Sonero
Practically Family
- Messages
- 867
- Location
- San Diego / Tijuana
Hey all,
New to the lounge.
I’ve read MUCH of the info on here and elsewhere about peacoats, specifically WWII era. A lot of this thread, as well as Peacoat’s “peacoat dating” thread.
I’ve been on the market for a new peacoat for a while. I’ve had a Sterlingwear “Classic” for well over 10 years and wanted to get something a little more serious, so I’ve been trying to find a legit WW2 era coat.
I recently picked one up on ebay and was wondering if I could ask a couple questions.
I’m trying to basically verify the authenticity of this coat I got. It has all/many of the hallmarks of a WWII era USN peacoat:
- 10 button front (8 visible) (one is loose and has blue thread which I may have re sewn sometime)
-"Naval Clothing Factory / Name / Rate" tag under inside right chest pocket
-Collar tag reading:
"Size 40
US Naval
Clothing Factory
Brooklyn N.Y.
Inspector J.O.”
-1 stitch 3” above sleeve cuffs
-Single center back vent
-Storm tab to fasten collar when collar is up (those 3 little buttons have the fouled anchor)
-Dark blue soft & seemingly thick wool shell. Obviously would be Kersey if era is correct etc.
This is where I have a couple questions…
The condition of the wool seems to be pretty much excellent. However, after looking at SO many pictures of Kersey wool coats, vs. Melton wool coats, one thing I keep noticing about Kersey when viewed from close up is a kind of cross stitch looking pattern to it. My coat doesn’t have this at all. It *does* have a denser softer feel than melton (like as opposed to my late 60’s USN bridge coat which is of course melton), but it doesn’t have the sort of weave/pattern ive seen on other kersey coats. It’s more of a flat looking texture.
The other thing I noticed is that in addition to MANY loose threads (outside under sleeves, next to inside pockets, stitching around outside pockets, stitching on cuffs) there also seems to be some sort of careless looking stitching on this coat. The triangles on the top/bottom of the outside pockets doesn’t always “line up”. And most noticeable is the stitch on the left sleeve that’s 3 inches up doesn’t line up when it comes back around to the other side of the sleeve seem. It’s about 3/8th of an inch off.
If this coat is indeed from the 40’s / at 75+ years old, some of this might be understandable, but it’s peculiar because the wool and the lining look to be in such great shape. I'm slightly wondering if the lining and other parts of the coat were just poorly redone, thus the loose threads, but I have very limited knowledge of tailoring etc. and just don't know.. The lining also looks a little different / more shiny than others I've seen online.
I’ll attach some pictures of the coat illustrating the above, if anyone wants to take a look and offer some insight. There’s a few of these kicking around on ebay, and I can return this one for the next couple weeks, but I went with it cuz it looked great in the pictures, seems to fit well, and had the actual collar tag with a size actually on it. Some pics with and without flash. It's quite difficult to get anywhere close with color accuracy with such a dark blue, but it is indeed a dark blue..
One last sort of anecdote about the wool/coat. I was recently out in the grocery store and spotted someone wearing an almost identical coat to this. I asked him where he got it and he was very nice and said his was his grandfather’s from WW2. I didn’t get a super close look at it but from what I saw it seemed to put me just a bit at ease about the the authenticity of mine. Perhaps when you see that cross threading pattern on kersey it means it’s a bit worn?
Happy to share more pics if anyone would like.
Discuss!
Thanks very much for reading all.
Beautiful Coat.
I have never seen an authentic with that type of collar closure. I own maybe 5 peacoats.
The Sterling I own is my least favorite. It fits like a tailored blazer and at only 28 ounces it barely stops the windchill. Perfect for Southern California but I wouldn't bring it back East with me to NYC.
I recently picked up a newer Schott version made in the USA. 32 oz melton wool with flap pockets and 10 buttons. A beauty but the Kernsey wool of the vintage coats are no match for it.
My vintage coats from Ebay were roughly $80 each and so worth it.