Article updated in April 2020 - Disclaimer: It's been a while since we did this, so today we welcome a guest article from Thomas, passionate about beautiful clothes that last.
No, this is not an article about an American series or the grocery store located on rue Grenelle in Paris.
Instead, I'm going to tell you about a brand with typically Japanese DNA.
And as is often the case in the Land of the Rising Sun when it comes to clothing, The Real McCoy’s brand faithfully reproduces outfits from America in the 40s or 50s, but better. It can be compared to the Aero Leather Clothing brand, another high-end leather brand that is very little distributed and almost exclusively manufactures to order. .
Now that’s a logo that really hits the mark!
It ranges from military attire to biker attire, from worker attire to Ivy League student looks .
So you will find several lines:
- The Real McCoy , the more military/WWII oriented;
- Joe McCoy , the most streetwear-oriented line;
- Buco , the most motorcycle oriented. Go see their perfectos!
History of The Real McCoy's Brand
The Real McCoy's was founded in the 1980s by Hitoshi Tsujimoto.
It has the particularity of having amassed thousands of American period clothing (from the 20th century), including more than 10,000 pairs of Levis jeans!
As you might expect, the founder has quite the style, with obvious American influences.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal , Tsujimoto says he is constantly perfecting the pieces he creates. Even though they are largely drawn from American history, he is constantly embellishing them.
He refined the cut in particular, that of the 40s being quite wide, mainly for military clothing which allowed weapons or tools to be carried.
The Real McCoy's, a premium brand
Keep in mind, however, that these are still largely military reproduction garments, so there are few or no slim fits: goodbye to ultra skinny jeans à la Cheap Monday.
As for the price, it's what you would expect from Japanese brands that make "real" replicas, and not vulgar copies (copy = bad replica to put it simply).
Some orders of magnitude to give you an idea:
- Count 100 € for a t-shirt,
- 300€ for a pair of jeans,
- €2000 for a leather jacket.
Don't hesitate to take a look at the brand's lookbook, full of inspiration!
Okay, it's a bit for clothing geeks. But at this price, you'll get the best there is . No compromise in terms of quality: you'll find excellent materials and finishes as well as very good finishes. This is the replica in all its splendor!
By the way, don't expect to find any good deals on sale. I've very rarely seen their items on sale, which is a good sign, right?
These are clothes made to last, which develop a patina. By patina, I mean that human warmth that we find on all old objects, which increases with the generations. New modes of consumption oblige, this unfortunately tends to disappear. And in fact, young people are becoming less sensitive to it.
To give you an idea of the work that goes into the clothes, for example, the denim fabrics are woven on historic looms, and then there is a crazy search to obtain the identical shades after 50 washes of the jeans so that they correspond to the basic model from a century ago.
This is geekery taken to the extreme.
The A2 flight jacket, The Real McCoy's flagship product
The Real McCoy's is best known for the leather A2 flight jacket.
Flight Jacket A2. The Real McCoy's store in Kobe, Japan. The dream. It looks like each jacket has survived many dogfights!
Careful and durable manufacturing
For the record, while I was passing through the Doursoux military surplus store - rue Amelot in Paris - a customer was chatting with the store manager. I understood that he was unhappy with a leather from another brand purchased elsewhere. In fact, his flight jacket had aged 10 years in a few months.
After he left, I rushed to ask the manager if it was a Real McCoy's. He assured me that it was not, adding that Real McCoy's leathers were the most beautiful he had ever seen .
Leather quality: horse and deer for the bravest
And for good reason, the leathers are vegetable tanned , even if this is far from always being a guarantee of quality. This is the kind of sledgehammer argument that is too often put forward in my opinion, but that is another debate.
Vegetable tanning in the famous Shinki tanneries. For shoes, we can also mention the Horween tannery.
You will also find other high-end details on the aviator jackets , I know we are attached to them at BonneGueule:
- Talon zippers, an American brand. It is the first brand of zippers that appeared on the market, so much so that we owe it a lot in its democratization… It is difficult to do more vintage!
- Different leather treatments (aniline leather, pigmented leather, etc.) and different types of leather (horse leather, deer leather, etc.).
So no, you won't find a lambskin jacket. We're still dealing with reproduction work : the sourcing of raw materials therefore respects certain constraints, even if once again, they add their own touch.
I know that on many blogs/advice sites, lambskin is systematically put forward as the Holy Grail for its finesse and its touch. Instead, keep an open mind, do not systematically denigrate all other leathers. 🙂
You may have some nice surprises, deer leather for example. This is more traditionally used in glove making for its flexibility and resistance. Rather rare and therefore quite expensive.
A very successful replica: you would swear this leather is several decades old.
Deerskin has a coarse grain.
Attention to period detail
Reproductions are created from original patterns used during World War II, including those of the American company The Rough Wear Clothing Company (more than 200,000 jackets produced at that time).
Same methods but also same manufacturing machines… with all that this entails in terms of limitations: adjustments, profitability, precision, etc. The detail is taken to the colour of the jacket. For example, within the Rough Wear Clothing Company, Russet brown was used at the beginning of the war and later replaced by Seal brown .
Russet Brown or Seal Brown, I'm not sure anymore.
You will notice that bomber jackets often come in two versions: a sleek one without any patches - the "factory-fresh" version - and others that are more colorful, with period patches that pilots were proud to wear.
Example with the jackets of the 53rd American squadron, nicknamed TABLY.
If you have the fighter jet as well as your jacket, you have succeeded in life.
Another unusual feature : you can also find what is called "the Capri bell". This one was a lucky charm and, as its name suggests, was probably made by the monks of the island of Capri (near Naples, Italy).
It was worn by American airmen sent to Capri.
With this, no missile could reach you.
These small bells are often engraved with the inscription San Michele, in reference to a legend.
A poor boy who had lost a sheep is said to have followed the faint sound of a bell, and it was Saint Michael who actually appeared . He then gave him a small bell and told him to always follow its sound to stay away from danger.
Note: By the way, if you are in Capri, do not hesitate to go and take a tour of the magnificent Villa San Michele.
Where can I find more information about the flight jacket?
If you are a true fan of this type of jacket – and I am one of them – I recommend John A. Maguire's book, Art of the Flight Jacket: Classic Leather Jackets of World War II . For enthusiasts only.
You can also browse through The Real McCoy's Yearbook : the most iconic pieces from the brand's catalog are carefully described, along with the story that goes with them.
For example, we learn that red silk linings were proudly worn by Air Force pilots who had shot down at least five planes.
No wonder the average level of knowledge of Japanese people about clothing far exceeds that of Europeans. Well, for now 🙂 .
History: Why did the army stop producing leather jackets?
Leather is a limited resource and difficult to work with. Nylon, on the other hand, is simpler to work with and requires only water, coal and air. Production is more stable and controllable, therefore easier for mass quantities.
Nylon flight jackets also offer more features: greater freedom of movement and lighter weight. Let's take a closer look!
The B10 jacket
The first non-leather bomber jacket was the B10 (well, to be precise, there was a cotton jacket model for the Navy a little before: the 37J1).
B10 in cotton. It exudes quality – The jacket is lined with Alpaca.
The MA-1 bomber
We note the disappearance of the A2 type collar (due to the appearance of imposing helmets). The lining becomes orange: more easily spotted in case of emergency, the pilot only had to turn his jacket inside out.
The M65 jacket
The famous M65 worn by Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver .
Where to buy The Real McCoy's clothing?
The official Japanese website only ships to Japan. However, there are other alternatives closer to home:
- An official store has been open in London since June 2014, on Henrietta Street.
- The Superdenim site having closed in November 2019, you can buy the brand on the Marrkt site.
Bonus: the brand's neon sign.
Sold on the site for around €1000. When will the same be available at BG?
