Regrets, I’ve had a few

[Peter Graham]

I’m sure we’ve all sold jackets and regretted it afterwards, but if you were to have just one of them back again, which one would it be ? For me, it’s a near mint original Stagg B-10 that I sold in a fit of madness and poverty. I still have sleepless nights over that one.

 

[Silver Surfer]

the biggest sellers remorse was when i sold my monarch a-2 to andrew. [see thread] and the outta the blue, a few years later he offered to sell it back to me. funny how those things work out.

 

[MikeyB-17]

My Aero B-3, as I have oft here lamented. Also a RMCJ M-422a which was probably the nicest jacket I ever owned. The B-3 will one day be replaced, but I doubt the 422a will.

 

[tibor]

Original Roughwear 1401-P, size 42, great aged but not abused condition, nice leather 29th bomb squadron (rabbit with boxing gloves riding a bomb) patch. Bought in Ann Arbor but sold it later to a Japanese collector as it was too tight. Errors of youth and all that...

 

[dmar836]

I've never sold any jackets - only bought. It's an illness!
Dave (AKA "The Hoarder")

 

[CBI]

I really enjoyed owning a number of John Chapman's very early Good Wear A-2's. The eclectic "test" models for $350 from 10 years ago. I miss some of those! Also would like to re-own some of the originals I have sold. One ELC house A-2 with amazing patina and one early Aeroleather Scotland A-2 that had one of the nicest hides I have ever seen. Why did I sell these?

 

[ties70]

My initial reaction to Peter's question was "Well, there must be a truckload of jackets that I regret selling!"

But when I went through my pictures and did look at the jackets I had bought and sold in the last 20 years, I had to admit to myself that there were always good reasons to part with them.

In most cases it wasn't money or a changing interest...
They simply didn't fit good enough to be worn daily:
My first flight jacket, a Gibson & Barnes A-2 was far too big for me, AERO's from Scotland were always too short, the first ELC too wide in the shoulders, the ELC RW B-3 wasn't worth the extra money compared to my AERO B-3, The AERO B-10 was too trim and too dark, the ELC RW B-10 too short, the ELC Werber too flimsy, several RMNZ A-2 too tight or too stiff, a GW A-1 too trim and so on....and so on...

I guess that I have to face it: I just do not have the size and figure to fit into most of the available flight jackets...

The only jacket I really regret selling is therefor not even a flight jacket but this one:

Best regards,

Ties

 

[ButteMT61]

My Good Wear A-1 for sure. Will find some pics because frankly, I never tire of seeing it.
Just sadly not on my back any longer...

 

[stanier]

Not so much a regret selling scenario, but in the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s I had an ELC house jacket in a size 38 which is probably more like a 40 or 42 now! I got it in a special deal from ELC as I think someone had returned it. I wore it everywhere and shredded the knits but it was my go to A-2. As I recall I didn’t think anything could be done with the shredded knits and binned it or certainly lost it somewhere along the way. It’d be stunning now if I’d kept it the things you do

 

[stanier]

And typing that reply reminds me that an A-2 I really do regret selling was my very first one I got from American Retro in Kensington Market back in the mid-1980’s. It was a Sefton with artwork on the back “Cocktail Hour” with grim reaper chest art. I ended up selling it for a rental deposit. What a waste. I’ve still got pics of me wearing somewhere, I’ll have to dig them out. I’d love to know where that jacket is now. American Retro in Kensington Market had a few really good painted A-2’s in those days and I often wonder who did them.

 

[Brettafett]

My very first ELC RW27752 in 2001/2. I washed it and it fit beautifully, and looked great, but the arms also shrunk a bit more than I'd liked, so I sold it... Would have looked stunning today and been a good beater.
My very first GW was a No Name contract, it was a test fit jacket and I returned it for a RW2772, which ended up being too big. Damn, that No Name was amazing. Had a gorgeous brown hue and some nice charatcer.
My last ELC RW1401 was a stunner, had to let it go for various reasons. Mate who bought it off me, sleeps in it

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

And typing that reply reminds me that an A-2 I really do regret selling was my very first one I got from American Retro in Kensington Market back in the mid-1980’s. It was a Sefton with artwork on the back “Cocktail Hour” with grim reaper chest art. I ended up selling it for a rental deposit. What a waste. I’ve still got pics of me wearing somewhere, I’ll have to dig them out. I’d love to know where that jacket is now. American Retro in Kensington Market had a few really good painted A-2’s in those days and I often wonder who did them.

Are you sure it wasn't called American Classics?.......in the basemernt at the foot of the stairs, run by a guy called Pete?

 

[stanier]

It was certainly downstairs Ken, and Pete rings a bell, but I thought it was American Retro? Classics (in those days) was at the end of Kings Road and I think the Covent Garden shop was open, but I always went Kings Road.

 

[stanier]

I remember Johnson’s upstairs too, spent a fortune in there. Brilliant days, I so regret Kensington Market closing although it wouldn’t be the same if it had stayed open.

Hours spent in there and Tower Records down the road are some of the best I’ve had.

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

It was certainly downstairs Ken, and Pete rings a bell, but I thought it was American Retro? Classics (in those days) was at the end of Kings Road and I think the Covent Garden shop was open, but I always went Kings Road.

Got it, Classic Clothing
The jackets were Aero, they bought a lot of jackets from us between 1983 and 1990ish when, if I recall correctly, Pete upped sticks and ran away with the girl who worked in the shop.
The paintings were done by a girl in the Aero factory, Joy Summers and a graphic artist from Dumfries called Tim, I can't recall his surname, his work was brilliant
Joy also designed the Aero Car, Plane & Bike label

 

[stanier]

Oh wow, are you still in touch with Joy and Tim, Ken? Could they still be interested in doing jacket art? For some reason I thought the jacket was Sefton. So I have owned an Aero! This thread is a gift!

 

[johnwayne]

Kings Road, Kensington Market, Ah the good old days! Yep been there, done that inc Thrift Shop where I prob met Ken too but lost my money to buy hopefully my first A2 getting stung by the 3 card trick guy at Charing Cross!!!

 

[Juanito]

If there was just one, it would be the size 44 H.L. Block M422a in as new condition I purchased from the original owner to whom it was issued. It was sold to me partially as a favor in the 1980s, and in a fit of graduate school poverty, I sold it to James Garcia for $450, in 1992 or 1993.

It was an unheard of price at that time, particularly for a dealer purchase, but as James said, he had never see one as nice.

I regret selling it for what it was and for essentially violating the trust of the vet who sold it to me, who incedentially was an employee of my dad.

The runner up would be a mint original Buco J23 "D" pocket I had about 20 years ago.

 

[MikeyB-17]

I remember the Ken Market too! Went there a few times in my younger days, spent hours trawling through all the clothing shops. The first time I went there the fashion was for 'flying jackets' in 'distressed' leather, covered in Japanese script, as seen in 'The Face'. The place in the basement sold them for silly money. I also went to Flip in Long Acre, where I bought my first letterman jacket. Don't recall seeing many flight jackets, though.

 

[stanier]

I remember the Ken Market too! Went there a few times in my younger days, spent hours trawling through all the clothing shops. The first time I went there the fashion was for 'flying jackets' in 'distressed' leather, covered in Japanese script, as seen in 'The Face'. The place in the basement sold them for silly money. I also went to Flip in Long Acre, where I bought my first letterman jacket. Don't recall seeing many flight jackets, though.

It was a brilliant place, and a real shame it’s gone. I don’t think I’d seen a real flying jacket in the flesh before, but that store downstairs blew me away.

My jacket wasn’t distressed at all and no Japanese letters in sight. However, although I can’t remember the numbers it was very expensive. At the time I’d just been made redundant from a job I’d had for 5 years and though I had another job to go to it cost me nearly all my redundancy money! I remember walking in and feeling loaded and walking out of the market with the jacket, a side cap, a tub of Sweet Georgia Brown pomade / hair grease and a few quid for a night out rockin!

Incidentally, the jacket was also about 4 sizes too big for me at the time, but I loved it and it was worth every single penny.

I wish I had it now. In honesty with every flying jacket I’ve had since I think I’ve been trying to capture the magic of that first purchase.

I do remember that painted A-2 seemed to increase the number of young ladies I met at the time by a considerable amount...which in turn led to its sale sadly...I seem to remember I sold it for a fraction of its original cost in a shop in Ealing Broadway but still had a couple of hundred quid or so in about 1988.

I vaguely remember Flip too!

Very happy days....

I remember looking through the racks in Johnson’s once and being asked by a mate if I knew I was next to Adam Ant also looking through the racks. Didn’t mean much to a young Rockabilly, I mainly remember thinking how short he was and I’m only 5’ 8”ish!