Five Star Leather vs Johnson Leather for Custom Jackets

El Marro · Nov 24, 2020

dannyk said:
It’s the measurements that I’m iffy on. But the materiel and constructing per its price are 100% what i would expect and want.

In my experience Vanson’s sizing has been remarkably consistent in every jacket style that I have owned so far. I have five size 46 jackets from them and they all fit well. If you are still unsure I would recommend you reach out to Constantine or Nick and ask them their advice. The fact that you already know how one or two other Vanson models fit you should make dialing this one in much easier.

dannyk · Nov 24, 2020

El Marro said:
In my experience Vanson’s sizing has been remarkably consistent in every jacket style that I have owned so far. I have five size 46 jackets from them and they all fit well. If you are still unsure I would recommend you reach out to Constantine or Nick and ask them their advice. The fact that you already know how one or two other Vanson models fit you should make dialing this one in much easier.

I’ve been in contact. It’s a Collab of theirs. They have set sizing. And a return policy. I’m pretty sure I’m going to buy it, hopefully love it. If it’s off ive already spoken to Constantine and they will recreate it, to my specs for only a little bit more actually than it sells for. They said only issue, is it may take a long time due to the fire that burned down their tannery a year or two ago, finally found a new one that met their specs and they closed due to Covid. Like forever closed sadly. So they are in the process of seeing what leathers are left in stock and what to do next.

TheDonEffect · Nov 25, 2020

dannyk said:
that’s my experience as well. With increased price, come increased expectations. Then you’ll see others great stories and great fits around here. When you combine the two sometimes the simplest flaws can really grind my gears. Or god forbid big flaws or bad customer service at the high end prices and it really leaves a bad taste in your mouth. There’s always an element of paying 330 like you have at 5 star which then allows for more mistakes or imperfections and still to be satisfied. Then if the experience and product exceed your expectations you feel amazing. At 1,300+ even if the jacket and service are perfect you’re not really satisfied or super excited because at that price you are expecting exactly that. You’re paying a lot and should receive a lot. I haven’t found my Goldilocks price range where everything meets exactly just right, but I know it’s not super cheap and it ain’t super expensive. Which of course those terms are also relative based on someone’s budget.

100%. At the end of the day, you're getting a jacket, and depending on your perspective, how that jacket lines up with your expectations will be a personal situation. I went down a denim rabbit hole and came out of it now refusing to spend more than 50 bucks on a pair, I now find it asinine spending 100, 200, 500 on a pair of jeans. My experiences, my perspective, all that determined where I ended up.

I'm frugal by nature, so I need to account for every dollar I spend, which I am willing to do if I can justify it, so I do my best to try and buy things that I cannot get at a lower rate. Actual local tailor fitting, specific materials, etc, are not offered by alot of makers, and not offered by 5*, or Independence Brothers, or Film Jackets, etc. What JL offers I can safely say rivals those of Aero, Vanson, etc, and those companies are also not beyond reproach. In the end I spent a ton more and probably could've spent a ton less if I kept buying and trying. For me and my personal situation, for things like this, I need a tailor fit not because I'm necessarily looking for perfection, but because I don't resemble any manikin, I need a tailor fit for clothes that don't stretch (suit, leather jacket, dress shirts, etc) for it to even have a chance to look respectable on me, and I want certain materials, and when I'm spending this sort of dough I appreciate a more personal experience, so it was a no brainer for me. My best fitting suits are tailored, but I also have a suit that I bought off the rack at an outlet that fits me the best with zero alterations that I paid 1/3 of the price for. It happens, it's rare, but I will not compare the two.

But if we're being candid and fair, I don't think anyone has reported receiving a jacket from JL that still had the cardboard template still in the seams, or noticeably mismatched panels, or poorly folded over seams, or overlapping stitching from where they stopped and restarted, etc, not to mention no name brand hides or leather really that's distinguishable from mall jackets. All of which I still say 5* is still a great buy.

As mentioned, 5* and JL is not an apples to apple comparison, but an understandable one because at the end of the day they both make jackets, but imo I don't think it's a fair comparison.

ton312 · Nov 25, 2020

TheDonEffect said:
100%. At the end of the day, you're getting a jacket, and depending on your perspective, how that jacket lines up with your expectations will be a personal situation. I went down a denim rabbit hole and came out of it now refusing to spend more than 50 bucks on a pair, I now find it asinine spending 100, 200, 500 on a pair of jeans. My experiences, my perspective, all that determined where I ended up.

I'm frugal by nature, so I need to account for every dollar I spend, which I am willing to do if I can justify it, so I do my best to try and buy things that I cannot get at a lower rate. Actual local tailor fitting, specific materials, etc, are not offered by alot of makers, and not offered by 5*, or Independence Brothers, or Film Jackets, etc. What JL offers I can safely say rivals those of Aero, Vanson, etc, and those companies are also not beyond reproach. In the end I spent a ton more and probably could've spent a ton less if I kept buying and trying. For me and my personal situation, for things like this, I need a tailor fit not because I'm necessarily looking for perfection, but because I don't resemble any manikin, I need a tailor fit for clothes that don't stretch (suit, leather jacket, dress shirts, etc) for it to even have a chance to look respectable on me, and I want certain materials, and when I'm spending this sort of dough I appreciate a more personal experience, so it was a no brainer for me. My best fitting suits are tailored, but I also have a suit that I bought off the rack at an outlet that fits me the best with zero alterations that I paid 1/3 of the price for. It happens, it's rare, but I will not compare the two.

But if we're being candid and fair, I don't think anyone has reported receiving a jacket from JL that still had the cardboard template still in the seams, or noticeably mismatched panels, or poorly folded over seams, or overlapping stitching from where they stopped and restarted, etc, not to mention no name brand hides or leather really that's distinguishable from mall jackets. All of which I still say 5* is still a great buy.

As mentioned, 5* and JL is not an apples to apple comparison, but an understandable one because at the end of the day they both make jackets, but imo I don't think it's a fair comparison.

Can we please get a look at your JL now?

TheDonEffect · Nov 25, 2020

ton312 said:
Can we please get a look at your JL now?

Oh sorry, posted it in another thread. 3oz naked cow semi custom order. It's currently getting some alterations done and I decided to change out the liner with one I decided not to use on my new one.

handymike · Nov 25, 2020

I really want to try 5 Star, but I am a bit let down by the hide choices. Then Carrie goes and posts this Thedi buffalo in her thread:

What am I to do?

A Five Star will never look like this...even after a handymike treatment.

ton312 · Nov 25, 2020

handymike said:
A Five Star will never look like this...

In my opinion that’s a good thing. To my eye that’s getting awfully close to those cidu hides.

Hh121 · Nov 25, 2020

too much make-up.....

Jin431 · Nov 25, 2020

^^ buffalo is similar to cowhide leather right? Hope 5* experiments more with their dyeing process, hope we get a veg tanned cow/buffalo from them too

MrProper · Nov 25, 2020

I asked Shawn again about the not distressed buffalo. Unfortunately, this is already distressed during the tanning process and so there is currently nothing else.
I asked Shawn to let us know if he had a different variant. would come across well here.

ton312 · Nov 25, 2020

TheDonEffect said:
But if we're being candid and fair, I don't think anyone has reported receiving a jacket from JL that still had the cardboard template still in the seams, or noticeably mismatched panels, or poorly folded over seams, or overlapping stitching from where they stopped and restarted, etc, not to mention no name brand hides or leather really that's distinguishable from mall jackets.

I wouldn’t paint with that broad stroke brush. None of my 5 star jackets have any of the flaws you’ve outlined as faults here. Perhaps I’m lucky or just very detailed in my specs. If you’ve read a bit you might remember a certain LW speed demon that arrived with start/stop stitching, is that commonplace w/ LW? And please don’t take this the wrong way but poorly folded seams? Looking at the lapel shot you posted above...I see some incongruence.
Mistakes are not indicative of the makers ability or construction level. Shit happens, and when it does it should be rectified. 5 Star hides I’ll concede aren’t terribly interesting and this is where JL gets a huge boost, but to say they are mall jacket equivalent is bogus. I typically equate mall jackets with silky smooth lamb skin or pebble laden, corrected grain cow hide. I think 5 Stars goat/ Buffalo is better than that, the cowhide is meh and I have no experience with the horse. Point being you can’t take a broad swipe at any maker based on single jacket or a few duds. They all do it.

handymike · Nov 25, 2020

I took some dye to the Five star buffalo sample. The new formula of Bison brown is a good match. Perhaps we could “reverse engineer” the non-distressed version- as long as there are no abrasions.

Bahabp100 · Nov 25, 2020

ton312 said:
My custom goats are $330 shipped from 5 Star. Paid $1.3k for my JL 4 years ago. Nothing that special. Existing pattern, JL garden variety overdye cxl. So that equates to four 5 stars give or take $20.
I did spec riri main zip over the YKK. But beyond that...I dunno. Reading what people have been paying 4-5 years later...Not sure why my jacket cost what it did. Doesn’t matter, it’s long gone now and like I said it was a great jacket. But... huh?
The jacket I ordered:
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/johnson-leathers-custom-1930-levi-reproduction.81631/

The jacket I received:
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/johnson-leathers-levi-repro-w-mods-galore.91798/

I linked Jon’s thread as reference for my build.

I paid $175 for a made to measure stock trucker shipped
About $350 for a full custom Franken-Jacket shipped fast
Both goat stock v premium
I’m 3x in his stock sizing I know smaller sizes are cheaper

Hh121 · Nov 25, 2020

Marc mndt · Nov 25, 2020

Hh121 said:
@TheDonEffect
View attachment 283510 View attachment 283511 View attachment 283512 View attachment 283513

Which jacket are we looking at here, who's the maker?

handymike · Nov 25, 2020

I believe that is @ton312’s old JL.

Marc mndt · Nov 25, 2020

handymike said:
I believe that is @ton312’s old JL.

@ton312 the one you paid double money for?

ton312 · Nov 25, 2020

handymike said:
I believe that is @ton312’s old JL.

Marc mndt said:
@ton312 the one you paid double money for?

Yes that is my former jacket but I don’t believe I paid double. It was however a fair bit more than what other posters had claimed to pay at the time. I’m not mad about it in the least, nor do I even remotely care anymore. My only point in this entire thread is ultimately that 5 Star, while being less capable in terms of materials is as good as most anyone else in terms of construction. I suppose my reviews should include more shots besides just fit pics so people can see how they are actually put together. By no means are they perfect but I believe they are quite good.

TheDonEffect · Nov 25, 2020

ton312 said:
I wouldn’t paint with that broad stroke brush. None of my 5 star jackets have any of the flaws you’ve outlined as faults here. Perhaps I’m lucky or just very detailed in my specs. If you’ve read a bit you might remember a certain LW speed demon that arrived with start/stop stitching, is that commonplace w/ LW? And please don’t take this the wrong way but poorly folded seams? Looking at the lapel shot you posted above...I see some incongruence.
Mistakes are not indicative of the makers ability or construction level. Shit happens, and when it does it should be rectified. 5 Star hides I’ll concede aren’t terribly interesting and this is where JL gets a huge boost, but to say they are mall jacket equivalent is bogus. I typically equate mall jackets with silky smooth lamb skin or pebble laden, corrected grain cow hide. I think 5 Stars goat/ Buffalo is better than that, the cowhide is meh and I have no experience with the horse. Point being you can’t take a broad swipe at any maker based on single jacket or a few duds. They all do it.

I think you took my post out of context, because as critical as that portion of my statement is of 5*, I'm largely complimentary of 5*.

Because I agree with all your points, but the context of what I was saying is not that 5* is akin to mall jackets, but that they really compete and are therefore superior to mall jackets largely due to price. They offer a similar experience to the established brands here but at a mall jacket price, so like I said it's a no brainer what anyone should buy.

But no one is comparing them to Aero, SB, Vanson, etc etc, which JLs do draw comparisons to. As mentioned, it's an apples to oranges comparison, one offers in person consultations, actual fitting with a fit jacket, an exhaustive list of materials (to which you can also bring your own), and they will go out of their way to make sure you're satisfied with the fit. If these things are of no value to a prospective buyer, than the price will seem absolutely asinine. If they are of value, then it's a justifiable expense.

Of course, everyone's experience may vary, and the system is definitely not perfect as you mentioned, and I agree with all your points regarding errors. I often said a mark of a good vendor isn't flawless delivery, it's how they take responsibility for inevitable errors.

TheDonEffect · Nov 25, 2020

Hh121 said:
View attachment 283510 View attachment 283511 View attachment 283512 View attachment 283513

If I paid above market and got that, I'd send that back. I'm really not that picky, but that I'd be upset about.

Five Star Leather vs Johnson Leather for Custom Jackets

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