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Leather Patriot Jacket by Nicks Boots

Guppy

I'll Lock Up
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4,319
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Cleveland, OH
Nicks Boots has been a highly regarded maker of PNW-style boots for something like 60 years.

This weekend they launched their first(?) foray into leather jackets, an all-leather version of their canvas Patriot jacket that they introduced last year. Their early bird price is $995, a discounted from their regular price of $1200. It's a "limited quantity" item, presumably to see whether this is a market that Nicks really wants to get into.

dscf1233-2[1].jpg

The original Patriot jacket was a collaboration between Nicks and Heat Straps USA, and so too is this one. As such, it's 100% made in the USA. The leather is Nicks 1964 Brown, produced by Seidel Leather Tannery.

The design reminds me quite a bit of the Wills jacket by Ship John. Ship John did a few collabs of this jacket in different leathers with Langlitz a few years ago. Both jackets were originally made in heavy canvas, and I tend to think that's the right material for this type of jacket, but that's just my opinion.

CDBBACB4-6EBB-433F-A13C-EEAC54F21DCB.jpeg d9cpe12aicl41.jpg Ship John Langlitz RO.png

My initial thoughts on all this:

* It's always exciting to see a new maker dabbling in leather jackets, particularly one with a pedigree for quality construction like Nicks Boots has. I hope that they are successful in this venture, and that it helps them grow their business, SO LONG AS this doesn't distract them from their core competency of being a top quality boot maker.
* I'm less excited about the styling of this jacket. The materials and quality of manufacturer, I am not worried about.
* Nicks would do well to get better at sizing. In all their pre-release photography that I've seen, the model seems to be wearing a jacket that looks to me at least one size too large, if not two. And the look is not flattering. the collar hangs loosely, the shoulders overdrape, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a batwing effect with the sleeves, the breast pockets look like they're an inch or two too low...
* It seems like they've done a bit of second-thinking on the design specs, I've seen photos of a jacket with both breast pockets having snap flap closures, and at least one where one of the breast pockets was open-top. While experimentation is to be expected, one would hope for consistency in what they publish about the actual item they are bringing to market, to avoid the sort of speculation and disappointment that we recently saw with the re-introduction of Legendary USA's Black Stallion jacket.
* Their SMLXL sizing, likewise, is extremely generous. I normally would be looking at a Large, but according to the measurements given, I would be able to fit a Small in this design. And given that Nicks is known for custom fit, handmade boots, it's a little incongruous to not see custom sizing options in a leather jacket. Presumably that may come later, if Nicks ends up deciding to stay in this product line.
* Nicks mentioned in one of their launch videos that the jacket uses two full sides of leather, which is equivalent to about 7 pairs of boots. Which, based on the cost of their boots, it sounds like the jacket will be far less profitable for them than their core product line. Although, their boots tend to be 7-8oz leather, and they're (quite sensibly) using a 2.5-3oz weight version of one of their better boot leathers for the jacket. When I ordered my first pair of Nicks, the fit pair they sent was made from their 1964 Brown, and I was really impressed with how nice it was.

Obviously for a first-time effort, it's not surprising that there's quite a bit of room for improvement. Time will tell what happens with this, but if Nicks ends up turning into another viable option for high end or even mid-tier leather jackets made in the USA, that would be a happy ending indeed.

I'm not picking one of these up, but it's interesting to see this development, and I'll be looking on with interest to see how it goes for them, rooting for them, and looking forward to what may come next.
 
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TartuWolf

One Too Many
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Tartu, Estonia
Thank you for the report! Big fan of Nicks, dreaming of having a pair of their boots one day. Very curious how their foray into the jacket world will go with this. Will be following. Please post interesting updates here if you can be bothered.
 

Edward

Bartender
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London, UK
Interesting to see this particular style rendered in leather. The older jackets pictured look much better than I'd have imagined from just a description. The new one in the first photo looks 'off' to me. Off in the way that things always do when someone takes a vintage design and adapts it or a modern fit / style. Hard to tell when it's not on a body, but it very much reminds me of stuff I'd have seen on the street in Europe in the late 80s or in American movies from about 1992. That over-sized by design fit that just always looks like the wearer is wearing the jacket a size or two too big (and yet a size down doesn't do up or fit at all). Makes me think of David Byrne. To be fair, it might look at lot different actually on a body rather than a mannequin that doesn't fill it out.
 

Guppy

I'll Lock Up
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4,319
Location
Cleveland, OH
Interesting to see this particular style rendered in leather. The older jackets pictured look much better than I'd have imagined from just a description. The new one in the first photo looks 'off' to me. Off in the way that things always do when someone takes a vintage design and adapts it or a modern fit / style. Hard to tell when it's not on a body, but it very much reminds me of stuff I'd have seen on the street in Europe in the late 80s or in American movies from about 1992. That over-sized by design fit that just always looks like the wearer is wearing the jacket a size or two too big (and yet a size down doesn't do up or fit at all). Makes me think of David Byrne. To be fair, it might look at lot different actually on a body rather than a mannequin that doesn't fill it out.
I didn't post photos of the jacket being worn, but that's exactly the impression that you get when you do see them.
 

TG3

One of the Regulars
Messages
174
Location
Kansas City
I agree with what everyone has said. A great idea but they needed to alter the pattern for leather. The fit is absolutely terrible. The model shots look like a kid playing dress up in grand dad's jacket. A really bad Ship John copy. And in their YouTube video announcing it, they tried to sell it as a working jacket. Who's doing manual labor in a $1200 jacket? Let alone their are much better materials for manual labor (esp. depending on what season you are working in).
 
Messages
16,707
A Ship John copy o_O

Provided there is anything original about the Ship John jacket in the first place to be copied. The so called "Wills" is the most basic jacket in the history of jackets. It's a dumbed down Carhartt which is supposed to be as utilitarian and simple as possible yet the scammers behind Ship John somehow went further than that.
 

Guppy

I'll Lock Up
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4,319
Location
Cleveland, OH
Horrendous. Looks like something out of the ass end of the 1990's. Beastly, bulging affair with sleeves that could hold a thigh. Even the model has a WTF look on his face:
View attachment 539935
That's not even the worst looking fit pic of the jacket that I've seen. (I say fit pic because I would hate to consider what these guys are doing to be "modeling" the jacket.)

I remind myself that this is in its infancy, that what they're doing is baby steps. That they will have to learn to crawl before they can walk.

I also remind myself that Vanson and Langlitz make amazing jackets and then put photos of some of the worst fitting examples of them on their own website... Just because they know how to make a jacket that fits doesn't mean they know how to photograph a model to best represent their brand.
 
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Messages
17,396
Location
Chicago
That's not even the worst looking fit pic of the jacket that I've seen. (I say fit pic because I would hate to consider what these guys are doing to be "modeling" the jacket.)

I remind myself that this is in its infancy, that what they're doing is baby steps. That they will have to learn to crawl before they can walk.

I also remind myself that Vanson and Langlitz make amazing jackets and then put photos of some of the worst fitting examples of them on their own website... Just because they know how to make a jacket that fits doesn't mean they know how to photograph a model to best represent their brand.
True:
IMG_9446.jpeg
 

Canuck Panda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,597
The sizing is the same as my Filson Mackinaws cruiser, but a bit longer. Definitely not slim fit but built for layering.

Also the leather looks a bit thick, definitely not 2.75oz, more like 3.5oz. Maybe skive the front pockets down to save a bit of weight, for production jackets, there isn't much advantage of using the thicker leather for the patch pockets except the use of thicker leather. Filson use thinner mackinaw cloth for the patch pockets too, just the body and sleeve is the thicker mackinaw cloth.

Very PNW vibes. I wonder who were the intended target audience.
 

Guppy

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,319
Location
Cleveland, OH
The vibe I get from these and Vanson's model photos are: "Hey we don't need to pay a model. I'm good looking. I don't need to hire a photographer. I have a camera. I don't need to make a custom fit jacket for the model, this one on the shelf is about my size, it'll show how it looks. And the customer will appreciate the cost savings since I'm not paying for all these expensive models, photographers, and tailor-fit jackets."
 
Messages
17,396
Location
Chicago
The vibe I get from these and Vanson's model photos are: "Hey we don't need to pay a model. I'm good looking. I don't need to hire a photographer. I have a camera. I don't need to make a custom fit jacket for the model, this one on the shelf is about my size, it'll show how it looks. And the customer will appreciate the cost savings since I'm not paying for all these expensive models, photographers, and tailor-fit jackets."
I think Vanson does a little better job than Langlitz. But yeah neither company is actively marketing in that way and probably doesn’t need to but finding the right size for whoever is wearing it for product shots shouldn’t be too difficult either.
 

Aloysius

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,838
Provided there is anything original about the Ship John jacket in the first place to be copied. The so called "Wills" is the most basic jacket in the history of jackets. It's a dumbed down Carhartt which is supposed to be as utilitarian and simple as possible yet the scammers behind Ship John somehow went further than that.

From what I’ve heard from people who work there, Ship John management are not people I want to support.
 

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