What would you buy today (if money was no object)?

[Guppy]

When I first inquired, the answer was yes, but with a $1,000 surcharge. When I followed up a year later, ready to bite the ******, FW's position had changed and they were no longer offering custom jackets. Moreover, they added that, if they were to revive the custom offer, I would need to visit their store in Japan -- Desolation Row -- in person and be measured. Oh well.

If you can afford the extra charges you can afford to go to Japan in person. Most people can't.

 

[Monitor]

@Carlos840 , @Superfluous , I'd say those people are deranged but then again, every time I hear something like that, BigJ's posts on how many Japanese business' can't really grasp the concept of pricing things, spring to mind. Don't mean to generalize of course, but I often see it with jackets and even more so with video games.

I mean, even on eBay you'll often find run of the mill Vanson jackets priced anything from nearly $2K to $200.

 

[El Marro]

Is that a $1000 EXTRA on the price!? Are those people insane!??

Not insane, but they are definitely trying to send a message with that upcharge.
I think they are not particularly interested in doing custom work and by setting the price at $1000 they guarantee a handsome profit on any custom jackets they do make.

 

[tmitchell59]

Another thought. If I could ever find this in my size. I honestly think this is the coolest jacket I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Nothing else comes even remotely close. I’m not sure it’s possible to reproduce.
View attachment 197901
Photo credit: Terry Mitchell (leather Jesus).

If money were no object I would reproduce that jacket and a bunch of others from my closet. Jackets that are cool and no one is really doing.

 

[Imuricecreamman]

I'd take an Aero August with Sunburst cuffstraps and backpanel in Russet Badalassi.

 

[Monitor]

Speaking of trucks...I’m really looking forward to this:
View attachment 197978

I actually like this very much.

 

[handymike]

And it doesn’t use any gas!
It’s the latest from Tesla.
My son says I can’t have one cuz it looks like it was crafted in Minecraft. He did give a thumbs up to this however:

 

[steve u]

In Japan labor is expensive. Custom jackets are labor intensive.
In my Wife's (Her family were farmers) home town , Nagano is known for apples..The growers net the trees, then nets each blossom before it starts to bear fruit. Labor intensive. That's why the cost is $4.00(or higher per apple). They only sell the best looking tastiest ones.

I've been to Ameyoko market at lease 10 times but never to Standard and Strange.
Not as much fun when you can't try anything on.
steve

 

[Blackadder]

@Carlos840 , @Superfluous , I'd say those people are deranged but then again, every time I hear something like that, BigJ's posts on how many Japanese business' can't really grasp the concept of pricing things, spring to mind. Don't mean to generalize of course, but I often see it with jackets and even more so with video games.

I mean, even on eBay you'll often find run of the mill Vanson jackets priced anything from nearly $2K to $200.

Certain shops do not want to take custom orders when they are selling off the rack products. For example, Clinch has started adding 20% surcharge on any variation how minor it may be (Clinch used to do only custom order). One of the reasons is they cannot take too many custom order now that they have plenty of bulk orders to fulfill from dealers around the world. If they don't charge 20%, they may end up having a 4-year waiting list like GW. Take another example, a small denim workshop called Connor Sewing Factory has stopped taking orders last month to play catch up because they don't wanna go beyond a 1-year waiting period. So either jack up the price to deter customers or outright say no. Also these shops often do not want to expand their scale of production.

 

[navetsea]

Speaking of trucks...I’m really looking forward to this:
View attachment 197978

this is not what country singers have in mine when they sing about trucking... definitely don't go well with denim jacket and cap.

 

[ton312]

And dear god don’t throw a rock at the window!

 

[navetsea]

it bounces and calculated from the angle, I'm sure it will break the window of 113th floor of the building across the road.

 

[steve u]

15 years ago when we were in Kyoto at a business hotel in a shopping, drinking, and eating district, I asked a front desk clerk if there were any DVD shops close by. She didn't know any but said she would get back to me. A couple(several) of hours later, she came with a list, which was a couple of pages long. She went through the whole yellow page, which was about three books (when stacked, they would be about a foot tall!) I realized then I need to be careful when I ask for something. They don't know how to say "No." If they take on a project, culturally they will try to do the task to the best to their ability. If they can't do or won't do, they find a way to politely decline. For example, "yes, but no thank you." When it comes to people like high quality craftsmen, their reputation is everything. They can't lose "face" making something that does not maintain their quality, no matter how long it takes...

Of course, this is just my opinion. steve

 

[BobHufford]

Speaking of trucks...I’m really looking forward to this:
View attachment 197978

There is a Lego version available now...

 

[zebedee]

Outerwear? Well, tbh if the Big Lotto Cheque came my way today, the first thing I'd buy would be a house. Then I'd be looking at a bunch of Aeros, probably starting with a few slightly modified Shackletons (a black one, maybe goat, with drill back, for example, maybe same again in midnight blue, possibly one with a zip chest pocket....), severasl sheepskins - a redskin b3/b6, CC Irvin, pre-war Irvin, AVG jacket, maybe a nice, russet early pattern A2.... And *all* the civvy jackets I can think of - currently, I've got it down to about seven as a 'minimum'. heh.

Probably a couple of different Wested Indys just for hide and style options. A few other makers that do styles or options that catch my eye.




Very nice indeed. I'm increasingly eyeing up the possibility of a two-tone - this one does it beautifully well.



Grail is the enemy of the excellent jacket. In this game it's easy to get lost in the chase. There is a buzz, though, undeniably to be had in finding something excellent for very little in a second hand shop or ebay when the leather gods choose to smile upon us.



Fantasising recently about winning that lottery prize where they give you ten grand a month, tax free, for life, I came up with the notion of paying in an annual subscription to my favourite maker in exchange for a pre-set range of options - e.g. leather jacket in Spring, two pairs trousers in September, whatever.... The ultimate 'loot box'!



That's nice. Would look great with a collar and tie. I'm increasingly drawn to the idea of a button-front for my next jacket, though whether that's a style thing or a subconscious attempt to justify another jacket.....



The rising price of raw materials has certainly put sheepskin jackets way up there in cost, makes them a good option for this sort of thing.



Interesting thought. I can empathise - there are things I'd love to give away to an appreciative owner who might not otherwise be able to afford, but money being what it is that's not a choice just right now. Nice angle to look at this from, though instead of just accumulating - I like how you think.

Why do you tend to find you live with less in China - do you find less temptation there, or is it something about the prevailing culture you feel you absorb, or is it that subconsciously you feel your'e not really living there full-time, that the UK is 'home', so you think of China as a temporary state and don't have the same instinct to 'nest' therE? I'm interested because, as you know, I spend a lot of time in Beijing, but never long enough in any one hop for it to feel like I've really 'lived there'. I do often think I'd buy more cool clothes there if I could find somewhere that sold Bob Dong and Bronson in fat laowai size!

I find that I store stuff in the Uk, but live with what I need in China or HK. HK has reduced space, of course, but even when I've lived in more spacious places on the mainland, I've carried less. I think you get to a point in the Far East where you're able to buy - and in my case, have - and then just say 'No more tailor-made shirts!' or whatever. I seem to have spent my thirties acquiring stuff and am now in my early forties getting shot of it! If anything, my time in China made me aware of how the urge to conspicuously buy and waste has spread. I've lived in Asia for half my life and find being back in the UK like a museum trip of all my previous stuff. I'm minded, at some point, to just own what I really like and can fit in hand luggage and carry-on. I think if I ever struck it rich, I'd want to look after my nearest and dearest and then shed stuff. Weirdly, I buy on Amazon or in stores in the UK because I get profoundly bored living here- when I'm out in Asia, buying things is the last thing on my mind. It sounds bizarre, but I actually find that owning too much clothing is almost stressful. If only I could feel that way about books...

 

[Seb Lucas]

I find that I store stuff in the Uk, but live with what I need in China or HK. HK has reduced space, of course, but even when I've lived in more spacious places on the mainland, I've carried less. I think you get to a point in the Far East where you're able to buy - and in my case, have - and then just say 'No more tailor-made shirts!' or whatever. I seem to have spent my thirties acquiring stuff and am now in my early forties getting shot of it! If anything, my time in China made me aware of how the urge to conspicuously buy and waste has spread. I've lived in Asia for half my life and find being back in the UK like a museum trip of all my previous stuff. I'm minded, at some point, to just own what I really like and can fit in hand luggage and carry-on. I think if I ever struck it rich, I'd want to look after my nearest and dearest and then shed stuff. Weirdly, I buy on Amazon or in stores in the UK because I get profoundly bored living here- when I'm out in Asia, buying things is the last thing on my mind. It sounds bizarre, but I actually find that owning too much clothing is almost stressful. If only I could feel that way about books...

Here, here. I got rid of most of my things about 10 years ago. Now I am happier living with very little furniture and not a lot of stuff. It's liberating.

 

[M Brown]

If money was no object I'd buy several dozen truckloads of stone blocks and have a 'beverly hills' privacy wall built around my property with a big electric gate out front and one of those 'buzz you in' intercom systems.

 

[zebedee]

It is, isn't it? I used to have a rack of just shirts- I took a photo of it (I can go to work in a polo shirt) and I thought to myself, 'I have no time or space for this- I don't need them, can't wear them without creating masses of washing all the time- they're going!' And, out they went, to charity, in a week.

Last year, I gave, or sold cheaply, 3 Aeros to friends. I wasn't wearing them, but each one of those friends wears that jacket constantly.

 

[jacketjunkie]

Restricting this to outerwear, if money was no issue, I'd source the 3.5 oz Horween Bison hide SB used to offer and have Alan make me a Repro of that Rough Wear halfbelt Terry owns/owned modified with a mouton collar and numerous inside pockets.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

Certain shops do not want to take custom orders when they are selling off the rack products. For example, Clinch has started adding 20% surcharge on any variation how minor it may be (Clinch used to do only custom order). One of the reasons is they cannot take too many custom order now that they have plenty of bulk orders to fulfill from dealers around the world. If they don't charge 20%, they may end up having a 4-year waiting list like GW. Take another example, a small denim workshop called Connor Sewing Factory has stopped taking orders last month to play catch up because they don't wanna go beyond a 1-year waiting period. So either jack up the price to deter customers or outright say no. Also these shops often do not want to expand their scale of production.

This makes me even happier that I got my Clinch boots when I did. I think at this point, I paid $1,000 less than I would have to pay now for the same boots. It's tough to say which option is best. GW method does not seem to be working out, but maybe if better managed, that would work. I know some bespoke shoemakers have 4 year waiting lists, but they deliver on time.

White Kloud's waitlist has now gone up a lot now too, basically 2 years. He also increased his prices recently, perhaps for similar reasons.