Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Fashion & Style

Channel Classic Sailor Style with the N-1 Deck Jacket by Freemans Sporting Club

Zach Middleton
By

N-1 Deck Jacket
Image used with permission by copyright holder
You may recognize the design of the deck jacket from cracked and yellowed pictures of men in the armed forces during the middle part of the last century. It’s the type of jacket you’d see on dudes who’d only ever had one type of haircut (flattop), and only one type of shirt (white crew neck t-shirt). And somehow they still looked cooler than anyone alive today.

The MIL-SPEC N-1 Deck Jacket ($1,495), the newest adaptation of this iconic design by Freemans Sporting Club, is steeped in that old-fashioned aesthetic perfect for any man in need of throwback winter wear.

shearling-deck-front-2
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Because this unique piece was made in New York and uses extremely high quality materials, it has a price to match. But FSC got so many of the details spot-on, this has become one of the most striking high-end jackets of the fall.

Recommended Videos

To start, this jacket is absurdly warm. Don’t even bother with it if the temperature outside is over 60 degrees because you’ll just end up sweating out your shirt. When it does get windy or cold or wet, you may as well be on the other side of a brick wall for how well the N-1 Deck Jacket blocks the elements. The mid-length waist gives you a lot of mobility and freedom of motion, which would be perfect on a motorcycle in less-than-ideal temperature, too.

The shell is cut from raw 8.25 oz MIL-SPEC TexWax that has a somewhat rough, but pliable texture, and it comes in a natural chestnut color or forest green camo pattern. Because the cotton is treated with wax, it also shows marks and wear in interesting ways, meaning this thing will age into an appealing distressed look over time. The interior, on the other hand, is lined with dense Uruguayan shearling that’s as warm as it is soft. If it gets really windy, you can fold the wide collar up around your neck for extra protection.

camo-deck
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Hidden wool storm cuffs keep your wrists warm and prevent drafts from going up the sleeves, while a waist drawstring allows you to tighten the jacket down to your specific body shape. The main zipper is a two-way Ideal zipper, which is a little sticky brand new, but may wear in with time. Covering the zipper is an extra storm flap which is held closed by horn buttons.

One of the best features of the coat are the two deep pockets on the front. Since they are sewn onto the outside, you don’t have to worry about tearing out the pocket linings, and they are wide enough to accommodate gloved hands if it’s really cold out.

camo-deck-cuff
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This design was popularized back in the 1940s, when the Navy understood that if they wanted to keep sailors fighting Nazi U-boats and Japanese battleships, they had better keep them warm. It was so effective in cold and wet weather, the Navy used it another 20 years before being decommissioned.

If the design worked for the armed forces all those years, it will probably serve you well, too. 

Zach Middleton
Zach Middleton
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Zach Middleton is a writer and reporter based out of the University Park neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. He's covered tiny…
New dial colors, slimmer design for IWC’s Portugieser watches
The IWC Portugieser Collection nods to its 1930s roots while bringing new details to the line
The IWC Hand-WOund Night and Day watch.

If you've been orbiting through the same collections of watches looking for that perfect addition to fill that something missing in your arsenal, stop your search. Swiss brand International Watch Company, known more appropriately to wearers and collectors as IWC Schaffhausen, has a heavenly lineup at this year's Watches and Wonders you've been waiting an eternity for. If unmatched caliber and exceptional craftsmanship — along with a touch of planetary elements — are a few things you look for in a luxury watch, the Portugieser Collection from IWC is the right fit for your wrist.
The IWC Portugieser collection

The collection throws it back to the Portugieser of the 1930s, where the design got its first inspiration from those gorgeous navigational watches on the deck of a ship. Keep that nautical theme in your head because each piece in the collection has celestial details as the star.

Read more
Ready for a comeback? PUMA’s Easy Rider is back
Easy Rider Sneakers

 

With many sneakers coming back in recent seasons, PUMA is getting ready to blow them all out of the water. Once again, one of the company’s staple sneaker designs is ready to grace shelves and give us the true retro sneaker. While still iconic and recognizable, there’s no doubt that PUMA’s Easy Rider sneaker was the beginning of a new era for the casual sneaker, and to many regarded as one of the first of its kind. 

Read more
This new Cartier watch tells time backwards
Turn back time with the new Santos
Cartier Rewind on wrist

Wristwatches may be distinctly masculine pieces of hardware now, thanks to some very popular people in pop culture and in our own history adopting them. British super spy James Bond, movie stars, and athletes are the people we look up to who wear watches that catch our eye. Soldiers, cops, firefighters, and first responders wear watches they trust to ensure they can save lives. Pilots and divers created an entire industry around watches specifically designed for their vocations. And the very first pilot's watch was none other than a Cartier watch.

Alberto Santos-Dumont was a pioneer in the flight world and was one of the first people on Earth to achieve air travel. He was a competitor of the Wright Brothers, and, depending on the source, he preceded them in flight. In any case, the French celebrity went to Louis Cartier, another pioneer of his craft, and procured a square timekeeper meant for the wrist. The Cartier Santos Dumont was born. Over a century later, Cartier attended Watches and Wonders and presented the newest in the line of Santos watches, one that reverses time.
The Rewind tells time backwards

Read more