The humble donkey jacket: one of the mainstays of the British coal miner, binman, and other manual workers and lefties of years past – and (some) skinheads of course.

Ideal transitional garments, our timeless staple jackets offer you the option to layer, depending on the required look. The pockets are an improvement, but in my opinion, the superfluous arm cuffs ruin it – another detail I’ve never seen on any vintage jacket. The shoulder covers don't look plastic at all and have a nice leathery look and the wool material looks similar to how I remember.Crombieboy Categories: Clobber, Skinhead history Tags: Combat, donkey jacket, George Keys, Manchester, NCB, Pop Boutique, the working class, up north, Warrior. They've also got these silly little flaps with buttons over the pockets which were never on mine 35+ years ago, so I got a sharp pointy scissors and carefully cut the stitching and removed them. They were suitable for the cold weather the miners had to endure while defending their jobs against Thatcher’s government. Lightweight with soft fabric makes this so comfortable - the only downside being that these days you can get away with wearing it to the smartest occasions too, so you'll need one for everyday and another for best!

The full-leather-back ones were sometimes worn by workers like binmen or market porters, because wet smelly dribbles down your back are just disgusting. Others claim the only time you would have seen a donkey jacket on a skinhead is when he was at work (in which case it would say ‘Camden’ or ‘Brent’ or whatever council they worked for on the shoulder pads) or at evening matches, especially if the wearer had come straight from work. The fabric is slightly corse, as you’d expect from workwear, but it’s softening with wear, and sewing is exquisite. on a winter night, Kept you warm, and you could wrap your bird up in it and fit a bottle of Old English cider in your pocket without the old bill clocking it. All of the products we sell are rigorously tested to meet relevant safety standards and are designed to provide maximum protection and comfort to the wearer.Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s the jacket underwent more changes, as cheaper polyester wool mixed fibres were used for the body, the yokes were by now also available in a variety of bright colours as safety advice or for company branding. I’ll offer a couple of caveats: Firstly, if I had seen anyone in a donkey jacket, I would have assumed that he was on his way to/from work, and that the dj did not represent his preferred ‘style’. I’m not a very successful toff…living in social housing on a State pension (worst in Europe apparently…must be why we are having the Brexit charade) I’d happily wear one now!

In fairness, this isn’t the worst donkey jacket I’ve seen, apart from the pocket flaps – and perhaps it could be a tad longer.

It appears I may have been slacking in my job as a Donkey Jacket Investigator, as I have found a vintage 1970s donkey jacket with pocket flaps.