Welcome to the Eastman Leather Clothing Website, and to our range of specialist 40's style wartime flying jackets and accessories.

Customers located in the USA and Canada should not try to purchase from this website. Instead, for your convenience, we would like like to refer you to our U.S. distributor in New Jersey, who handles our US/Canadian customers. Please click on the US/Canadian flag logo above to go to their website, or you can contact them on the details below:

History Preservation Associates,
P.O. Box 8344
Cherry Hill,
N.J. 08002-0344, USA.
Tel: (856) 489 8103
Fax: (856) 489 8104

Dear customer,

Thank you for your interest in the Eastman Leather Clothing collection.

This range of specialist 40's style wartime flying jackets and accessories, has been compiled for those of us who desire a truly authentic garment from that period. That is, a garment which in design, components, and quality, matches in every detail possible the original garment which it is a reproduction of.

The nostalgia behind these styles is what makes them attractive. They were born out of a time of necessity, designed for a specific purpose - to function and protect under adverse and challenging conditions. Since then they have become a timeless fashion item, appealing to the rugged utilitarian image.

Original flying jackets are collectors' items. They are hard to find, expensive to buy, and in most cases, due to their age, far too delicate to wear. They are without doubt investments, and for these reasons are no longer practical in use. So, for those of us who wish to be able to wear such a garment, these reproductions offer that fulfilment.

Attention to authenticity, quality and history, is at the heart of making a perfect reproduction. When buying an Eastman garment, you are purchasing just that!

All the components that go into making an Eastman, have been painstakingly recreated at great expense. The materials and the methods of the manufacture of these garments were commonly available fifty years ago. Today, the ingredients needed to reproduce these materials are mostly gone, long ago superseded by more modern methods. To a large extent, this is what you are paying for in an Eastman garment. For, to have specially made, these materials require our suppliers to step out of their normal line of production, hence making them more costly to produce. Making these old style materials again requires starting from scratch - re-tooling, researching, digging down through old documents trying to find the original specs - and quite often it takes more than one go to get it right, absorbing tremendous amounts of time before doing so.

Our jackets are made only from hide types and tanning processes found on originals. There are basically two processes of tanning, vegetable and chrome, the former being the earlier method. Both were used during the wartime period. Sometimes a mixture of both veg and chrome were used. Veg tanning is by far the more expensive method, as it takes much longer to produce. Nowadays, apart from some very exclusive garments, veg tanned leather is unheard of. You will see that we make prevalent use of veg tanned skins were it is authentic to do so. Our reproductions of the 'early war' garments have to be veg tanned, as this was the process used at that time.

It is only by using these traditional tanning and dyeing methods that one can reproduce the true look and feel of an original wartime garment. When you receive your jacket it looks new, obviously, just as an original would have when it was first issued. But as you wear it, it will develop a rich character of its own, the more it is worn. So, after investing your money, you now have to invest some time into your jacket, time that will personalise it as you carve your personality into it. This is something money cannot buy. It is this 'vintage' look that makes the originals so appealing. Modern made leathers just don't look like this anymore - except ours!.

Decades ago, only pure cotton thread was used. Part of the vintage look comes from the gradual fading of these threads, just like a pair of denim jeans. Polyester and Poly/cotton blend threads are all that are available today. Firstly,l these would be unauthentic to use, and secondly, they are actually more harmful to leather than cotton thread, tending to cut into the leather as there is less give in the fibres as there is with cotton. We use 100% cotton, 16 gauge, 4 cord thread for all our jackets - its authentic, it looks good, and it's 4 times as expensive as conventional thread!

As you are probably aware, there are several other suppliers of what they claim to be authentic reproduction flying garments from this 40's period, without, in most cases, proving a reason why. It's easy to make sweeping statements of authenticity, and for those of you who are not absolutely sure about what the details should look like, you have to take their word for it. As you browse through this brochure, you will notice that we constantly keep you informed of the attention to detail, where ever possible illustrating an original garment for comparison. We are confident to do this, and above all, we want you to know what you are paying for.

We have been producing these fine garments for many years, and in that time we have gained a reputation for excellence. This is because all the jackets are made right here in the U.K., under one roof, by skilled craftsmen and women, unlike some of our competitors who have no production facilities of their own - Operating from only an office, they contract their work out to other clothing manufacturers who are not specialists in the field - we don't just sell the bread, we bake it as well!. There is no huge production line, each garment is made by one person from beginning to end. Due to the relatively small size of our operation, and the great amount of time spent making each jacket, there are sometimes quite long waiting times, so we politely ask you to be patient, if this is the case when ordering.

Our workers take special care when making your jacket. There are no production bonus incentives in order to encourage production of greater quantities. No shift workers come in during the night and take over production of your jacket after someone else has gone home and left it half finished. The emphasis is on quality not quantity.

From a businessman's point of view this may seem counterproductive in terms of earning greater profits, but that's not our first priority. This business was started purely from the passion of producing an authentic garment as good as it could be, and being proud of the end product. Anyone who has visited our factory (and all are welcome) will know this is so.

This is what makes the Eastman collection so special, you are not going to find these jackets in abundance anywhere. So if you finally end up owning one, you will have something to be truly proud of.

I hope you enjoy the website and ultimately make a purchase.

Yours sincerely,

Gary Eastman.