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The U. S. Army Air Force Type B-15A Intermediate Flying Jacket was developed as a replacement for the earlier B-15 Flying Jacket, being officially standardized in November 1944. The B-15A incorporated a few additional features found to be necessary from combat experience with the B-15 jacket, those features being two triangle-shaped leather patches on each breast for clipping the oxygen mask hose to, a larger pencil pocket on the left sleeve and two snap-down tabs on each breast for retaining the wiring leads from the microphone and headset. Other than these three new features, the B-15A was identical to the B-15.

The designation of “mod.” stands for modified, meaning the B-15 Flight Jacket has been “modified” by a USAF Materiel Command Depot in accordance with a USAF directive of 1954.  The directive called for all of the types of B-15 Flight Jackets on issue or in stock to be “modified," whereupon the factory-installed fur collar was to be removed and a wool knit collar installed in its place.  This modification was intended to reduce the flight jacket’s flammability that was considered greater with a fur collar in place.  B-15 Flight Jackets so modified were to have a new label indicating this new “modified” status sewn either directly over the original factory label or located somewhere under the original label.  The label information could be printed, typed, hand written or applied with a stencil or ink stamp on any available fabric.  Since the modification was performed after the jacket was originally made, it is typical to find the thread color around the collar area not matching the thread that assembled the B-15 Flight Jacket, and it is also common to find the new knit collar color to be in a shade that doesn’t quite match the knit on the rest of the jacket.  In all other ways, the flight jacket remained a B-15 Flight Jacket of whatever spec. it was originally - B-15A, B-15B, B-15C or B-15D.

B-15A (Mod.) Flight Jackets are, arguably, the rarest of the B-15 series of jackets, and they are also extremely rare among reproduction examples - Buzz Rickson has not offered a B-15A (Mod.) Flight Jacket since 2001!  Buzz Rickson has reproduced the B-15A (Mod.) Flying Jacket in exacting detail.  Buzz Rickson’s cotton fabric is never to be confused with the cheap, flimsy sheet bedding fabric used by lesser manufacturers to produce so-called vintage reproduction USAAF flying jackets.  In fact, the only other flying jackets in the world today made from this cotton are those original vintage examples of the USAAF!  Take note of these authentic features:

• Exact copy of original manufacturing maker’s label produced on a vintage shuttle loom

• Custom manufacturing of the correct weight and weave three-ply combed-cotton Olive Drab twill outer shell to precisely match 1944 USAAF specs.

• Correct USAAF spec. inner lining of warm, double-faced alpaca and wool, dyed to match the salt-and-pepper coloring of the original vintage B-15As

• Collar area authentically sewn with thread that does not match the thread used to assemble the rest of the jacket, exactly as on a “modified” B-15As

• Two snap-down exterior pockets lined with warm, all-cotton, heavy corduroy fabric precisely matching 1944 USAAF specs.

• Two snap-down interior pockets lined with heavy all-cotton twill fabric, precisely matching 1943 USAAF specs.

• Exact copy of a 1944 blackened-brass vintage zipper on jacket front, with zip tape made of 100% cotton HBT fabric, not incorrect poly-cotton.

• Offset frontal zip closure, exactly matching original B-15A specs. intended to facilitate easier zipper functioning

• Correct USAAF-spec. leather pull tab on zipper

• Custom manufacturing of the correct two-ply 100% worsted wool knit cuffs and waist skirt in Olive Drab

• Wind flap protector behind zipper closure with six rows of stitching exactly as on original B-15As

• USAF insignia transfer on left sleeve and on interior per the “mod.” conversion in the 1950s

• Four pen/pencil slots located on left sleeve with bar tacking for extra strength

• Triangle-shaped leather patches on breast area (one per side) for retaining oxygen mask hose

• Two-snap-down cloth tabs on breast area (one per side) for retaining wiring lead

Sizes available:  36-44.   Fit is true to slightly generous. Please see our SIZING TIPS for advice on how to get the correct fit.

Imported from Japan

Blowout Clearance Sale - Regular price $175.00, now sold at our TRUE cost of $100.00 - This is as good as it gets for buyers!!!

These low-top basketball shoes (sneakers) were a true item of athletic issue for U. S. Army basketball players in the 1970's, but produced in white and never in camouflage.  The designers at Buzz Rickson's decided to reproduce these sneakers in exacting form utilizing their amazing "Golden" tiger-stripe camouflage all-cotton twill, resulting in a unique, stylish, cool-as-hell sneaker that marries design authenticity and fabrication in a limited-production offering.

Fabrication is completely performed in Japan by hand at one of Japan's last-remaining factories (there are only two left) that still produce classic sneakers using the old machinery with true vulcanization of the rubber parts.  So great is the worldwide demand for old-world quality, vintage-style sneakers made on vintage machinery, that these last two factories are booked solid for no less than two years before they can even generate a sample!

Tiger-stripe camouflage was deemed the "stuff' during the Vietnam War, any it was highly desirable back then just for informal wear as a status symbol; now it's considered an icon of style, far transcending its original military application.  Rock a pair of these limited-run, vintage-style sneakers while they last!  

Please note these authentic features of quality and workmanship found only vintage sneakers and those produced using the highest production standards today in conjunction with vintage machinery:    

• All-cotton twill uppers produced on vintage shuttle looms (just like in the 1960's and '70's) and authentically dyed and printed in the highly sought-after "Golden" tiger-stripe camouflage pattern made famous by U. S. special forces during the Vietnam War
• Steel eyelets lacquered black
• Natural rubber sole vulcanized in place
• All-cotton laces
• Double-stitched stress points
• Taped heel seam in olive green all-cotton canvas for extra strength
• Fully lined in all-cotton canvas
• Reinforced heel
• Reinforced toe
• Exact reproduction of the issue style, including mid-sole glue markings, a testament to the use of vintage production techniques
• Original-style military shoe box

Sizes available:  7 -10 in half sizes.  Please see our SIZING TIPS for advice on how to get the correct fit.

Hand made in Japan

BLOWOUT SALE - $20.00 off retail price of $55.50 until supply is exhausted!

We are very excited to offer this vintage tee-shirt graphic featuring the Bell YFM-1 Airacuda.  The Airacuda was one of the most intriguing, attractive, innovative fighter planes of the 1930's; while less than 20 were produced, it was highly trumpeted and published at the time, though graphics on tee shirts, pillow shams, and matchbooks are all but non-existant today.  Even the better vintage-aircraft aficionados will likely be stumped when you wear this tee shirt!

Buzz Rickson's tee shirts take us back to when tee shirts were not moo-moo dresses outfitted with short sleeves that flirt with our elbows; rather, these are vintage-style tee shirts of the 1930's - 1970's that are trim fitting, shorter in the body length, and with quarter-length sleeves.  

The original tee shirts were made on “body-size” looms which yield a shirt with no side seams, thus weaving a perfect tube.  To do this requires special looms that are only used by specialist manufacturers these days; subsequently, the looms are hard to source and expensive to produce garments on because you need one loom for each size you want made - but it's the proper way to make a vintage-style tee shirt, and it's the only way they were made in the 1930's - ‘70's.

The expertise for making such a garment is largely only found in one place in the world these days - Japan.  The Japanese have become renowned as world experts in vintage-style garment manufacture and home of body-size construction, being able to produce super-accurate, vintage-quality fabrics. 

These tee shirts are made of a robust cotton, heavier than typical undershirts, and the cotton is washed for a softer hand, a vintage look, and to eliminate guesswork in fit vis-a-vis shrinkage.

Available in sizes Sm - XXL.  Please see our SIZING TIPS for advice on how to get the correct fit.

Imported from Japan

BLOWOUT SALE - $20.00 off retail price until supply is exhausted!

We are very excited to offer this vintage tee-shirt graphic featuring the Bell YFM-1 Airacuda.  The Airacuda was one of the most intriguing, attractive, innovative fighter planes of the 1930's; while less than 20 were produced, it was highly trumpeted and published at the time, though graphics on tee shirts, pillow shams, and matchbooks are all but non-existant today.  Even the better vintage-aircraft aficionados will likely be stumped when you wear this tee shirt!

Buzz Rickson's tee shirts take us back to when tee shirts were not moo-moo dresses outfitted with short sleeves that flirt with our elbows; rather, these are vintage-style tee shirts of the 1930's - 1970's that are trim fitting, shorter in the body length, and with quarter-length sleeves.  

The original tee shirts were made on “body-size” looms which yield a shirt with no side seams, thus weaving a perfect tube.  To do this requires special looms that are only used by specialist manufacturers these days; subsequently, the looms are hard to source and expensive to produce garments on because you need one loom for each size you want made - but it's the proper way to make a vintage-style tee shirt, and it's the only way they were made in the 1930's - ‘70's.

The expertise for making such a garment is largely only found in one place in the world these days - Japan.  The Japanese have become renowned as world experts in vintage-style garment manufacture and home of body-size construction, being able to produce super-accurate, vintage-quality fabrics. 

These tee shirts are made of a robust cotton, heavier than typical undershirts, and the cotton is washed for a softer hand, a vintage look, and to eliminate guesswork in fit vis-a-vis shrinkage.

Available in sizes Sm - XXL.  Please see our SIZING TIPS for advice on how to get the correct fit.

Imported from Japan

Closeout SALE - in-stock items only $45.00 off retail price of $145.00!

Some AAF units and bases had their own baseball teams and their athletic apparel was often military-spec. and government issue.  Our baseball shirt is the type typically worn on cooler days under the short-sleeve, button-front baseball shirt and has the classic three-quarter sleeves in the team color, in this case red.  These "undershirts" have been forever popular worn on their own as just an outer shirt, and the detailing found on this copy is one you'll want to be seen wearing and not have mostly hidden under a baseball outer shirt.

The vintage baseball undershirts were manufactured to a standard back in their era that was very much the norm, utilizing circular tube-knitting machines that produced shirts with a perfect tube body and no side seams.  Tube-knitting machines can only weave one set diameter per loom; this means the factory needs a different loom for each size - very expensive - which is why you hardly ever see true tube construction in modern-day garments. Even the most expensive designer sweatshirts will usually have a side seam - sometimes two seams!  Tube construction ensures true shape is maintained, not only during its construction, but during its life of wear.  This is the proper way to make a sweatshirt; in the good old days, the proper way was the only way.  It's cheap and easy to make shirts from a flat piece of cloth, and most customers would never notice the difference, though they may wonder why their not-so-cheap sweatshirt seemed to lose its shape after only a few washes - but now you know.

A year of meticulous research and development has gone into this baseball shirt that was copied from a vintage example.  Japan is home to the masters of tube-knitting and we enlisted the great John Lofgren, master of vintage American clothing, to help bring this shirt to its insane levels of vintage perfection.

Please note the following vintage features found only on a shirt of this pedigree:

• Heavy-weight, all-cotton fabric for years of enjoyment under hard use

• All-cotton thread used throughout construction

• TUBE-Body construction utilizing vintage, wartime circular-knitting machines - there are no side seams

• Set-in sleeves

• #18 Toppushi yarn perfectly matched to the original vintage fabric

• The fabric is produced using a combination of two dying methods - sakizome (pre-dyed before weaving) and atozome (woven then dyed)

• Dying is performed in one location and sewing in another - very costly

• Exact copy of the original-style, printed-on-cotton labels

• True vintage fit for flattering appearance, not a sloppy, relaxed fit with droopy shoulder seams

Take a bite of old-time machismo and see how true baseball undershirts used to look and feel.  Limited quantities available.

Sizes:  36 - 46.   Please note that the individual modeling the shirt in the photos has a 38" chest circumference and he is wearing a shirt in size 40.  Please our SIZING TIPS for advice on how to get the correct fit.

Imported from Japan

LAST one left 50% off retail price of $90.00!

The Henley is a classic vintage-style tee shirt if ever there was one.  This is produced exclusively for ELMC by the John Lofgren workshops of Japan. The expertise in making such a garment is really only found in one place in the world these days – Japan - and John Lofgren is the master.

These Henley tee shirts are created using a thread that was developed in Japan that replicates the look and feel of vintage fabric; because these cottons all have different length staples (fibers), the thread has a distinctive texture that is similar to vintage fabric. This specialized thread is called ‘Raffy’, which is a combination of American Supima cotton, Egyptian cotton and Turfan cotton.  The body section is produced by one company and another makes the ribbing - each specializing in their own field of expertise. The cost is, naturally, much more expensive than regular mass-produced material, but the finished product is superior.

Of course, all of the authentic detailing is incorporated in the design, thus these classic, vintage Henley tee shirts have  the vintage fit, which is sensibly trim and lacking sloppy, droopy shoulders, excess blouse in the body width and length, and no sleeves hanging down to your elbows. Both over-lock and flat-seam sewing are deftly executed in this design as per the vintage garments.  Lastly, genuine, seashell buttons are employed at the neck closure and the labels in the neck are woven on vintage shuttle looms for the correct vintage look and feel.

The Henley tee is often duplicated but we offer the real deal - a sleek-fitting classic styled to vintage perfection and built to last.

Available in sizes 36 - 46.  Please see our SIZING TIPS for advice on how to get the correct fit.

Imported from Japan

Clearance BLOWOUT SALE - $70.00 off retail price of $195.00 - applies to merchandise in stock only.

This classic, vintage-style, half-zip sweatshirt was copied directly from a vintage original- every detail has been replicated exactly. This has been the most technically involved project coming out of the ELMC textile range of products, with two years of research and development invested. Three different textile mills were involved in creating the fabric, each specializing in particular component of this loop-wheeled sweatshirt: body fabric, cuff ribbing, and collars.

Vintage sweatshirts were manufactured to a standard back in their era that was very much the norm, utilizing circular tube-knitting machines that produced shirts with a perfect tube body and no side seams.  Tube-knitting machines can only weave one set diameter per loom; this means the factory needs a different loom for each size - very expensive - which is why you hardly ever see true tube construction in modern-day garments. Even the most expensive designer sweatshirts will usually have a side seam - sometimes two seams!  Tube construction ensures true shape is maintained, not only during its construction, but during its life of wear.  This is the proper way to make a sweatshirt; in the good old days, the proper way was the only way.  It's cheap and easy to make shirts from a flat piece of cloth, and most customers would never notice the difference, though they may wonder why their not-so-cheap sweatshirt seemed to lose its shape after only a few washes - but now you know.

Japan is home to the masters of tube-knitting and we enlisted the great John Lofgren, master of vintage American clothing, to help bring this shirt to its insane levels of vintage perfection. Of course, all of the vintage, high-quality detailing has been deftly copied; please note the authentic detailing:  

• This vintage-style sweatshirt’s body was woven on vintage circular, loop-wheeling, knitting machines – there are no side seams

• Vintage-style metal zipper created by ELMC, choosing the perfect vintage style tape, teeth, top and bottom stoppers, and slider, then finishing it off with a custom-branded ELMC pull - all made in Japan

• Custom-made knitted collar - splay cut

• The fabrics are dyed in Yamagata and sewn in Iwate, then the shirts are sent to southern Japan for a subtle ageing process; this requires each shirt to be worked on one-by-one to achieve the perfect, subdued aesthetic – all very costly

• Black rayon trim to zip and rear of collar

• All-cotton thread used throughout construction

• Set-in sleeves

• Exact copy of the original-style, printed-on-cotton labels

• True vintage fit for flattering appearance, not a sloppy, relaxed fit with droopy shoulder seams

Take a bite of old-time machismo and see how true sweatshirts used to look and feel. 

Limited quantities available.   Sizes:  36 - 44.   Please see our SIZING TIPS for advice on how to get the correct fit.  

Imported from Japan

BLOWOUT clearance sale while our stock lasts - $35.00 off retail.  

This classic, vintage-style tee shirt was produced exclusively for ELMC by the John Lofgren workshops of Japan. The expertise in making such a garment is really only found in one place in the world these days – Japan - and John Lofgren is the master.

These tee shirts are created using a thread that was developed in Japan that replicates the look and feel of vintage fabric; because these cottons all have different length staples (fibers), the thread has a distinctive texture that is similar to vintage fabric. This specialized thread is called ‘Raffy’, which is a combination of American Supima cotton, Egyptian cotton and Turfan cotton. The fabric is then woven on rare, vintage, circular knitting machines, so the body is a complete tube with no side seam and known as “body-size.”

Tube-knitting machines can only weave one set diameter per loom; this means the factory needs a different loom for each size - very expensive - which is why you hardly ever see true tube construction in modern-day garments. Tube construction ensures true shape is maintained, not only during its construction, but during its life of wear.  This is the proper way to make a tee shirt; in the good old days, the proper way was the only way.

The body section is produced by one company and another makes the ribbing - each specializing in their own field of expertise. The cost is, naturally, much more expensive than regular mass-produced material, but the finished product is superior.

Of course, all of the authentic detailing is incorporated in the design, thus these classic, vintage tee shirts have shorter sleeves than most contemporary tee shirts, which was known back in the day as quarter sleeves. And our shirts have the vintage fit, which is sensibly trim and lacking sloppy, droopy shoulders, excess blouse in the body width and length, and no sleeves hanging down to your elbows. Lastly, the labels in the neck are woven on vintage shuttle looms for the correct vintage look and feel. This vintage tee shirt design is the exact type seen being worn by Marlon Brando in the famous cult-classic, “The Wild One,” where a renegade biker club holds a small town hostage and the image of the biker bad boy was solidified in the public’s mind.  

Available in sizes 36 - 46.  Please see our SIZING TIPS for advice on how to get the correct fit.  

Imported from Japan