TartuWolf
Practically Family
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Greetings folks!
In the end of Feb2023 I received my first jacket from Five Start / 5* / Shawn.
In this thread I will:
- Give my perspective on the brand / maker.
- Explain the reasoning for ordering this specific jacket.
- Give my thoughts on the ordering process itself.
- Give my initial impressions / review about the jacket.
- Discuss and ask advice about the fit.
Hope you enjoy and please do comment on the fit based on the pictures and my comments.
It's a famous thread, having more pages than most other threads I suppose.
I didn't read through all of it, but I enough to get a general idea about what all the hype is about.
A no-holds-barred fully custom contractor that will make anything you specify. For better or for worse.
Not a jacket maker / specialist / tailor per se, but rather a producer with a massive production team.
As someone has said - you can get 80% quality for 20% of the cost compared to what the proper leather jacket market offers if you play your cards right.
Weaknesses : no hand holding, poor patterns (in most part, especially for the civilian stuff), mediocre materials (especially the leather, lining too I would say).
Strengths : value for money, absolute freedom in customization, fully made-to-measure, copying an existing jacket or from photos.
In order of importance:
1 . Before ordering a "real" jacket I wanted to nail down exact measurements that I need to look for / specify when ordering. Ordering from 5* allowed me to do exactly that for a relatively low price.
2 . Wanted to try a completely new style that seemed extremely appealing to me. Loved the idea of a buttoned half-belt, but most of the ones I've seen from other makers are much longer and boxier than I would like.
3 . Wanted to try thicker / stiffer leather for the first time and see if I would like it as much as I imagine. All of my previous leather jackets have been soft and thin.
Started with trying to choose the leather. Not possible to get samples without paying 50$ for shipping a tiny envelope of samples, which I did not want to do. After various failed attempts to get enough info about the available leathers I decided to just take the premium waxed black goatskin. After Shawn said that it is also semi-veg tanned and quite thick at 1.4mm, I was happy enough to go with that. There was a consensus on TFL as well that it's a good safe bet to go for this leather.
Regarding everything else (measurements, lining, hardware, features ,etc..) I simply used a PDF that was sent to me by @MrProper as an example, made my version of it with a lot of pictures and sent it to Shawn. He looked over, confirmed that everything looks clear and sent me the invoice.
PDFs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u3EIAOkCyFu4sKfH4cWc4YyQNhoav8qqneKdQxUJh6Q
Note that I also sent another PDF with tons of high quality pictures in terms of how the pattern should look like.
Mostly based on several existing patterns from known makers. Combined my favorite parts/features together from several models.
It was 350$ total for a completely custom pattern from photos with shipping included. So ~285$ for the jacket.
Not sure how much it would cost to order another one now that they have the pattern developed from the photos. I would guess ~200-250$ total.
Shawn was flexible enough with the invoicing and value declaration to make various local taxes less of a burden. This was a big positive for me.
Everything related to payments and shipping was clear and smooth.
In total from confirmation/payment to complete jacket it took ~10-15 working days. Shipping took another ~3-5 working days. Very fast production, great for (near) instant gratification.
Leather:
Black wax premium semi veg tan 1.4mm goatskin according to Shawn. Much stiffer and thicker than I would expect for goatskin. Very sturdy. Will take a while for it to drape and mold to my body. Definitely does not seem like the kind of leather that requires no break in. Some cool grain in certain places, mainly the back. I expected to see more of it as I specifically asked for it. Serious top coat / pigment, cannot scratch it at all.
Hardware:
The buttons are quite okay, nothing spectacular. Love the brass buckles on the sides.
Cuffs:
The cuff panel is longer than I would like, would specify a bit shorter next time. Also the area where the lining meets the leather at the cuffs is rather tight to pass through, not sure why or whether it could be done better. Seems like there are 3 layers of leather stacked at that particular point.
Lining:
Everything (inner pockets, outer pockets, body, sleeves) lined with olive cotton drill. Feels nice and sturdy to me, will see how it holds up. Would go for something more slick/slippery in the sleeves if I would order again.
Outer pockets:
Nicely sized hand warmer pockets. The chest pocket depth is ~11cm as opposed to the ~18cm that I specified. A bit of a bummer, but not a big deal. Can forget about holding my phone there though. Keys or wallet fit fine.
Inner pockets:
Very spacious, swallows a modern large smart phone with space left to boot.
Stitching:
Not too bad apart from a few places where it should not have passed QC. Shawn apologized for those.
The pattern:
I'd say they did a really good job with creating the pattern from scratch based on the photos that I gave them. I forgot to specify that there should be no folds/gussets above the half belt, but that's on me.
Overall, to my untrained eye, the quality is pretty terrific, can't complain. Above expectations for this price point.
Will continue with the fit in the next post...
In the end of Feb2023 I received my first jacket from Five Start / 5* / Shawn.
In this thread I will:
- Give my perspective on the brand / maker.
- Explain the reasoning for ordering this specific jacket.
- Give my thoughts on the ordering process itself.
- Give my initial impressions / review about the jacket.
- Discuss and ask advice about the fit.
Hope you enjoy and please do comment on the fit based on the pictures and my comments.
The maker / brand - Five Star / 5* / Mr. Shawn
I've found out about this maker joining TFL and stumbling upon this thread https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/five-star-leather-jackets.101762/It's a famous thread, having more pages than most other threads I suppose.
I didn't read through all of it, but I enough to get a general idea about what all the hype is about.
A no-holds-barred fully custom contractor that will make anything you specify. For better or for worse.
Not a jacket maker / specialist / tailor per se, but rather a producer with a massive production team.
As someone has said - you can get 80% quality for 20% of the cost compared to what the proper leather jacket market offers if you play your cards right.
Weaknesses : no hand holding, poor patterns (in most part, especially for the civilian stuff), mediocre materials (especially the leather, lining too I would say).
Strengths : value for money, absolute freedom in customization, fully made-to-measure, copying an existing jacket or from photos.
Why this jacket
There were several reasons why I decided to "cheap out" and go for this jacket rather than from a reputable maker from US/UK/Japan.In order of importance:
1 . Before ordering a "real" jacket I wanted to nail down exact measurements that I need to look for / specify when ordering. Ordering from 5* allowed me to do exactly that for a relatively low price.
2 . Wanted to try a completely new style that seemed extremely appealing to me. Loved the idea of a buttoned half-belt, but most of the ones I've seen from other makers are much longer and boxier than I would like.
3 . Wanted to try thicker / stiffer leather for the first time and see if I would like it as much as I imagine. All of my previous leather jackets have been soft and thin.
Ordering process
I'd say the communication was on par with the price. Not too good, not too bad. Had to take some shortcuts in some topics because I saw that the discussion would drag on way too long. In general Shawn was reasonably responsive, had best luck talking to him via WhatsApp.Started with trying to choose the leather. Not possible to get samples without paying 50$ for shipping a tiny envelope of samples, which I did not want to do. After various failed attempts to get enough info about the available leathers I decided to just take the premium waxed black goatskin. After Shawn said that it is also semi-veg tanned and quite thick at 1.4mm, I was happy enough to go with that. There was a consensus on TFL as well that it's a good safe bet to go for this leather.
Regarding everything else (measurements, lining, hardware, features ,etc..) I simply used a PDF that was sent to me by @MrProper as an example, made my version of it with a lot of pictures and sent it to Shawn. He looked over, confirmed that everything looks clear and sent me the invoice.
PDFs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u3EIAOkCyFu4sKfH4cWc4YyQNhoav8qqneKdQxUJh6Q
Note that I also sent another PDF with tons of high quality pictures in terms of how the pattern should look like.
Mostly based on several existing patterns from known makers. Combined my favorite parts/features together from several models.
It was 350$ total for a completely custom pattern from photos with shipping included. So ~285$ for the jacket.
Not sure how much it would cost to order another one now that they have the pattern developed from the photos. I would guess ~200-250$ total.
Shawn was flexible enough with the invoicing and value declaration to make various local taxes less of a burden. This was a big positive for me.
Everything related to payments and shipping was clear and smooth.
In total from confirmation/payment to complete jacket it took ~10-15 working days. Shipping took another ~3-5 working days. Very fast production, great for (near) instant gratification.
The jacket - off the body (review/impressions)
Leather:
Black wax premium semi veg tan 1.4mm goatskin according to Shawn. Much stiffer and thicker than I would expect for goatskin. Very sturdy. Will take a while for it to drape and mold to my body. Definitely does not seem like the kind of leather that requires no break in. Some cool grain in certain places, mainly the back. I expected to see more of it as I specifically asked for it. Serious top coat / pigment, cannot scratch it at all.
Hardware:
The buttons are quite okay, nothing spectacular. Love the brass buckles on the sides.
Cuffs:
The cuff panel is longer than I would like, would specify a bit shorter next time. Also the area where the lining meets the leather at the cuffs is rather tight to pass through, not sure why or whether it could be done better. Seems like there are 3 layers of leather stacked at that particular point.
Lining:
Everything (inner pockets, outer pockets, body, sleeves) lined with olive cotton drill. Feels nice and sturdy to me, will see how it holds up. Would go for something more slick/slippery in the sleeves if I would order again.
Outer pockets:
Nicely sized hand warmer pockets. The chest pocket depth is ~11cm as opposed to the ~18cm that I specified. A bit of a bummer, but not a big deal. Can forget about holding my phone there though. Keys or wallet fit fine.
Inner pockets:
Very spacious, swallows a modern large smart phone with space left to boot.
Stitching:
Not too bad apart from a few places where it should not have passed QC. Shawn apologized for those.
The pattern:
I'd say they did a really good job with creating the pattern from scratch based on the photos that I gave them. I forgot to specify that there should be no folds/gussets above the half belt, but that's on me.
Overall, to my untrained eye, the quality is pretty terrific, can't complain. Above expectations for this price point.
Will continue with the fit in the next post...
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