Ask a Question, Get An Answer About Outerwear

[Jin431]

Agreed. Car coats are bigger and looser by nature, and with such a stiff leather it just makes you feel like the tin man walking around. Better to find something with much more drape.

How about a drapey gooey moose/bison?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Gooey ??

 

[TheDonEffect]

How about a drapey gooey moose/bison?

Never played with any of those. Did you remake your jacket in the Masaye?

 

[Jin431]

Gooey ??

Couldn't find the right word but that heavy blankety feel when wearing a jacket made from those hides

Never played with any of those. Did you remake your jacket in the Masaye?

Try on the bison samples they have at JL next time your in the city. If I ever get a long half belt or car coat done it will done from either bison/moose.

No, I just asked for a band to be placed on the hem. I already breaked in that jacket and it molded so well to me so it was tough to let it go. I could have picked it up a couple of weeks ago but I'll just wait until my Luftwaffe clone is ready for pick up

 

[navetsea]

What are these things called? (see photo below) The name I happened across is "drawstring cord lock" although I have no idea. I need to order a few of them to manage a jacket's drawstrings. Thanks.

View attachment 335570

sometime called "bottle cord lock" (bottle shaped)

 

[Monitor]

I think in general, there's a tendency to under estimate the resilience and strength of leather jackets, especially suede. We've all heard the guidelines of dont get wet, etc. At the same time there's probably an over eagerness to condition when not necessary. Obviously for bikers it's different, but for most normal "fashion" use, I suspect you can go decades before worrying about it.

That is true. What I said before, the kind of chemicals and acids and... stuff that the leather gets exposed to during tanning, it's hard to imagine anyone here could come up with something that'd appear more harmful. Being worried over whether rain can damage your leather jacket is frankly ridiculous and yet... I still worry about it. Lol.

Anyway, I don't know... All I've noticed is that lard can get mold or that other fuzzy stuff, it can go rancid, smell bad, etc. while this doesn't seem to happen to oil. Especially mineral oils or petroleum.

 

[navetsea]

I think it is like waxed canvas, once the pigment is cracked then the crack turn into a weakspot since it will always crease on that cracked spot overtime the pigment edge also act like serrated knife digging into the opposite side grinding its way into a cut. While suede will crease freely on the entire surface and not concentrated on single spot.

 

[Carlos840]

That is true. What I said before, the kind of chemicals and acids and... stuff that the leather gets exposed to during tanning, it's hard to imagine anyone here could come up with something that'd appear more harmful. Being worried over whether rain can damage your leather jacket is frankly ridiculous and yet... I still worry about it. Lol.

Anyway, I don't know... All I've noticed is that lard can get mold or that other fuzzy stuff, it can go rancid, smell bad, etc. while this doesn't seem to happen to oil. Especially mineral oils or petroleum.

I talked about that with the tannery, and to them it's about keeping it "all natural".
They don't see the point in creating veg tanned leather to then slather it in petroleum byproducts, to them it's the equivalent of making a sugar free cake and then covering it in a thick layer of sugar frosting, it makes no sens...
Tallow is what they have been using since 1870, so they keep using it. If it works why change it?

 

[Canuck Panda]

Side gussets - When did this feature first appear in the Vintage leather jackets? 1930's? Was the purpose for better fit? Or just aesthetics?

 

[handymike]

I think the side panels were a carry-over from the half-belt style. With the belts, you can adjust the fit at the "natural" waist. Cossack and flight jacket don't seem to use them. A cossack style has a small triangle for the adjustment at the hips, while flight jackets use elastic waistbands.

 

[edmond]

hi guys i need some feedback on this brand

http://store-motostyle.jp/?pid=139384018

theyre fairly cheap and looks well made! let me know your thoughts? planning to try one from them
just needs help with sizing and overall quality and leather..

 

[handymike]

From what I’ve seen from these guys- it is really nice stuff! The father has a museum and makes sculptures from leather.
I follow them on Instagram:
@Leathers_things_motor
They really impress me...
But I don’t know about sizing, sorry

 

[Cornelius]

Side gussets - When did this feature first appear in the Vintage leather jackets? 1930's? Was the purpose for better fit? Or just aesthetics?


View attachment 336386

If this style did indeed first appear in the 1930s, it may be worth considering that the design change was forced by the necessity for greater economy of material induced by the Great Depression. Jackets made from larger panels often mean significant material waste; jackets made from smaller panels can be more easily cut in a way that uses up every last square inch of a hide.

Edit: Similarly, a customer during the Great Depression might be more willing to lay out money on one leather jacket if they knew it could be versatile enough to take the place of two jackets (i.e., draw the gussets in tight for spring & autumn use, let them out to accommodate more layers during winter weather).

 

[navetsea]

if the back panels are equally flat then it is just saving big panel using scraps for smaller panels.

if the back is shaped then it serves as extra polygonal shape for neater more tailored look/ less creases on the back.

I bet fit wise it would equal with center back seam on tailored suit jacket, but since on leather jacket center back seam is seen as weak point, then a pair of side panels would serve the same purpose in shaping the back.

 

[roadking04]

Who are the 3 oldest leather jacket producers STILL IN BUSINESS TODAY? I think Lewis is the oldest followed by Schott. Yes/no, who would be the third?

 

[Marc mndt]

Who are the 3 oldest leather jacket producers STILL IN BUSINESS TODAY? I think Lewis is the oldest followed by Schott. Yes/no, who would be the third?

Don't forget about European mainland makers

Meindl

https://www.meindl-fashions.de/heritage.html

 

[roadking04]

Meindl

Thanks Marc. They are ancient compared to LL. lol

 

[tmitchell59]

Side gussets - When did this feature first appear in the Vintage leather jackets? 1930's? Was the purpose for better fit? Or just aesthetics?


View attachment 336386

Jacket construction is an interesting study. Backs seem to have gotten little attention in the Sears catalog until 1935. These are the first pics of a jackets back I found!

A year later, 1936, we have these backs.

This is the Iconic Sears Hercules in 1936. Note the reference to the "Fancy yoke back".

The position of the side adjustments is interesting; below the half belt or even with the half belt or side adjustments with no half-belt. All manner of back construction continue into the 1950s.

I will see If I can identify the first use of a half belt on a leather jacket pictured in the Sears catalog.

This may be the first leather half-belt in the Sears catalog. Most prior leathers were short or long and belted. Given there were no pictures of backs this is guess work on my part.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Sears is technically still around... if you count the Canadians

Jacket construction is an interesting study. Backs seem to have gotten little attention in the Sears catalog until 1935. These are the first pics of a jackets back I found!


View attachment 336825

A year later, 1936, we have these backs.

View attachment 336828

This is the Iconic Sears Hercules in 1936. Note the reference to the "Fancy yoke back".

View attachment 336829


The position of the side adjustments is interesting; below the half belt or even with the half belt or side adjustments with no half-belt. All manner of back construction continue into the 1950s.

I will see If I can identify the first use of a half belt on a leather jacket pictured in the Sears catalog.

This may be the first leather half-belt in the Sears catalog. Most prior leathers were short or long and belted. Given there were no pictures of backs this is guess work on my part.

View attachment 336829

it’s interesting to see that longer looking jackets had the cinch at the half belt whereas the Cossacks and shorter looking jackets had cinch at the hem.
I will search the threads now to see if anyone has an Vintage original Hercules and it’s back length is actually closer to 23.5”, according to the way we measure back length now, and that would explain the cinch at the hem just like the other Cossacks.
Nevertheless, in my experience with jackets so far, side gussets give much better fit, more 3 dimensional. Of course I could be wrong because I haven’t had enough experience with jackets that don’t have them. Just a hunch so I thought I asked the question.
Thanks for the catalogue photos.

 

[tmitchell59]

Side gussets - When did this feature first appear in the Vintage leather jackets? 1930's? Was the purpose for better fit? Or just aesthetics?

I believe I have found the answer to your question, in the process answered a few of my own. Your questions helped put a few things together. I had never considered the addition of the side gussets or the significance. Now I see it. I will do a thread on my findings.