My wardrobe comes from three places: Archival, thift shops
and
FWK Engineered Garments. Since 2010, I've been buying carefully
selected pieces from Engineered Garments line for women. I've amassed
Bedfords in wool and corduroy plus a rotating collection of work shirts in
chambray and broadcloth. Just when I thought I was set with staple
pieces for the next decade, FWK released this amazing Aviator's jacket
as part of their Fall 2012 line.
I shy away from replica, military
style jackets - especially those with excess straps, buttons and/or trim.
For civilian use, these features, though eye appealing, interfere with
the simple, weather repelling, on-off demands of my daily commute. As
it were, the EG Aviator jacket pares the original military style down to
its essential features.
The jacket is made up of an outer shell of
cotton/nylon rip stop fabric with an internal wool liner. Despite all sandwich of fabrics, the jacket does not feel bulky or limit arm
or body mobility. Nylon ripstop keeps out the Oregon rain while the thin wool lining adds a comforting, chill abating layer. In use, the jacket has an amazingly sporty, body hugging quality.
My two favorite jacket features are the corduroy lined hand warmer pockets (not pictured!) and the knit cuffs trimmed in wool.
Instead of a full storm flap, the FWK EG jacket comes with a snap front, semi storm flap. Here, I love the visual bling of these three snaps but the sturdy, two way zipper has a tendency to catch on the flap when I zip up
the jacket.
FWK EG is one of the brands that still inspires seasonal lookbook anticipation. Here's a snap from a Japanese site showing how the jacket could be styled with additional, counterpunctual patterns and layers
