The classic MK3 foul weather jacket, developed in the late 1970s was the classic waterproof garment across all the British army forces, seeing service with the Army, RAF and Navy, often found in photos from the Falklands being worn by deckhands. Whilst the green version is pretty common, and the blue slightly less so, the orange Royal Navy iteration is a decidedly rare piece. These seem to have been made as trial garments, with only a few contracts made, all by Belstaff around 1977. I guess the theory of being more visible if you go overboard makes sense, but the practise of doing dirty deck-work, like painting, made these garments far too difficult to keep clean! This jacket is a case-in-point, it looks like it's been used for painting a ship - the Navy grey is a giveaway, and the tried to be cleaned, and painted again with orange - I guess that's one way to keep it clean! The result is a garment worthy of the finest British clothing archives, rare in nature, and unique in patina!
Condition
This one has certainly seen some use, but the jacket is solid. There are paint marks, both grey and then an overcoat of orange to the lower half of the jacket. Otherwise there is no major damage. Crucially, the floatation pads around the hood are in great shape, so often they have been removed! Some of the velcro was starting to fray, so I've put a subtle line of stitching through it to prevent any further damage.
Size
- Tagged a size 2
- Fits a medium/large
- Pit to pit 24"
- Shoulder to shoulder 19"
- Shoulder to cuff 25"
- Collar to hem 30"