Thursday, April 29

carhartt -detroit jacket changes

[Darker brown is the unworn possibly 40year old Detroit,
the later wornout jacket is from 2002]
[just noticed the old/straight vs. new/curved cuff seam too]
Have mentioned it before on 10engines and sort of have a bee in my ear about it... was disappointed in 2002ish when Carhartt changed their Detroit (Ike styled) jacket. The sizing was changed and most importantly (to me) the blanket lining that extended down the arms was replaced with nylon. The blanket-lined arms mean the jacket can be used even in moderate summer heat as your bare arm does not get all slick and nasty as it does w/ nylon... Done banging a drum about it (or the contemporary change in cut of the carpenter pants)... just have to buy NOS I guess.

[These shots for the sleeve lining, not meant to imply shape/pattern change]

Long/short, had to resort to ebay. Got the deadstock effort for about 50% less than a new one; #find. Blanket lined sleeves, #must. This older jacket may be from the 1960's (no label to show material types, older C buttons, and no exterior label). Stiff as a board duck, darker brown than the caramely brown you see today. The blanket lining is not Troy Mills, though some (probably older) models (example) did use Troy blanketing. This may be 1970's then...

Last, the fit. A labelled 40" chest of yesteryear is almost exactly equal to a labelled 38" chest of today, which I would say is a real life 40"... 22" across the chest seam to seam. So new fit is vanity sized?? The pics are compared to my own worn 2002 Detroit throughout.