Surplus Ike jackets

**Alan H** · 9th June 11, 12:23 PM

This has come up before...Riverkilt for one has posted pics of himself with an Ike jacket and his kilts, and my friend Casey often wears an olive green wool Ike jacket with his MacNaughton tartan kilt.

However, X Marker XMayniac has worn an Ike jacket with his X kilt as "sort-of-semi-formal" and I thought it looked great. They're tough to find as surplus in a size that would fit me, though What Price Glory used to carry them in more *ahem* robust sizes. It's just that the price tag was rather hefty for my wallet.

Here's what I'm referring to, though I would personally NEVER wear insiginia and service bars if I weren't entitled to them....off they'd come if I got a surplus jacket that had them.

Dickies makes what they call an Ike or Eisenhower jacket that's a zip-up-the-front thing, that's not at all the same thing. You can find pretty reasonably priced ones like the picture, above, on Ebay if you watch for a while. I'd say treat the insignia and what they represent with respect and not to wear them if you're not entiteld...but the jackets themselves are great.

**walkerk** · 9th June 11, 12:28 PM

Alan - you are aware that each one of those brass buttons has an insignia on it?

**AFS1970** · 9th June 11, 12:32 PM

IF you don't mind it in a very dark navy blue, called midnight navy, these are available at many uniform stores that cater to police departments. They are actually going out of favor with police departments, so I think the price may end up coming down. These come with no insignia other than a generic P on the buttons, but those could be changed out to any suitable button you wanted.

**Alan H** · 9th June 11, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by walkerk

Alan - you are aware that each one of those brass buttons has an insignia on it?

I am!

But sewing on buttons doesn't intimidate me!

**Tobus** · 9th June 11, 02:36 PM

I got my Ike jacket on eBay for around $35, if I recall. Sadly, though, it's just a wee bit too snug for me to wear. I'd really need to lose about 10 pounds to make it comfortable. But I keep it in my closet in the hopes that I'll fit into it next winter. I'd need to take the patches off too. But I bought it for a good casual kilt-length jacket:

Another good source for vintage (milsurp) Ike jackets is here: Vintage Trends.

**The Wizard of BC** · 9th June 11, 02:47 PM

Now what would be super cool is to find this jacket made from Black Barathea Wool.
With standard square Argyle type buttons.

I would be all over that in a moment.

**CMcG** · 9th June 11, 03:10 PM

Marlow White has them in black or midnight blue without insignia. Their stock buttons are gold- or silver-colored with “P”, “S”, or “FD” but they could easily be swapped.

http://www.marlowwhite.com/dress-uniforms/coats.html