Good Wear Leather Coat Company: Sale Gordon & Chapman AN-J-3A Flight Jacket

This item has been sold.
Gordon & Chapman AN-J-3A U.S. Navy Flight Jacket
Price: $1,400.00 (new condition) — note shipping costs below
Fit: this jacket has a comfortable, long fit in the correct size
Goatskin: chrome-tanned seal brown goatskin
Lining: new Japanese rayon fabric
Knits: seal brown rib-rack wool
Mouton: vintage 1950s mouton
Thread: seal brown nylon, correct for this contract
Zipper: blackened M-43 Talon reproduction with vintage Talon slider
Size: 44

This is a return jacket, as it was just a bit too large for the intended order. A second jacket was made, and this one is now available. This jacket is new, and has excellent materials and a great pattern. Gordon & Ferguson were a prolific contractor before and during WWII, with contracts as high as 250,000+ jackets in one contract alone. They were master pattern makers, so their jackets fit as they should, with a dignified human form. In getting our patterns, we've taken apart and also copied a number of Gordon & Ferguson jackets in our possession. G&F were very consistent in their jacket design between the first 88860 M-422A contract and this very last AN-J-3A.

The pockets and collar tab are the easiest variation from earlier G&F jackets to identify. This one last contract had even pockets, not the uneven pockets with one having a pencil slot as all the earlier contracts had. Also, the collar tab has a more rounded shape. We purchased our first original in 2020, and had never seen any originals before this jacket, and only knew of the contract from the book Full Gear. After acquiring and then selling this size 36 original, we also saw two others on the internet, and then purchased a size 42 original a couple years later. This contract must have been quite small, as so few have ever been seen, and we see quite a bit.

This jacket is comfortable and rather long in the torso, as Gordon & Ferguson jackets are known to be. The pattern is not tight or restricting, so someone of the right size would look classy but have ease of motion wearing it. The goatskin is very flexible, being chrome tanned, and has good weight. The lining is amazing rayon from Japan, and the knits have a solid rib-rack weave, just as originals. We only use vintage mouton, which has a sheen which is extremely hard to create today. Note the blackened Talon zipper with vintage Talon slider.

The jacket would ideally fit someone in the range of 5'11" to 6'2", with a chest of 42" to 43.5", and a weight of about 180-210 pounds.