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Finds and Deals - Leather Jacket Edition

Claybertrand

One Too Many
Messages
1,548
Pretty Cool Vintage Grais HH A-2/Square Pocket Mash Up----some arm wear/patina and Knits look good. XS size. Really good price for this jacket on a BIN IMO.... Wish it were a fit for me.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265277627185?hash=item3dc3c75b31:g:qs4AAOSwAQphIGPF

s-l1600.jpg
 

Claybertrand

One Too Many
Messages
1,548
Is this the “Flightmaster”?

Grais had some interesting names. There is another on ebay tagged “Explosive” by Grais. :)

Could be...... I have seen that Flightmaster model before. Haven't seen the EXPLOSIVE though!! Gotta keep an eye out for that one.

The whole A-2 pattern became SOOOOO mainstream it eventually became amalgamated with other styles and this is an example of that. The piped square pockets along with the epaulettes along with the knits bring the A-2 look together with that square pocket look from the 50s. And it looks to be one of the earlier better made Grais jackets.
 

Claybertrand

One Too Many
Messages
1,548
This is very nice! Just like the Penney’s / Sportclad version. The color though is better.


Agreed. Cool jacket.... I don't see the Square Pockets with DOUBLE chest zips like....ever! Whenever I see those pockets, I think Good Wear Arcadia....(and @ton312's STARCADIA from 5Star) which are awesome jacket designs IMO. I used to think double zippers was a bit busy but I've grown to really dig the look. This one is obviously true vintage and like an Arcadia but with the Arching downward piping replaced by the Square pocket piping. Too small for me but a really cool jacket.

A have a couple of jackets from ALDENS. Really hard to find much info on this name. I have seen a few Aldencrest and I always wondered if they were the same company. Heck maybe the Shoe company is an offshoot....... Seems very coincidental to have leather jackets made by ALDENS and ALDENCREST and the shoes going by the same name too.
 

Claybertrand

One Too Many
Messages
1,548
Two Chest zippers on this style is odd and they are not aligned.

s-l1600.jpg

Good eye Terry.

That whole left side is not aligned..... on closer inspection it doesn't look like there was a terribly muffed Main Zip replacement to cause this. The era of the zip seems like it could be original. The stops seem to be equal distance from the pull and the remaining tracks on each side above the zipper in the collar close up appear to be the same distance. I can't see any obvious wonky stitching either.

You see this sometimes in old jackets but USUALLY you can tell why. Could this be different hide panels just aging differently??? Maybe one side got wet and there was nominal but discernable shrinkage??? As is often seen, the graining on the right side is much more pronounced----night and day compared to the left side.

I wonder---has anyone ever been able to fix this sort of situation??? Perhaps a cleaning and conditioning would soften both panels and maybe bring them closer to alignment???
 

Jumper

A-List Customer
Messages
451
Location
Kentucky!
Good eye Terry.

That whole left side is not aligned..... on closer inspection it doesn't look like there was a terribly muffed Main Zip replacement to cause this. The era of the zip seems like it could be original. The stops seem to be equal distance from the pull and the remaining tracks on each side above the zipper in the collar close up appear to be the same distance. I can't see any obvious wonky stitching either.

You see this sometimes in old jackets but USUALLY you can tell why. Could this be different hide panels just aging differently??? Maybe one side got wet and there was nominal but discernable shrinkage??? As is often seen, the graining on the right side is much more pronounced----night and day compared to the left side.

I wonder---has anyone ever been able to fix this sort of situation??? Perhaps a cleaning and conditioning would soften both panels and maybe bring them closer to alignment???
Interesting idea about shrinkage and conditioning the panels to re-align them. On this jacket, I think it's just the pockets themselves that are misaligned. There's a fold on the left side between the square pocket and the zipper running up toward the left collar. I'm just eyeballing it, but I suspect that if that fold were flattened out, the squares would be aligned. In any case, the placement of the pockets within the squares don't match. Along with the chest pockets.
 

tmitchell59

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,756
Location
Illinois
Interesting idea about shrinkage and conditioning the panels to re-align them. On this jacket, I think it's just the pockets themselves that are misaligned. There's a fold on the left side between the square pocket and the zipper running up toward the left collar. I'm just eyeballing it, but I suspect that if that fold were flattened out, the squares would be aligned. In any case, the placement of the pockets within the squares don't match. Along with the chest pockets.

I think a manufacturing error. I've seen much wonky stitching and plain sloppy work on vintage jackets. This jacket doesn't look right in the front. The right side zipper just looks wrong. This is a pretty common pattern and I am surprised to see that zipper. The zipper pulls looks like a squared ended Talon used in the 40s and looks to be original. I could not live with this jacket and I'm not that picky!
 

Kubatu

A-List Customer
Messages
458

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