Papa Segui a long way from Ebbets Field.

Patrick Segui is a man of talent, not only does he curate the most fascinating blog, Riveted, but he is also an accomplished artist and the man behind Mr Freedom's box art packaging. What I really love about Patrick however is his enthusiasm for projects. After posting photos of a rare seebees t-shirt flea market find, Patrick was inundated with requests by followers to reproduce the graphics. Exploring vintage printing techniques took sometime but eventually Mr Segui figured out the exacting process for recreating an authenticism that would appeal to aficionados the world over. On top of this he used original period garments as a base for the print method resulting in a look that says 60 years of wear and tear. The Papa was fortunate enough to requistion one of Patricks shirts and if ever there was an outfit to play ball with whilst serving in the Pacific then this is it. It may not be Ebbets Field but it feels every bit as real.

(Sea Bees Allstar shirt hand printed by Patrick Segui, 5th Marines modified pocket HBT pants, vintage LL Bean canoe sneekers by converse, 1942 Great Lakes Naval Base team cap.)

Civilian A-1 the Papa way.

There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the two major proponents of the A-1 jacket are Himel Brothers Leathers and the French Cancan Blogspot. These folks are the true heavy weights in all there is to know about this fantastic 20's 30's style jacket. Cancan the fanatic collector, Himel the expert remaker. The Papa with some sketches in hand a bag of associated hardwear and a head full of managed expectations went off to see his Balinese tailor to see what $160 could buy. Well the results were pretty good all things considered, the leather is a great light tan colour and the styling is pretty spot on, the original zips and buttons enhance the job and my olive drab HBT lining choice authenticates the overall look. For the dollars spent and a first attempt Im pretty happy to have this as a kick around jacket, its certainly not worthy of my esteemed peers approval but as a backstreet cheapy, well what can i say?