The donkey jacket is regarded as typical of the British manual labourer and trade unionist as well as members of the political left. The donkey jacket is derived from the wool sack coat worn by workers in the 19th century, and the Oxford English Dictionary references the term as first used in 1929: "one with leather shoulders and back". Crombieboy Categories: Clobber, Skinhead history Tags: Combat, donkey jacket, George Keys, Manchester, NCB, Pop Boutique, the working class, up north, Warrior. I lived and dressed, as close as I could, to the traditional skinhead style, for the best part of 30 years.

Anyway I still have all my skinheadclothes and refuse to throw them out even if I have retired from the bovver brigade so to speak. First Mate was the main brand I remember, and some had tartan linings, although most didn’t have lining at all. Donkey Jackets were also said to be worn outside of London around 1970, by Aston Villa and Leicester fans for example.

I also lived in Southeast London from, 1968 through to 73, though, I hate to admit, I was boarding at a public school, back then. That same year, Key designed a new type of coat made of a hard-wearing material developed for those who were working on the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal. I remember one funny incident happening when I went out to dinner with one of my old Skinheadmates from Bristol who lived in Tiel, Holland at the time where I am from and a group of English lads( all contract workers) that he knew.

The jackets were bought wholesale by councils and large companies, directly from the manufacturers, when a worker left his job, his jacket then went to the next man. Turning off the personalised advertising setting won’t stop you from seeing Etsy ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.I will now go through what kind of donkey jackets are available today, from the cheap(er) reproductions to ridiculously expensive designer ones (which are rather insulting, looking at it). One fella from the original skinhead period says they were worn with OG-107 ‘jungle greens’ utility trousers and cherry red commando boots from the local army surplus. I remember now that 2 of the main characters of the above mentioned series were wearing a donkeyjacket constantly namely Tim Healy that plays Dennis and Pat Roach that plays the character of Bomber. They needed to last and were built from the best materials: heavy Melton cloth from Leicestershire and British sourced sheep leather.

Generally speaking, a jacket with shoulder pads would have patch pockets, a foremans jacket might have pocket flaps. Personalised advertising may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” of information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have a right to opt out. These 4 or 5-star reviews represent the opinions of the individuals who posted them and do not reflect the views of Etsy. Some out there read ‘British Coal’ on the back, hailing from the time when the NCB became the British Coal Corporation in the late 1980s. They mention that the button attachment was very poor, and some of the buttons detached on the first day of wearing.This could be fluorescent orange or yellow and is sometimes branded with the name of the company which supplied the jacket, or the name of the company for which the wearer worked. Many cut the NCB orange shoulder patch off which left a thin orange strip where it was sewn into the seams.