The new SS10 collection has been so thoroughly researched I have barely left myself enough time to actually put the collection together! But things are moving along swiftly now...
The Royal Navy has been a joy to research. I love war (OK I don't love war per se! But since I was about 4, like a lot of kids, I loved all that Boys Own stuff) and it seems I am not alone as there is a wealth of research material available. In particular on World War 2 which is the focus of this collection.
My Grandad, who is sadly not around any more, served on the Submarines during the war and I wanted this to be a focus of the collection. During my research I stumbled across a piece called the Ursula Suit that instantly grabbed my attention, probably because it is made from waxed cotton, a fabric I have been in love with for many years. However there is very little information about this piece but the story goes this oil skin, foul weather suit was designed by Captain George Phillips, one of the most celebrated submarine officers of World War 2. In 1937 Phillips took command of
HMS Ursula, one of the first U-class submarines.
HMS Ursula was a U Class submarine laid down in 1939, launched in 1940, and commissioned in August of the same year. The U Class was originally intended to serve as unarmed targets for anti-submarine vessels but with the threat of war tactics were changed and from 1937 they were modified so that they could undertake short offensive missions. Their small size meant that they were particularly effective for operations in the North Sea and Mediterranean. Ursula was the first submarine to fire British torpedoes during WWII when attacking U-35 in September 1939.
HMS Ursula managed to manoeuvre through a thickly sown minefield that was often known in the service as "Hitler's Cabbage Patch". They were then able to sink a German cruiser of the Köln class by bravely diving beneath the destroyer screen surrounding the cruiser, and although they themselves were damaged in the blast, Ursula made the safe return home. The captain Lt-Cdr G C Phillips was awarded the DSO, along with two DSC's, seven DSM'S and ten Dispatches granted to the other members of the crew. At the end of WWII she served in the Russian Navy, and between 1944 and 1948 was renamed B4. Ursula was broken up in 1950.
Phillips was unhappy with the standard pre-war issue foul weather gear which consisted of oil skins, hats and towels wrapped around the necks. Watchkeeping onboard submarines could be quite a physical ordeal in rough weather, with the submarine bridge being only a few feet above the sea level.
Lieutenant Lakin, Ursula's navigating officer was a keen motorcyclist who wore a one-piece over-suit made by Barbour. Phillips told him to wear it while he doused him with a fire hose. Despite the force of the water, Lakin remained dry. Phillips decided that the overalls, with a few alterations, might be the answer for submarine lookouts and bridge personnel.
Phillips visited Barbour in South Shields and persuaded them to cut the suit in two, make the jacket hooded and the trousers with elastic at the waist and ankles. He paid for the prototype suits out of his own pocket. Warm, comfortable and waterproof, they became standard issue in the Submarine Service.
(Photo courtesy of
The Royal Navy Submarine Museum)
Here is a picture of Commander Phillips but this is not an Ursula suit jacket, as
some websites would have you believe.
This is actually a Barbour International Jacket
It has been modified, probably by Phillips himself, with the addition of a hood. I would imagine a hood is very useful if you are poking your head out of a submarine just a few feet above some treacherous water like the North Sea. It seems, and I am only guessing here, that Phillips used his modified jacket until he managed to develop the Ursula suit. The Ursula Suit has less pockets than an International Jacket, presumably because you don't need as much stuff in your pockets in a submarine as you would on a motorbike or it could be due to scant resources available during the war and the extra fabric needed for the chest pockets. What this illustrates is that it only takes one person to get it wrong on a blog post or web page and then it snowballs and people start to think its a fact. The only correct article I could find on The Ursula Suit is
here.
I needed to know more and couldn't trust what people write on blogs (but you can trust me - because I do my research properly!). I asked a nice man, who appeared to know a bit about it, on a Submariners forum if he had any more info on the Ursula Suit as I really wanted to see one up close. He confirmed its a very rare item which he has only seen once at the
submarine school at HMS Raleigh in Cornwall and it is mentioned in Cmdr Phillips autobiography. He also said the famous picture of Commander
Phillips reappeared in a small booklet produced by Barbour last year and given away with The Field magazine - but that makes me think if its the above picture then even Barbour got it wrong and its their jacket! It seems its all conjecture when dealing with vintage clothing, something I wish someone would sort out - the
Free & Easy musuem is excused though.
My next avenue to explore was my vintage dealer friend who I was sure would at least know about it and low and behold he actually had one!
BUT it was just on its way to the US and it was going for a four figure sum, which just shows how rare and sought after these things are....he says they pop up very rarely and I am next in line if and when the next one appears....time to check your Grandparents attics and drop me an email!
However my major breakthrough came when I emailed
The Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Portsmouth, as I had heard they had one on display there.
A very nice lady from the musuem got straight back to me with a document explaining its history and some extremely useful photographs from their display - one of which is above and the other is here;
(Photo courtesy of
The Royal Navy Submarine Museum)
Worn with the suit is the traditional cream, roll neck 'woolly pully' and suede sea boots. The roll neck sweater, which remained constant through both wars, was made by
J Pick & Sons who also made cardigans for the Crimean War.
She also told me they have photographs of the suit being used onboard submarines within their photo archive, which I am in the process of getting my hands on. I have to say its fantastic that they are so open to sharing the information and cannot speak highly enough of them.
My final breakthrough for me was the most poignant of this exciting (well for me it is) research and that's when I asked my Gran what Submarines my Grandad served on....her first answer couldn't have been more perfect....HMS Ursula!
So it just feels like fate that I found this jacket and I am going to do my very best to bring it back to life. However I am not going to just copy it, if you read this blog you will know I am not about that, but I will try my very best to take some of this garments history and put it into something new for the 21st Century. Well that's the idea anyway!
I have not been to the Submarine Museum yet to see the jacket up close as I am currently living in Spain but will definitely pay a visit, with my Gran who also wants to go, on my return to the UK and post the findings - especially since they were so generous with their information.
Now to the design of my version. I have noticed that Barbour rarely put hoods on their jackets, well not built-in hoods anyway and this was partly the inspiration for the Stansfield Country Jacket.
The Ursula Suit is very similar to this piece although it appears to have a flap across the neck, only 2 pockets and it has the belt too. For the Stansfield Ursula I am going to keep the two front pockets, add my little trademark welted pocket (zipped this time), add some sort of neck strap, remove the belt (because I really hate belted wax jackets) and replace with adjustable side buckles. I will also keep the velvet collar which you see on 1950's Belstaff Trialmaster's.
None other than the
Great Nigel Cabourn (who worked for Barbour) informs us this was common on Barbour's too.
I will add more little details to my version but I will try to be as faithful as possible to the original. However the fact I dont actually own one of these jackets gives me a bit more poetic license.
Where the jacket will differ most is in the fabrication. Whilst I was in Las Vegas I met a friend from London who I had not seen in a while, we bumped into each other next to the somewhat bizarre (well not for Vegas!) bath tub they have on the dancefloor at the Tao nightclub in the Venetian - the 'just like Venice' casino;
His name is Richy and his family's business who he works for is called
Kakadu.
They are a traditional Australian workwear brand and the quality of their gear is really amazing. I love the line they use in their bio; '
'materials that give our products the guts to get the job done time & time again''. The origins of Kakadu's oilskin canvas are traced back three generations where ancestors manned a lighthouse serving the remote Southern Ocean of Australia. Oilskin canvas was constructed using a wringer mangler so they could protect wharf equipment and themselves from the harsh elements.
The fits are not really suitable for the fashion market as....y'know...this is actual
proper workwear (not poofy fashion workwear!). This will be rectified with Richy's new more fashion orientated brand - Whillas & Gunn - which from the photos in the look book is looking pretty damn on point.
Anyway their factory have the machinery to treat any fabric you give them. This got me immediately excited...no more trawling through millions of wax fabric swatches in 7 shades of brown! It gives me the opportunity to try treating more unusual fabrics, which people haven't really done before or at least to my knowledge. Very kindly they have agreed to manufacturer this Ursula jacket for me, as well as a couple of their amazing bags.
For this season I have kept the fabrics relatively simple but still interesting I hope. So the fabrics I have chosen are; white selvedge denim, cotton chambray and hickory stripe denim - this stuff;
So that's the
URSULA 'MOLLOY' JACKET as it stands now. I will post more about this, such as my ideas for the linings, as and when it happens.
Oh and the 'Molloy' bit is my Grandads surname and its dedicated to him, so I really want this one to work out!
Next up to post about is the Pea Coat, which is long overdue, but I am now ready to write the new installment - The Reference Samples. So thats another 17 hours out of my life then!
I thought I knew what to expect from 
You can read more about her here, but she seemed like a nice woman and very 
Anyway here are some really nice pictures of the 
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