# Eisenhower Jacket - how do you picture it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 17, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890 "2014-11-17T20:06:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/1 "2014-11-17T20:06:52Z")
I ordered a [Dickies Lined Eisenhower Jacket](http://www.dickies.com/mens-clothing/mens-outerwear/Lined-Eisenhower-Jacket-TJ15.jsp). My old light weight jacket has a torn lining and its hard getting my arm down the sleeve. I went to wikipedia to confirm what a [Eisenhower Jacket](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower_jacket) is. Before clicking wikipedia. What would you visualize? I always had the impression an Eisenhower Jacket ends just \*\*above \*\*the belt. It’s a short jacket. The photo of the Dickies jacket doesn’t match that at all. I still ordered one, but curious what others would expect. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/2 "2014-11-17T20:20:56Z")
I was thinking the jacket style Eisenhower was photographed in while talking to the paratroopers before D-Day, and [it appears](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_airborne_landings_in_Normandy#mediaviewer/File:Eisenhower_d-day.jpg) I was right… But I was unaware of the term before. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/3 "2014-11-17T20:29:30Z")
I’m surprised that Dickies uses such an old term for a jacket. I had to think for a minute to even picture what they were referencing. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/4 "2014-11-17T20:37:22Z")
Ike jackets are short. That’s kinda the defining feature. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/5 "2014-11-17T21:16:16Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Ike jackets are short. That’s kinda the defining feature. And made of green wool with a sort of belt…or so mine is. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/6 "2014-11-17T22:09:04Z")
Long sleeved, short lapels. May or may not cover belt buckle, but not longer than that. Must have shoulder tabs! ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/7 "2014-11-17T22:12:37Z")
double breasted waist length epaulettes my gran had an old suit with an Eisenhower Jacket ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/8 "2014-11-17T22:43:58Z")
Short jacket that fits above the belt if you are wearing jeans. If you are wearing high-waisted trousers like in the WWII era, it probably would overlap. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/9 "2014-11-17T23:59:34Z")
I wore an Ike jacket for years as part of my uniform. It ends at the bottom of the belt. And, in my opinion, it has to have lapels. The jacket shown in the OP has a zipper that goes up to the neck and a regular collar. Like [this](http://cdn.marlowwhite.com/media/images/dress-uniforms/eisenhower-ike-jacket.jpg) or [this](http://www.kshs.org/cool3/graphics/jacketlg.jpg) or [this](http://www.amasquerade.com/images/products/careers/Eisenhower.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/10 "2014-11-18T00:05:41Z")
Moved Cafe Society --\> IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/11 "2014-11-18T00:32:35Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I wore an Ike jacket for years as part of my uniform. It ends at the bottom of the belt. And, in my opinion, it has to have lapels. The jacket shown in the OP has a zipper that goes up to the neck and a regular collar. > > Like [this](http://cdn.marlowwhite.com/media/images/dress-uniforms/eisenhower-ike-jacket.jpg) or [this](http://www.kshs.org/cool3/graphics/jacketlg.jpg) or [this](http://www.amasquerade.com/images/products/careers/Eisenhower.jpg). Good point. I hadn’t considered the lapels. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/12 "2014-11-18T03:49:29Z")
Belt length jacket, sort of olive green. Or was it Olive Drab? Lapels and epaulets. A patch style chest pocket on each side with a flap. Brass buttons on the epaulets and pockets. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/13 "2014-11-18T07:30:00Z")
When I was a teenager I work my father’s real Eisenhower jacket from the real war. IIRC it looked like the first picture on your Wiki link - not at all like the one you ordered. Wish I still had it - I loved the thing. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/14 "2014-11-18T13:36:43Z")
During one of the mid-term elections in the Eisenhower administration, his party did poorly. Someone observed that “there are no coattails on an Eisenhower jacket.” (For those of you not up to date on political slang, this is a reference to the old simile of lower-level candidates “riding the coattails” of the presidential candidate into office.) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/15 "2014-11-18T16:34:43Z")
The Dickies jacket is more like the Carhartt Detroit jacket. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eisenhower-jacket-how-do-you-picture-it/704890/16 "2014-11-18T19:57:30Z")
I have that same Dickies coat, and I found it by specifically searching for an Eisenhower jacket. I think you’ll find that the lapels are too big, other than that it is a great jacket.