Smithy
Well-Known Member
Yes the premise in the OP is not correct. The A2 was an American style, but brown leather jackets were worn all over long before that became a standard. WW1 flight jackets were brown, British pre war short leather sporting jackets were brown, as were the French cycling jackets that the German pilots bought to use as flying jackets in WW11 when they occupied France.
In fact black leather jackets were fairly uncommon before the beginning of fifties and most civilian leather coats and jackets until then were brown. Brown leather jackets were pretty fashionable in the UK and continental Europe and worldwide pre war, and many men and women wore them. They were by no means purely an American style.
One thing I'd just correct here South is that not all WWI flying coats were brown.
Although brown was stipulated in regulations, the majority of RNAS airmen wore black leather flying coats and usually double breasted (and not the single breasted flapover designs seen in the RFC with issue and private purchase coats) like their naval uniforms. Also during WWI it was far more common for flying coats used by the Central Powers to be black.