• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Another Erich Hartmann flight jacket

Smithy

Well-Known Member
The ELC Hartmann is the ONLY jacket 'normal' people have ever commented positively on. A-2s generally only get 'Top Gun' , 'Fonzie' or other references.. The 'Top Gun' is the worst....

After all these years of being into flying jackets I'm starting to wonder whether the reason why my wife (and by the sounds of it other less knowledgeable types) like the LW designs is because from an entirely aesthetic standpoint they're the most flattering to an athletic physique. Let's face it, even the most beautiful A-2 because it's a "blouson" style jacket will make even the most ripped/thinnest chap look slightly pear-shaped due to the nature of how the jacket drapes.

20 years of mucking around with this stuff and I'm starting to wonder whether I have had it wrong all along. There might be a very good reason why those French cyclist/LW jackets get so much love from the uneducated public. Maybe they're far more flattering from an aesthetic standpoint than a lot of other flying jackets we tend to favour.
 

M. from Berlin

Well-Known Member
[QUOTE = "B-Man2, Post: 277156, Mitglied: 1802"]
Hallo Rory
Ich wollte nicht Ihren Faden aufbocken, aber da Sie ein Interesse an Kriegsmarine-Jacken haben, dachte ich, ich würde ein paar Fotos von einer Nachkriegsjacke teilen, die ich glücklicherweise bei Pilot kaufen konnte.
Prost

View attachment 38781View attachment 38782View attachment 38783View attachment 38784View attachment 38785View attachment 38786
[/ZITAT]
6 /74
Hi Rory
Not looking to hi jack your thread , but since you have an interest in kriegsmarine jackets, I thought I’d share some photos of a post war one I was fortunate enough to purchase from Pilot .
Cheers

View attachment 38781View attachment 38782View attachment 38783View attachment 38784View attachment 38785View attachment 38786
this jacket wa produced in June 1974 ,the company made jackets for german Navy, Police and Army. Unfortunately, I cannot say when the company was founded and whether they were already producing in WW2. Mario
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Mario
Thank you for that information . It’s good to have someone with your knowledge of jackets with us on the forum. I appreciate your response.
Cheers
 

tjoenn

Well-Known Member
After all these years of being into flying jackets I'm starting to wonder whether the reason why my wife (and by the sounds of it other less knowledgeable types) like the LW designs is because from an entirely aesthetic standpoint they're the most flattering to an athletic physique. Let's face it, even the most beautiful A-2 because it's a "blouson" style jacket will make even the most ripped/thinnest chap look slightly pear-shaped due to the nature of how the jacket drapes.

20 years of mucking around with this stuff and I'm starting to wonder whether I have had it wrong all along. There might be a very good reason why those French cyclist/LW jackets get so much love from the uneducated public. Maybe they're far more flattering from an aesthetic standpoint than a lot of other flying jackets we tend to favour.

Same experience here, my wife is the reason I have an Ostmann (I prefer that design over the Hartmann - always found the two lower pockets out of place). Women tend to compliment that jacket while my A-2 roughwear gets most compliments from men, because of the awesome 23rd ftr group patches and patina.
 

Lord Flashheart

Well-Known Member
I don't know you've had it all wrong here Smithy. Depends what you want to achieve .. in my limited experience though it does seem to match the fit of a lot of womens leather jackets so perhaps that's the script that works for the female eye?
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
I don't know you've had it all wrong here Smithy. Depends what you want to achieve .. in my limited experience though it does seem to match the fit of a lot of womens leather jackets so perhaps that's the script that works for the female eye?

No I'm quite sure it's not entirely that.

The problem is that first and foremost, the guys here on VLJ who like A-2s, that like almost certainly stems from the history and who wore them. If A-2s had been the uniform jacket worn by street cleaners or rubbish collectors in the 1930s I doubt the love would be quite so great. I suspect a lot of our love for them stems from the "romance" of who wore them.

99.99% of women (and blokes for that matter) who don't know the first thing about A-2s or LW jackets or who wore them and when, are only looking at them from an aesthetic point of view, how the jacket looks and looks when worn. For that reason if you try and be completely objective, those French cyclist/LW jackets are a far more flattering fit. As I mention above the blouson nature of the A-2 means that the waist of the jacket will drape so the waist is at least the same width as the shoulders, if not wider. My wife can't stand waist length flight jackets with knits for that reason. Whenever I wear my A-2s or similar she always complains how they make me look slightly pear shaped and especially if zipped up.

I think it's really purely down to the fact that the FC/LW jackets tend to have a far more flattering appearance and especially on people with trim/athletic builds.
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
I guess I’m weird then - to me, the blouson effect is the selling point of the A-2 style.

I like it too but I do wonder whether we're more willing and likely to "accept" and like them because it's the jacket that those gallant fellows wore during the war.

There's another thing at least here, I think a lot of people here in Scandinavia and back home associate blouson style jackets with knit/elasticated waists as "granddad jackets". It's also certainly true that aesthetically if you're in good shape a FC/LW jacket will flatter that body type more than an A-2 style.

The thing with us is we know the back story about these jackets, what they are, who wore them, etc, etc and that has a major determination on us liking them. Joe Bloggs in the street however will like these based purely on how they look and fit, and that's most likely the reason why those FC/LW seem to be liked better by non flight jacket nerds.
 

Rory Schultz

Well-Known Member
OMGinger Snaps! This whole time Lord Flashheart my mind was thinking your name was Lord Flashfart. Too much blurr on the monitor screen I thought. See what your brain on drugs does.....LOL
Sorry guys, been gone for a long time.
 

Enigma1938

Well-Known Member
Just seen this wonderful one, Pilot, any idea who made this?

I am the current owner of this jacket. The maker is the former little nameless company pilot took over a while ago, the same who produced top notch cyclist jackets before the then-owner retired. This jacket is one of their early test jackets, pilot produces them now with minor changes like the color for example.
 

Wasiller

New Member
My all time favored...directly from the wearers family...all photos, badges, awards, docs, and others...received...
Best...its a very rare wearable 44” chest size...

View attachment 13916
Pilot-are you able to send me a message. I was trying to reach out to your but the permissions don't allow. Just had a couple of questions to be discussed offline.

Thanks,

Peter
Palmer, Alaska
 
Top