Hells Angels Support81 Big Red Machine Harrington Style Jacket Black

A Harrington — also known as a blouson, windbreaker, or golf jacket — is a waist-length, zippered, solid-color jacket which typically sports the following features:

• Made with a lightweight, water-resistant/rain-proof cotton/synthetic (nylon or polyester) blend (there are leather/suede/wool jackets made in the blouson-style, but a 100% cotton or cotton blend is the most traditional material)
• Sleeve cuffs and bottom hem are made with an elasticized material; the jacket thus gathers at the wrists and waist, with the material “blousing” over
• Slanted, buttoned, flap pockets on each side of the front of the jacket
• Umbrella-inspired vent on the back of the jacket, designed to run rainwater off the shoulders, and over the waistband, so your pants don’t get wet
• Double-button, straight, stand-up, mandarin-esque “funnel collar” that can be snapped shut so rain doesn’t go down your neck
• Raglan sleeves (the sleeve starts up by the collar, rather than being attached flush with the shoulder) for added range of motion
• Lined with a tartan pattern design

The History of the Harrington Jacket

Blouson-style jackets were first made by several companies in England during the 1930s. James and Isaac Miller produced what would become its most iconic iteration — the Baracuta G9 — in 1937 in their garment factories in Manchester, England. The Miller brothers had been making rainwear for companies like Burberry, and put this know-how into creating a sporty, waist-length, water-resistant jacket that could be worn for a wide variety of active pursuits and tasks. The Millers received permission from Simon Fraser (Lord Lovat) — a British commando and 25th Chief of the Clan Fraser — to line the jacket with his family’s red tartan pattern. The jacket had primarily been designed for the Millers’ fellow golfers, but its short, lightweight, and roomy fit also found favor with working men and everyone else who needed something that could curb chill and shut out the rain, while still allowing them to bend and move.

The G9 was exported to the U.S. in the 1950s and quickly took off, perhaps because its waist-length, elastic-cuffed style mirrored and dovetailed with another style trend — that of the bomber/flight jackets worn by pilots during WWII and the Korean War.