Vintage 1940s German Goatskin Leather Jacket, Western Yokes, MEWA Zips

This is a German goatskin jacket from the 1940s, dyed a deep bottle green, and the years have given it a beautiful storied patina. Across the collar, shoulders, yoke and sleeves, the colour has worn back to a pale sage, clouded and streaked wherever hands, straps and weather touched it most. Under the yoke seams and around the pockets, the original green is still dark and glossy. Green is far less common than black or brown on German jackets of this age, and wear like this can’t be copied. Every mark on it was earned.

You can read in the leather how it was worn. It’s palest across the tops of the shoulders and down the outer sleeves, where weather and daylight hit first. The collar is worn pale from being turned up and handled. But lift the edge of the yoke, or look under the arms, and the green is exactly as it left the workshop.

In Germany this was the everyday leather jacket. It was worn to work and on bicycles and motorbikes, and jackets of this kind were made from the 1930s right through to the 1960s. Every part of the design was there for a reason. The leather is gathered over elastic at the sides and back, so the jacket pulls in at the waist and keeps the wind out without a belt to fiddle with. The hand pockets are cut at an angle, so they’re easy to reach on a bike. They still close with their original MEWA zips, the German pulls stamped with the name, and a man’s hands went in and out of them for years.

The yokes are where the maker showed a bit of personality. They’re pointed front and back like a Western shirt, which is something you rarely see on a German jacket, and a long spear-point collar with double stitching sits above them. Contrast stitching runs along every seam and traces the cut against the green. Inside, it’s lined in warm tan brushed cotton twill, soft to the touch with the diagonal weave showing through where it’s worn, with black sleeve linings and a slim leather-trimmed pocket at the chest, just big enough for papers or a wallet.

The goatskin itself was chrome tanned, the method developed in the 1800s that replaced tree-bark tannins with chromium salts. It was quicker than the old vegetable tanning and gave a soft, supple leather that moved with the body. That made it ideal for clothing, while stiffer veg-tanned hide went into belts, saddlery and luggage. Chrome-tanned leather is a pale grey-blue at its core, and it’s that pale tone you see coming through wherever the green has worn away. It’s part of what gives the patina its colour.

Goatskin was a good choice for a jacket meant for daily use. It’s light and flexible, and tougher than it looks, and the close, pebbled grain softens with age instead of wearing out. Eighty-odd years on, it’s creased at the waist and elbows where the body bent inside it, supple to the touch, and still completely sound.

A German everyday jacket in bottle green goatskin, with eighty years of its story already written in the leather.

Condition & Restoration

Very good vintage condition.

The goatskin is strong and supple, with a rich, storied patina and natural creasing from age. There are two tiny pinholes high on one sleeve head, near the shoulder seam, and the leather welt on the inside chest pocket shows a small scuffed patch from use. The two original MEWA pocket zips run as they should, and the elastic gathers still hold their shape. The brushed cotton twill lining is complete, and the sleeve linings show light wear consistent with age.

The main front zip has been replaced. The leather has been professionally cleaned in-house and has come up beautifully, with the patina left fully intact.

Key Features

• Made in Germany, approx. 1940s
• German everyday cyclist and utility jacket
• Chrome-tanned bottle green goatskin with a worn sage patina
• Original German MEWA zips to both hand pockets
• Replacement main front zip
• Pointed Western-style yokes, front and back
• Long spear-point collar with double topstitching
• Leather gathered over elastic at the sides and back of the waist
• Two angled zip hand pockets
• Contrast stitching throughout
• Tan brushed cotton twill body lining
• Black sleeve linings
• Leather-trimmed inside chest pocket

Garment Measurements, Laid Flat

• Chest, armpit to armpit: 21.5" / 54.5 cm
• Shoulders, seam to seam: 17.5" / 44.5 cm
• Sleeve, shoulder seam to cuff: 23.5" / 59.5 cm
• Underarm seam to cuff: 16.5" / 42 cm
• Back length, base of collar to hem: 27" / 68.5 cm

Best suited to: 38" chest, regular / Size Small

Fit: A trim, close cut for a smaller frame, drawn in at the waist by the elasticated sides and back, with a longer body that sits below the hip. For the best indication of sizing, please compare the measurements above with a similar jacket you already own. For any sizing questions, please get in touch.