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Five Star Leather Jackets

Tark

New in Town
Messages
28
Location
Canada
Okay, my customized buffalo AN-6552 is here and here are my thoughts, with some photos (sorry no fit pics!)...

- The initial leather smell is reminiscent of cigarettes and tires and I hope it'll fade to something more "leathery".
- The seal buffalo feels nice and grainy; it's as flexible as Aero's goatskin and I didn't feel any difference in wearability stiffness; instead what is stiffer is the drape when the jacket is worn open which I hope will drape better in a few months. The topcoat has a matte look and the topcoat feel is like rubber for better or worse.
- I was initially put off by the subtly larger fit because I was wearing Aero's size 36 M-422A jacket for the past 9 months, which ran small (but very flattering) and is more like a size 34 or 32 with an 18.25 inch pit-to-pit measure. By comparison this jacket is a hybrid size 36/38 and runs truer to size as I gave Shawn exact measurements. This combined with the stiffer drape didn't look all that hot to me, so hopefully my brain will break in the look as well. However, this means that I can zip this up even with Aero's submariner or RAF sweaters and make this jacket wearable in winter.
- The mouton collar is nicer than Aero's IMO. I asked Shawn for mouton that was "extra thick" and got something that looks and feels pretty luxurious with 10mm fleece. The color I asked was "grey brown", but it's dark brown with mid-brown undertones--completely different and nicer than what's shown on the options page. I've attached a photo comparing the grey brown with Aero's dark brown. In comparison Aero's mouton with its bluish shade is more fitting of being called "grey brown".
- The liner has a straight red shade and feels rougher than Aero's satin cotton wine red liner. If I were to get a future Five Star military jacket, I'd definitely get the lining in the wine red polyester which my pocket bags are made of.

Five Star did a great job here, and being able to give Shawn exact measurements avoids the "sizing lottery" if the manufacturer can't measure their sizes, or having to do a routine of getting fit jackets mailed. Just remember to get the really nice and thick leathers Shawn has (1.3mm buffalo and maybe his 1.4mm premium goatskin to my knowledge) and you're good to go.

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Aloysius

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,267
Great and very informative post, @Tark!

It's interesting that you note the greyness of Aero's dark brown mouton, because while I would want something more 'richly' brown on most jackets, it makes it well suited to black jackets because it has an almost midnight-blue (blacker than black) effect.

Out of curiosity, why did you go with drill lining instead of rayon (as typical for naval jackets)?
 

Tark

New in Town
Messages
28
Location
Canada
As for the drill lining, my experience with rayon was in a U.S. Authentic A-2 I ordered a year and a half ago, which felt pretty flimsy and I wasn't convinced at the time of ordering that Five Star's wine satin polyester would be different. Now that I'm proven wrong, I definitely wished I'd gotten Shawn's crew to use polyester instead!
 

Webafile

One of the Regulars
Messages
111
Fitment jacket came in and I will tweek a few things like making biceps and elbow and chest larger and wrists a little smaller
 

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Canuck Panda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,130
Okay, my customized buffalo AN-6552 is here and here are my thoughts, with some photos (sorry no fit pics!)...

- The initial leather smell is reminiscent of cigarettes and I hope it'll fade to something more "leathery".
- The seal buffalo feels nice and grainy, although I wish Shawn had 1.5mm thickness available to emulate Aero's goatskin; it's as flexible as Aero's and I didn't feel any difference in wearability stiffness; instead what is stiffer is the drape when the jacket is worn open which I hope will drape better after being broken in.
- I was initially put off by the subtly larger fit because I was wearing Aero's size 36 M-422A jacket for the past 9 months, which ran small (but very flattering) and is more like a size 34 or 32 with an 18.25 inch pit-to-pit measure. By comparison this jacket is a hybrid size 36/38 and runs truer to size as I gave Shawn exact measurements. This combined with the stiffer drape didn't look all that hot to me, so hopefully my brain will break in the look as well. However, this means that I can zip this up even with Aero's submariner or RAF sweaters and make this jacket wearable in winter.
- The mouton collar is nicer than Aero's IMO. I asked Shawn for mouton that was "extra thick" and got something that looks and feels pretty luxurious with 10mm fleece. The color I asked was "grey brown", but it's dark brown with mid-brown undertones--completely different and nicer than what's shown on the options page. I've attached a photo comparing the grey brown with Aero's dark brown. In comparison Aero's mouton with its bluish shade is more fitting of being called "grey brown".
- The liner has a straight red shade and feels rougher than Aero's satin cotton wine red liner. If I were to get a future Five Star military jacket, I'd definitely get the lining in the wine red polyester which my pocket bags are made of.

Five Star did a great job here, and being able to give Shawn exact measurements avoids the "sizing lottery" if the manufacturer can't measure their sizes, or having to do a routine of getting fit jackets mailed. Just remember to get the really nice and thick leathers Shawn has (1.3mm buffalo and maybe his 1.4mm premium goatskin to my knowledge) and you're good to go.

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That's really nice fur collar!
Can you post some progress photos of the seal buffalo in a few month please? I am wondering how this leather wears? Like does it have a reddish brown core under the seal coat? Or is it greyish brown all the way through? Thanks.

Fitment jacket came in and I will tweek a few things like making biceps and elbow and chest larger and wrists a little smaller
Looking good.
So how does the fit jacket with Shawn work? Do you have to send it back to him? Or just use photos?
 

Webafile

One of the Regulars
Messages
111
The fitment Ja
That's really nice fur collar!
Can you post some progress photos of the seal buffalo in a few month please? I am wondering how this leather wears? Like does it have a reddish brown core under the seal coat? Or is it greyish brown all the way through? Thanks.


Looking good.
So how does the fit jacket with Shawn work? Do you have to send it back to him? Or just use photos?


Use it for photos and measurements that I sent back to him on what needs changing. So instead of getting a leather jacket that you wish was a little. X,y,z you get this. Take photos and send back comments. At least that how I'm doing it.
 

PilotJens

One of the Regulars
Messages
263
Does someone has a good experience with the quilted winter lining? I want to make a black CHL coat but I don't know if one layer of quilting is enough .I will add a additional layer of 500gsm fabric on top of the quilted lining to hide that in my opinion ugly stuff (no offense).
Thanks for any input
 

Aloysius

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,267
Quilted linings in leather and waxed cotton jackets don't do much in the way of insulation (nor, for that matter, does having a "500 gsm fabric" lining, even my 16 oz Fox's flannel suits don't work as a winter layer). Quilted linings mostly help you block wind, and stave off some borderline chill.

If you actually want to stay warm in winter with a leather jacket, you either need to layer another jacket/waistcoat underneath (a lightweight down is a good choice), or the jacket itself needs to be shearling or some other fur. Even quilted lining with wool fabric covering it won't do very much by comparison.
 
Messages
17,105
Location
Chicago
Quilted linings in leather and waxed cotton jackets don't do much in the way of insulation (nor, for that matter, does having a "500 gsm fabric" lining, even my 16 oz Fox's flannel suits don't work as a winter layer). Quilted linings mostly help you block wind, and stave off some borderline chill.

If you actually want to stay warm in winter with a leather jacket, you either need to layer another jacket/waistcoat underneath (a lightweight down is a good choice), or the jacket itself needs to be shearling or some other fur. Even quilted lining with wool fabric covering it won't do very much by comparison.
I've found the opposite to be true. Nearly all my vintage stuff is quilt lined (wool backed), as is my Vanson (poly backed), and it's incredibly (almost) too warm. The stuff Shawn uses is thinner nylon quilt. Warmer than plain old cotton drill but not nearly as warm as any of the other linings I have.
 

Aloysius

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,267
I've found the opposite to be true. Nearly all my vintage stuff is quilt lined (wool backed), as is my Vanson (poly backed), and it's incredibly (almost) too warm. The stuff Shawn uses is thinner nylon quilt. Warmer than plain old cotton drill but not nearly as warm as any of the other linings I have.

My experience has been the opposite (though I’ve had warm quilted jackets) but in this particular case (Five Star’s quilted lining) I don’t think we disagree.
 

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