• 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.

Jacket Shrinking? Inconsistent sizes?

Hidebound

New Member
So about a week ago I found an old Avirex A2 repro in a antique store that fit me perfectly (not common in leather jackets... or any jackets really. I’m very short). Problem is that it was absolutely beat up and the liner was in shreds, AND the price was double the going price on eBay.

Even so I fell in love with the supple leather and weight, it was loads better than any synthetic jacket I ever wore. Regretfully I decided to go elsewhere, but try and find a similar jacket.

Fast forward a week and I managed to find a decent one of the exact same model on eBay! The problem is that aside from being far more stiff and uncomfortable than the jacket I found at the store, it’s way larger. Especially in the arms.

Could the previous jacket’s smaller size be the result of the leather shrinking in heat? Or do 70’s-80’s Avirex jackets come in inconsistent sizing even if they’re from the same batch?
 

Juanito

Well-Known Member
I doubt it. Unless there was a severely wavy zipper or the places it was sewn together were bunched up, it would be highly unlikely the leather had shrunk. Inconsistent manufacturing wod be more likely.
 

Steve27752

Well-Known Member
So about a week ago I found an old Avirex A2 repro in a antique store that fit me perfectly (not common in leather jackets... or any jackets really. I’m very short). Problem is that it was absolutely beat up and the liner was in shreds, AND the price was double the going price on eBay.

Even so I fell in love with the supple leather and weight, it was loads better than any synthetic jacket I ever wore. Regretfully I decided to go elsewhere, but try and find a similar jacket.

Fast forward a week and I managed to find a decent one of the exact same model on eBay! The problem is that aside from being far more stiff and uncomfortable than the jacket I found at the store, it’s way larger. Especially in the arms.

Could the previous jacket’s smaller size be the result of the leather shrinking in heat? Or do 70’s-80’s Avirex jackets come in inconsistent sizing even if they’re from the same batch?

Welcome to VLJ. I am pretty sure that someone will know.
By way of an introduction, why not post a bit about yourself here.
http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/forums/member-bios.21/
 

Southoftheborder

Well-Known Member
So about a week ago I found an old Avirex A2 repro in a antique store that fit me perfectly (not common in leather jackets... or any jackets really. I’m very short). Problem is that it was absolutely beat up and the liner was in shreds, AND the price was double the going price on eBay.

Even so I fell in love with the supple leather and weight, it was loads better than any synthetic jacket I ever wore. Regretfully I decided to go elsewhere, but try and find a similar jacket.

Fast forward a week and I managed to find a decent one of the exact same model on eBay! The problem is that aside from being far more stiff and uncomfortable than the jacket I found at the store, it’s way larger. Especially in the arms.

Could the previous jacket’s smaller size be the result of the leather shrinking in heat? Or do 70’s-80’s Avirex jackets come in inconsistent sizing even if they’re from the same batch?

The new one may be the same model but be from a couple of decades later. Most repro makers are no different from other clothing manufacturers in following fashion. They may not have made massively oversized fashion blouson A2 type jackets in the eighties and nineties. But A2s made by most of them in those decades are a bit roomier than the ones made earlier in the seventies when short tight jackets were in fashion. Or now in another slim fashion period. If you measure an Eastman made in the nineties for instance it isn't the same as a modern one.

When mainstream fashion swings back to oversized again - which may be starting to happen already, they will probably make their jackets subtly bigger again.
 

Hidebound

New Member
Thank you for your input! That would definitely explain the difference in quality I’ve seen between the two jackets.

I kind of wish leather jackets had some kind of serial number showing what batch/year they came from though. It’s difficult to tell the difference without being able to handle the jacket in person.
 

JulianK

Active Member
If you are still looking for an Avirex A-2 I have one that might fit. Let me know if you are interested :)
 
Top