Flight jacket in weatherproof ripstop in cosmos
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Buying
£380.00
Flight jacket, made in London, with weatherproof ripstop — a light (230gsm) but very strong paradox of a cloth from Yorkshire — and horn buttons from the West Midlands.
Sizing
This is designed to be a close-fitting jacket, drawn in at the waist. If you are between sizes, or prefer a non-snug fit, go a size up. Thus, while the mannequin is a 38, he is wearing M.
| XS | S | M | L | XL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| To fit chest | 36 | 38 | 40 | 42 | 44 |
| Pit-to-pit | 20½ | 21½ | 22½ | 23½ | 24½ |
| Back length | 25½ | 25¾ | 26 | 26¼ | 26½ |
| Sleeve from centre-back | 34¼ | 34¾ | 35¼ | 35¾ | 36¼ |
Called "weatherproof" for a reason, this cloth. Rain, no matter how much, beads up and bounces off; wind shall not pass. But at the same time, it has superlative heat-transfer and ventilation properties. By trapping air and wicking moisture, it is a high-performance shell on cold days and hot, sticky ones alike.
The flight jacket is a short jacket, with side-entry pockets all but invisible to the casual observer, and a hem band which pulls the body into a bomber jacket-style sort of shape. It has no collar of which to speak, but rather a collar-stand, which skims smoothly around the neck, never slack nor tight.
The jacket has a throat-latch, which runs across the neck at the front. It may be buttoned across or back on itself. This is, of course, entirely up the wearer. They may choose, even, not to button the throat-latch at all — just to have it hang loose.
It has a front of six buttons — all horn, dark tortoiseshell in colour, and pleasingly tactile in nature. And, for each of those, there is a little backing button on the other side. These protect the stitching of the front buttons, and perform a minor anchoring job as well.
The jacket has side-entry pockets, which are tucked out of sight in the side-seams of the body. The aforementioned seams are pitched forwards, so the pockets are in just the right place to plunge hands a moment's notice. Also visible here at the pleats that taper the body of the jacket into the hem.
The sleeves are a standard sort of width, but they taper at the elbow and fasten snugly around the wrist with a cuff that folds in on itself, courtesy of a gusset, some pleats, and an arrow-tipped tab.
The jacket has a saddle shoulder. This type of construction combines the sharp lines of a typical inset sleeve with a very soft drape over the shoulder. It is more commonly seen on knitwear; nobody can recall ever seeing it on a cut-and-sewn jacket. One to file in the "simple to look at but devilish to make" box.
The jacket has two pockets on the inside — one, as you might predict, on each side. They are disproportionately large compared to the rest of the jacket, and being as they are each covered with a large flap, they invite the storage of belongings, so freeing up the exterior pockets for hands and hands only.
The jacket has a half-lining of even more weatherproof ripstop. In this way, when also taking into account the facing on the inside-front of the jacket, you have a double-layer of cloth on the most weather-exposed parts of the exterior. Elsewhere, meanwhile, the seams are smartly bound with dark grey cotton.
The front of the cloth is a ripstop weave of aramid fibres; the back is a raised ripstop of more aramid fibres. Weapon-grade strength. And yet the cloth is soft and tactile, doesn't much age, and is supremely hardy vis à vis abrasion. Great for travel, too: light and resistant to creasing.
As worn
Him, here, is 6'1" and is wearing a size S. Just right, given his 38" chest — albeit a little short in the sleeve on account of fairly long humeri.
Makers of
The jacket is made at an outerwear factory in London: the best, many agree, in the capital. The jacket is cut by the hands of a cutter with some 30 years in the trade, and sewn by one of four seamsters whose meticulousness and pursuit of perfection would be caricature were the end results not always so good.
The ripstop cloth comes from a mill in the Heavy Woollen District of West Yorkshire, founded in the 1800s. Things have, of course, moved very much with the times, and so the traditions of weaving are allied now to cutting-edge, industry-leading standards in weaving, dyeing, and testing.
The horn buttons were cut, shaped, and polished by the last such factory in Britain (now defunct). It was part of a tradition in the Midlands first linked to the meat industry of the 18th century. "It is no easy task," said William Hutton in 1780, "to enumerate the infinite diversity of buttons here in Birmingham."
So they say
The flight jacket arrived yesterday in resplendent glory wrapped in the box. It is perfect. I swim, and need the shoulder size. The length of the jacket is longer than designed, but it works well — especially as a rain jacket. Thank you again, I look forward to the next purchase.
The first person ever to buy a flight jacket — one made with the Flyweight quality of Ventile — in June 2017.
The flight jacket is a pleasure to wear thus far. The cut, colour, and craftsmanship are, respectively, sharp, saturated, and sturdy. I look forward to giving it more than the recent weak west-coast winter weather to brave up to.
So said a chap who purchased the flight jacket in a melton / sail-canvas combination in November of 2017.
The flight jacket fits wonderfully. Absolutely thrilled. It sends shivers down my spine (in the best way possible) and I can't wait for warmer weather so I can start wearing it.
This gentleman bought the flight jacket in weatherproof ripstop in sand in February 2018.