Hot Jackets and Random Thoughts!

I had recently been given a quizzical look when I used a term that I had never heard until my arrival in Los Angeles and attendance at a Ralph Lauren RRL party, "Nouveau Appalachian".  I enjoyed the perplexed raised eyebrow and moved on.  This of course is now in my lexicon.  Over my years of subcultural styles I participated in multitudes of "looks". We all have, all you have to do is go back into your year book in high school and through the window of time you will discover that you too had a "look".  With vintage dealing I am routinely selling articles of clothing to clothing nerds of all types, mainstream, sidestream and extreme!  There are many emergent styles for guys between the ages of 25 and 50 that are typical for my clients.  There are Bobber motorcyclists, military fetishists, surfer nuts, car club junkies and these new style of "Appalachianists" lol.  I fall into all those categories due to my huge closet and propensity to live inside factories with heavy equipment.  Since starting my blog there is now a dirge of bloggers out there celebrating every component of the cultural tapestry.  Blogging seems to be the last open free space where people reuse and recycle culture without fear of the "G" men coming down and whisking us away to prison.   Most of the blogs dont bother writing a whole lot but they sure dig up beautiful images from early 20th century North America and celebrate the "working man".  Perhaps we have a nostalgia for this simpler time, perhaps the longing is for a lost set of morals and ethics, or maybe it is some long ago sense of purpose.  Whatever the reason, this backward looking fetishistic obsession has translated itself nicely into both vintage and new clothing.  I too get a tear whenever I go to  Michael Williams A Continuous Lean or Rivethead and see scenes from the past and memories.  I'm really glad that there is a space where bloggers can share both their personal and public bricollage of style and imagery to create the future.  Im superbly happy when people send me pictures and stories of their own families, parents and uncles and their old leather jackets!


This jacket appears to be a Levis work jacket from the 1890s its incredible!  Carters was a Famous workwear and denim brand and this is clearly an early piece from the 1930s.  And the horsehide is one of the finest condition ones I've seen from my own city of Toronto from the 1930s.

Comments

  1. "LA NOSTALGIE N'EST PLUS CE QU'ELLE ETAIT !" can be translated as "NOSTALGIA ISN'T WHAT IT WAS !" i've always liked that quote from Simone Signoret, French actress and wife of Yves Montand .....

    ReplyDelete
  2. thats a great Carters jacket. I got a Selvedge Chore jacket by Carters on ebay in February, One of the best pick ups in a long while! Great blog btw!

    ReplyDelete
  3. honestly this blog is more a summation of the last 20 years of my life with a little ranting thrown in for sanity's sake and to keep my postal tendencies to a minimum!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello David, have received a USA leather jacket from a Harley guy of 94 years old..!! Would like to identify it. Can you help me..?? Can I send you some pictures..?? Please let me know your email.
    Thanks in advance. Best regards from cold Argentina, Daniel.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just came across your blog and enjoyed reading. I bought a pair of his and her vintage deerskin jackets this summer at a garage sale and am interested in finding out more about them. The were made by Uber out of Owatonna, Minnesota. They are fringed and similar to a jacket you have in your ebay store that you referred to as a sporting jacket. Can I send you some pictures?

    Thanks

    Kent

    ReplyDelete
  6. you are always welcome to send pics...I have never heard of the company..but it should be noted that Berlin..and other locations in Minnesota had a massive deerskin tanning business and that it fueled Midwestern Sports Togs..and many of the other deerskin jacket makers in the area...my email is on the introduction to the blog

    best
    dh

    ReplyDelete
  7. David, I love this chesnut brown leather 30s jacket with half belt. The Sportsmen Horsehide. Do you know anything else about this jacket? Do you own it? I especially like the sunburst back. Very unusual. I'd love a copy of this jacket. If you are interested in discussing it, my email is joelm_shapiro@yahoo.com. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Joseph Gould and Sons was a leather company down here on Spadina in toronto. They made excellent horsehide jackets in the Canadian tradition (the sunburst) with a cross of British and American styling. I make a sunburst jacket but it is a bit different than this one. Each jacket requires an entire new set of patterns. I will make a similar jacket when I can get my new leather jacket cash flow going. Right now I am a 1947 ford truck in minus 35 weather with old black motor oil and a cold block trying to turn over the engine!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for contributing to my site. Keep in mind if you comment anonymously I cannot respond personally as there will be no email address. Please make sure you include your email so I can respond quickly to any comments and sign up for my feed and you can be updated on my new blithering

Popular Posts