Picked one of these up yesterday at O'Connell's in Buffalo, New York.
Here is their link: http://shop.oconnellsclothing.com/
One of the last great traditional men's clothing stores in North America along with J Press , the Andover Shop and Cable Car Clothiers.
Really nice jacket. The Baracuta G9 'Harrington' is the jacket beloved by English Mod subculture since the '60's (though Baracuta started in the 30's I think?)
Been worn by some famous American's too, of course. I think Elvis is wearing one in King Creole 1958?
There's a thread about them http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showt...light=baracuta
Yip, Elvis wore a tan one. I'm sure I've also seen pictures of Sinatra in a sky blue one in the late 50s, though I can't recall where.
If in doubt - overdress.
Vivienne Westwood
Interestingly, Sinatra's G9 jacket in the photos to which I think you refer doesn't seem to have the signature Fraser tartan lining. This has lead people to speculate that it isn't a real Baracuta or that the firm hasn't always used this tartan as the lining for G9s.
The latter seems perfecly reasonable to me, as different tartan linings have long been used in other models of Baracuta jacket.
'If you trip over a stone, an Englishman put it there' - Iranian proverb.
The traditional Baracuta G9 I purchased is the Made in England edition with the tartan Fraser lining. You utilize your left hand in pulling the zipper up and down. The other Baracuta G9's which are not made in England and usually cost $50.00 to $75.00 less have the traditional zipper like all other North American jackets.
I think there is Made in Romania version however from my understanding the Made in England is superior in quality (construction).
Originally Posted by anselmo1
I just purchased a black G9 from the ebay store "stylevaultformen", BNWT, for about $95, made in Romania, that has the left hand zipper. Took some getting used to.
Mine looks to be of the same materials as the made in England and the construction is superb. I went over ever bit of stitching. Straight, no puckers, no loose threads. I don't know how the English made versions could be any better. The cotton shell has a nice soft feel. The teflon coating actually beads up water.
The Ebay store I bought this from has a lot of Baracuta's. Pricing is good, much better than if ordered direct. A made in England if bought in the states would have been about $230 versus the $95 I paid for the Romanian version. Shipping cost about $14 and arrived in a week.
I purchased one on Monday (navy) from Hansen's Clothing for $220 with free shipping. The jacket arrived Thursday. It says made in england on the tag and has the left handed zipper.
http://www.hansensclothing.com/
I also noticed stev mcqueen wearing a navy one in the original Thomas Crowne Affair.
You guys are all going to hate me. I picked up a Made in England G9 pretty similar to the one in anselmo1's picture for $10.95 at Goodwill while fumbling through the outerwear section to see if there was anything half decent.
That's quite a bargain, HP!
I'd forgotten about this thread - I've been increasingly drawn to the Harrington style recently, and I was thinknig of starting a specific thread. Seems this one can do the job admirably, though! Barracuta did indeed create what we now know as the Harrington design in 1937, if memory serves. I was surprised to learn that, as I had always thought of them as a fifties design. The 'Harrington' name came in the 1960s, called after a character in television series Peyton Place. The jackets themselves have been popular among different groups in almost every decade from the 50s.... especially, in England, the mods in the 60s; skinheads and punks in the 70s; skins, punks and mod revivalists in the early 80s.... since the 90s, I've seen them worn mainly by indie kids and rockabillies. The attraction for all these groups is, I believe, that jackets of this type may be bought cheaply, an they are ideal for the warmer Summer months when a light, showerproof jacket is desirable.
To date, I own two jackets of this type. (I'll add photos to the thread hopefully later this week). One is bright red, the other navy blue. Both different manufacturers, the red being unlabelled, the navy "King George 59 - Traditional English Style". As is the norm with cheaper Harringtons (both of these were purchased on ebay, new, for in and around GBP20.00, shipped), they bear the Royal Stewart tartan lining. On the red model, this lining is a slightly heavier and more brushed cotton, both to the body and the sleeves. The King George is lined with this brushed cotton only to the body - sleeves have nylon. The Red unlabelled has an internal pocket, the KG none. Neither have the G9 style raglan sleeve - that is a feature that I think I've only seen on the Baracuta. I also have three more on the way to me: another cheap one in sky blue, and two slightly pricier Merc branded ones (black, and tan). The only real issue I have seen with these cheaper jackets in my experience is that the knits obviously aren't up to the scratch that one would expect with the top end stuff. They do bobble a bit. Nothing unacceptable, though, in my experience. I like that they can be purchased inexpensively for kicking around in, especially when looking at colours that I might wear less often, like the sky blue. The main reason I decided to try the Mercs is that I wanted to see whether spending a little extra money would yield a significantly better jacket over the long term, especially in terms of the knits. The Merc options are about GBP75 RRP; the eBay seller I have purchased from sell them at GBP50. Again, they are the same polycotton mix (55% cotton / 45% poly) as the cheaper jackets tend to be. The Barracutas are, of course, 100% cotton. This doesn't really bother me - cotton would be nice, but without comparing one against the other directly, I'm not sure that I would like to claim to be able to tell which I was handling. The polycotton jackets I have encountered certainly feel very much like cotton. I would love eventually to own a G9, but 100% cotton fabric and raglan sleeves aside, they don't really offer anything that I can't get in a serviceable jacket elsewhere, and they are certainly significantly more expensive. The average price I can find for one in the UK is about GBP120, far outweighing its appeal to me as a utilitarian, warmer weather jacket. Always keeping an eye out for a deal, though!
I'd love to see photos of how folks have incorporated the design into a vintage-oriented wardrobe. I would also love to see any photos anyone has found of the esign being worn pre-1950.
If in doubt - overdress.
Vivienne Westwood
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote