how many leather jackets did it take?

[wild_balls]

Hi,

It takes a lot of years, and a lot jackets to find the right/perfect fit. My mistake in the beginning was to buy jackets that I thought I could squeeze myself in. Looked good in pictures, but was very uncomfortable to wear in real life.
Bespoke jackets and good communication with the craftsman I think is the best solution. Might be expensive at first, but cheaper in the end!

Good luck!

Cheers, Joakim

 

[dgbrt]

Hi,

It takes a lot of years, and a lot jackets to find the right/perfect fit. My mistake in the beginning was to buy jackets that I thought I could squeeze myself in. Looked good in pictures, but was very uncomfortable to wear in real life.
Bespoke jackets and good communication with the craftsman I think is the best solution. Might be expensive at first, but cheaper in the end!

Good luck!

Cheers, Joakim

This is pretty good advice. I'm learning that just because it 'fits,' doesn't mean it'll actually be fun to live with. For my body type though, sizing up doesn't usually yield a very flattering fit but I guess that's part of the fun of finding what works best.

 

[jerryoldiee]

This is pretty good advice. I'm learning that just because it 'fits,' doesn't mean it'll actually be fun to live with. For my body type though, sizing up doesn't usually yield a very flattering fit but I guess that's part of the fun of finding what works best.

dgbrt, fair point on sizing up not being flattering. One thing worth keeping in mind is that shoulder fit is the hardest part to fix later, while sleeve length and body length are easier to adjust. So if the shoulders sit right, it’s often worth looking for a slimmer or shorter cut from the maker rather than going up a size. What’s been the trickiest part for you so far, shoulders, length, or sleeves?

 

[dgbrt]

dgbrt, fair point on sizing up not being flattering. One thing worth keeping in mind is that shoulder fit is the hardest part to fix later, while sleeve length and body length are easier to adjust. So if the shoulders sit right, it’s often worth looking for a slimmer or shorter cut from the maker rather than going up a size. What’s been the trickiest part for you so far, shoulders, length, or sleeves?

Good question. Stuff that fits well in the shoulders for me tends to not have a slim enough chest or enough taper in the waist. I have a thin-ish frame, and live in California, so am after more of a t-shirt fit with a lot of the jackets I'm after. But conversely, once the chest and waist taper is good, often the shoulders are too narrow (Fine Creek, looking at you).

 

[jerryoldiee]

Good question. Stuff that fits well in the shoulders for me tends to not have a slim enough chest or enough taper in the waist. I have a thin-ish frame, and live in California, so am after more of a t-shirt fit with a lot of the jackets I'm after. But conversely, once the chest and waist taper is good, often the shoulders are too narrow (Fine Creek, looking at you).

dgbrt, that’s a tough combo and a common one with a thin frame. Patterns that cut slim through the chest often run narrow in the shoulders too. If you ever look at a made-to-measure, ask whether the maker can adjust shoulder width separately from the chest. Roughly what are your shoulder and chest measurements? It might help people point you toward the right cuts.

 

[floater]

Good question. Stuff that fits well in the shoulders for me tends to not have a slim enough chest or enough taper in the waist. I have a thin-ish frame, and live in California, so am after more of a t-shirt fit with a lot of the jackets I'm after. But conversely, once the chest and waist taper is good, often the shoulders are too narrow (Fine Creek, looking at you).

I’m similar, broad shoulders, slim waist, socal weather and usually go for a slim fit.

I’ve also been very lucky with my jacket purchases, since arriving here just over 2 years ago, I’ve bought 10 jackets and I still have all of them, although I also agree with others that 5-6 is the sweet spot.

I know my measurement ranges well and I don’t fluctuate much, but I never pull the trigger, no matter how tempting it gets, until I know 3 things for sure, it’s gonna fit well, it’ll work with my style and wardrobe, and I’ll have opportunities to wear it.

So far it’s worked great although it’s gotten better since I started as the first 3 out of the 10 that I’ve bought since arriving here are the least worn, I think my best advice is to calm your temptation with the best counter argument you can make for whatever is tempting you, most of the time my counter arguments win, when they don’t then I buy it.

As far as sizing jackets for your body type, I would suggest to always go for the model of the design you’re interested in that has waist suppression via cinch straps, tabs, laces, etc. most jackets look good even if the chest is a bit baggy as long as the shoulders and waist are good, also always ask for the hem width measurement, some cinch straps won’t cut it if the starting point is over 2-3” from your target.

Some specific designs I would suggest would be cropped halfbelts, chp’s, some cafe racers like tfh and rc that have waist suppression and wider shoulders, I would also suggest to look for specific designs that have narrower shoulders, longer sleeves and wider armholes, sounds weird I know but it works on some models, I have one and I have fwd sloped shoulders, it’s more comfortable than having the shoulder seam sitting on my shoulders, it kind of feels like wearing a vest with sleeves.

Here’s a fit pic, this is around 4cm below the usual s2s measurement I take with narrow armholes.

 

[aorange]

I’m similar, broad shoulders, slim waist, socal weather and usually go for a slim fit.

I’ve also been very lucky with my jacket purchases, since arriving here just over 2 years ago, I’ve bought 10 jackets and I still have all of them, although I also agree with others that 5-6 is the sweet spot.

I know my measurement ranges well and I don’t fluctuate much, but I never pull the trigger, no matter how tempting it gets, until I know 3 things for sure, it’s gonna fit well, it’ll work with my style and wardrobe, and I’ll have opportunities to wear it.

So far it’s worked great although it’s gotten better since I started as the first 3 out of the 10 that I’ve bought since arriving here are the least worn, I think my best advice is to calm your temptation with the best counter argument you can make for whatever is tempting you, most of the time my counter arguments win, when they don’t then I buy it.

As far as sizing jackets for your body type, I would suggest to always go for the model of the design you’re interested in that has waist suppression via cinch straps, tabs, laces, etc. most jackets look good even if the chest is a bit baggy as long as the shoulders and waist are good, also always ask for the hem width measurement, some cinch straps won’t cut it if the starting point is over 2-3” from your target.

Some specific designs I would suggest would be cropped halfbelts, chp’s, some cafe racers like tfh and rc that have waist suppression and wider shoulders, I would also suggest to look for specific designs that have narrower shoulders, longer sleeves and wider armholes, sounds weird I know but it works on some models, I have one and I have fwd sloped shoulders, it’s more comfortable than having the shoulder seam sitting on my shoulders, it kind of feels like wearing a vest with sleeves.

Here’s a fit pic, this is around 4cm below the usual s2s measurement I take with narrow armholes.

View attachment 822265

I wonder if it’s a shoulder shape difference for me then. I have broad square shoulders and I find the wide armhole trick leads to triangle shaped drag on the sleeves (on top of being uncomfortable).

 

[floater]

I wonder if it’s a shoulder shape difference for me then. I have broad square shoulders and I find the wide armhole trick leads to triangle shaped drag on the sleeves (on top of being uncomfortable).

Likely yes, I have an athletic build with developed trapezoid and broad fwd sloped shoulders so my jackets usually get pulled in different directions, I usually feel them pull from the back collar to the front armpit instead of s2s or p2p, but that’s the only jacket I have with narrow shoulders, all the rest are 3-4 cms wider with narrower armholes, and some fit slimmer than that one.

 

[morrison2951]

So I collect watches and sunglasses and a few other things that are a little easier to judge on a page before putting down cash. Got bit by the heritage leather jacket bug last fall and after grabbing a Y2 Single Rider that (in my view) fit perfectly, picked up a few other complimentary jackets in the subsequent months to round out my wardrobe options, but can't seem to find anything else that fits OTR without a concession of some sort. Now I have a rack of pretty neat pieces that cover the spread, so to speak, but each introduce their own nitpicks. I've never noticed quite this much fit disparity in more designer stuff (Todd Snyder, YSL, Celine, etc.) so is getting lucky on fit more of a feature than a bug with most heritage/repro Japanese brands? Or do I just need to keep looking? Almost went MTO on a recent Johnson's visit in SF but a lot of their stock patterns left me feeling a little lukewarm. How many jackets did it take before you struck gold?

Gold! GW Admiral Byrd

 

[AeroFan_07]

So I'm late to this party, and I recognize that not everyone or every situation calls for a cross-zip jacket. I'm still working on the straight-zip and "non-black" options, as presently I have neither of those in my small collection.

Had I been reasonably smart, I would have stuck with this one and forsaken all "later cross zips" from my list. Contentment is indeed real freedom, and somehow, I forsook that shortly after this thread was made (Pardon the poor, really goofy fit photos):

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/lost-worlds-j23-initial-review.92361/

As if one iteration of the "J23" (Now called the "J24") was not enough, have a look at Round 2 here:

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/lost-worlds-j23-version-2-0.101368/

These were actual situations, that cost actual $$$ and resulted in actual losses of that same $$$. So somehow, this whole collecting, trying business currently does not feel great. It's small in the long run scheme of things but still has it's bearing. Hence why I'm at a very slow ebb now of buying anything else.

 

[floater]

I’ve been thinking about this one, it’s really tough to narrow it down to just 3, 5 would be easier.

Only way I could make sense of picking just 3 is to break them down to weigh class, so this is how I’m approaching this, and I’m only picking from the 15 I currently have considering I’m pretty much done and not craving anything else other than maybe an oilve roughout chp, but that would be custom and likely not in my top 3.

Lightweight, 3oz/1.3mm and lower

Middleweight, 3.25-3.75oz/1.4-1.7mm

Heavyweight, 4oz/1.8mm and higher


My first and easiest pick would be the lightweight class, elmc black hh highway star, it’s borderline lightweight at around 1.3mm but it feels lighter when worn, this eastman leather is something else, I heard the praises but wasn’t expecting this nice of a leather, to me this hh feels like thick grainy calfskin, oily, buttery smooth but lots of character, and the lining is equally impressive, silky smooth, very dense but it feels light and fresh when worn, it’s the newest in my closet but has quickly become my go-to black jacket, this would be my daily beater jacket.

My second pick is the heavyweight class, naked sun red/black shrunken buffalo thunder road, it’s 2mm thick and most of the front is double paneled, it’s a tank, but it’s extremely flexible and non-restrictive when worn even though it doesn’t have any type of extension or gussets, I also like how unique it looks, it’s wild seeing how it grabs random people’s attention and by far the jacket that gets the most compliments, this would be my special occasions jacket.

My last pick for the middleweight class is really tough, I can’t do it sorry, it’s a full blown tie between fw brown deerskin bodie and fw brown hh mulholland, you’d think it’d be easy to pick one over the other since they’re both brown spread collar straight zip jackets, but the leather type and how they feel when worn is totally different, mulholland is the structured, tough and protective jacket, while the bodie is the super comfy, drapes like a chunky cardigan jacket, these would be my versatile dress up or down jackets.

 

[bobjones]

My last pick for the middleweight class is really tough, I can’t do it sorry, it’s a full blown tie between fw brown hh mulholland...

View attachment 822353

Hi Floater, do you have a link to this jacket?

This is the only one I found and it is black, not brown, and only $464 so I am not sure if this is the same one.

https://brakehouseshop.com/products...ket-tea-core-horsehide?variant=50681686163769

Also the Highway Star is a grail jacket for me, just gorgeous - but coming in at almost $2K is quite a reach. If I was to look to buy something that expensive, I might just go with LW who is local to me. Like maybe a Surburban in a lighter-weight HH.

 

[aorange]

Hi Floater, do you have a link to this jacket?

This is the only one I found and it is black, not brown, and only $464 so I am not sure if this is the same one.

https://brakehouseshop.com/products...ket-tea-core-horsehide?variant=50681686163769

Also the Highway Star is a grail jacket for me, just gorgeous - but coming in at almost $2K is quite a reach. If I was to look to buy something that expensive, I might just go with LW who is local to me. Like maybe a Surburban in a lighter-weight HH.

They’re not made anymore. Brakehouse is a proxy for a lot of chinese makers, so you’re probably seeing something from Real Simons that’s a knockoff of the originals.

 

[floater]

Hi Floater, do you have a link to this jacket?

This is the only one I found and it is black, not brown, and only $464 so I am not sure if this is the same one.

https://brakehouseshop.com/products...ket-tea-core-horsehide?variant=50681686163769

Also the Highway Star is a grail jacket for me, just gorgeous - but coming in at almost $2K is quite a reach. If I was to look to buy something that expensive, I might just go with LW who is local to me. Like maybe a Surburban in a lighter-weight HH.

Freewheelers no longer makes the mulholland and I believe the brown mulholland was made fewer yrs than the black one, so only the pre-owned market exists and, unlike the black one, the brown is seldomly seen for sale.

The highway star is also a rare bird, not many around and also not many like it, I was looking for a specific type of black straight zip chp without a chest pocket, thick/warm lining or side laces and I didn’t want vintage, teacore or super thick/stiff leather either, this one checked all the boxes and really exceeded all my expectations.

 

[bobjones]

Freewheelers no longer makes the mulholland and I believe the brown mulholland was made fewer yrs than the black one, so only the pre-owned market exists and, unlike the black one, the brown is seldomly seen for sale.

The highway star is also a rare bird, not many around and also not many like it, I was looking for a specific type of black straight zip chp without a chest pocket, thick/warm lining or side laces and I didn’t want vintage, teacore or super thick/stiff leather either, this one checked all the boxes and really exceeded all my expectations.

The Star truly is one, its a gorgeous piece and the lighter weight HH increases its appeal significantly. I just picked up a 6th jacket this week so I might hold off on another for a while but like a good politician - I always like to keep my options open.

I think 5-6 jackets might be the right number, so long as they are all finding a place in the rotation. If I were to grab that ELMC or a LW Ryder, I'd probably have to sell one of my current ones off, but I really like all of them as they all have a specific weather/scenario they are ideal for. I curse the fates for only putting 7 days in the week when there are so many amazing jacket choices out there.