Leather Jackets: Post Pictures of the Best You've Seen/Owned?

[dieworkwear]

Hi guys I was looking for some advice I have recently picked up this leather jacket. The wear and tear on the jacket I am fine with but there is a section below the collar where the leather has cracked quite badly. Aesthetically I am fine with it but I don't want the jacket to get worse beyond repair. Also I don't know whether to treat the leather with a type of conditioner as I am not sure of the type of leather it is plus there is a musty smell to the jacket due to age and was looking for tips on getting rid of this. I have used a low level of alcohol with water in a spray bottle on other vintage items but never on leather. Just looking for some advice on making the jacket more secure to wear thanks

I once had a small rip in a leather jacket and sent it to Advanced European Tailors in Berkeley, California. There's no real way to mend a leather jacket, but they can apply an adhesive to prevent the tear from getting worse. You can probably ship the garment to them for repair.

Regarding the musty smell, I also once had a vintage leather jacket that had a strong smell. I ultimately sent it to Rave FabriCARE in Arizona. They have some machine that takes care of strong odors. Cost was something like $100 and they got rid of the smell completely.

 

[lazyslave]

I once had a small rip in a leather jacket and sent it to Advanced European Tailors in Berkeley, California. There's no real way to mend a leather jacket, but they can apply an adhesive to prevent the tear from getting worse. You can probably ship the garment to them for repair.

Regarding the musty smell, I also once had a vintage leather jacket that had a strong smell. I ultimately sent it to Rave FabriCARE in Arizona. They have some machine that takes care of strong odors. Cost was something like $100 and they got rid of the smell completely.

Thanks for the reply I will have a look into both recommendations also just wanna let you know reading your blog is a real pleasure always look forward to to New posts

 

[Zbregov]

Hi guys I was looking for some advice I have recently picked up this leather jacket. The wear and tear on the jacket I am fine with but there is a section below the collar where the leather has cracked quite badly. Aesthetically I am fine with it but I don't want the jacket to get worse beyond repair. Also I don't know whether to treat the leather with a type of conditioner as I am not sure of the type of leather it is plus there is a musty smell to the jacket due to age and was looking for tips on getting rid of this. I have used a low level of alcohol with water in a spray bottle on other vintage items but never on leather. Just looking for some advice on making the jacket more secure to wear thanks

Hey,

Really cool jacket. Shame about the cracking. Anyway, you can't do much harm to it by simply conditioning the entire jacket. Any petroleum based conditioner will do. Won't fix the cracked area but it'll slow down the cracking progress as the jacket must be pretty dry at that spot. I'd use Pecard or something greasy like that. Leather Honey is great too.

As for the smell, I'm afraid there isn't much you can do aside from leaving the jacket hanging outside for a week or so. Make sure it's in a shaded place. You could look into leather cleaner & conditioner combo, like what Lexol makes but you need to air the smell out, no way around it.
Spraying the jacket with alcohol & water won't harm it but make sure to condition it afterwards.

With proper care, you ought to get plenty of years of wear out of this jacket and then you can have the back area fixed, as the rest of the jacket looks pretty good.

 

[Varnu]

I have been looking for a leather jacket for my whole adult life, but because of how much I like leather it feels like longer. I had a tryst with a suede trucker quite a few years ago—that feels kind of like the wading pool—but honestly it could have been corduroy and it wouldn’t have looked or aged much different. I gave it to a friend. I have been looking *forever*. Mostly in vintage shops, because a lot of the jackets you see at Nordstrom or whatever, there’s something off. They don’t all suit my style. Or worse, I fear I might convince myself that it suits me, but it actually doesn’t.

You hear a lot of folks say “Just buy one and wear it and don’t worry about what people think. All leather jackets are awesome.” But frankly that kind of advice feels sort of like a “how come there’s no WHITE history month?” level of observation. A leather jacket is a BIG part of the outfit and if it’s not worn right it can easily take over. Like if I put on a the torso from the Philadelphia Phantic costume and didn’t change anything else. I’ve seen all these guys and I don’t want to be them:

-Everyone else on “The Sopranos” who looked terrible in their leather jackets over a dark blue button down.
-Some extra on “The Sopranos” who got asked to leave the set because he wouldn’t stop talking to James Gandolfini.
-Divorced dad in a new Wilson’s-leather-jacker, shopping for a waterbed to take home to his apartment that’s right next to the highway.
-The accountant-looking dude in a Perfecto, pleated khakis and Nike Air Monarchs
-Your uncle who hates reading and sit ups but likes guns, yellow tinted lenses and nothing else, he has a brown leather jacker with epaulets.
-The goth teen whose humorless outrage I provoked by mentioning Hot Topic

Ever since I’ve been on Instagram I’ve been tagging leather jackets. I like ones that look beat up and lived in. While scrolling through my saved posts, I realized that about 95 out of 100 were Fine Creek Leathers, which I’d never bothered to notice before. I then spent about two weeks doing nothing but using Google Translate and reading hundreds and hundreds of pages of Styleforum posts here. It came down to the Leon or the James from FCL. I pulled the trigger on the James through Self Edge. I love the Leon, but it may be too heavy to wear the way I would wear the James—I plan to wear it like a denim jacket, overshirt or blazer.

I’m typically an “L” in most things. I’d get a 42 from J .Crew but I’ll buy a 44 if it’s some random Italian jacket on Yoox. I’m an XL in most Japanese shirts, sometimes an XXL. The size 44 James fits awesome. My first instinct was that it was *maybe* a half size too small, especially in the shoulders and armpits. But it zips up comfortably and feels great. It’s like being hugged. This is how a dog wearing a thundershirt must feel. It looks good when open, which is how I plan to wear it most of the time.

When I asked my wife why what she thought,

Wife: “Ha! You look like an aging rock star. Not like a metal band, though. Something like Wilco. Oh! I’m sorry! Was that mean?”
Me: [closes eyes, inhales] “No. That’s… that’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

I wore it as much as I could in all of May, while some days were still cool enough in Chicago. Walking the dog, grilling, watching TV. Literally any opportunity I had. Below are pictures from Day-2 and Day-30. The elbows have creased up. A few spots in high friction areas on apparently susceptible panels are showing some tea-core. The cuffs have curled up and wrinkled a bit, which looks boss. And grain is popping all over, but especially on the left front panel. I’ll post an update on aging progress here in the autumn.

 

[sinnedk]

You hear a lot of folks say “Just buy one and wear it and don’t worry about what people think. All leather jackets are awesome.” But frankly that kind of advice feels sort of like a “how come there’s no WHITE history month?” level of observation. A leather jacket is a BIG part of the outfit and if it’s not worn right it can easily take over. Like if I put on a the torso from the Philadelphia Phantic costume and didn’t change anything else. I’ve seen all these guys and I don’t want to be them:

-Everyone else on “The Sopranos” who looked terrible in their leather jackets over a dark blue button down.
-Some extra on “The Sopranos” who got asked to leave the set because he wouldn’t stop talking to James Gandolfini.
-Divorced dad in a new Wilson’s-leather-jacker, shopping for a waterbed to take home to his apartment that’s right next to the highway.
-The accountant-looking dude in a Perfecto, pleated khakis and Nike Air Monarchs
-Your uncle who hates reading and sit ups but likes guns, yellow tinted lenses and nothing else, he has a brown leather jacker with epaulets.
-The goth teen whose humorless outrage I provoked by mentioning Hot Topic

Congrats on the jacket. But that part right there is one hell of a rant.

you had me at hot topic goth teen LOL

 

[WBaker]

@lazyslave

I've had some great luck using scentless fabreeze! Hard to find in store but you can get it on Amazon.
Also conditioner for leather car seats works for me. One bottle should last basically forever, seems to work as well as the fancier stuff. Only needs to be done every 5 to 10 years, but I see a noticeable difference when a jacket feels dry.

 

[9thsymph]

Are there any strong thoughts on two-way, reverse (dual) zippers? I've always found these zippers really useful on any jacket that even slightly drops below ones belt line and have seen these zippers on jackets ranging from waxed Barbours to the short Stoffa suede bomber/fight jackets. Is there a good reason NOT to have a two-zipper on something more a bit more rugged like Aero premiers (Sheene, 30s HB, HWM, etc...)?

 

[sinnedk]

Are there any strong thoughts on two-way, reverse (dual) zippers? I've always found these zippers really useful on any jacket that even slightly drops below ones belt line and have seen these zippers on jackets ranging from waxed Barbours to the short Stoffa suede bomber/fight jackets. Is there a good reason NOT to have a two-zipper on something more a bit more rugged like Aero premiers (Sheene, 30s HB, HWM, etc...)?

I have 2 way zip on my IH and I use it seldom. I personally like having 2 way zips but its not a must. My riders dont have 2 way zips and I've survived, dont make that the reason you dont buy a jacket.

Side note, my 2way zip on a nylon MA1 from Falcon is absolutely useless.

 

[bry2000]

I have been looking for a leather jacket for my whole adult life, but because of how much I like leather it feels like longer. I had a tryst with a suede trucker quite a few years ago—that feels kind of like the wading pool—but honestly it could have been corduroy and it wouldn’t have looked or aged much different. I gave it to a friend. I have been looking *forever*. Mostly in vintage shops, because a lot of the jackets you see at Nordstrom or whatever, there’s something off. They don’t all suit my style. Or worse, I fear I might convince myself that it suits me, but it actually doesn’t.

You hear a lot of folks say “Just buy one and wear it and don’t worry about what people think. All leather jackets are awesome.” But frankly that kind of advice feels sort of like a “how come there’s no WHITE history month?” level of observation. A leather jacket is a BIG part of the outfit and if it’s not worn right it can easily take over. Like if I put on a the torso from the Philadelphia Phantic costume and didn’t change anything else. I’ve seen all these guys and I don’t want to be them:

-Everyone else on “The Sopranos” who looked terrible in their leather jackets over a dark blue button down.
-Some extra on “The Sopranos” who got asked to leave the set because he wouldn’t stop talking to James Gandolfini.
-Divorced dad in a new Wilson’s-leather-jacker, shopping for a waterbed to take home to his apartment that’s right next to the highway.
-The accountant-looking dude in a Perfecto, pleated khakis and Nike Air Monarchs
-Your uncle who hates reading and sit ups but likes guns, yellow tinted lenses and nothing else, he has a brown leather jacker with epaulets.
-The goth teen whose humorless outrage I provoked by mentioning Hot Topic

Ever since I’ve been on Instagram I’ve been tagging leather jackets. I like ones that look beat up and lived in. While scrolling through my saved posts, I realized that about 95 out of 100 were Fine Creek Leathers, which I’d never bothered to notice before. I then spent about two weeks doing nothing but using Google Translate and reading hundreds and hundreds of pages of Styleforum posts here. It came down to the Leon or the James from FCL. I pulled the trigger on the James through Self Edge. I love the Leon, but it may be too heavy to wear the way I would wear the James—I plan to wear it like a denim jacket, overshirt or blazer.

I’m typically an “L” in most things. I’d get a 42 from J .Crew but I’ll buy a 44 if it’s some random Italian jacket on Yoox. I’m an XL in most Japanese shirts, sometimes an XXL. The size 44 James fits awesome. My first instinct was that it was *maybe* a half size too small, especially in the shoulders and armpits. But it zips up comfortably and feels great. It’s like being hugged. This is how a dog wearing a thundershirt must feel. It looks good when open, which is how I plan to wear it most of the time.

When I asked my wife why what she thought,

Wife: “Ha! You look like an aging rock star. Not like a metal band, though. Something like Wilco. Oh! I’m sorry! Was that mean?”
Me: [closes eyes, inhales] “No. That’s… that’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

I wore it as much as I could in all of May, while some days were still cool enough in Chicago. Walking the dog, grilling, watching TV. Literally any opportunity I had. Below are pictures from Day-2 and Day-30. The elbows have creased up. A few spots in high friction areas on apparently susceptible panels are showing some tea-core. The cuffs have curled up and wrinkled a bit, which looks boss. And grain is popping all over, but especially on the left front panel. I’ll post an update on aging progress here in the autumn.

Such a great jacket. How tall are you?

 

[Varnu]

Such a great jacket. How tall are you?

I'm really liking it. I'm 6'1". I'm wearing an Imogene & Willie or Everlane pocket tee (I can't tell them apart by fit or feel until I look at the tag) in that pic if that gives you any additional reference.

 

[bry2000]

Thanks. I tried on that jacket at Self Edge a few months ago. I really liked it, but I thought it was borderline too long on me. Also a bit snug, but likely the right size.

 

[dieworkwear]

Are there any strong thoughts on two-way, reverse (dual) zippers? I've always found these zippers really useful on any jacket that even slightly drops below ones belt line and have seen these zippers on jackets ranging from waxed Barbours to the short Stoffa suede bomber/fight jackets. Is there a good reason NOT to have a two-zipper on something more a bit more rugged like Aero premiers (Sheene, 30s HB, HWM, etc...)?

A two-way zipper can make it harder to zip and unzip a jacket because of the way you need to position the bottom part of the zipper. With a one-way zipper, you only have one moveable pull, so it's easy to operate. With a two-way zipper, you need to have both pulls on the bottom of the track, and then it'll operate properly. I find this means you can end up fiddling the with pulls a bit more to close the jacket.

A two-way zipper wouldn't prevent me from buying a jacket, but if I was having one made, I'd get a one-way zipper. Personally think outerwear almost always looks better when it's worn open, so the only time I zip up a jacket is when I'm hanging it in my closet.

 

[9thsymph]

A two-way zipper can make it harder to zip and unzip a jacket because of the way you need to position the bottom part of the zipper.

A two-way zipper wouldn't prevent me from buying a jacket, but if I was having one made, I'd get a one-way zipper. Personally think outerwear almost always looks better when it's worn open, so the only time I zip up a jacket is when I'm hanging it in my closet.

Thanks!

I live in Chicago = unzipped not always an option. I think I'm going to skip the duel zip anyhow, though (if it's even an option...).

On another note: I've been through many pages of this thread now and have thus seen many, many DRs (Lancers/Cross zips/whatever...haha...). With a bit of research behind me now, it looks as if nothing off the rack is going to fit me in the sleeves (they will ALL be too long for my preference...). So I'm interested in a version of the cross-zip that is a) not purely a riding jacket, but b) not an overly fashion forward version of the DR trope and c) allowing for customization.

This has led me to the Aero Hooch Hauler.



What do you guys think of it? I mean, I obvs have my opinion, but I'm looking for perspectives that point out what I might be completely overlooking. For example, I like the no belt, no epaulet, minimal pockets and hardware vibe, along with the slim cut and high arm holes (as described by Aero). Thoughts? Too boring in the DR domian? Is it neither fish nor fowl?

I have a fit jacket arriving from Thurston tomorrow and am trying to decide if I should go the Highwayman-unironic-dadcore route, or the Hooch-desperation-flair-(relatively speaking) path? Or both?

For some context, I'd be wearing one or both of these jackets across the denim/Tee/sneakers-through-flannels/turtleneck/chelseas spectrum...

EDIT: the duel zip question was in reference to the Highwayman, not this this secondary question about the merits of the Hooch (awesome band name: Merits of the Hooch)

 

[scurvyfreedman]

I don't like the back on the Hooch Hauler. I think they have one with the same front, but a one or two piece back instead of the multi-panel.

I like the front a lot. I don't think it's a DR style. I think it's more like the original aviator jackets. Granted, you don't see them a lot now, I prefer it more than the DR style, especially in brown, on which I think the extra hardware is distracting.

 

[9thsymph]

I don't like the back on the Hooch Hauler. I think they have one with the same front, but a one or two piece back instead of the multi-panel.

I like the front a lot. I don't think it's a DR style. I think it's more like the original aviator jackets. Granted, you don't see them a lot now, I prefer it more than the DR style, especially in brown, on which I think the extra hardware is distracting.

Thanks. I agree on all counts. Customizing the back with an alternate style is an option so...