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sinnedk

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That's good, @sinnedk. You know, for the life of me I can't find the photo of you and Wiliam DuVall with you wearing the Leon. Do you have any pics of it? I'm curious about the sizing again, although I gotta admit the pandemic actually saw me put on some weight, so I'm considering a 42.

Yea sure
 

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CWV

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Any good place to buy Valstar or Valstar-like jackets in Italy (Rome, florence or Venice), London or Paris?
 

JibranK

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Question for everyone: Is Fine Creek Leathers still a thing? As in, a wanted jacket (models aside)?

Good to see the king back.

To your question, I think the hype machine about them has faded somewhat, especially as people have noticed that the actual jackets don’t look like their promo photos and that the sizing is usually really weird. There are undoubtedly people who’ve gotten good jackets out of them, but this seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

For instance, look at the cuffs on this jacket. The bagginess would be fine if they were unzipped, but this is fully zipped, when they should be as snug as possible.

1679968580870.jpeg


To an extent I think the interest in them was driven by a sense that their high price must mean they’re a premium alternative, but once a lot of people were handling the jackets, that didn’t hold up in the same way. The leather (generally the driver of cost) was often quite flat and unimpressive, the workmanship good but not exceptional like RC, and the patterning (the most important part of a garment) wonky. The other side of it was that some stores in the US pushed FCL really hard for a few years there (I experienced the attempt myself) and I think some people bought out of that encouragement/momentum, then got buyer’s remorse and sold their jackets at a steep discount.

That’s my read, anyway, on why the FCL hype bubble has shrunk.
 

JibranK

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And lo and behold, another hole! Just like my story. And you peeps thought the problem was me...

To step back just a bit, while I still think your downsizing played a role, that was definitely not all of it. Even with downsizing, that just wouldn’t happen on a Schott or Vanson or Aero, for instance. Or even on many mall brands.
A lot of these ‘premium’ makes (I put that in quotes because I don’t think this is an objectively better feature) like some of the Japanese firms or Himel in Canada insist on using high stitch counts and deeply skived seams; in practice, this perforates the leather along the seam like the edge of a postage stamp. Apply pressure and…
 

sinnedk

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To step back just a bit, while I still think your downsizing played a role, that was definitely not all of it. Even with downsizing, that just wouldn’t happen on a Schott or Vanson or Aero, for instance. Or even on many mall brands.
A lot of these ‘premium’ makes (I put that in quotes because I don’t think this is an objectively better feature) like some of the Japanese firms or Himel in Canada insist on using high stitch counts and deeply skived seams; in practice, this perforates the leather along the seam like the edge of a postage stamp. Apply pressure and…

To echo what you said, I have never experience popped stitches in any leather jacket.

My FCL Leon custom held up just fine and I put it through a lot IMO.

Either way a jacket should hold up.
 

JibranK

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My FCL Leon custom held up just fine and I put it through a lot IMO.

I think downsizing inflicts wear and tear on a garment quicker than just wearing it hard, because the pressure on the seams is constant.
 

JibranK

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That said, and this was my second point, the seams should not be popping like that. I have 80 year old jackets that don’t tear the way FW/RC and FCL will under the same circumstances.

(Sorry, hit post too early.)
 

suedefetish

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Did they take the sleeves in at the shoulder? Every iron heart jacket I've seen has had the crazy NBA sleeves

RE: fine creek, I have a high large jacket and I'm super impressed with it. I believe that's just fine creek doing jean jacket patterns.
 
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Jerkstore

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I love my FCL jacket, but I think it's because it's the Alonzo and it has a more western fit. I am a US Large and wear a 42 (lines up).
 

sinnedk

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I think downsizing inflicts wear and tear on a garment quicker than just wearing it hard, because the pressure on the seams is constant.

100% and combined with thick horse leather that doesn’t stretch much I can see how seams can rip.

I do know that for a tight fit you’d want something like kangaroo or lamb.
 

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