Star Sportswear A-2 Project (Made By Greatest Generation Clothing Co.)

Well, with completion drawing near, I thought it's time to get a thread started on my latest A-2 jacket project.... Steve S http://www.thefedoralounge.com/members/steve-s.36147/ (Greatest Generation Clothing Co.) has been hard at work crafting a nice Star Sportswear A-2 jacket reproduction for me.

This all started awhile back, when I attempted to shrink-down a Good Wear Perry Sportswear A-2, made from the Indian goat which JC uses (dead-ringer of the type used on period originals). The jacket didn't shrink at all, despite being subjected to the hot water / hot dryer treatment I gave it, and also messed-up the finish somewhat. I have successfully shrunk-down quite a few leather jackets over the years, but the Perry just didn't cooperate.

I contacted Steve to see if he could cut the jacket down a size or so. He was willing to take a look at it, so I sent it to him, only to find that the work, time, and cost involved wouldn't be worth the effort. I asked Steve if he was interested in the Perry, and if so, I would be willing to swap it for a Star A-2 repro. I knew he had patterns made from a Star that he had in, and I was pleased to find out that he was interested, and would make the jacket for me.

Steve was fortunate to find that one of his leather suppliers had a suitable cow / steerhide around, and it was the only one in the appropriate weight / color available. AFAIK, another hide like it would be difficult to find, since the supplier had no tags or ID attached to it for re-stocking.

I've always admired the Star Sportswear contract, especially the inset / rotated sleeves for less-restrictive arm-movement, and comfort. Steve went all-out, and ordered repro Star Sportswear labels to boot. The Star also will be sporting an original wartime Talon zipper, which I was happy to pay a little extra for.

Finishing touches are now being done, with only some perimeter stitching , and hardware to be installed. The Star should be on it's way to me on Tuesday (Damn Monday holidays ) I will post further pics (including fit) after the jacket arrives. Here are some for now:

It never ceases to amaze me that something like this:



Can be crafted into this: (I'm fairly certain the actual color of both leather and knits will be close to the pic below with the liner installed)





The cow / steerhide used looks to have excellent character, and should need no extra help to develop even better grain than the pics show. This is one I will just wear as-is to develop on it's own..

More to come............

Interesting how much pocket flap variation there is within a small contract. I was initially concerned about the pocket flap scallops on this one. I based this primarily on seeing pics of JC's Star repro, but after looking at pics of quite a few originals, I think they're just fine.

Good Wear Star:



Various original Star pocket flap scallops:















And an ELC Star repro thrown-in for good measure:



TBH, I was hoping for pocket flaps like JC's Star, but Steve S did make his patterns directly from a Star, and they have enough scallop to satisfy me. I could always try wetting, and reshaping the flaps some, as I have successfully done on a few jackets in the past.

Just received some pics of the completed Star from Steve S. As I told him, I'm actually short on words, except for one..... OUTSTANDING! ( The first words in my reply to Steve's email was HOLY S...!! ) I'll let the pics do the talking:

















More to follow....

......

Wow! Looks great! Steve does some really excellent work. Congrats on an awesome new jacket.

While I don't know much about the A-2 (although I have a Goodwear A-2), yours looks the business. I will be interested to see how well he nailed the fit.

thor said:

Wow! Looks great! Steve does some really excellent work. Congrats on an awesome new jacket.

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+1

That's a real sharp looking jacket right there.

I'm sure it wasn't what you were going for, but I think that hide would look great if Steve did the same overdye treatment he does to make his russet goat into his seal goat and then used his alcohol/distilled wipe down to give it a vintaged look.

I was wondering what color you would say the knits are? It's hard to tell from my phone.


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thor said:

Wow! Looks great! Steve does some really excellent work. Congrats on an awesome new jacket.

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Thanks! Steve can definitely cut and sew some sweet jackets for certain.

Peacoat said:

While I don't know much about the A-2 (although I have a Goodwear A-2), yours looks the business. I will be interested to see how well he nailed the fit.

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Thanks! I agree it does have 'the look'.. I will be posting some fit pics after it arrives. The construction looks just as good as the GW Perry I swapped for this Star from what I can see in the pics.

theundeadkennedy said:

That's a real sharp looking jacket right there.

I'm sure it wasn't what you were going for, but I think that hide would look great if Steve did the same overdye treatment he does to make his russet goat into his seal goat and then used his alcohol/distilled wipe down to give it a vintaged look.

I was wondering what color you would say the knits are? It's hard to tell from my phone

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Thank You.. I really didn't have anything particular in mind regarding the hide. When Steve agreed to make the swap for my GW Perry, I considered it a favor since my hot water / dryer treatment didn't come out as planned. I was VERY happy to be receiving a new jacket in my size.

I just asked for it to be made from a decent cow / steerhide, and man did Steve deliver IMO. From what I gather, the leather distributor was sent some pics of what Steve was looking for, and found the hide with no tags or ID in a stack. It was the only one like it. If you look at the pics in the first post, the hide looks almost chocolate-brown in some of them, lighter brown in others. I believe that the completed pics with the reddish hues were taken in sunlight, and one can see lighter brown around some edges. I can't wait to see it in person. AFAIK, the knits are in a mid-brown. I am thinking that this pic may be the closest to the actual colors:

Just wow!!! One fantastic looking jacket!!!!!!

That looks seriously nice Technonut. Looking forward to the fit pics when you get it - bet you can't wait.

Smithy said:

That looks seriously nice Technonut. Looking forward to the fit pics when you get it - bet you can't wait.

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Thanks! I just heard that the jacket is on the way.. Time to engage full mail-stalk mode...

Technonut said:

Thanks! I just heard that the jacket is on the way.. Time to engage full mail-stalk mode...

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Haha!

The old watch the front gate like a hawk routine. The slightest noise and you burst out of a chair, pushing women and children out of the way only to discover it's the next door neighbour arriving home. I've lost count of how many times I've done that!

The Star is out for delivery today. Regarding the reddish hues this hide has, I ran across a pic of this nicely aged / broken-in Good Wear 1936 contract Werber A-2 which looks similar, especially the collar, and sleeve. It will be interesting to see what the Star looks like as it ages / breaks-in under different lighting conditions.




This 1936 contract GW Werber A-2 is currently listed on eBay (not mine) for anyone interested:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Good-Wear-Leather-Jacket-A-2-/302007815829?


Stay tuned for my thoughts of the Star, and some fit pics......

Technonut said:

The Star is out for delivery today. Regarding the reddish hues this hide has, I ran across a pic of this nicely aged / broken-in Good Wear 1936 contract Werber A-2 which looks similar, especially the collar, and sleeve. It will be interesting to see what the Star looks like as it ages / breaks-in under different lighting conditions.

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I actually really like the reddish hues in the hide. It's something I am going to specifically look for when it comes time for me to get my first A-2.

When the time comes to replace the knits on this jacket, you should consider some olive replacements. That hide would make the olive knits pop and vice versa.



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Disengage mail-stalk mode, the Star arrived. IMO, Steve S did indeed make a Star.

The hide used has to be handled to truly appreciate it. VERY supple, and has a great leather smell. There is some nice grain going on here and there, which I will take pics of later to show. The leather weight is proper for an A-2. Not too thick and heavy like some repros out there, but not too thin either.

The fit is bang-on to how I prefer my jackets. Steve S already had my measurements from an AN-J-3 he made for me, and I also sent him a nicely fitting leather jacket to go by. These pics were taken with the jacket right out of the box, so it needs to be worn to settle-down.

I apologize for not showing much collar in the shots, but it is pushing 90 degrees F outside, and I am going to wait until it's cooler in the morning to get some better ones. I was roasting, and do not want to saturate the cotton liner with sweat. These pics should serve to get an idea of how it looks:









More to come... But I can say right-off-the-bat, that I am more than pleased with Steve's work, and publicly thank him for pulling my butt out of the fire by making the Star for me in exchange for the GW Perry I kinda botched-up by my attempt to shrink it with the hot water / hot dryer treatment.

Just for the sake of comparison, here is the Good Wear Perry Sportswear that I swapped Steve S for the Star he made for me. This is after the failed HW / dryer treatment. The finish was somewhat muted compared to how it was before, so I attempted to 'fix' it by using some brown Pecard's. As I posted, it also did not shrink at all. I'm wearing a bulky sweater in these pics, and it still felt at least a size too large...





To make a guess, I think Steve's interest in the Perry was to take it apart, and make patterns for future Perry builds, or perhaps tailor it for himself to wear. I'm fairly certain that after the brown Pecard's wears-down some, it would still make a sweet jacket for someone larger than I.

I think many would agree that Steve did me one helluva favor...

The Goodwear looks great, but yes obviously too large. The new one is a better fit. Enjoy!

plainsman said:

The Goodwear looks great, but yes obviously too large. The new one is a better fit. Enjoy!

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Thank you. Yes, I really liked, and wanted the GW Perry to work. JC knocked all the details of that contract out of the park. I purchased the jacket on eBay for a very good price. Of course, the seller didn't list the measurements correctly, and was larger than I anticipated.

I more than likely could have made a few dollars flogging it on to someone else, but since I've had good luck shrinking-down other goatskin jackets over the years, I couldn't resist trying, and ended-up with unsatisfactory results. The pics actually look better than it really is, and I would have been lucky to break-even selling it. Even if I did, I still couldn't purchase another jacket of similar quality for the price.

I also have a duplicate thread going over at VLJ, and just had a reply from a serious collector there who owns many period A-2's, including Star Sportswear. I was informed that Steve did a good job on my Star in his opinion, with the pocket flaps, and collar 'spot-on', and most of the other details replicated correctly. I'm fortunate that Steve was game for the swap, and I ended-up with a nice A-2 that fits well. The Star is known to be longer in the body than other period A-2's, which is another feature I like. I can't stand shorter jackets that I have to pull down constantly from normal movement.....

Here's a few pics showing some of the grain better:

Looking the Star over closely, the construction and stitching is quite good. The wool knits are substantial, and of good quality. The cotton liner appears to be of the correct weave, and color. The fit is comfortable, and will allow for a light sweater if I choose. The upper sleeves are roomy, perhaps a bit more than I like, but correct to the pattern I suppose. They should settle-down, and look better as the jacket breaks-in. The forearm taper is good, and the inset, rotated sleeves do provide a better range of movement than other A-2 contracts (Monarch was the only other A-2 maker to include this feature AFAIK).

As I posted, Steve made the patterns directly from a Star Sportswear A-2, which happened to match most of my measurements with very little adjustment needed (only a bit added to the length). It fits just about like it should have if given to me by the AAF in my labeled size in 1942. The difference being that I'm a bit more filled-out than the mostly slender servicemen of that era, producing a different look when worn.

I'm really liking the supple hide used, and it should break-in well over time. The brown / reddish hue color changes somewhat depending upon the lighting. I find this pleasing to my eye, and am very happy with it. I see the color as 'russet on steroids'. If Steve could obtain more of it, perhaps it should be called 'Badassirussi' or something..Lol!

I'm not totally wild about the pocket flap shape compared to JC's pattern, but is correct, and within the many variations of this small contract. I also think that the wind flap could have been narrower, as seen in some, but again, falls within the range of others I've seen in pics. I feel that the epaulets 'X' boxing could have been done better, with a bit wider seam / stitch-line spacing from the edges, but still looks like pics I've seen of others out there (I've seen one example before stitched as crooked as a dog's hind leg).

To be fair, this was Steve's first A-2 completed from the ground up. Taking that into consideration, he did a damn fine job replicating the Star he made patterns from, with the materials on hand (except for the Star Sportswear labels), and should be proud of his results IMO.

Some things like the size tags are out of reach for now, since he would have needed to order a large quantity of each of the various sizes from his supplier just for the Star contract, as well as some of the other hardware. As demand grows for him to produce A-2's, I'm certain he will up his game, and place the necessary orders. It's simply a matter of justifying the cash investment for those items.

I look forward to many years of wear from this jacket. It should only look better and better as time goes by.







EDIT: Here are some period pics of various maker A-2's. I think it's interesting how closely this Star repro mimics them regarding sleeve wrinkling, drape of the leather, etc.....