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I recently took possession of a rather nice four panel Irvin, which IMO dates to late 1940. It has the Crown and AM on the zip pulls, which was only stamped on zip pulls from this period onwards. The jacket is a size 5 and I love the almost copper coloured fleece. It has had very little wear.
I have long been interested in the differences between the "house" features of different makers. Wareing and Co invariably used large collar rings, and wide belt loops for example. Links used rounded collars whilst Irvin Air Chute had squarer collars. Here are some pictures of my 1938 and 1940 Irvins. The 1938 jacket is the work of Irvin Air Chute. The 1940 jacket is the work of DGL.
1938 view of collar rings and construction of the leather loop.
1940 jacket has larger rings and a very different style of fixing the collar ring loop to the collar.
1938 Irvin's slider bucket is marked "Dot British" and has conventional sized rivet heads.
On the 1940 jacket the slider bucket is marked "Dot made in England" and it has over large rivet heads.
Notice the pattern of the 8 ventilation rings on the 1940 Ivin.
I bought this jacket for a lowish price on Ebay recently. The leather was very dry and tender on the shoulders. Pecards has done wonders with it. I replaced some of the sheepskin on the shoulders with 1930s sheepskin from a wrecked pair of flying trousers. I used original leather seam tapes to complete the job. The "V" shape below the neck is however original to the jacket.
This appears to be an early Irvin, probably dating from the period 1933-5. It is made of the characteristic uniform, close pile fleece. The main zip slider bucket is marked "Dot made in England" and the slider/pull is the single trunnion brass Dot variety which is found on the earliest Irvins. One sleeve zip has a double trunnion nickle Dot with the mottled/horizontal lined pull and the other is a cast double trunnion slider with the brass pull with the usual "Dot made in England" stamping. All the zips are original to the jacket.
Some of the seams were re-stritched by the previous owner using black thread and I will re-do them eventually. There is the normal wear to the cuffs. The jacket would equate to a wartime size 5.
Although it can be worn, it is for display like my four panel early IAC jacket.
Here are some pics.
Earlier last year I bought a late War multi-panelled Irvin. It's a size 5. The jacket is complete with the AM label. The main zip is a Lightning and the sleeve zips have the kings crown on them, the AM and F.S.. I'm not sure what F.S. standards for. I have seen many late War Irvins with F.F. on the zip pulls, which probably stands for "Flash Fastener". The jacket is in superb condition, with no obvious fleece wear.
Below are up to date photos of my 1933 Irvin, taken with my new camera. It is the four panel back construction as opposed to the two. The leather zip pulls are all original, as is the collar securing strap. The brass pulls are stamped "Dot made in England" and the slider bucket is unmarked. The stamped numbers 33 are visible on the label. It is made of high quality shortpile fleece, which is generally supple. The elastic collar securing strap is entirely original.
I have up-loaded more pics of some Irvins from my collection. Perhaps other members with originals can add pics and details. Here we go! The Coastal Command and Links Irvin are no longer in my possession.
1933 Irvin Air Chute 8 panelled body contruction with Dot made in England zips and original leather pulls.
1938-9 Irvin Air chute jacket size 5 or 6 in as near mint conditionas you will find. The main zip is the mottled/horizontal lined variety and the sleeve zips are Dot made in Englands. The fleece is lambs wool.
LINKS IRVIN 1940. Contract no. H. 174370/40/C.I.D
1941 by Wareing and Co of Northampton. The jacket has wide belt loops, large fixing rings and cast Dot sliders with brass pullers, marked AM, with the king's crown. It belonged to a Squadron Leader who flew Mosquitos, but this jacket shows no wear.
Late war muli-panelled Irvin size 5. Sleeve zips are marked "FF" which stands for flash fastener co.
1940 coastal command Irvin, which I sold several months ago.