New to FL, advice on custom suede jacket

[nikosb]

Hi,

I am a new user at FL. I recently discovered this forum and after reading through various posts I can sense there are a lot of people passionate and knowledgeable about leather jackets.

I am interested in ordering a pair of custom leather jacket and pants based on the Belstaff Brookstone waxed suede jacket made from calf skin leather.

with some modifications to the designs, such accordion stretch panels on the back should area, snap button at the waist instead of buckle and pockets for motorcycle armor at the shoulders and elbows. My budget is around $300 for the jacket but I might be willing to go a little higher if I know that the result will be very good. So I am looking more for 80% of the original quality for 20% of the price kind of deal.

Before I discovered the FL I ordered a motorcycle leather jacket from a company Sialkot after filtering through the reviews on Google Maps. After 3 years of wearing the jacket I have been mostly very happy with it, the leather has held up well and I still get plenty of compliments about it. The main complain is that the color doesn't match the original color (which from what I have been reading is a common issue with other users on FL, also note how the same original jacket looks to have slightly different color in different photos) and there is a mistake at the cuff (wider cuffs and buttons on the wrong side of the cuff). So I am not sure I want to order from the same company again.

I researched the FL for custom jackets and it appears that a lot of people are happy with Five Star Leather for their custom jackets. I wanted to know if there is a company that is known to produce good suede jackets and perhaps even specialize in Belstaff replicas. I had a chance to wear the original Belstaff jacket and I was very impressed with the look and feel of the waxed suede. My main concern is to match the color and vintage look of the original Belstaff jacket.

 

[Zoro]

There's 400+ pages of Five Star thread - https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/five-star-leather-jackets.101762

I would summarize it as many people enjoyed "playing designer" but barely nobody kept their jackets. You can see some people with very nice (or well fitting) Five Star jackets, but those seem to be least. Meanwhile, you can see a lot of people who had problems with them, of many different natures. They do seem to do quite good if you send them a jacket to literally copy, but that's not your case here. I don't even know if you can even get a custom like this for the budget you have, even from them, disregarding the result.

Now, you want exactly the Belstaff design and exact color, that will be very hard even with a higher budget as you would have to find a maker that either already has that leather in stock or can source it. Leather doesn't come in a "Yes, I will take 4 of this pantone color". With this in mind, perhaps the best would be finding it in the second hand market or just saving to buy a new one from Belstaff.

If you are not as strict with the color and such, you will have several options, but they will be costly.... At least as much as a new Belstaff.

 

[Biff42]

Three hundred won't get you much. You need to seriously raise your budget or lower your expectations for any custom jacket.

Heck just shipping a jacket could cost $25.

 

[Edward]

Interesting project. Sounds very much like a job for a motorcycle wear specialist, particularly with desired features like those accordion stretch panels. Far outside of my expertise, I'm afraid, as to the best of my knowledge they're a featured that didn't appear until the early 90s, well outside my period of interest. Chances of finding something like that for three hundred notes, though.... pretty much zero. Custom bike gear places are out there, but they do cost. Anything that is going to be solid enough to be worn as serious pp wear won't come cheap.