I think that is what a lot of people especially sellers got wrong. Buco pricing is because of hype on a specific model. Not all Buco cost that much. I have seen lots of PJ-27 or J-27 selling for much much less than a thousand. Of course we still see lots of listings of all kinds of Buco on ebay etc for over a 1000 but most of those have zero taker for months and remain so. That is true even for the repro as a second hand RM J-25 may have no taker at over USD 700 on Yahoo auction JP but a second hand RM J-24 costing USD 700 would be gone in seconds.I meant the hype of Buco pricing. Here is a Spiegel horsehide cross-zip from 1940s (dated by sleeve zippers), much rarer than a Buco, and I like it better than a Buco. Price? $120. No hype though....
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I meant the hype of Buco pricing. Here is a Spiegel horsehide cross-zip from 1940s (dated by sleeve zippers), much rarer than a Buco, and I like it better than a Buco. Price? $120. No hype though....
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...I see the negativity has risen considerably. Thanks
...I didn't want to name the manufacturer at all but sort of got shamed into it. I have stressed over and over to the point of being mocked...
This. I too feel that I can generally tell if a jacket is well patterned and well made or not just from a decent amount of photos. I'm sure a few of us who have owned and handled enough jackets feel the same way by this point. Am I still learning more? Of course, but I can get a general idea pretty well now just from seeing pictures now.Not to sound arrogant (tho I will) but I'd say that at this point, I absolutely can tell what makes a good leather jacket vs. bad one just by looking at a photo. And I know I'm not the only one.
Seeing Greg's work in such a detail, zoomed in on Instagram or by watching Youtube videos of his jackets, is more than enough for anyone who's been thru as many of these stupid things as I have, to draw very accurate conclusion on the overall quality.
Just saying there are some very fine cows, or goats out there.
What a s**t-show of a thread.
@Rgcards – I immediately knew that you were referring to a Himel jacket. Are Himel jackets worth $2,500? Not by any stretch of the imagination. FWIW, I never paid over $1,900 for any of my six Himel jackets (all purchased new from Himel) and they still were not worth the price paid. Not one of my Himel jackets is perfect. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoy them. Don’t ask me to explain.
With the possible exception of @ton312 's Zara jacket, every jacket on this forum is overhyped to some degree. I love JC as much as anyone – great guy – but my two GW jackets are both palpably flawed. One has a significant flaw that I see every time I wear the jacket. Thus, GW is as overhyped as any other brand. Yet, I thoroughly enjoy my two GW jackets. Again, don’t ask me to explain.
My new FCL jacket is very well made, but currently at the tailor because it is flawed.
Aero is a favorite child of this forum and I really like Ken. That said, I owned two Aeros and they both were spectacularly flawed – so much so that I quickly sold both. FL is the current brand du jour. I love Greg’s model and methods. That said, his jackets are also palpably flawed. FWIW, I still might purchase a FL jacket, but not because it is devoid of flaws. JL is another popular brand, but also palpably flawed. Even the exalted FW jackets are flawed.
Some cite Vanson as a benchmark of value. Maybe so, but I personally find Vanson’s seam construction, devoid of top stitching, profoundly banal and unappealing. Moreover, when there is no top stitching, flawed stitching is difficult to discern.
In short, all the jackets discussed here are over-hyped. The point of diminishing returns is likely well below $1,000 – probably below $500. I cannot justify any of my jacket purchases based on value. I overpaid for all of them based in part on hype.
I could continue ad nauseam (perhaps I am already there). Needless to say, I never read the book “How to Make Friends and Influence People,” and I likely further alienated myself with this frank post. So be it.
Ok, you convinced me. For Sale: two spectacularly over-hyped Himel Frobishers and two equally over-hyped Himel Kensingtons.
It is also interesting how a particular maker or object builds a small following (and often becomes cultish on a forum) because it is pretty good and then it suddenly explodes. Prices go up, everyone starts to talk about it and then, inevitably, some people start to turn against it. But in the end no product is perfect for everyone.
Who offers a really nice goatskin jacket? I've never had luck with goatskins
Who offers a really nice goatskin jacket? I've never had luck with goatskins
I’m a huge fan of goat but I have only had two new goat jackets. You had a Fivestar goat but you didn’t like it right? I actually think that it’s pretty nice. Except for the colour which is a little flat and a bit too dark for a seal brown.
I had an Aero goat jacket too which was nice as well. Much better colour than the Fivestar imo, although the grain is better on the Fivestar goat.
They are both put to shame by the vintage Swedish goat that I’ve handled. Thick and heavy and and grainy but with amazing drape. I have two myself and bought one that I sent on to @Carlos840.
I don’t know if any modern maker has a similar goat offering.
I really like my Thedi one
I had a seal goatskin from 5* and I have a chrome tanned goatskin from JL that I kept for now but I'll probably move it in later on as well. I've seen that nice Swedish goatskin you have and t Mitchell also has nice looking vintage ones. Agreed, those older jackets look better for some reason that today's offering. Maybe I should look into a vintage goatskin so I can appreciate it more.
Thank you, I'll look into that. Theo still hasn't gotten back to me in 2 weeks so still waiting
I would bet that many of the vintage goat looks better bc it’s been worn over a long period. Some of the older Langlitz goat looks good. I agree with you though, not my first choice in hide. I’ll go for a thicker hide, and “prettier” to my eye, for riding, etc.
The grains on those old goat looks different, they look really good,
I was guessing maybe goatskin is so strong and so abrasion resistant it might take forever to show wear plus the grains of the jacket I have is so fine it looks too uniform. Agreed I won't be getting a goatskin as a first choice too, I'd rather go for cow/horse/deerskin but I'll eventually want to experience trying on a moose/bison at one point.