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Five Star Leather Jackets

Messages
17,490
Location
Chicago
Ultimately 5 star jackets aren't bad, but they also aren't great. Even the best of 5 Star is really mediocre at best. They are just OK. I was never 100% satisfied with a single jacket. I won't buy another. While it was fun to play designer for awhile, the end results were never quite as I hoped. I always figured I could solve the problems of one jacket on the next one but it never worked out that way. The custom process is very affordable with them but when the end result is so mediocre....the perceived value loses all it's luster.
 
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Observe

One Too Many
Messages
1,208
Ultimately 5 star jackets aren't bad, but they also aren't great. Even the best of 5 Star is really mediocre at best. They are just OK. I was never 100% satisfied with a single jacket. I won't buy another. While it was fun to play designer for awhile, the end results were never quite as I hopped. I always figured I could solve the problems of one jacket on the next one but it never worked out that way. The custom process is very affordable with them but when the end result is so mediocre....the perceived value loses all it's luster.
Only took 341 pages to get to this conclusion, lol.
 

KBlake

One Too Many
Messages
1,866
Ultimately 5 star jackets aren't bad, but they also aren't great. Even the best of 5 Star is really mediocre at best. They are just OK. I was never 100% satisfied with a single jacket. I won't buy another. While it was fun to play designer for awhile, the end results were never quite as I hopped. I always figured I could solve the problems of one jacket on the next one but it never worked out that way. The custom process is very affordable with them but when the end result is so mediocre....the perceived value loses all it's luster.
This is the moral of the story.
 

MotionDesign

One of the Regulars
Messages
156
Shall we ask the mods to close this thread now? Lol
"Underdog Jackets" is gripping series where a plucky team of Pakistani entrepreneurs sets out to revolutionize the fashion industry with their high-quality jackets. The odds are against them as they navigate the cut-throat world of fashion, but they have the support of a loyal fan base who are rooting for their success while trying to score a perfect jacket themselves. It's a classic underdog story like Rudy's quest to play football for Notre Dame. But will they come out on top, or will they crash and burn like Bud Fox in Wall Street? Tune in for another 341 pages to find out!
 

mjay

New in Town
Messages
8
Location
Belgium
I asked for a custom 1920s railroad coat with shawl collar from fivestar. Goatskin in seal brown. Turned out pretty decent I think.

Learnt from my previous cossack jacket (which was already pretty decent for the money).

cheers -mjay
 

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MotionDesign

One of the Regulars
Messages
156
5* has graciously agreed to remake the front of the sunset remake jacket that I posted about above. I’m a repeat customer and apparently they value that. I’m pleasantly surprised to say the least.
Great to hear that! That's a generous offer. That gives me hope that they will eventually reply and provide an explanation for a King Kong sized liner in my last jacket. In the meantime, it's so long to 5-star and hello to vintage Vanson :)
 

Aloysius

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,943
Yes I've seen a handful of great looking 5* jackets, as @MrProper shows above they are indeed capable of making premium quality good fitting jacket. But for each good one there are at least a dozen (if not more) duds.

The secret to 5* imo is to exclusively get those jackets he's done that are directly patterned on originals.

I think this is the key reason VLJ customers are very satisfied, while TFL ones are initially very excited until reality kicks in.

By and large, customers here are thinking up or seeing their dream jackets and sending them to Five Star in the form of photo references for the team to interpret into patterns. They often end up being great visual copies, but the pattern is half baked, so the jacket looks cool on a hanger, but is unwearable on the body. One person here even got 5*'s tannery to produce his dream leather, which was horrific, but at the time they didn't know how to say no.

VLJ customers, on the other hand, were (by and large) sending vintage military jackets to Shawn, having him copy the patterns exactly, and ending up with well-fitting jackets (albeit sometimes with subpar materials, which have since gotten better). If you get one of those jackets, patterned on vintage, you'll get something great. But there's no easy way to tell which is which just by looking at the website, though there are sometimes tell-tale signs like the original vintage maker's name being listed.
 

Kennyz

Familiar Face
Messages
77
Location
Ohio
The secret to 5* imo is to exclusively get those jackets he's done that are directly patterned on originals.

I think this is the key reason VLJ customers are very satisfied, while TFL ones are initially very excited until reality kicks in.

By and large, customers here are thinking up or seeing their dream jackets and sending them to Five Star in the form of photo references for the team to interpret into patterns. They often end up being great visual copies, but the pattern is half baked, so the jacket looks cool on a hanger, but is unwearable on the body. One person here even got 5*'s tannery to produce his dream leather, which was horrific, but at the time they didn't know how to say no.

VLJ customers, on the other hand, were (by and large) sending vintage military jackets to Shawn, having him copy the patterns exactly, and ending up with well-fitting jackets (albeit sometimes with subpar materials, which have since gotten better). If you get one of those jackets, patterned on vintage, you'll get something great. But there's no easy way to tell which is which just by looking at the website, though there are sometimes tell-tale signs like the original vintage maker's name being listed.
Does anyone know which models of their Civilian jackets were copied from originals?

Ken
 

torfjord

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,776
Location
Sweden
Ultimately 5 star jackets aren't bad, but they also aren't great. Even the best of 5 Star is really mediocre at best. They are just OK. I was never 100% satisfied with a single jacket. I won't buy another. While it was fun to play designer for awhile, the end results were never quite as I hoped. I always figured I could solve the problems of one jacket on the next one but it never worked out that way. The custom process is very affordable with them but when the end result is so mediocre....the perceived value loses all it's luster.

I only got one 5 star jacket, but you are right on the money here. It's an OK jacket. If it had been my first leather jacket I would have been very happy with it. However, I can't help but compare it to Thedi and Vanson and many other great jackets that I have or have had. And it falls very far behind those brands. There is a reason I never went back to them.
 

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