Vintage 1950s French Leather Canadienne Barnstormer Mackinaw Coat, Ailée Zips

Made in France in the 1950s, this is a leather Canadienne barnstormer mackinaw coat. It fastens with woven leather football buttons and has a detachable mouton shawl collar, a full belt with a steel buckle, slash hand pockets set above flapped lower pockets, button-tab cuffs and a zip-in liner of cream sheepskin and quilted lining.

Every detail is there to keep the cold out. Turn the collar up and it closes tight at the throat with two buttons, sealing out wind and rain. The belt pulls the coat in at the waist, and the cuff tabs close the wrists. There are two sets of pockets for two jobs: the leather-edged slash pockets warm the hands, and the flapped pockets below carry what you need.

The style goes back further than the coat. It began as the sheep-lined coat of the northern woods, worn by Canadian woodsmen, and the French named it after them. In America the same cut sold through the mail-order catalogues as a leather car coat, and the stunt pilots who toured the country in the 1920s wore coats much like it against the cold of an open cockpit. By the 1950s it had become an everyday French coat, worn in leather and in canvas, and barely changed in shape for decades.

It suited the France of the time. The country was rebuilding after the war, and few people owned a car, so millions took to two wheels instead. Motobécane launched the Mobylette in 1949, and the little VéloSoleX became a fixture with students and workers riding through French winters. A long leather coat with a sheepskin liner and a collar that buttons to the chin was exactly what that life called for.

The liner zips in on Ailée zips, made by a French maker whose fasteners leather craftsmen still remember for their quality. Sheepskin covers the chest, back and shoulders where warmth matters most, and quilted lining takes over below the waist to save bulk when sitting. Look closely at the fleece and you’ll find faint pink traces of raddle, the farmer’s marking put on the sheep in the field and never washed out. Beneath the liner, the body itself is lined in a green and cream checked wool. The mouton collar buttons on separately, so the coat can be worn with or without it.

The leather is fine-grained and supple, most likely sheep, which was a natural choice for a coat built around a sheepskin liner. Across the fronts and sleeves its chocolate finish has worn back to tan, where hands, belts and weather met it every day. The back, sheltered from all that, has stayed a deep, glossy brown, and the belt has worn to bare tan where it was buckled and unbuckled through every winter.

It’s a coat built for cold mornings on the road, and it still does that job.

Condition & Restoration

The coat is in very good vintage condition. It has been specialist cleaned and conditioned in the workshop with our own neutral blend, which feeds the leather and leaves it supple without darkening the colour or masking its age. There are no tears or splits, and the seams are sound throughout.

The belt edges and keeper are softly worn. The sheepskin liner is clean and full, and the quilted section shows some creasing and gentle fading. The football buttons are all present and sound, the Ailée zips run smoothly, the mouton collar is full and attaches securely, and the checked wool lining is intact.

Key Features

• 1950s French leather Canadienne barnstormer mackinaw coat
• Fine-grained leather, most likely sheep, worn back to tan through decades of use
• Double-breasted front with woven leather football buttons
• Detachable mouton shawl collar
• Collar buttons up to the throat
• Full belt with steel buckle
• Leather-edged slash hand pockets above flapped lower pockets
• Button-tab cuffs
• Pointed yokes front and back with piped seams
• Zip-in liner of sheepskin and quilted lining on Ailée zips
• Green and cream checked wool body lining beneath the liner

Size & Fit

Measurements taken laid flat:

• Chest, armpit to armpit: 26" / 66 cm
• Shoulders, seam to seam: 22" / 56 cm
• Sleeve, shoulder seam to cuff: 24.5" / 62 cm
• Underarm seam to cuff: 17" / 43 cm
• Back length, base of collar to hem: 33" / 84 cm

Best suited to: 46" chest / Size XL

Fit: A generous, mid-length cut with broad shoulders and room to layer underneath, drawn in at the waist by the belt. It finishes at the upper thigh, long enough for warmth and cover without getting in the way.
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.