Ideas for A1 jacket

[Roaring20s]

Hello, longtime lurker here.
I'm brainstorming ideas for A1 type of jacket and after a search online I got to:
1. AVI Leather A1 replica
2. Five Star Leather A1 replica
3. Numerous Italian brands like Stewart, Delan, Atacama of course Valstar(but it seems they only have suede leather selection atm)...seems this is popular style in there.

Do you have experience with them? I'm worried that the replicas might make me look like a reenactor...

My price range is around 500ish Euro and the non negotiable features of the jacket are:
1. Not suede.
2. High collar out of wool/cotton/etc
3. Lamb/cape/goat leather, I'd rather not go to a stiffer ones as it doesn't seem to me as matching the style of the jacket.
4. Front closure with buttons(yea, if it has a zip its not an A1, right?)

What I can compromise:
1. The square front pockets
2. It might not be leather at all...a nice cotton/wool blend can also work.

 

[handymike]

Are you open to shawl collared A-1/ Cossack variants?

 

[Roaring20s]

Are you open to shawl collared A-1/ Cossack variants?

Nope.

 

[MrProper]

Hello, longtime lurker here.
I'm brainstorming ideas for A1 type of jacket and after a search online I got to:
1. AVI Leather A1 replica
2. Five Star Leather A1 replica
3. Numerous Italian brands like Stewart, Delan, Atacama of course Valstar(but it seems they only have suede leather selection atm)...seems this is popular style in there.

Do you have experience with them? I'm worried that the replicas might make me look like a reenactor...

My price range is around 500ish Euro and the non negotiable features of the jacket are:
1. Not suede.
2. High collar out of wool/cotton/etc
3. Lamb/cape/goat leather, I'd rather not go to a stiffer ones as it doesn't seem to me as matching the style of the jacket.
4. Front closure with buttons(yea, if it has a zip its not an A1, right?)

What I can compromise:
1. The square front pockets
2. It might not be leather at all...a nice cotton/wool blend can also work.

I can only recommend 5* from my own experience.
The premium goatskin in black or seal is very good. Russet is too chocolatey. Capeskin = lamb and I do not like. I have it in seal and find that too thin and too plastic like.
Every detail can be specified and the price including shipping is well below 500 EUR.

This one is similar to an A1, but with a zipper. Just think buttons on it

 

[Canuck Panda]

What @MrProper said about 5Star.

The only thing I would add is use modern knits instead of repro wool knits. The poly blend knits will last longer and look better. All my repro wool knits loose elasticity after just a few wears and holes develop very fast. The jackets with poly blend knits last a lot longer and stay elastic.

I don't have a 5Star A1 jacket now. But if I knew about the brand sooner I would not have bought other brands (Schott, Golden Bear, Aero) which are more expensive but not necessary better. A custom 5Star cost USD 350 Shipped. A stock size much less.

 

[Mrkurtz]

I know a lot of forum members have ordered custom jackets from 5*. Has anyone just purchased one of their off the rack A-1s , if so how would you evaluate it? If you want an A-1 ,$155 for a goatskin can’t be beat price wise if they are nice.

 

[Kevin the Devon]

With regards to Five Star.
If you go the modified standard size A1 be very clear on what measurements you require.

 

[Edward]

Used to be a China-based eBay seller, username was something along the lines of BarryLyndon. Business was called Spearhead Militia (I seem to recall someone else also used the Spearhead Militia name on a direct website seller, but it wasn't there, there was some politics in the background there). The Ebay seller had some decent stuff. Someone bought one of their leather A2s that wasn't up to much cop, but they also did a wool A1 that somebody on here bought and had a good experience with. The wool one actually had much more of a civilian look to it. It does seem ,on hunting, that they're either no longer in business or maybe they have changed the name. Some good stuff out there relatviely inexpensively, though, if you're careful.

 

[nick123]

Unsure of the current waiting time, but you can consider:

https://www.headwindmfg.com/jackets.html

 

[Roaring20s]

I guess the die is cast - I'll get in touch with 5*Leather and go from there! Thank you for the help.

If its helpful - I found many A1 jackets in yoox.com(heads up, decent discounts now, I fixed my sweater supply problem for less than 100EUR) - mostly italian fashion brands from 2000 to 150 EUR, both leather and textile(or a mix) as well as textile jackets on https://www.brooksfield.com/, https://www.lbm1911.com/collections/outerwear among others. I wont lie - if I see a textile in a colour I like on a good discount I'll might as well pounce on it...

It is interesting why this style is so popular in Italy(and not that much among the English language forum), I couldn't find a reason with my rudimentary Italian, but I haven't stop looking

 

[Mrkurtz]

I didn’t even want an A1 jacket. But after all this discussion about it I just ordered one from five star. Apparently I am very suggestible.

 

[Fireflame]

This came just in time as I was in search for an A1. Looking to take a look at 5* also.
Cheers

 

[dudewuttheheck]

What @MrProper said about 5Star.

The only thing I would add is use modern knits instead of repro wool knits. The poly blend knits will last longer and look better. All my repro wool knits loose elasticity after just a few wears and holes develop very fast. The jackets with poly blend knits last a lot longer and stay elastic.

I don't have a 5Star A1 jacket now. But if I knew about the brand sooner I would not have bought other brands (Schott, Golden Bear, Aero) which are more expensive but not necessary better. A custom 5Star cost USD 350 Shipped. A stock size much less.

View attachment 358548

Really? I've had two different RMC A2 jackets with all wool knits and they never lost their elasticity. One of them I had for several years before moving it on and the knits stayed tight the whole time.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Really? I've had two different RMC A2 jackets with all wool knits and they never lost their elasticity. One of them I had for several years before moving it on and the knits stayed tight the whole time.

That's quality stuff!