B-Man2
Well-Known Member
Hi Guys!
Here’s a post about a little known A2 jacket that was ahead of its time . Unfortunately business priorities and competition ended the run of one of the better A2 jackets that was available during the late 1989 to early 1990s time frame . For some of you younger guys, who may never have heard of the SEFTON A2 , it has gone the way of the telephone booth , the 8 track tape deck and the 3.5 floppy disk . It’s history now, but occasionally (if you read this forum and you know what you’re looking for ) , you can find one of these rare birds on EBay or one of the other auction sites .
The SEFTON Clothing Company founder Steve Silburn started the SEFTON Clothing Company in Colchester England in 1989. His business plan was formulated around producing WWII period high quality flight gear, to include reproductions of leather flight helmets , and the SEFTON A2 flight jacket .The company is still in business today, but hasn’t made an A2 jacket in many years . They do however, make some very high quality reproduction headgear and have supplied those products for several movies that are well known . If you’d like to know more about the company you can read about it at the end of this post.
When discussing a SEFTON A2 jacket , you have to discuss it with consideration for the time period in which it was made . In 1989 there were only a few companies producing accurately made reproduction A2 jackets. Eastman Leather was still in its formative years, having opened up in 1984. Aero of Scotland was producing quality repros at that time and if you were short on cash there was Avirex, for a jacket that satisfied ones need for a relatively inexpensive repro A2 . So Steve Silburn decided to produce, what was at that time, a quality reproduction of the A2 jacket .
Now please don’t try and judge a SEFTON A2 by using today’s standards, because today’s standards hadn’t come of age yet and it would take several years of research , production of high quality materials , and pattern research to get to where we are today . By today’s standards the SEFTON is a good quality, genetic A2, or what we now call a “House Jacket “. But in its day , it was a very sought after, high quality repro. They were made of finely tanned cowhide , that was buttery soft, and draped nicely over the wearers upper body . It incorporated the best traits of multiple WWII contracts into one jacket .
But I’m getting a bit caught up in the moment, so let’s now take a look at what has become a pretty rare A2 jacket . Ok you younger guys, it’s time to start class , so pay attention
THE SEFTON A2 JACKET SIZE 48.
COLLAR
Looking at the SEFTON collar you can immediately see that this jacket is a quality product . The stitching , the hide , the collar stand, and all the edges are nicely finished without any rough looking finishing marks . This jacket is about 32 years old and still looks great. Looking at the all of the parts and the hardware around the collar, you can see that it’s pretty close to what you will find today on many high end repros.
EPAULETTES
Once again the first thing you notice is the quality of the workmanship and the way the collar end of the epaulettes are seated perfectly under the collar stand . The epaulettes are double row stitched along the edges, with large X box stitching at the shoulder and collar attachment points .
KNITS
The knits are well made medium weight and medium brown colored wool knits, similar to those found on high end A2 jackets today . However , seamless knits , weren’t used in the production of this jacket, but I’m sure most people and A2 jacket collectors didn’t give it much of a thought back in those days .
ZIPPER
The zipper is a Brass Talon Zip that I think is an original Talon Zip . Not being very knowledgeable on zips, I’m hoping someone will weigh in here and render their opinion .
It’s works flawlessly and is a quality zipper .
LABEL
The label is nicely done for the period and attention to detail that was given to labels back in those days , but its not period accurate.
Here’s a post about a little known A2 jacket that was ahead of its time . Unfortunately business priorities and competition ended the run of one of the better A2 jackets that was available during the late 1989 to early 1990s time frame . For some of you younger guys, who may never have heard of the SEFTON A2 , it has gone the way of the telephone booth , the 8 track tape deck and the 3.5 floppy disk . It’s history now, but occasionally (if you read this forum and you know what you’re looking for ) , you can find one of these rare birds on EBay or one of the other auction sites .
The SEFTON Clothing Company founder Steve Silburn started the SEFTON Clothing Company in Colchester England in 1989. His business plan was formulated around producing WWII period high quality flight gear, to include reproductions of leather flight helmets , and the SEFTON A2 flight jacket .The company is still in business today, but hasn’t made an A2 jacket in many years . They do however, make some very high quality reproduction headgear and have supplied those products for several movies that are well known . If you’d like to know more about the company you can read about it at the end of this post.
When discussing a SEFTON A2 jacket , you have to discuss it with consideration for the time period in which it was made . In 1989 there were only a few companies producing accurately made reproduction A2 jackets. Eastman Leather was still in its formative years, having opened up in 1984. Aero of Scotland was producing quality repros at that time and if you were short on cash there was Avirex, for a jacket that satisfied ones need for a relatively inexpensive repro A2 . So Steve Silburn decided to produce, what was at that time, a quality reproduction of the A2 jacket .
Now please don’t try and judge a SEFTON A2 by using today’s standards, because today’s standards hadn’t come of age yet and it would take several years of research , production of high quality materials , and pattern research to get to where we are today . By today’s standards the SEFTON is a good quality, genetic A2, or what we now call a “House Jacket “. But in its day , it was a very sought after, high quality repro. They were made of finely tanned cowhide , that was buttery soft, and draped nicely over the wearers upper body . It incorporated the best traits of multiple WWII contracts into one jacket .
But I’m getting a bit caught up in the moment, so let’s now take a look at what has become a pretty rare A2 jacket . Ok you younger guys, it’s time to start class , so pay attention
THE SEFTON A2 JACKET SIZE 48.
COLLAR
Looking at the SEFTON collar you can immediately see that this jacket is a quality product . The stitching , the hide , the collar stand, and all the edges are nicely finished without any rough looking finishing marks . This jacket is about 32 years old and still looks great. Looking at the all of the parts and the hardware around the collar, you can see that it’s pretty close to what you will find today on many high end repros.
EPAULETTES
Once again the first thing you notice is the quality of the workmanship and the way the collar end of the epaulettes are seated perfectly under the collar stand . The epaulettes are double row stitched along the edges, with large X box stitching at the shoulder and collar attachment points .
KNITS
The knits are well made medium weight and medium brown colored wool knits, similar to those found on high end A2 jackets today . However , seamless knits , weren’t used in the production of this jacket, but I’m sure most people and A2 jacket collectors didn’t give it much of a thought back in those days .
ZIPPER
The zipper is a Brass Talon Zip that I think is an original Talon Zip . Not being very knowledgeable on zips, I’m hoping someone will weigh in here and render their opinion .
It’s works flawlessly and is a quality zipper .
LABEL
The label is nicely done for the period and attention to detail that was given to labels back in those days , but its not period accurate.
Last edited: