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Comparing: Thedi shawl collar and Bill Kelso Aeronaut Cuoio

Guppy

I'll Lock Up
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4,285
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Cleveland, OH
The color on these two is very, very close. The apparent difference in these photos is an artifact of the camera, not as obvious to the naked eye. They are very slightly different from each other, even in person, but not nearly as much as the photos make it seem.

In person, it's the Thedi that actually appears darker and more vibrant, while the BK looks a bit more muted. The camera almost reverses it.

The leather in the Thedi is stiffer, with a harder, smoother hand, and glossier/shinier to the eye. The Badalassi BK is more matte, but picks up a shine where it rubs on things. The color is 100% natural, having darkened from oxidation and UV light to this lovely burnt orange shade. I don't know what process Thedi uses to get their leather to look the way it does, but it looks about equally amazing, perhaps not quite as natural looking in person, but you have to put it next to truly natural aged leather to tell that there's a difference. The grain on the BK is not as pronounced as on the Thedi jacket.

In terms of cut and pattern, both jackets are nearly twins. The collar on the Thedi is a bit bigger, and it has patch pockets rather than handwarmer slash pockets. The inside is a different story. Thedi used a dark green gabardine cotton lining, with an inside pocket on the wearer's left, while Kelso used a blue wool plaid, and an inside pocket on wearer's right. Both have side adjusters at the waist, which I find don't require any adjustment whatsoever, and the button cuffs are basically identical to one another.

The stitching on the BK is just about perfect. There's a few places on the Thedi that aren't quite perfect, but both are very high quality overall. Tan on the BK, starting to contrast nicely with the darkening Badalassi, and a light olive on the Thedi. Dark buttons on the BK, light buttons on the Thedi.

They measure and fit the same, so it's a very hard decision as to which to keep. Maybe both? But then how would I decide which to wear?

These are great jackets for cool fall weather, when the temps are between the upper 40s and low to mid 60's.

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mygar

A-List Customer
Messages
384
Interesting review... thx for posting. I have a thedi shawl in unwashed cuoio... buffalo... but with a two way zip on order. Went with the zip as i am going for a pretty form fitting jacket... and zip would be more functional for me.
 

Lebowski

This guy has numerous complaints from sellers.
Messages
1,137
Thedi looks more interesting.
BK needs to have olive lining instead of that dark blue one and light-brown buttons instead of dark (black?) ones - to be on par with Thedi.
Color of Thedi's leather looks much deeper and way too much more juicy and vibrant (yes, vibrant is definitely correct word for that!)
All-in-all Thedi looks more "natural" and more "tasty" than BK.
BK reminds Levi's Goatskin Cossack (not Einstein's one which was made of Capeskin but their regular one made of Goatskin) in terms of muted colour and smooth grain.
Anyway, if any of them goes on sale - I'll take it. Seriously. My size)
 
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Guppy

I'll Lock Up
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Cleveland, OH
Keep both and maybe try to darken one.
Of the two, I believe that the Kelso will darken more, but gradually and on its own. No need to try to hasten this process artificially, which would be completely contrary to what went into making this jacket in the first place.
 

Bobby Peru

One of the Regulars
Messages
135
Thank you for posting this side-by-side comparison. I’m more partial to how the collar on the Thedi has ’shawled.'
 
Messages
15,563
Location
East Central Indiana
Yeah, I'd choose the Thedi 'if it only had the handwarmer pockets'. I prefer the lining, button color, shape of collar and little details as inside pocket and underarm leather trim. BTW..looks to me like the Thedi's inside pocket is actually on the left side while the BK is on the right. Right?
HD
 

Guppy

I'll Lock Up
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4,285
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Cleveland, OH
Yeah, I'd choose the Thedi 'if it only had the handwarmer pockets'. I prefer the lining, button color, shape of collar and little details as inside pocket and underarm leather trim. BTW..looks to me like the Thedi's inside pocket is actually on the left side while the BK is on the right. Right?
HD
Yes, I got the pocket sides backwards. Thanks for catching that.
 

Lebowski

This guy has numerous complaints from sellers.
Messages
1,137
Of the two, I believe that the Kelso will darken more, but gradually and on its own. No need to try to hasten this process artificially, which would be completely contrary to what went into making this jacket in the first place.
Artificially? Looks like it is already done via HWT by any of its previous owner(s), look at this BK's surface with more attention. It looks quite different from typical surface of naked Badalassi (even when Badalassi has been naturally aged from its casual wearing for a long time - the surface of Badalassi usually looks a bit different).
HWT's influence is obvious in this case over here - which is not bad BTW.
I like both jackets, but if you need to choose only one of them - I'd vote for Thedi.
Both are nice, but Thedi is a tiny bit better.
 
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TheMarriedHermit

One of the Regulars
Messages
118
Location
North Carolina
"...They measure and fit the same, so it's a very hard decision as to which to keep. Maybe both? But then how would I decide which to wear?..."
"Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool..."

Sent from my LG-SP320 using Tapatalk
 

Guppy

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,285
Location
Cleveland, OH
Artificially? Looks like it is already done via HWT by any of its previous owner(s), look at this BK's surface with more attention. It looks quite different from typical surface of naked Badalassi (even when Badalassi has been naturally aged from its casual wearing for a long time - the surface of Badalassi usually looks a bit different).
HWT's influence is obvious in this case over here - which is not bad BTW.
I like both jackets, but if you need to choose only one of them - I'd vote for Thedi.
Both are nice, but Thedi is a tiny bit better.
That's interesting. Whatever the previous owner may have done isn't known to me, and I have no prior experience with Badalassi. Can you provide some supporting photos showing the differences you're talking about?
 

Lebowski

This guy has numerous complaints from sellers.
Messages
1,137
That's interesting. Whatever the previous owner may have done isn't known to me, and I have no prior experience with Badalassi. Can you provide some supporting photos showing the differences you're talking about?
Yes, sure. I'll try)
Here you go (it's ex-@bretron's jacket below):
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...io-natural-badalassi-aeronaut-a1-sz-42.90247/
The surface looks much more smooth and plain (yes, a little bit more shiny, but it was new then).
(It actually looks like the same pattern/jacket but half-size bigger considering its measurements).
I'll try to find more pictures of aged Badalassi ('cause @bretron's jacket above was brend new).
 
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