerskin?

[Metatron]

Hey guys, picked up this rather charming jacket (possibly to sell). I am pretty good at dating vintage items, but leather isn't my forte. The general vibe is 60s hippie. But the collar isn't big a la 70s, and the buttons and label look 50s, in that 'Californian sportswear' kind of way. Is early sixties about right?

 

[Marc mndt]

Are those bakelite buttons? (The ones on the pockets are replacements I guess). In the 70s they would have used plastic buttons.

Also, in the 70s the stitch count was lower. My best guess would be 40s.

 

[Monitor]

Hey guys, picked up this rather charming jacket (possibly to sell). I am pretty good at dating vintage items, but leather isn't my forte. The general vibe is 60s hippie. But the collar isn't big a la 70s, and the buttons and label look 50s, in that 'Californian sportswear' kind of way. Is early sixties about right?

I would say 60's for sure.

Late 50's would be the earliest possible date 'cause that's when this company started if I remember correctly but either way, I'm definitely calling mid-sixties here.
Neat, shaped cut & shorter sleeves is a giveaway to me plus the obvious post WW2 US military field jacket design influence in the design is yet another hint.

 

[mendelboaz]

Judging by the first half of the title, I was expecting a different kind of post.

 

[tmitchell59]

I believe all the Berlin Wisconsin makers come from Mid-West Sport togs. This catalog is from 1949 and shows the plain looking jackets they made. I have owned Custom Coat Co. garments and they look 60s to me. They had a variety of styles. I have never seen one like pictured above.

This is a Custom Coat jacket, probably 60s.

 

[Metatron]

Thanks for the replies. I think there is a distinct difference in the feel of a lot of pre sixties and post 70s leather outerwear, the former being more 'rugged outdoorsman' and the latter more 'rakish city boi' this jacket is sort of in between, he he. Some of the features aren't too dissimilar to much older jackets, similarly so with the one you posted @tmmitchell59. I guess it was a company with a bit more of a traditional leaning.

 

[ton312]

I’m with Marc. Those buttons look like Bakelite. To me that puts it in the 40’s and no later than the 50’s, unless I suppose they had a stock of 10-20 year old buttons to burn through.

Collar is also far too conservative for a 70’s piece.

 

[Metatron]

Is there a way to tell if a button is bakelite or regular plastic? You are right though, the collar is pre-disco for sure, and the label is also kind of old world. Tough one! I suspect a late 40s early 50s garment would also have a bigger collar-which makes me lean late 50s early 60s when things were getting slimmer, trousers, lapels, ties.

 

[tmitchell59]

This jacket is from the 60s. Since it is Custom Coat, you could dictate some of the features maybe even bring in your own buttons, choose your collar shape, pocket shape, buttons or zip

This Custom Coat jacket below has all the traditional styling of a 30s/40s half-belt, but it not from that era. It is 60s

I have seen a few 30s/40s Mid-Western Sport Tog jackets. They worked in leathers other than Deerskin too. They made some interesting jackets. Typically they were very plain as pictured below.

This is from the 1949 catalog I posted above. Very basic deerskin jackets.

 

[Metatron]

Thanks for the catalogue images. Of course, I forgot the 'custom' element! I didn't take that literally. Forgot to mention mine has a belt back.

 

[Metatron]

The back is rather nice. Perhaps this is a keeper, it is growing on me!