Blasphemy?

[Bender]

I have a new Rainbow Country G-1 I just picked up at General Garden in the Ameya-Yokochō open-air market, Tokyo.

I am by no means a purist, I just wanted the best G-1 I could get my hands on, and this blows away everything else I've seen. The goatskin is so thick and stiff the jacket can literally stand on its own. What this means practically is that the leather is far more substantial than the period-correct knits. This isn't a big deal with the arms and cuffs, but at the waist, the thickness of the leather portions that come down in front completely overwhelm the waist knit, allowing those two leather tabs to flair out, as I have a little extra roominess in the waist measurement.

I've been toying with the idea of replacing the period-correct knits with something more modern, thick, and substantial. I'm not completely against acrylic, but if there is a suitably thick and durable all-wool option out there, that would be my first choice. I've toyed with the idea of getting an A-2 style knit at the waist, as I understand it's doubled over and quite a bit thicker.

Does anybody have any suggestions? I get that it's blasphemy, but this is a practical jacket I intend to beat the hell out of, not a prop from the Masters of the Air wardrobe department, lol.

I'm also mulling over getting the fussy period-correct Talon replaced with a hard-use modern YKK or something.

 

[jchance]

I live in SoCal. I love unlined leather jackets, I have 2 unlined jackets already and bought a new (to me) used jacket recently but it has lining. I’m tempted to cut out the lining so I could make it another unlined jacket that could work with SoCal weather.

The jacket is 9 years old. The lining appears to be thin cotton. I figure I might as well use it until the lining wears out, then cuts it off instead of removing it prematurely. That would save my jacket’s longevity some extra years. That’s the most logical thing to do.

But at the same time, who cares? Not like I need the jacket to last long, I have enough jackets to last several lifetimes to wear. I should make it my own, to my own preference, so I would like it more every time I wear it.

My point is, you should do what you like, even if it doesn’t make the most logical sense. It’s just several hundreds bucks of extra work, but it would make you a happier jacket owner. It’s not the most logical thing to do, but who here still remains logical with more than one leather jacket? The alternative is that you have to wear your G-1 until the knits and zipper wear out, while still thinking about the replacement. That is going to live rent-free in your head for years, while you could be preoccupied with other things.

If you’re afraid to offend the purists (what blasphemy means), who cares what others think?

 

[El Marro]

I have owned a number of G-1 jackets at one time or another, both repros and originals, and I have to say I am not a big fan of the single ply rib rack knits that the older jackets were made with.
You can find good quality 2 ply 100% wool replacement knits from MASH Japan:
https://www.mash-japan.co.jp/oversea/cgi-bin/prd-eng.cgi?itemno=95-07-4046
they offer several different shades of brown, so you can find something that really compliments the jacket.
And if you wanna talk about blasphemy, look at the replacement knits, I put on my Lost Worlds G-1:

Those are Air Force blue knits from MASH Japan.

 

[Will Zach]

I think you can talk about blasphemy if you have an ultra-rare 1940s jacket in perfect condition and you change the knits and zipper to modern just because. Even then, it is your jacket and you do whatever the hell you want with it, is my view. In the case of Rainbow Country, blasphemy (or historical accuracy) should not even enter into the conversation. Beefy goatskin requires beefy knits and a beefy zipper, you are absolutely right. For knits is best to inquire at the Vintage Leather Jackets forum. These guys are geeking out on flight jackets just as we are geeking out on motorcycle jackets over here, and will be in a better position to give knits advice. As to the zipper, I'd go for Universal line from YKK which has the old look and good quality, or #8 RiRi. I like #8 RiRi because it is very substantial, but will not overwhelm the jacket like a #10 zipper might.

 

[floater]

I live in SoCal. I love unlined leather jackets, I have 2 unlined jackets already and bought a new (to me) used jacket recently but it has lining. I’m tempted to cut out the lining so I could make it another unlined jacket that could work with SoCal weather.

The jacket is 9 years old. The lining appears to be thin cotton. I figure I might as well use it until the lining wears out, then cuts it off instead of removing it prematurely. That would save my jacket’s longevity some extra years. That’s the most logical thing to do.

But at the same time, who cares? Not like I need the jacket to last long, I have enough jackets to last several lifetimes to wear. I should make it my own, to my own preference, so I would like it more every time I wear it.

My point is, you should do what you like, even if it doesn’t make the most logical sense. It’s just several hundreds bucks of extra work, but it would make you a happier jacket owner. It’s not the most logical thing to do, but who here still remains logical with more than one leather jacket? The alternative is that you have to wear your G-1 until the knits and zipper wear out, while still thinking about the replacement. That is going to live rent-free in your head for years, while you could be preoccupied with other things.

If you’re afraid to offend the purists (what blasphemy means), who cares what others think?

I’ve always had jackets lined in cupra/cupro/bemberg, or unlined, until I found this place and realized I had to try rc/fw jackets but most had thick moleskin or flannel linings.

I lucked out finding both models that I wanted and the rc, to my surprise, had a satin lining which isn’t bad at all, although a bit fragile, but the fw came with a thick and very clingy moleskin body/sleeve lining, I immediately disliked it and made the jacket uncomfortable to wear and a pita to put on or take off.

I was a bit hesitant to swap it out as in this case it means unstitching the leather at its borders were it’s visible from the outside and didn’t wanna risk getting sloppy or noticeably different stitching in its place.

So instead of pressuring myself to swap it out, or not wear it while I figured it out, I decided to cut the sleeve lining which was the most uncomfortable, I just unstitched the armholes and cut each one a couple inches before the cuff.

Now I can wear it comfortably and it’s a lot easier to put on and take off, I also figured I could do the same to the rest of the lining, even going around the tag to leave it in, and replace the rest without risk by just sewing it onto that border.

 

[jchance]

I’ve always had jackets lined in cupra/cupro/bemberg, or unlined, until I found this place and realized I had to try rc/fw jackets but most had thick moleskin or flannel linings.

I lucked out finding both models that I wanted and the rc, to my surprise, had a satin lining which isn’t bad at all, but the fw came with a thick and very clingy moleskin body/sleeve lining.

I was a bit hesitant to swap it out as in this case it means unstitching the leather at its borders were it’s visible from the outside and didn’t wanna risk getting sloppy or noticeably different stitching in its place.

So instead of pressuring myself to swap it out, or not wear it while I figured it out, I decided to cut the sleeve lining which was the most uncomfortable, I just unstitched the armholes and cut each one a couple inches before the cuff.

View attachment 716735

Now I can wear it comfortably and figured I could do the same to the rest of the lining, even leaving the tag, to replace it without risk.

Interesting, I was rigidly thinking either cutting out the lining entirely or leaving it. Your post helps me think of various ways of cutting out which parts of the lining that I don’t like, while leaving the rest intact.

What bothers me the most about the lining is the elbows. The armhole is pretty snug so the elbows are tight when I bend my arms. Cutting out the arm lining would give me more room. But I usually wear short sleeved shirts underneath, so the lining for the arm section is the most important part to keep my body oils from the leather. Maybe I should just keep wearing it until the leather stretches out a bit at the elbow region to be more comfortable without any lining surgery just yet.

 

[floater]

Interesting, I was rigidly thinking either cutting out the lining entirely or leaving it. Your post helps me think of various ways of cutting out which parts of the lining that I don’t like, while leaving the rest intact.

What bothers me the most about the lining is the elbows. The armhole is pretty snug so the elbows are tight when I bend my arms. Cutting out the arm lining would give me more room. But I usually wear short sleeved shirts underneath, so the lining for the arm section is the most important part to keep my body oils from the leather. Maybe I should just keep wearing it until the leather stretches out a bit at the elbow region to be more comfortable without any lining surgery just yet.

I had a similar issue with it, tight and hot in the armhole and throughout the sleeves, bending my elbow got super tight and pulled on the armhole which made the jacket snag, and that made the clingy lining pull my shirt/sweater up, same when I lifted my arms.

I also thought about the sleeves stretching but this was pre-owned and it’s deerskin so doubted it would stretch much more.

If you look at the pic I posted, turns out the sleeve lining was way wider and a bit shorter than the jacket’s leather sleeves, and that was creating extra bulk inside the sleeves as well as extra pulling on the armholes when bending my arms or pulling at the cuffs.

After taking that out the difference in comfort is huge, hence why for now I’ve just worn it as is while still planning to eventually swap the whole thing, but seriously I could just leave it as is and it’s fine.

My suggestion would be, turn your jacket inside out and see what’s going on with the lining in reference to the body, maybe you could just replace it with something like cupra but better fitted to the jacket’s body.

 

[jchance]

I had a similar issue with it, tight and hot in the armhole and throughout the sleeves, bending my elbow got super tight and pulled on the armhole which made the jacket snag, and that made the clingy lining pull my shirt/sweater up, same when I lifted my arms.

I also thought about the sleeves stretching but this was pre-owned and it’s deerskin so doubted it would stretch much more.

If you look at the pic I posted, turns out the sleeve lining was way wider and a bit shorter than the jacket’s leather sleeves, and that was creating extra bulk inside the sleeves as well as extra pulling on the armholes when bending my arms or pulling at the cuffs.

After taking that out the difference in comfort is huge, hence why for now I’ve just worn it as is while still planning to eventually swap the whole thing, but seriously I could just leave it as is and it’s fine.

My suggestion would be, turn your jacket inside out and see what’s going on with the lining in reference to the body, maybe you could just replace it with something like cupra but better fitted to the jacket’s body.

Interesting thought. I turned the sleeves inside out and couldn’t find what the issue is with the lining. It’s weird because if I were to wear the sleeves unbuttoned and rolled up one roll, there’s no tightness issue. It could be as you said, not enough room with the lining for elbow movement when the sleeves are properly worn.

If I were to modify your solution a bit, I could just cut a hole in the lining, like undoing some of the lining seams and not necessarily removing any lining fabric per se, to have extra room for the elbow movement. It’s something to think about, as I’d observe and experiment some more.

 

[floater]

Yeah, or you could easily just extend it a bit by cutting it and sewing in a small piece of similar fabric.

Try pulling at the cuffs while wearing it to see if you feel the armhole pulling too much, that would confirm the sleeve lining might be a bit short.

 

[El Marro]

For knits is best to inquire at the Vintage Leather Jackets forum. These guys are geeking out on flight jackets just as we are geeking out on motorcycle jackets over here, and will be in a better position to give knits advice.

So I don’t really know why you would say that when I gave just about the best knit advice there is. Seriously.

 

[Will Zach]

So I don’t really know why you would say that when I gave just about the best knit advice there is. Seriously.

I don't doubt it (and no disrespect meant at all, despite my poor choice of words clearly suggesting so. My bad). What I meant to convey is that VLJ opinions (maybe about even beefier knits) might be of value to the OP.

 

[El Marro]

I don't doubt it (and no disrespect meant at all, despite my poor choice of words clearly suggesting so. My bad). What I meant to convey is that VLJ opinions (maybe about even beefier knits) might be of value to the OP.

And now it’s my turn to apologize, I should not do forums first thing when I get home after a long day of work. That was a snappy post on my part and it didn’t need to be…
I do think my advice was good, but you are also correct.. You can go deep into the details over at the VLJ

 

[Bender]

And now it’s my turn to apologize, I should not do forums first thing when I get home after a long day of work. That was a snappy post on my part and it didn’t need to be…
I do think my advice was good, but you are also correct.. You can go deep into the details over at the VLJ

Honestly I thought you were taking a ****, lol.

And yes, your first post was very helpful. I've been looking into MASH Japan.

Just to re-chill the vibe, lets all take a look at a goatskin jacket that ****ing stands on it's own.

View attachment IMG_0076.jpeg

 

[jchance]

So I don’t really know why you would say that when I gave just about the best knit advice there is. Seriously.

I thought this was sarcasm—some old school forum banter.

Back to the thread, I don’t think anyone here is a G-1 purist. At VLJ on the other hand, I wouldn’t dare to ask the OP questions. I would prob get laughed out of there and banned.

 

[El Marro]

Honestly I thought you were taking a ****, lol.

And yes, your first post was very helpful. I've been looking into MASH Japan.

Just to re-chill the vibe, lets all take a look at a goatskin jacket that ****ing stands on it's own.

View attachment 716854

She’s a beauty!!

 

[El Marro]

Back to the thread, I don’t think anyone here is a G-1 purist. At VLJ on the other hand, I wouldn’t dare to ask the OP questions. I would prob get laughed out of there and banned.

That’s a fair point, some guys there would understand the idea of someone wanting to improve the jacket but I’m sure others would argue up and down that that contract number came with the single ply knits and therefore cannot be altered.