Vintage CPO Wool Button Up Long Sleeve Shirt Size Large

A CPO shirt-jacket in dense brushed wool, Size Large, running the burgundy-and-gray plaid colorway that defined civilian workwear from the postwar decades through the early 1980s. CPO stands for Chief Petty Officer, and the silhouette pulled directly from Navy-issue utility shirts: oversized chest pockets, substantial front placket, construction heavy enough to read as outerwear from across the room. This one carries gold flannel lining visible at the collar, which signals a fully lined interior rather than the lighter, unlined versions that hit mass retail in later decades.

The CPO silhouette has one of the longer continuous runs in American workwear. The pattern originated in military surplus channels post-World War II, moved into workwear labels through the 1950s, and by the late 1960s had crossed into civilian fashion via brands like Woolrich, Pendleton, and a rotating cast of house-label manufacturers who pushed plaid wool button-ups through department store channels. The burgundy-and-gray combination shows up consistently across labels from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s. Wool construction this dense, with a full lining, points toward the older end of that run rather than the lighter, blended-fabric versions that became more common after 1980. The weight here is real. This is a piece that read as a transitional layer in climates where that mattered, and it still does.

The copy in front of us shows oversized chest pockets with flap closures, which is consistent with the classic CPO pattern rather than the slimmer-pocket revivals that arrived later. Burgundy-and-gray plaid on brushed wool reads darker and richer in person than it photographs. The gold flannel lining at the collar is the condition tell: check whether that lining extends through the body or terminates at the yoke, because fully lined versus yoke-lined construction affects both warmth and era probability. Inspect the collar seam where the flannel lining meets the wool shell. That stitch should be tight and flat with no separation or fraying.

OWNER VERIFY: Confirm production decade by checking interior label for country of origin, fiber content tag format, and union label presence, all of which narrow the window between late 1960s and early 1980s manufacture.