Custom Roughout Jacket Advice

[yeongwoo]

Hi everyone! I'm currently talking with Johnson Leathers about a custom olive-colored type II roughout leather jacket and they recently sent two leather samples for me to choose between. Of course, I want to make sure the quality of the leather is good and maybe that's related to whether it's from a well known tannery or producer? Both the samples I was sent are somewhat thin, but this is not necessarily unexpected since I'm looking for a more versatile jacket so they recommended 1.0 - 1.3mm, but it's hard to shake the associate of "thick / substantial" with "higher quality."

Basically, if there are any concrete ways I can judge the quality of the leather beyond just "vibes" that would be useful to know!

Thanks in advance!

 

[ton312]

Hi everyone! I'm currently talking with Johnson Leathers about a custom olive-colored type II roughout leather jacket and they recently sent two leather samples for me to choose between. Of course, I want to make sure the quality of the leather is good and maybe that's related to whether it's from a well known tannery or producer? Both the samples I was sent are somewhat thin, but this is not necessarily unexpected since I'm looking for a more versatile jacket so they recommended 1.0 - 1.3mm, but it's hard to shake the associate of "thick / substantial" with "higher quality."

Basically, if there are any concrete ways I can judge the quality of the leather beyond just "vibes" that would be useful to know!

Thanks in advance!

You can safely ignore the previous post as it offers zero original scholarship and really doesn’t provide anything more than regurgitation of other people’s posts (which don’t even apply to your question at hand). I’ll provide some of my own, as I currently own 12 roughout/split hides and can tell you my feelings based on first hand experience.

If it’s a jacket you want to wear in the rain or foul weather, go thick. These are all around 3.5-4oz. Water repellent and not damaged by a soak.

If you aren’t worried about weather(rain, etc) then you can go thinner. These are around 2oz

I wouldn’t want the thinner hides getting wet. I don’t think they’d fare as well. I haven’t tested that notion and I don’t plan to.
These represent the extremes of my suede collection and hopefully from the pics you can discern the difference in drape. Frankly, IMO, with split or roughout hides, thicker is better. It will drape as well as the thinner hides with very little effort and offers superior weather resistance.
I also have some 2.5-3oz suedes that are a nice bridge between the two.

If you are building a custom roughout, go thick. It will wear like a wet wool and drape very comfortably while also being completely worry free of the elements.

 

[AeroFan_07]

You can safely ignore the previous post as it offers zero original scholarship and really doesn’t provide anything more than regurgitation of other people’s posts (which don’t even apply to your question at hand). I’ll provide some of my own, as I currently own 12 roughout/split hides and can tell you my feelings based on first hand experience.

If it’s a jacket you want to wear in the rain or foul weather, go thick. These are all around 3.5-4oz. Water repellent and not damaged by a soak.
View attachment 744683
View attachment 744685 View attachment 744686 View attachment 744687

If you aren’t worried about weather(rain, etc) then you can go thinner. These are around 2oz
View attachment 744688
View attachment 744689
View attachment 744690
I wouldn’t want the thinner hides getting wet. I don’t think they’d fare as well. I haven’t tested that notion and I don’t plan to.
These represent the extremes of my suede collection and hopefully from the pics you can discern the difference in drape. Frankly, IMO, with split or roughout hides, thicker is better. It will drape as well as the thinner hides with very little effort and offers superior weather resistance.
I also have some 2.5-3oz suedes that are a nice bridge between the two.
View attachment 744693
View attachment 744692
View attachment 744691
If you are building a custom roughout, go thick. It will wear like a wet wool and drape very comfortably while also being completely worry free of the elements.

Now THAT is an informed reply.

Nothing like exampling it here Tony.

Since I have never owned a Roughout jacket, I have nothing further to add.

 

[MrProper]

I only have one roughout and it sheds quite a lot. Next time, I would look for one that doesn't do that. Maybe mine is an example of not-so-great quality. But it's quite heavy, which I like. From that point of view, I would also recommend the heavier one.

 

[yeongwoo]

You can safely ignore the previous post as it offers zero original scholarship and really doesn’t provide anything more than regurgitation of other people’s posts (which don’t even apply to your question at hand). I’ll provide some of my own, as I currently own 12 roughout/split hides and can tell you my feelings based on first hand experience.

If it’s a jacket you want to wear in the rain or foul weather, go thick. These are all around 3.5-4oz. Water repellent and not damaged by a soak.
View attachment 744683
View attachment 744685 View attachment 744686 View attachment 744687

If you aren’t worried about weather(rain, etc) then you can go thinner. These are around 2oz
View attachment 744688
View attachment 744689
View attachment 744690
I wouldn’t want the thinner hides getting wet. I don’t think they’d fare as well. I haven’t tested that notion and I don’t plan to.
These represent the extremes of my suede collection and hopefully from the pics you can discern the difference in drape. Frankly, IMO, with split or roughout hides, thicker is better. It will drape as well as the thinner hides with very little effort and offers superior weather resistance.
I also have some 2.5-3oz suedes that are a nice bridge between the two.
View attachment 744693
View attachment 744692
View attachment 744691
If you are building a custom roughout, go thick. It will wear like a wet wool and drape very comfortably while also being completely worry free of the elements.

You can safely ignore the previous post as it offers zero original scholarship and really doesn’t provide anything more than regurgitation of other people’s posts (which don’t even apply to your question at hand). I’ll provide some of my own, as I currently own 12 roughout/split hides and can tell you my feelings based on first hand experience.

If it’s a jacket you want to wear in the rain or foul weather, go thick. These are all around 3.5-4oz. Water repellent and not damaged by a soak.
View attachment 744683
View attachment 744685 View attachment 744686 View attachment 744687

If you aren’t worried about weather(rain, etc) then you can go thinner. These are around 2oz
View attachment 744688
View attachment 744689
View attachment 744690
I wouldn’t want the thinner hides getting wet. I don’t think they’d fare as well. I haven’t tested that notion and I don’t plan to.
These represent the extremes of my suede collection and hopefully from the pics you can discern the difference in drape. Frankly, IMO, with split or roughout hides, thicker is better. It will drape as well as the thinner hides with very little effort and offers superior weather resistance.
I also have some 2.5-3oz suedes that are a nice bridge between the two.
View attachment 744693
View attachment 744692
View attachment 744691
If you are building a custom roughout, go thick. It will wear like a wet wool and drape very comfortably while also being completely worry free of the elements.

Thanks for such a detailed response! Those are some sweet jackets, I especially like the blue one, the contrasting stitching is a nice touch. Are these custom?

Regarding thickness, my main concern is that it might be too warm in ~60-70 degree weather, as I tend to run warm... According to Johnson Leathers, 3 oz translates to roughly 1.1-1.3mm, so I think the samples I got were in that range. I'll post a picture when I get home, but the swatch was thinner than I expected!

Is thinner vs. thicker roughout achieved by shaving down the "inner" layer? Or is just a function of the animal / where the hide was taken from.

 

[ton312]

Thanks for such a detailed response! Those are some sweet jackets, I especially like the blue one, the contrasting stitching is a nice touch. Are these custom?

Regarding thickness, my main concern is that it might be too warm in ~60-70 degree weather, as I tend to run warm... According to Johnson Leathers, 3 oz translates to roughly 1.1-1.3mm, so I think the samples I got were in that range. I'll post a picture when I get home, but the swatch was thinner than I expected!

Is thinner vs. thicker roughout achieved by shaving down the "inner" layer? Or is just a function of the animal / where the hide was taken from.

The rust and black jacket is a custom from @regius. The others are various vintage pieces from Schott, East West and Pioneer wear.

I think 3oz will be more than enough for your climate. It’s been down into the low 50’s here and still too warm for my heaviest suedes. I’ve never thought JL’s roughout looked thin but I’d be curious to see the swatches. I would imagine JL can skive the leather to whatever thickness you desire.

 

[cbez]

I only have one roughout and it sheds quite a lot. Next time, I would look for one that doesn't do that. Maybe mine is an example of not-so-great quality. But it's quite heavy, which I like. From that point of view, I would also recommend the heavier one.

Probably depends how much the flesh side is trimmed down. some ppl like the look of longer 'strands' but it will def shed more.

 

[yeongwoo]

The rust and black jacket is a custom from @regius. The others are various vintage pieces from Schott, East West and Pioneer wear.

I think 3oz will be more than enough for your climate. It’s been down into the low 50’s here and still too warm for my heaviest suedes. I’ve never thought JL’s roughout looked thin but I’d be curious to see the swatches. I would imagine JL can skive the leather to whatever thickness you desire.

Here are the samples! I prefer the color of the olive lamda, and it feels a bit more substantial as well.

 

[yeongwoo]

Also does anyone have any idea what “olive lamda leather” is? Googling doesn’t seem to come up with any results…

 

[cbez]

Those are not thin for a jacket by any means, but they also don't make for particularly attractive roughout imo. they look to have been trimmed down a lot to be a grain side leather.

 

[cbez]

If you look at mine it feels more like it was finished to be a roughout. ymmv.

 

[yeongwoo]

Those are not thin for a jacket by any means, but they also don't make for particularly attractive roughout imo. they look to have been trimmed down a lot to be a grain side leather.

Hmm do you mean that the flesh side was overly shaved down? In terms of looks, maybe it’ll be more versatile for me, since I’m also not a very rugged guy haha.

My main concern would be if trimming it down could impact durability.

 

[cbez]

No, it would not impact durability.

 

[TartuWolf]

If I'd ever go for a roughout jacket then I'd go straight for horween waxed flesh or some other type of waxed roughout without a doubt. I've never heard of a jacket made of that kind of stuff though, might be a good reason for that. Most likely stiffness.

 

[ProfG]

You can safely ignore the previous post as it offers zero original scholarship and really doesn’t provide anything more than regurgitation of other people’s posts (which don’t even apply to your question at hand). I’ll provide some of my own, as I currently own 12 roughout/split hides and can tell you my feelings based on first hand experience.

If it’s a jacket you want to wear in the rain or foul weather, go thick. These are all around 3.5-4oz. Water repellent and not damaged by a soak.
View attachment 744683
View attachment 744685 View attachment 744686 View attachment 744687

If you aren’t worried about weather(rain, etc) then you can go thinner. These are around 2oz
View attachment 744688
View attachment 744689
View attachment 744690
I wouldn’t want the thinner hides getting wet. I don’t think they’d fare as well. I haven’t tested that notion and I don’t plan to.
These represent the extremes of my suede collection and hopefully from the pics you can discern the difference in drape. Frankly, IMO, with split or roughout hides, thicker is better. It will drape as well as the thinner hides with very little effort and offers superior weather resistance.
I also have some 2.5-3oz suedes that are a nice bridge between the two.
View attachment 744693
View attachment 744692
View attachment 744691
If you are building a custom roughout, go thick. It will wear like a wet wool and drape very comfortably while also being completely worry free of the elements.

What a lovely collection! Are any of those JL jackets? The first one somewhat resembles a Pioneer piece I picked up on Ebay. It was sweet but I had to send it back because the fit was off.