How many new jackets do you have coming (and how many potential ones)?

Marc mndt said:

Mine has it too and it really bugged me when I first got the jacket. It really is hour glass shaped, whereas most of my jackets are V-shaped.

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After owning the jacket for a year, I actually have come to appreciated it and it doesn't bug me anymore. It goes well with the overall style of the jacket. But if I had the choice, I would prefer an inch less bottom hem width.

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Man, I love this jacket. The hide is perfect!

Tom71 said:

I have to agree. Plus, I do find jackets with an hourglass shape/flare at the bottom hem rather elegant. The tricky bit is to size it just right, as this means the jacket will inevitably run a bit tight at the stomach area (or you are bound to end up with too much of a flare). No good propects if your planning to grow a beer muscle...

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Convert from static beer exercising to movement driven beer exercising
(Run starts at 2:00 into the video)

Monitor said:

It looks great! Almost like it's got linen.

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About ten years ago I had two jackets I bought from Uniqlo in their Summer sale for buttons. Type 3 jackets, standard denim trucker stuff, but they were a linen/cotton mix. Never quite fully took to the natural coloured one, but the powder blue one was a joy. I think they got cleared out when they 'shrunk in the wardrobe' and I had a blitz on my hoarding problem a couple of years ago, but I'd lovesomething similar again.

Marc mndt said:

My latest addition is this Japanese made RRL hickory striped unlined halfbelt. It's an unusual halfbelt design since it has no side panels. One could say it's a combination of a chore jacket and a half belt. Judging by the label it's from 2000 or earlier. I love it. This will be a great summer jacket.
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This is gorgeous. I'd love to see SJC do their casual halfbelt design in this sort of cotton.

Carlos840 said:

I leave mine open just enough so that i can put the jacket on and off without having to touch them, it's never really been a problem.
I also do that so that the leather puller doesn't touch my hand:

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TBH, it's such a 'rock and roll cool' look that I'm surprised nobody has yet designed a zipped that stops at that point by default. Similar to how you can buy waist coats where the cut by design had a bottom button and button hole that never meet.

JustinW said:

Speaking of kids, part of me really wants to get my 10 and 7 year olds badass leather jackets, but I know they would outgrow them before ever appreciating how damn cool they look!

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Went through that with my nephew. He did, courtesy of me, have a faux-shearling flying jacket when he was two, though he won't remember it now. Alas, he's not yet shown any interest in either music (he liked Gangnam Style...) or leather jackets. Takes after his dad, who mainly sees clothes as something to wear so he has pockets to put stuff in.... He's fast headed towards fifteen too, which is the perfect age to be actually able to fit into those great, vintage leathers that aren't a big brand and so can be had for cheap...

ton312 said:

That's a very good question. Many were second hand (some slight, some more severe fit issues). The three I had custom made I sold because:

LOL...In all honesty my tastes for crosszips started to dry up. But I've found myself thirsty again. I'd really like to try another one of Aero's leather offerings too. I've been through plenty of CXL.

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Vicenza would be nice in a Bootlegger - or, for a touch of difference, a Moonshiner in goat with contrast stitching....

El Marro said:

So the front zipper is kind of wavy and there are a couple bulges in the leather along the front which make it look a bit sloppy to me. One of these is right in the stomach area which gives the illusion of a potbelly which I particularly dislike.
View attachment 312823 I think this occurred as part of the washing process used by Thedi to add character to the leather. I also think that it will diminish and perhaps even disappear with some good honest hard wear.
It also seemed a little long to me when I received it, it is exactly the length I specified but I thought I had messed up. Looking at it now I think it is just fine length wise.

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Looks great;a Howard hughes vibe to my eye. I like it a lot.

willyto said:

I still don't understand why delivery companies leave packages unatended at people's home

What the actual hell is wrong with them? You aren't home, they leave a not and they bring it back to their office and you go pick it up from the office.

It's not so difficult!

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They're much superior here in London - instead of leaving it on the doorstep, they come to the front door of the block of flats; if I'm in they don't ring the bell (but claim they did, and then when they care called out on it you get a passive-aggressive message by return that is simply a photo of the block's front door). Otherwise, if I'm at work, they realise I'm not in, and then in both cases they don't bother to leave any notice and return to sender. If I manage to intercept before that happens and ask to have the address changed they often refuse (Hello, Amazon), so I have to wait til it goes back, I get a refund, and then order again to a different address.

jonesy86 said:

My custom Five Star jacket arrived today, DHL Express 8 days from Pakistan. It is a dark seal brown goatskin, about 2.5 ounces or one mm in thickness, and the whole jacket weighs around 3.4 pounds. The leather is chrome tanned, has a nice light weight hand, drapes nicely, and has a pleasant new leather scent. The jacket has cognac colored light weight cotton lining, and pocket pouches, #5 Talon zippers, and Shawn threw in an inside pocket and horn buttons at no extra charge.

This is what I ordered:
Leather : Seal Brown lightweight Goatskin
Lining : Cognac Cotton lining
Zippers : Talon
Thread : You haven't for it. You can select from the available options. Otherwise matches to leather can be used.
Your Garment will have the below mentioned measurements
Chest 25 inches
Shoulder 20 inches
Sleeves 27 inches It would be much better if you can provide the sleeve length according to our measuring method too.
Back length 26 inches
Bottom Hem 23 inches

Five Star measures the sleeves in a straight line from the shoulder (not around the curve), so I asked for 26 1/2 inches which came in right at 27 inches. The pit to pit came in at 24 inches not 25 inches, the shoulders are 19 inches not 20, and the length and hem were spot on. The stitching is quite straight, no wobbly stitches or errant stitch holes, and the button holes are well done.

I am impressed with the quality product and excellent customer service that Five Star offers. I am quite pleased with the fit of the jacket, and amazed that I could send Shawn pictures of a jacket, and he could create a new pattern and make the jacket catching a lot of detail, even the subtle FW curve of the zipper.

Maybe I’ll try out Five Star’s capeskin next.

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Hi. I'm wondering how this jacket has held up and if you still like it. I believe I saw your pics of a second one of these 5* jackets, in a lighter color. Any caveats I should be aware of, if I order one from 5*? I've ordered two previous jackets from them and understand the process. I'd be looking at either the Buffalo or Goat hides. Thanks

My flat head cafe racer arrived at buyee yesterday and should ship out to me soon. Very excited for this one

I’m back in the Model E game. After selling a couple I realized that I consider it and the A as quintessential Vanson. So another one is on the way.

The Sportclad I bought over two weeks ago hasn’t arrived. No update since Monday. I hope it is simply a delay and not lost in some USPS black hole. This is some BS.

Carlos840 said:

IMO there isn't enough tapering at the waist.
The bottom hem is too wide and looks a bit messy.
It's somethign i see on a lot of Thedi jackets, both on his website and on TFL fitpics, IMO there is usually a bit of bottom hem overhang going on.

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yep, this. I really like mine but there's something "off" in the mid section to bottom. It's strange though because mathematically the jacket should be super tight on me, but it's not. I like my Thedi unzipped better than zipped, but still giving it time to work the leather some. We'll see how it comes along. I agree with Marc though, it's nice to have some different looks so every jacket doesn't appear to be the same.

JMax said:

I’m back in the Model E game. After selling a couple I realized that I consider it and the A as quintessential Vanson. So another one is on the way.

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Thats the funny thing with Vansons. Because it's not some crazy high end $$$ custom jacket, we take it for granted, grow tired of it, sell to fund another flavor of the month purchase, and then slowly start missing it again. At least IMO. Part of this is probably a result of the solid supply of used jackets across the size range. It might take a while but you can usually find the lady / jacket you missed. At least that was the case with my Chopper love/hate relationship.... 5th time was the charm for me (including two customs!)

Incoming! Thanks, @high-maintenance!

I’m very nervous about the fit. I’ve seen so many ill-fitting Columbias online.

@Carlos840, I might need a video showing how you tie the side laces on your Columbia. I’ve never had a jacket with laces before.

Dave

Just been informed that this custom black beauty is finally ready and on the way to me next week.... 42 Vanson Colorado with some minor tweaks

JMax said:

I’m back in the Model E game. After selling a couple I realized that I consider it and the A as quintessential Vanson. So another one is on the way.

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Need pics as soon as you get it !!

jpk_NJ said:

Just been informed that this custom black beauty is finally ready and on the way to me next week.... 42 Vanson Colorado with some minor tweaks

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Black beauty is right. Looks awesome.

jpk_NJ said:

Just been informed that this custom black beauty is finally ready and on the way to me next week.... 42 Vanson Colorado with some minor tweaks

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Not my personal style but that jacket is undeniably cool looking

Welp; I just accidentally bought a Thurlow deerskin. Doesn’t look that old...70s? I guess I’ll find out should be here by March 6th. How does one accidentally buy a jacket? eBay seller offered 40 dollars off original listing. So I countered with 20 more dollars off that...assuming they would say no. That’s a lot off the original asking. Nope. They accepted instantly. Like literally I countered, closed the app on my phone, went to turn my screen off and got a notification that they accepted. So I guess I’ll be taking some photos and doing a review for you all.

dannyk said:

I just accidentally bought a Thurlow deerskin

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I don't know the jacket you bought, they are quite nice. You may have gotten a deal.

I've been on a complete search and destroy mission lately. I'm too bored at home all day.

Got 2 GAP 1990's leather truckers coming. One actually arrived yesterday, I'll post some pics tomorrow. Needed to do a major wash and dry to shrink it down, but the color is worth it. And then I hedged the size and bought a smaller one in a different color. Hoping it's as nice as the first and less work to make it fit.

But what I'm most excited for is a 70s Schott 618 with Talon zips and seems like a different design as it has no underarm gussets like the newer ones. And then, once again, on buyee.jp, put in a low bid on something and ended up winning. Scored a Schott 641xx for $260. Might need a male side zipper replacement, but not bad all things considered. It's a really nice one with wine color lining, brass talon zips, and the real simple old school racer design (2 chest pockets, no hand warmers, etc.).

tmitchell59 said:

I don't know the jacket you bought, they are quite nice. You may have gotten a deal.

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That was one of my inspirations. I was discussing whether I should make an offer or not with @Monitor and I said “well, Terry has had a couple and seemed to really love them. I trust Terry’s call on these deerskin jackets.” So you 100% we’re playing a role in this.

And I should clarify 60 dollars off asking would not be a lot of money if this jacket was selling for like 800 bucks. But it wasn’t. Original listing was 220. So seller offered down to 180. I ended up all in as including shipping at 160. That’s why I thought they wouldn’t accept at that price. I thought to be fair I was low balling at that price. I really just wanted to see if they were serious and if they could be talked down a little bit. But as I said they insta-accepted my offer haha. So looking forward to getting my hands on it. I’ve owned and handled countless deerskin gloves and boots. Some may remember my uncle makes handmade moccasins and have deerskin models of those as well. But never a jacket. So I’m really excited for my accidental Thurlow to arrive. The measurements are going to be borderline whether they work or not. But I figure worst case scenario I can list it here or eBay for 150 and not feel bad about it.

My latest find today. Made in Australia by "Mars leathers" of Melbourne.
I don't yet know the leather , but it could be Kangaroo as the jacket is old enough. I am hoping so.
Size 44" , bought from the original owner. Press stud , not zippered sleeves , but 2 outside zippered pockets ?
It is so my style , black straight zippered collared jacket. One inside pocket , internal windflap
Do I "need" it ? Rhetorical question that , but I have been looking for this very Mars of Melbourne jacket for years and it came up tonight.
AND the price was just so right...

A couple of years back I found this jacket in both brown and black , from the same seller on Australian Gumtree classifieds ( LIKE Craigslist) but when they arrived they drowned me. A more "stocky" member of my riding crew got both of them from me for 'winter wear".

It has elements of my Eastman Luftwaffe variants , and of my Schott 441PP and others in my collection. If it fits as well as them I'll be "ecstatic" indeed !

More photos of the mars leathers of Melbourne jacket. Seller's photos obviously. The original owner from new.
I have become very used to outside zippered chest pockets , good for the mobile phone and bike keys.
I will adapt to this setup.
I am guessing that this jacket is over 20 years old , and perhaps nearer 30 !

Lining ( VERY similar to my Eastman Luftwaffe indeed !)



Waist adjusters



Sleeve snaps Mars branded



MARS branded main zipper. Quite beefy , looks like a size 12 perhaps ?



Mars style windflap. It will be staying as I am not a "cutter-offer" !