As the world emerged from the depths of WW2, the US Navy began to prepare itself for newer and colder challenges that started to come from Stalin's Russia. This jacket was an early piece to come out of this period of rapid change. Designed to be worn in the coldest places on earth, which as the cold war began, suddenly became the most contested.
As you can imagine from any piece designed for extreme environments, the AL-1 is solid, with an alpaca wool lining and a windproof cotton shell. Zips that are chunky as hell, reinforced with button closures. A ton of pockets, including my favourite hand pockets that also contain knitted cuffs for added warmth. With the soft fur lining, and silk lined sleeves, this is one of the most comfortable military jackets I've come across.
Condition
This is in amazing mint shape. I've done a couple of quick repairs, cleaning up the tattered cuffs and replacing some moth eaten knits in the pockets, both are complete un-noticable.
Size
- Tagged a size 40
- This would suit a modern size 40
- Pit to pit 22"
- Shoulder to shoulder 52cm
- Shoulder to cuff 24"
- Collar to hem 29"