No way, that's one of the dime a dozen cheap 70s Levis I mentioned above.
Never had a Lee sherpa. I have a 60s blanket lined Stormrider with corduroy collar. I ditched the jacket pictured above long ago.
Hmm perhaps you're right then, I didn't look too closely at the photo and it's been several years since I've gotten rid of it. Eitherway those 70s sheepskin lined denim jackets are as common as cowboy boot and disco shirts in American throft shops.
Last edited by stanshall (2014-09-03 15:27:40)
I've got an old big 'E' Levis Sherpa and a lovely 70s Stormrider. The Lee is clearly the better looking jacket, though for tall folk like me the cut of all Lee denim jackets was always a tad short in the body.
Where the Sherpa really comes into its own is found in its name. It's the Levis 'Trucker' jacket with fake fur lining and back in the day when I used to be a second man on fairly long haul deliveries the Sherpa was a cold-morning saviour. It was just so damn SNUG and comfortable, flipping the collar up really kept the neck warm.
It was longer in the body too and was cut slightly trimmer in the arm, much more comfortable sitting in a draughty cab. Back then (late 70s early 80s) the idea was to get them washed out and worn in, none of this modern fixation with dark denim.
They are a kind of cheesy but of all the classic denim jackets the sherpa was actually a truly functional bit of kit.
Sports casual!
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I've always liked varsity jackets. They're just such a classic and iconic piece of... Americana. But the problem is that thousands of high school kids across the US still wear them. Plus theirs usually have cool letter patches. They look kind of empty without. I guess I could put a "WM" patch on one. And it's one of those items that's synonymous with youth, and really should have an age limit.
De-odourizing a vintage sherpa jacket is possible, a little bit fiddly but very do-able...
You'll need a big plastic bag or even better on of those vacuum clothes storage bags, a couple of bags of silica gel (about 150g each) and some bicarbonate of soda.
1. Put the jacket in the bag with the silica gel, seal it and leave for a couple of days. This absorbs most of the moisture out of the lining.
2. Remove jacket and liberally dust the sherpa lining with bicarbonate of soda and reseal in the bag with the silica gel and again leave it a couple of days.
3. Remove jacket and use a vacuum cleaner to remove the excess bicarb from the sherpa lining,
then put through a cool wash cycle without detergent and then line/air dry.
4. If any bad odour remains repeat the cycle again.
I've used this technique a few times with great success on a cord and denim sherpa trucker jacket and a Pendleton car-coat.
I really feel once you get into sherpas, you are fully into costume territory.
Aren't all clothes just costume? Heh? Heh? Come on. You're up against a wall now buddy. Whaddayagot? Heh?
Last edited by doghouse (2014-09-03 08:27:32)
Ranch hand. Trucker.
It would be ridiculous for an east coaster like me to wear one.
Ah! No one would bat an eyelid about it over here. A kilt on the other hand..........