Leather Jackets: Traditional, Military, Moto, Heritage Brands and Reproductions

[ChrisGold]

Starting a new thread as discussed to highlight more "traditional" leather jackets. Aero, Himel, Real McCoy, Brimaco, Eastman, Lewis Leathers, Golden Bear, Schott, Good Wear, Lost Worlds, Langlitz, RRL and Vanson are all examples of companies that have been producing leather jackets for decades or construct high quality reproductions of military, moto and traditional designs.

This will give us a thread to post both originals and reproductions, as well as discuss how those designs have evolved into more modern fashion leathers.

I'll start us off with a few jackets that I own, one made in the late 40s and two others that are still made to the same design as in 1947 and 1948.

Langlitz Goatskin Cascade, 2009, design unchanged from 1948

Langlitz Cowhide Columbia, 1982, design unchanged from 1947

Sears Hercules in Horsehide, circa 1948

 

[ChrisGold]

An Aero Italian Horsehide Premier fit Highwayman, 2015, based on a design from the early 1930s.

 

[LA Guy]

An Aero Italian Horsehide Premier fit Highwayman, 2015, based on a design from the early 1930s.

How do you find this fits, compared to say, a 30s halfbelt, which I think that you have.

 

[hoodog]

Woohoo! Another thread where I get to show off my LL jacket!

I am still pretty bummed @LA Guy never commented on it. His sense of style must be on a steady decline!

Lewis Leathers Lightning (391)

 

[ChrisGold]



How do you find this fits, compared to say, a 30s halfbelt, which I think that you have.

I no longer have that jacket, but from memory the fit is very very similar. I just looked back at the old dimensions from the 30s half belt and they are virtually identical to this jacket. (Shoulders / chest / bottom opening are all exactly the same) 18.75" / 23" / 21.5" in a size 42

 

[ChrisGold]



Woohoo! Another thread where I get to show off my LL jacket! 

I am still pretty bummed @LA Guy
 never commented on it. His sense of style must be on a steady decline! 


Lewis Leathers Lightning (391)

A classic since 1958, and it embodies the difference between American and British asymmetrical riding jackets.

 

[LA Guy]

Woohoo! Another thread where I get to show off my LL jacket!

I am still pretty bummed @LA Guy never commented on it. His sense of style must be on a steady decline!

Lewis Leathers Lightning (391)

As a fashion jacket, I think that it fits well. I like it. I typically think that double riders look best half way zipped, if they are that fit, or completely unzipped, if you've gotten it cut extremely tight.

 

[avsmusic1]

Subscribed and excited - this thread was overdue

 

[Foxhound]

Holy **** this thread is amazing.

 

[ChrisGold]

Another recent acquisition, the Vanson Model B Deluxe in their Octagon brown leather. The Model B is a classic cafe racer, with the typical square shouldered Vanson pattern. Shoulders will soften over time but Vanson waxes their leathers into just about the stiffest off the shelf jackets that you can find. You need to beat them into submission, but the results are worth the effort. The Octagon is a little lighter in weight than the standard competition weight leather so break in will be shorter.

 

[ChrisGold]

And just for something a little different, Ralph Lauren in his favorite leather jacket, a Langlitz Cascade with smooth elbow and shoulder pads. He still sends it back to Langlitz for them to do any required maintenance.

 

[orfane]

I've always been curious about leather jackets, but never actually owned one (largely due to price). However, while I like the concept of a leather jacket I'm a young guy and I find that most jackets look too high-fashion, or look like either Thriller or Grease. Every once and a while though I find that a jacket that looks amazing and looks like something I would actually buy. I guess where I'm going with this is what are the different types of jacket and what do they look like? You mentioned a few in the title but what does that actually mean?

 

[avsmusic1]

@orfane
If you google some of the terms you'll see the various designs. Another great option is to check out the websites of some of the companies mentioned. For example, Aero has dozens of designs - if they don't have one that catches your eye, nobody will.

 

[ChrisGold]

Aero seal goatskin Board Racer, the goat is not as thick as Langlitz but still fairly substantial. This is not an exact reproduction of any particular jacket, rather their interpretation of a board track leather shirt that might have been worn in the 30s before they tore out the wooden board tracks. Arms are pre-curved for motorcycle riding, but I think most buyers use these more as casual jackets.

 

[gnatty8]

Cool thread, and I'll participate since leather jackets are definitely a passion or compulsion of mine, depending how you look at it. I just ordered one of those Vanson B in octagon BTW, so nice to see it represented here. Most of my stuff is either Belstaff or RRL, although I do have a Schott and a couple of Vanson thrown in there. Hell, when J Crew started making nice looking leather a few years ago, I even picked up some of those. The pictures aren't the best, but if anyone wants to see anything in better detail, I'd be glad to post pictures. So far, I think I probably have a half dozen RRL jackets, 3 Belstaff, 4 J Crew, the Mulberry from Epaulet (not sure who made this one), 2 Vanson, and a Schott. I may post some of these in coming weeks if there is any interest.

First up is this Belstaff Maple. A little less shape than a lot of Belstaff coats, but the color is amazing:

One from PRL this season:

Finally, RRL café racer. She's wearing RRL also: