The Leather Jacket Thread

[Duke Mantee]

Thought I had copyright on grim

[Geeman]

It's repro of the original...

[buler]

1 hour ago, Duke Mantee said:

Thought I had copyright on grim

Yours looks more natural. 

[Bobbo]

3 hours ago, Duke Mantee said:

Thought I had copyright on grim

The master and the apprentice. 

@bartlebyyphonics Might be able to take some tomorrow when the sun is up again.

[mondo]

13 hours ago, Duke Mantee said:

Thought I had copyright on grim

it's not my line, but you do project a "Head of Looking Straight Fire at the Academy of What the Fuck Are You Looking At" vibe

[Duke Mantee]

6 hours ago, mondo said:

it's not my line, but you do project a "Head of Looking Straight Fire at the Academy of What the Fuck Are You Looking At" vibe

It’s my reaction to hashtag rugged 

[Duke Mantee]

And since I’ve been spamming the thread (sorry), here’s my Journeyman - which Freewheelers describe as ‘Jet Black’. It’s not, it’s more brown than black. FW blacks are rarely as they describe them ...

 

... and BTW , it’s still for sale ...

Edited November 22, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[Bobbo]

Some quick and shitty photos of the B3.

[bartlebyyphonics]

thank you! love the back panel on those kinds of jackets...

[mlwdp]

Proper way to size and measure for a leather jacket when you have never owned one?  I have a Buzz deck jacket in size large but it has wool lining in though.  Fits great btw.  I also have a MIJ work jacket that fits great too but it’s a XL.

[JDelage]

Well, just like that I might be getting 2 jackets pretty quickly. John at Goodwear responded to my email so I might be getting a B-6 soon, and I just bought a used FW Mulholand on the Fedora Lounge. Good thing I sold my old Schott a few weeks back.

[dudewuttheheck]

On 11/22/2020 at 8:15 AM, mlwdp said:

Proper way to size and measure for a leather jacket when you have never owned one?  I have a Buzz deck jacket in size large but it has wool lining in though.  Fits great btw.  I also have a MIJ work jacket that fits great too but it’s a XL.

This is pretty difficult. Others may disagree of course, but figuring out how leather jackets fit was certainly a learning experience for me. If you are going custom in any way, make sure you do not just send your body measurements to the maker and just hope they give you the correct size. I did this twice and it turned out poorly both times. Personally, I feel leather jackets tend to look best fairly trim and look worse oversized than a denim jacket for example. However, I also need to allow for more room in the chest with a leather jacket than with cotton/fabric jackets. I can button up my Mister Freedom Ranch blouse which has a 40" chest in total and my largest Freewheelers leather jacket all have chests at least 3" wider and feel just as tight in terms of movement when zipped up. Material also makes a difference. My horsehide jackets are much stiffer than my deerskin jacket for example.

It depends on how you like your jackets to fit as well. I tend to undersize my jackets due to my short height and wide chest so they won't be too long (and I still had to shorten the sleeves on two of my leather jackets.) Basically, in my experience it is a very fine line between a leather jacket that looks great, one that is too big, and one that is too small. For me, I had to make a lot of mistakes before getting it right and I still make mistakes sometimes in terms of getting jackets that fit right. Maybe if you're less fussy than me or have a different body type, you have an easier time. If you can get a fit jacket first from whoever you order from (if you go custom) or go try some leather jackets on in person and measure those to see how you like the fit and comfort, I think that would help a lot. 

[crownzip]

Bobbo, that B3 looks amazing! 

[Bobbo]

Thanks mate!

[Duke Mantee]

On 11/22/2020 at 4:15 PM, mlwdp said:

Proper way to size and measure for a leather jacket when you have never owned one?  I have a Buzz deck jacket in size large but it has wool lining in though.  Fits great btw.  I also have a MIJ work jacket that fits great too but it’s a XL.

Frankly, I don’t think there’s any special technique or method other than the approach you’d take for any (broadly) similar non-leather jacket.

Actual measurements and then comparison to jackets you own is the tried and, generally, true method.

Probably the things to consider are:

1. The cut (or style) of the jacket. I think that’ll probably have more impact than anything else. Some styles are supposed to be ‘over’ coats; some are designed to be fitted; some may be copies of a particular era which can influence the fit; and so on ...

2. The complexity of the jacket will influence the fit. A jacket with a lot of small panels in its makeup will feel more constrictive than one with fewer and larger panels.

3. The lining. Clearly an unlined jacket will feel quite different from one that has a lining. Also a lining such as silk or rayon will give you a different feeling of fit than say flannel, because the clothes you wear under the jacket will move differently.

Nothing there is much different to choosing a non-leather jacket. You mention your deck jacket and how well it fits - my guess is you thought about the impact the wool lining might have had; and you mention your MIJ jacket is a different tag size ... so it seems you know how to size for your taste. I doubt you’d have too many issues sizing a leather jacket.

[Double 0 Soul]

On 11/22/2020 at 4:15 PM, mlwdp said:

Proper way to size and measure for a leather jacket when you have never owned one?  I have a Buzz deck jacket in size large but it has wool lining in though.  Fits great btw.  I also have a MIJ work jacket that fits great too but it’s a XL.

 

I only own one leather (FW's Brakeman) it was a big investment for me so i wanted it to be as perfect as possible, i take a size 32 in almost all JP denim and a Japanese size 40/M works for sweatshirts, shirts and such, ive not made many sizing mistakes over the years (touch wood) but one of those was a FW's shirt and i could have easily downsized one on my FW-47's (but i do lean towards loose fitting jeans) which had me feeling a little nervous of splurging 220,000¥ on a FW's leather. I have what one would consider a fairly typical Japanese body shape albeit i'm from the north of England  what i mean is i'm not carrying any muscle or any weight, i don't have broad shoulders, a wide chest or a belly to accomodate. Over the years of scanning Japanese shops ive found the models vital statistics very helpful and ive tuned into those who have a similar build to myself.

There was a staff member at VP with shoulder length hair who had my exact same build, weight, height ect so i would often ask Satoh what size he would choose, if it wasn't what i was expecting i would ask for a photo. Same shit happened with my leather, there's a staff member at Speedway who is the same build/weight as me but height-wise he's a couple of inches shorter, I asked Tomomi to take a series of photos of him wearing the Brakeman in size 38 and 40, he said he wore a size 40 himself but i was scarred by those oversized Porky's fits earlier in the thread.

This was the size 38

..although it looks good unbuttoned, correct sleeve length ect, it's too tight in the shoulders/chest when buttoned up..

..i bought the size 40 and cos i'm a couple of inches taller, vitruvian man theory rectified the sleeve length.

So @mlwdp all you just need to do is find JP shop staff who are built like a tank and you're good to go

Edited November 25, 2020 by Double 0 Soul

[Duke Mantee]

Neal - I think what you’ve demonstrated is that ‘fit’ is a very personal thing as much as it is a ‘dimensional’ thing. You bought the Brakeman in the same size as me but we are completely different body shapes ... you even managed to make my FW trousers work (actually ‘work’ is a bit harsh - they looked good).

However none of that is specifically for leather jackets ...

Edited November 25, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[Double 0 Soul]

They were lovely things those FW's pants Mike, i'd really like a pair but i wouldn't want to pay full retail because i'd probably only wear them a couple of times/year, if you spot a pair on your travels around the interwebz give me a holla.

[Duke Mantee]

31 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

They were lovely things those FW's pants Mike, i'd really like a pair but i wouldn't want to pay full retail because i'd probably only wear them a couple of times/year, if you spot a pair on your travels around the interwebz give me a holla.

Of course 

[Duke Mantee]

[indigoeagle]

Brakeman FTW

[indigoeagle]

RRL - Elkhorn

I haven't worn this in a long time.

 

 

[JDelage]

That Brakeman is a beauty.

[olmecasteve]

Shameless plug 

selling my Sugar Cane horsehide sports jacket Sz 40 

DM for more info

 

[Elmer.Richard]

On 9/26/2020 at 5:49 AM, dudewuttheheck said:

I love the design of this jacket, but I hate the leather they chose for it. I may have bought it if they just used some regular Shinki

Good thing you changed your mind about that jacket @dudewuttheheck

[dudewuttheheck]

4 minutes ago, Elmer.Richard said:

Good thing you changed your mind about that jacket @dudewuttheheck

Haha yeah it's funny looking back at that post. I still would have preferred a normal Shinki leather without a doubt. However, the design and sizing of the jacket appealed to me too much. Realizing/being told that the jacket was actually dark brown and not black pushed me over the edge. So it's more that the benefits of the jacket outweighed my misgivings about the leather. 

[Elmer.Richard]

On 12/1/2020 at 1:31 PM, dudewuttheheck said:

Haha yeah it's funny looking back at that post. I still would have preferred a normal Shinki leather without a doubt. However, the design and sizing of the jacket appealed to me too much. Realizing/being told that the jacket was actually dark brown and not black pushed me over the edge. So it's more that the benefits of the jacket outweighed my misgivings about the leather. 

And it is now your best fitting/best looking jacket. 

[dudewuttheheck]

4 hours ago, Elmer.Richard said:

And it is now your best fitting/best looking jacket. 

I think as of now it probably is. The black Mulholland is close. The biggest difference is the sleeve length of the RMC works better for me.

[Elmer.Richard]

On 12/3/2020 at 8:57 AM, dudewuttheheck said:

I think as of now it probably is. The black Mulholland is close. The biggest difference is the sleeve length of the RMC works better for me.

I really like looking at Freewheelers jackets but the sleeve length and my body type are not compatible. With the Real McCoy's the sleeve length is just right for me. 

[dudewuttheheck]

6 hours ago, Elmer.Richard said:

I really like looking at Freewheelers jackets but the sleeve length and my body type are not compatible. With the Real McCoy's the sleeve length is just right for me. 

Actually, with most McCoys jackets, the sleeves are even worse than with Freewheelers for me because the chests are crazy undersized, especially with the Buco jackets. I'm not sure why this jacket was so different, but I'm glad it was.