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Headwind Mfg Co - Our New USN 37J1 Jacket

Skyhawk

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone, it was a very exciting day at Headwind! We got our new 37J1 jacket done in the new Chestnut Capeskin. It turned out fantastic! The hide is perfect and all our details are now up to date with all we know about this rarest of the rare USN flight jacket. Fit pics to come. The pattern is a nice and slim vintage fit. Now the photos:
New-37J1-Front.jpg

New-37J1-Back.jpg

New-37J1-Front-2.jpg

New-37J1-Bone-2.jpg
New-37J1-knit.jpg

New-37J1-Vent.jpg
P1040260.JPG


Regards,
Jay
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Jay
That's absolutely top shelf, nice work.
It pretty cool to see how far your company has come in how many ? 3 years?
This is a quality jacket that should sell nicely.
Best wishes.
B-Man2
 

Persimmon

Well-Known Member
Jay , Think I am going well against the trend here but I have to say I don’t like the pebbly look on this colour jacket variant.

As a Headwind customer I value your products but to me it just does not look quite right.

Perhaps age and wear will soften it and I will revisit it and think what the hell was I talking about !!

Best wishes with the success of the range though.
 

johnwayne

Well-Known Member
Nice jacket for sure but I'm with Alan on this one, not a fan of that pebbly grain, a little too pronounced but that's only my opinion!
 

Skyhawk

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys! The hide is amazing in hand.

In regards to the grain, it is an interesting topic that I have been researching for a long time. This is real Capeskin and the grain is real. It is not embossed or artificially textured.

There are examples of this same graining in original photos, and then there are a lot of photos where the "Capeskin" looks a lot smoother. I think that some of this is from the lack of detail that the cameras were picking up in the 1920's-30's, and the jackets were grainier than they appear. Another factor is the distance away from the subjects that a lot of photos were taken from. This can smooth out fine details.

Here are some examples of the grainy Capeskin used:
Cape-grain-1.jpg

This fellow here has cape that is a virtual match to the graining on ours. This photo is slightly out of focus and at a distance but still you can see that Cape grain Popping.


AG-original4.jpg

This example is from an original Capeskin 1930's Spalding Civilian Flight Jacket. Again the grain matches.

P1040263.JPG

P1040266.JPG


This is from the Cover of a reproduced Spalding catalog circa 1930's. again, matching grain with our Capeskin.

Somebody needs to tell these guys that their jackets are too grainy!!
 

Skyhawk

Well-Known Member
Agree the hide does not look quite right - look like elephant hide.
By coincidence there is another thread about a private purchase A2 jacket which has grain
very similar to the one above.

http://vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/91st-bg-h-a2.21269/#post-206375

Thanks for the thread link. You are correct! That jacket is a prime example of Vintage Grainy Capeskin and is a match to our new Capeskin hide:
01.jpg

04.jpg

Agree the hide does not look quite right - look like elephant hide.
You can see in the armpit the unmistakable characteristics of Capeskin that are unique to this hide. The big puffy lumps with the small pore grain in-between.
 

zoomer

Well-Known Member
The key is for the grain not to look too even...as if it’s been applied in a press, or treated to craze or crack.
 

Skyhawk

Well-Known Member
The key is for the grain not to look too even...as if it’s been applied in a press, or treated to craze or crack.
Thanks! No doubt! Variation in grain is natural and a pressed jacket would not have variations like seen on this hide:
Cape-grain-2.jpg
 

Skyhawk

Well-Known Member
Yeah that's an interesting one. 3 piece sleeves negate the chance of a contract jacket. The Vet insists he got it from the supply department on base. So there could be a slim chance it could be some kind of early test A-2. With the Cape skin and A-1 connection, after all some of the A-1 test jackets were made of Cow. Looks like a 1940's Talon zip on it.. I think it is probably a private purchase jacket that got somehow introduced into supply at a base, as was suggested on the other thread.
 

zoomer

Well-Known Member
That's actually possible, given that guys turned their jackets in for refurb and such.
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Damn Jay!
Didn’t recognize you without your pull down hat and sun glasses. Jacket looks badass by the way!
 

bseal

Well-Known Member
For the one or tops two potential customers that don't prefer as much grain, what are their options in the near future?
 
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