I have been trying to find a denim jacket that works for me for years now. I have the weird proportions of 6’3” / 165 lbs, so a lot of tops are too wide in the shoulders and/or too short in the sleeves. On top of that, I like a classic looking fit for jackets, where the hem of the jacket hits at the bottom of my belt. Many raw denim brands modify their jackets to make them quite a bit longer, and I don’t really like this.

I tried a TCB 50s jacket a few years ago. This had a great fabric, but it was very tight (particularly in the sleeves) and too long in the hem, so I wouldn’t have liked the look if I sized up. Some time later, I scored a 3Sixteen Caustic Wave jacket, and while it fit a bit better, it was still too tight, particularly in the sleeves. (A size L might’ve fit, but these were sold out by then.)

I went a while without looking for a denim jacket and sort of gave up. I kept wearing my Flat Head 7002w denim shirt like a jacket instead. But this year, I resumed the search. I needed something with long sleeves, not too much body length, and enough room in the chest and sleeves to comfortably accommodate a heavyweight flannel underneath, sweater, or sweatshirt underneath. Hand warmer pockets would be nice, but as long as I can fit my phone into a pocket somewhere, that would be enough. This Strike Gold jacket ticked all the boxes, aside from lacking hand warmer pockets.

Then it (fortuitously) went on sale at Self Edge, so I bought one in size 42.

The Setup

When I got the jacket, I tried it on and found that it was a bit big – which was perfect, because it’s unsanforized and would shrink a lot. I did my usual routine for unsanforized denim. I turned the jacket inside out, buttoned it, and hot-washed in my top loading washer with Woolite Dark detergent. After the wash, I hung the jacket up to dry. This seemed to get rid of all the shrinkage at once.

By the next morning, my jacket had finished drying and was ready to wear.

Design

The Optical Ice jacket is based on a 1950s Levis Type II jacket. Many Japanese denim brands offer something similar to this, but there are a number of thoughtful design details that stand out. First and foremost, the front pockets are big enough to easily hold my iPhone 6s. Tiny, unusable pockets are a big issue I have with many repro-style denim jackets, so I’m pleased that these are useful, while maintaining the classic look.

The jacket features the double-pleated placket of all Type IIs, and it looks great. I like the contrast of the natural colored button holes against the rest of the denim. The jacket also features adjustable buttons on the back near the hem, a feature some makers omit from their jackets. It’s slim enough at the waist as is, so I left them alone.

One cool detail worth noting is Strike Gold’s rivets – found near the sleeve opening. The flat round part is copper, and the prong/point is iron. This is a design detail unique (as far as I know) to Strike Gold, which over time will offer contrast with how the two metals age. On the other hand, the jacket’s buttons are steel – this is the one design detail I’m no crazy about, as I’d have preferred iron buttons due to their greater aging potential. But perhaps the buttons will surprise me with some wear, and they don’t look bad as is.

Finally, the jacket has a deerskin leather patch below the collar. It’s soft and supple like deerskin usually is, but is a light, almost veg tan cowhide sort of color, which you don’t usually see with deerskin patches. I’m curious how it’ll age. By the way, I much prefer this type of patch to the super-thick chunk of veg tan cowhide many denim brands use for patches.

The Denim

Alright, here we go. This denim is seriously wild. Probably the craziest I’ve ever owned.

I’ve never been into the really wild fabrics made by companies like Oni, Pure Blue Japan, and others. I tend to prefer the middle ground between those fabrics and vintage-style ones – represented by companies like Flat Head. I primarily bought this jacket for the fit and design, but I have to say the denim is quite impressive.

This is the same denim Strike Gold uses on the 5109 and 5104 jeans. The cotton is an extremely short staple, very rough and abrasive, but I wouldn’t describe it as slubby, as it’s not made with slub threads.

The warp is dyed extremely dark, though not quite as dark as Eternal or Flat Head, and the weft is gray, similar to Strike Gold’s 3109 denim and Pure Blue Japan’s XX-011 denim. In fact, the colors remind me more of the latter than any other fabric I’ve handled, though this denim is right-hand twill. This resemblance is a good thing, as PBJ’s XX-011 denim is one of my favorites.

The weave is quite different, however. In a word, it’s crazy. The fabric was woven under extremely low tension on a very creaky loom, leading to a wildly uneven fabric with thick horizontal irregularities. Kiya’s description of the denim as having a feel reminiscent of an old Persian rug seems apt. It reminds me a bit of a very high-quality burlap sack. The texture comes from the short-staple cotton and the weave. The weave is extremely loose as well – once this jacket is broken in, it should be comfortable in warmer weather, and it’s already clear that it’s exceptionally breathable (though it does add warmth as a layering piece.)

The fabric is, of course, unsanforized and completely loomstate. It’s described as 15 oz, though the extreme texture of the fabric makes it feel maybe a bit heavier than that.

There have been many faded examples of the 5109 jeans featured on Reddit and elsewhere, so I have a pretty good idea how this denim will fade, but I’ve never seen any faded samples in jacket form. Due to the nature of the denim, I think it will age quite a bit faster than the average jacket. With only a few wears, I see hints of electric blue fading on the arms.

Construction

I can’t speak for sure about the machines used in constructing the jacket, but it’s safe to say that vintage Union Special and Singer machines probably did much of the sewing. It is made with 100% cotton thread, which as you might know by now, is one of my favorite nitpicky points of denim construction. These yellow threads ought to fade to a nice lemony color over time.

There is a lot of heavy-duty chain stitching in the jacket, as is normal for Type II jackets. I have to say, I’m really impressed by the quality of Strike Gold’s construction. The sewing is very neat and regular, definitely on the same level as Flat Head at their best.

The only other thing I have to say about the construction is that I wish the pleats were pressed a little bit more. I haven’t had much success trying to iron it to be a bit more flat, but this isn’t necessarily the fault of Strike Gold; more likely just a side effect of shrinking the jacket inside-out with a machine wash.

The Fit

Success! I finally found a denim jacket that fits just how I want. In fact, I’d say that in each dimension, it fits ideally. It has an overall vintage appearance, but with a few thoughtful additions (like slightly narrower shoulders) that make it a bit more wearable than a more vintage Type II jacket.

The sleeves are the perfect width and will easily accommodate any of my shirts, and the sleeve length is just right, as well. Often denim jackets taper a lot in the forearm; thankfully, this one does not.

The length is also correct. I hate it when denim jackets end far below the belt, so I like that this one ends right around the bottom of my belt.

Conclusion

Strike Gold’s jeans have always intrigued me, but their fits don’t really work on my body. Fortunately, this jacket fits just how I wanted, and will be a wardrobe staple for years to come. Even though I wasn’t necessarily seeking out a jacket made from a really non-traditional denim, I really like the fabric and how different it is from my other jeans. It’s easy to recommend this jacket to anybody who wants a slightly-modernized Type II with some unique attributes. I might still want a more traditional denim jacket at some point, but this one will see a lot of usage, and is easy to recommend.

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