Where to get a nice leather bomber jacket?

[somatoform]

Originally Posted by james_timothy

good blog for looking at old leather, btw.

I didn't like that post. Do people really still refer to N. America as the new world or is he being sarcastic?


He does have some nice shots though:

Love it.

 

[james_timothy]

I think he has a better eye than voice: you see the images and the title and think that there is going to be real insight, but the words don't deliver at the same level.

His love for the craftsmanship in old jackets is clear.

 

[Arethusa]

That blog is ******* marsupialed.

 

[brad-t]

Originally Posted by Arethusa

That blog is ******* marsupialed.

for real

A Frenchman friend of mine got mad at me today and complained "what about European vintage clothing?" I had to explain to him that in my opinion there was no such thing!!! He was quite offended...what about Chanel, Dior etc....I replied this is not clothing.

 

[Arethusa]

Apparently, this leather clad sociologist has discovered the 20th century mass migration of Jewish tailors.

 

[westinghouse]

Originally Posted by Arethusa

You are a complete *************.

I'm sure your father feels the same way about you.

 

[entrero]

^This is getting a lil bit out of line. To add more fuel to the fire check this out

http://www.lostworldsinc.com/Frequen..._Questions.htm

A small quote from the author: "In some new, soft, thin joke of a flight or motorcycle jacket, the opposite occurs. Hard seems to frighten most of our New Age "men." They like "limp" leather. Interior decorators of the soul.

On the various flight and vintage jacket forums, where "men" put up digital pictures for their "buddies" of how they look in flight jackets -- children dressing up, no, ***********ing as adults -- one can read expert instructions on aging, softening, antiquing new jackets to give them that flown-in look, for those whose knowledge of American history and masculine imagery are but flights of the remotest fantasy..."

Makes me laugh every time I read it

 

[somatoform]

Originally Posted by entrero

^This is getting a lil bit out of line. To add more fuel to the fire check this out

http://www.lostworldsinc.com/Frequen..._Questions.htm

A small quote from the author: "In some new, soft, thin joke of a flight or motorcycle jacket, the opposite occurs. Hard seems to frighten most of our New Age "men." They like "limp" leather. Interior decorators of the soul.

On the various flight and vintage jacket forums, where "men" put up digital pictures for their "buddies" of how they look in flight jackets -- children dressing up, no, ***********ing as adults -- one can read expert instructions on aging, softening, antiquing new jackets to give them that flown-in look, for those whose knowledge of American history and masculine imagery are but flights of the remotest fantasy..."

Makes me laugh every time I read it

Some of their write ups are funny.

To be fair though, the way they talk about jackets reminds me of the responses here to such jeans comments as: I want Iron Heart but I don't like thick denim, I want to fade my jeans in a month, or I want a Japanese repro but I don't want... repro.

 

[jchosko]

just to get back on the original topic: you should totally check out ebay. you can get amazing vintage goatskin bombers for like $30. old vintage ll bean ones are really nice--and if you don't care about exact repro specs then that's a plus money wise (as in you'll save some)--and can go for as little as $15. hope this helps.

 

[jchosko]

one more thing per your original post re: schott. the schott g-1 is a really nice jacket, and if you're patient can be had for under $50 on ebay as well. it's bulkier than the ll bean ones, especially if you leave on the mouton collar...

 

[BB1]

From WAYWT....

Originally Posted by Kent Money

And A-2s have a bad reputation thanks to overweight dads and I think its hard to shake the prejudice.
So true. Whenever I'm walking behind a guy on the street who's wearing a more generously cut leather bomber, I've noticed I tend to assume he's at least 40 to 50 years old. Younger people simply do not wear this style of jacket.

Originally Posted by westinghouse

The shame is that young guys would rather look metrosexual than rugged, so they bash anything manly as generic, out of style, or old mannish. Men that actually flew in WWII didn't care about the quality or details of their jackets. The ones that did were probably kicked out of the military for obvious reasons.
So being viewed as manly and rugged is compatible with looking like an old man?

From around middle age onward, both men and woman tend towards androgyny in both physical characteristics and behavior. Woman's faces become more square and hourglass figure disappears, men become gentler and less aggressive, etc. Look at a 80 year old couple and notice how similar they both look and act. You can even observe this in many 50 year old couples, but its not as obvious. Many will label this as "maturity", but that does not change the fact that old men tend to display more of the characteristics society considers feminine than do younger ones. So the desire for the younger man to not mimic an older man is rational. Society's definition of what is masculine style clothing is always changing. For example, several hundred years ago tights/leggings were considered masculine clothing in Europe. But what's our feeling on them today?

 

[lemmywinks]

If price was an issue as in I can't afford ToJ, what should I buy? I'm not sure if leather jackets are entirely my thing. I'd like some to wear but it's not something I can justify paying too much for since I'm not gonna get too much wear out of it.

 

[danilo]

Originally Posted by jchosko

just to get back on the original topic: you should totally check out ebay. you can get amazing vintage goatskin bombers for like $30. old vintage ll bean ones are really nice--and if you don't care about exact repro specs then that's a plus money wise (as in you'll save some)--and can go for as little as $15. hope this helps.

are the LL bean leather jackets slim? What I find to be the problem with bombers is that their arms and shoulders are huge!

I'm looking for a slim bomber with a leather flip down collar... I wish I could spring for the TOJ, but winters almost over (for me in ATL) and I just can't swing it.

 

[chronoaug]

probably not. LLbean isn't known for being slim fit in anything really. It's not really a fashion kinda company and most things are going to be cut fairly full

 

[danilo]

that's what I thought...