What Jacket Are You Wearing Today?

[J Leather Investigater]

Today was wearing this semi wet jacket, i love how water stain, and metal oxidation bleed from brass hardwares shown on natural hide.
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Leather on that jacket looks awesome

 

[J Leather Investigater]

Brown CXL is incredible and it’s certainly obtainable. Probably the best brown I ever had came in the form of HD’s former bootlegger.
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Beautiful, I would have kept that 1

 

[J Leather Investigater]

Matchless cafe racer View attachment 357803 View attachment 357804

Where is that matchless cal leather jacket you got??

 

[Salmosalar]

I have exactly the same jacket. What a work of art. Weighs a tonne lol

Yep - it is my heaviest by a country mile! Much more than any CXL FQHH I have - but it is also very soft and not at all stiff…

 

[sweetfights]

Fine Creek. Amazing leather, breaks in so very well. Arrived new and stiff. Now it has settled down and has begun molding to my body.

 

[J Leather Investigater]

Fine Creek. Amazing leather, breaks in so very well. Arrived new and stiff. Now it has settled down and has begun molding to my body.

Nice, it turned into a keeper

 

[technovox]

Just picked up this new Johnson Leather Horsehide jacket yesterday. Taking it out for a beach ride. (Daughter took this photo.)

 

[technovox]

And a few more close ups of the JL German Horsehide ...lots of character with this hide right out of the box.

 

[Leigh H]

And a few more close ups of the JL German Horsehide ...lots of character with this hide right out of the box.

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What a great jacket!
Love the patina too.

 

[JCSD]

Johnson Leathers J24 inspired Cross Zip- Horween Vermont Horsehide

 

[Jin431]

And a few more close ups of the JL German Horsehide ...lots of character with this hide right out of the box.

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That new hide (the suede-y touch?) looks nice and seems perfect for this type of jacket. The leather looks like an aniline finish and the varied grains looks great. I'm glad you can wear your leather jacket and doing an actual activity too, its baking on my part of the Bay lol

Johnson Leathers J24 inspired Cross Zip- Horween Vermont Horsehide

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Gotta love that Seal Vermont and the natural accents with the brass go together well! Hope you had a great weekend

 

[navetsea]

wow JL is owning this page!, top leather, fit, and style on all jackets above

 

[technovox]

That new hide (the suede-y touch?) looks nice and seems perfect for this type of jacket. The leather looks like an aniline finish and the varied grains looks great. I'm glad you can wear your leather jacket and doing an actual activity too, its baking on my part of the Bay lol

You're right -this new brand of hide has kind of a fine velvety outerlayer that suggests suede. Very soft. Never seen this in a horsehide...and that's what sold me on it.

 

[Salmosalar]

Belstaff half-belt - a bit of a “fashion jacket” but has put in a decade of service and is a more lightweight option - I would not buy this brand again new as there are much better options out there for a lot less money. The leather itself is OK for a lightweight hide with a good drape and it has taken on some interesting patina over the years but the overall quality and craftsmansip for the price is not even close to what Vanson, Aero or Lewis

offer for a fraction of the cost - note the wonky stitching on the halfbelt for instance - but it is still just about clinging

on in the rotation as a beater…

 

[ABCD]

Belstaff half-belt - a bit of a “fashion jacket” but has put in a decade of service and is a more lightweight option - I would not buy this brand again new as there are much better options out there for a lot less money. The leather itself is OK for a lightweight hide with a good drape and it has taken on some interesting patina over the years but the overall quality and craftsmansip for the price is not even close to what Vanson, Aero or Lewis View attachment 357982 View attachment 357983 View attachment 357984 offer for a fraction of the cost - note the wonky stitching on the halfbelt for instance - but it is still just about clinging View attachment 357982 View attachment 357983 View attachment 357984 on in the rotation as a beater…

I do like the design. I guess it's styled after this Windward Admiral Byrd.

 

[Salmosalar]

I do like the design. I guess it's styled after this Windward Admiral Byrd.

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Yep - looks like a straight-up copy - it had the wrist straps too but I removed them as I hate having straps there (none on my Aero Wayfarers either) as they serve no great purpose for me and just get snagged on things endlessly - I guess the back is also similar to this Windward? The shoulder gussets are not something I really like either on jackets in general tbh but they are not too bad on this thinner leather given the slim fit overall - it has its place in the rotation but mostly squeezed out by better quality jackets from other makers these days. I think Belstaff had their heyday back in the 70s, and the cafe racer I have from that period is v close to the equivalent Lewis Monza. I trialled a few more recent models and moved them all on - this halfbelt and the 70s racer are the only ones I thought worth keeping….what do other Loungers feel about this brand and how it has changed over the years? I think it is more in the fashion ‘expensive mall jacket” territory these days, with not v interesting hides or patterns and the fits are pretty poor I find, with ridiculously long sleeves in particular - they even made their recent attempt at a Grizzly look mundane and run-of-the-mill, which takes some doing with such an otherwise striking design - one that Thedii and Himel have really perfected imo…. Any thoughts on Belstaff leathers from the FL? They were once an iconic brand but they very rarely appear on these pages…

 

[Salmosalar]

I do like the design. I guess it's styled after this Windward Admiral Byrd.

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The flap pockets and collars on those original Windwards are also much nicer than on my Belstaff copy, which plays it a bit too safe imo….

 

[ABCD]

I guess the back is also similar to this Windward?

The original also had shoulder pleats

 

[Salmosalar]

The original also had shoulder pleats

Thanks Marc! This is clearly the model they copied - the original is a much nicer looking jacket on balance…the extra attention to detail elevates it over the Belstaff.

 

[Monitor]

Belstaff half-belt - a bit of a “fashion jacket” but has put in a decade of service and is a more lightweight option - I would not buy this brand again new as there are much better options out there for a lot less money. The leather itself is OK for a lightweight hide with a good drape and it has taken on some interesting patina over the years but the overall quality and craftsmansip for the price is not even close to what Vanson, Aero or Lewis View attachment 357982 View attachment 357983 View attachment 357984 offer for a fraction of the cost - note the wonky stitching on the halfbelt for instance - but it is still just about clinging View attachment 357982 View attachment 357983 View attachment 357984 on in the rotation as a beater…

I think it's an excellent looking jacket and having owned & wore a few Belstaff jackets, other than the lighter leather, I wouldn't place them behind any of the makers you've listed. Strictly visually speaking, leather on a good Belstaff jacket is on a level that our favorite makers have yet to reach.
Their 80's to 90's motorcycle stuff is very impressive, too.

As for it being a fashion jacket. . . Since this is something dictated by the purpose of the jacket, I think all of our jackets here could be classified as fashion pieces.