Inspiration for my bespoke leather jacket

[giasty]

Hi everybody,

I'm a young boy (31 years old), last days I finally decided to buy my (practically) first leather jacket. It's years that I try to buy one, but due to my size, almost everything I found in "ordinary shops" is too big.

After good advice, I decided to go with Field Leathers. Due to 7 months lead time, now I have a lot of time to understand what type of jacket I want... (I decided to book my slot and than to use my time to decide every detail). I wrote also in the dedicated thread, but I think this discussion need a specific new one.

I'm looking for something clean, and I hope it to be "aesthetically hi end", a bit "elegant", if you understand what I mean.

My first idea was to choose "to copy" from these models:
- https://rivetandhide.com/fine-creek-leathe...de-jacket.html#
- https://rivetandhide.com/the-flat-head-hor...sic-collar.html
- https://therealmccoys.com/collections/oute...co-j-100-jacket
- https://almostvintagestyle.files.wordpress...fdstr.jpg?w=770
- https://www.archibaldlondon.com/be/...ualjackets-size=xs&color=horween-cxl-number-8

Than, in an italian forum, they suggest me to look also at fashion brands in order to be inspired and to reach my target.

- https://www.tomford.com/cafe-biker-...81_color=K09&cgid=men-ready-to-wear-outerwear
- https://www.valentino.com/it-IT/gia...wY5u-Xy4T3CZxqNjBcEaAoqDEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
- https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2a/ac/74/2aac7494c8888dbd5088a213bfe28a8a.jpg
- https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d4/6f/6d/d46f6d0da3107d84971e6e10a18f5e5c.jpg

I know my thread is pretty general, but this is my situation by now.
What do you think of the linked models? Do you see a big difference between jackets made by dedicated brands, or made by "fashion" brands?
Do you think is it possible to reproduce for example one of the last 2 jackets (YSL)? Do they look more fashionable, and a bit less biker's jacket?

Thanks for reading :-D

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

I think the fashion ones seem a little boring to me. Very oxymoronic I guess. Most of them use lambskin so the touch and feel might be nice, but I don't see the jacket evolving.

If this were for 5 Star for instance, I would say yes, you want to provide exact photos of what you want and have them copy. But with Greg, I don't know. I don't think it's fair to him to build something from scratch. He has his designs and then from there, I would ask him to make adjustments. I don't want to speak for Greg, but if it were me, not sure I would want to build a new design from scratch for every customer. Removing a pocket, adding a buckle or zipper, some small adjustment like a collar size, etc. sure.

I would look at the jackets on the Field Leather thread and see what you like as the base design. Also of course his instagram. And then make the little changes from there. For instance, I had him remove the hand warmer pockets for the Route 66 and I had him change the position of the wrist zips from the front to the back.

Again, maybe Greg is ok crafting something completely from scratch, but if I really like the fine creek jacket, or RMC, then I would just buy that. IMO, if you're buying a FL or small boutique product, you want it to have the characteristics of that maker.

 

[Mich486]

Difficult to answer without knowing your personal style. Don’t want to be snarky but it sounds like you don’t know what you really want.

The heritage brands (including field leathers) are more workwear and utilitarian oriented. Details are rooted in the first half of the 20th century designs and leather is stiff and thicker compared to what you find in shopping centres/malls.

Fashion brands (such a wide and generic definition!) are more geared towards casual wear and while sometimes they get inspiration from classic designs they normally come in softer leathers and the hardware is not period accurate but a modernised version. Most people here will tell you to stay away from fashion stuff. I think that there are both good and bad quality jackets in both categories and if your style is more fashion oriented you’d be much happier with an YSL than a Vanson. But that’s something you know! We can’t tell you.

From the pictures above it seems like you’d be happy with a generic centre zip black leather jacket. Figure out the features you want and speak to Greg.

 

[NYDRH]

Ultimately you have to decide what appeals to you the most, assuming Greg would be willing to make some of the more fashion forward designs. As others above have said he is clearly oriented to more classic designs of 20th century.

The Japanese(and others) repro brands range from exacting replicas of historical designs to modern reinterpretations of classic designs but they're all borrowing from the same ideas and adding their own flair. That fine creek is straddling the line between a classic design and their own fashion interpretation of it.

Fashion brands are reinterprating as well but drawing upon their own sense of style and what I believe is a wider range of design influence plus they need to keep pumping out different collections as that is their business and wouldn't survive rehashing the se exact thing each season.

Unless you are looking at the designs of CCP and the like it's unlikely you're going to see anything groundbreaking as most of these designs have been done and redone.

You are probably best served by choosing a more classic design as it will be more "timeless" and you won't look back and think why did I think that was cool. That Tom ford design with the extra large hand pockets looks like a mashup of a margiela 5 zip and a cafe racer. I doubt you'd be happy with it in 5 years.

Also, keep in mind while Greg seems to have a keen eye and posess significant talents, I would hesitate to push him far outside his wheelhouse (comfort zone). Much like a bespoke suit I wouldn't go to a Neopolitan tailor and ask for a rigid english business suit. You might get what you want and you might not.

 

[MrProper]

I doubt Greg will make a new pattern for you. Your new jacket will definitely be based on one of his existing patterns. From your pictures it is clear that this will either be @Marc mndt or @Jin431 jacket or a cafe racer like @Tom71 . You will be in good hands with both.

 

[Monitor]

Just gotta comment on how fantastic all of the posts so far have been in this thread. Anyway, OP, you need to figure out what is it that you want rather than what you think would be acceptable. You're paying a lot of money for this jacket. Make it what you personally want to see and be seen in.

 

[Marc mndt]

Keep in mind that these fashion jacket are made out of supple lambskin. FL jackets are made out of horsehide which has others characteristics. Horsehide doesn't stretch at all, which will be problematic with narrow sleeves like on this jacket.

The handwarmer pocket placement on this jacket is pretty much useless imo. They're too far out to be able to comfortably rest your hands in them. It doesn't help that they're vertical either. Which makes this design more fashion oriented than ulitarian. I don't know whether or not Greg is willing to do such a design. Best way to find out is by asking him

 

[Will Zach]

^^Bingo. I once made a very unscientific comparison - I cut same width strips of Greg's horsehide swatches and Badalassi steerhide and pulled on them. Compared to horse, the steer strips were like rubber bands! Horse does not stretch much.

 

[Jin431]

Hmm maybe narrow down what you really want? Ask yourself is this something I can wear 5-10 years from now? Will this jacket be a jacket I can wear almost anywhere and any setting or only for going out? If you plan to go for a fashion jacket I'm sure it might be out of style by then. Since it will be your first big purchase of a nice leather jacket maybe go for a classic look. Start looking up truckers/cafe racers/cross zips/half belts/highwayman styled jackets. I'm sure one of those will be a good first jacket, it will really depend on your own personal taste and style.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

I'm going to echo what @Mich486 said and say that it really seems like you don't know what you want. That's not meant as an insult at all. I have been there in the past myself. My point by saying that is that I do not think going fully custom would be the right option. Of course, you can feel free to disagree, but I really think that if you are not 100% sure of what you want, trying to go bespoke just will not work.

I am in the middle of something fully bespoke with Greg and he is making me an entirely new pattern. However, I gave him a ton of pictures to base the jacket off of and I know exactly what I want, give or take a couple of very minor details that I leave up to him. I personally think you should go for one of his standard models and if there is something that you really want modified on it, just ask him about that.

Other people that went custom with Greg on here are also people that knew EXACTLY what they wanted. I think that's what you need when going full custom with him. If you aren't sure what you want, you should go with something that is already well designed. Heck, even the jacket I am having him do is a design that already exists.

I would also say that trying to get him to reproduce a fashion jacket is a bad idea. His leather doesn't suit that and honestly, getting a guy like Greg to repro something like that kind of defeats the purpose of going with him in the first place. You can do whatever you like, but you did ask for our advice so this is my rather harsh, but hopefully helpful advice.

 

[Graemsay]

If you're looking for inspiration, Himel Bros made a minimalist café racer with no pockets a few weeks ago. I really like this design.

I posted it on another thread, and suggested adding a pair of inner pockets based on the M421 design.

Another contemporary jacket, with a similar look to the Tom Ford one you posted, is the Maison Margiela Five Zip. People on Styleforum get very excited about this design.

At the end of the day, most of the high fashion designs you posted are tweaked versions of biker jackets from the fifties or sixties, using a softer leather and bigger zippers. So the Route 66 or a version of the Aero's Highwayman (didn't someone ask for this?) would get you most of the way there.

I would also suggest being conservative with what you ask for. A manufacturer can iterate on a design to get it right, whereas you'll be doing a one of one run.

 

[navetsea]

like everyone said, you better not going with vague broad ideas of many jackets, you better find one that you really like
try to find out why you feel attracted to a jacket which part of it that you like, is it the collar or the placement of the pockets, etc.
try to combine them if you would and see if it make sense. usually a good design make sense in term of practicality, wearability, placing pocket that has a purpose, or where your hand can easily reach subconsciously make you see it as attractive, many "fashion jacket" stray away from these and just go with shock factor make something really pop with no real purpose of wearing it longer than a season, don't get trapped in this since they look dated very fast and you will feel wearing something with no real purpose, pockets where you can't imagine putting anything into, handwarmers you have to dislocate your wrist to use, belt loop too small for any belt, oh and cuff zip that doesn't taper, looks good for a while but with every wear you will feel it more and more the ridiculousness and impracticality of these thing and pretty soon you ll hate it.. like ultra minimalist house with stair hanging without railing, bathroom made from totally glass walls.

 

[navetsea]

btw, becareful with handwarmers, some angle some placement some opening length is practically trapping your hands in when the jacket worn open, you wear the jacket unzipped, slide both hands in handwarmers, and then you can't get your hands out again, the jacket move with you the pocket bag prolapse and twist and seal around your hand, the angle and the placement of the opening trap your hand inside, imagine you slip and want to grab something and you can't free your hand to protect yourself, there is a science to place handwarmers and every new handwarmers design should be field tested with the jacket worn unzipped real story.

 

[Jin431]

oh my. . . pocket placement huh

 

[navetsea]

happen to my type 3, i carry grocery bag on one hand get the car key from handwarmer i cant get my hand out by making a fist over my carkey, like a scene from indiana jones type movie where you slide your hand into a hole grab the treasure and couldnt pull your hand out.
I bet these

Keep in mind that these fashion jacket are made out of supple lambskin. FL jackets are made out of horsehide which has others characteristics. Horsehide doesn't stretch at all, which will be problematic with narrow sleeves like on this jacket.
View attachment 319168

The handwarmer pocket placement on this jacket is pretty much useless imo. They're too far out to be able to comfortably rest your hands in them. It doesn't help that they're vertical either. Which makes this design more fashion oriented than ulitarian. I don't know whether or not Greg is willing to do such a design. Best way to find out is by asking him

View attachment 319169

Would bring similar result.
better to have angled handwarmer and the bottom of the pocket bag must be secured/ anchored somewhere near the hem of the jacket can be stitched to the leather facing or something, the pocket bag should not hang loose that you can pull out of the pocket, since they can twist and prolapse around your fist especially over object like keychain with a lot of angles to grab to.

 

[Marc mndt]

Here's a clean FL design you might like.

 

[Jin431]

Here's a clean FL design you might like.

View attachment 319361

Now that's minimalist jacket and does it look good

 

[NYDRH]

Now that's minimalist jacket and does it look good

That does look very good from fit to design and won't ever go out of style.

 

[giasty]

Hi everybody,
first of all, thank you all for your replies, every one of them is really helpful to me.
You indicated me some points:
- it seems I don't know what I want: you are absolutely right! But I think that also with your help I will understand where to go
- types of leather used: I initially thought that "horsehide leather is the top choice, so I want it". Now I realize that I have to understand IF I like it, or not. The fact that "fashion brands" use supple lambskin worries me, because (maybe for you it's obvious) my thought that "horsehide is the top leather in the world" maybe was a bit stupid... I mean, it all depends on taste, and I actually haven't touched or seen that leather yet. I think that I must look and touch a horsehide and a lambskin jacket before spend a lot of money.
- these days I bought 7-8 leather jackets from a famous (in Italy at least) online shop, Yoox; I wanted to try pretty everything available in my size XS; I needed to touch by person something to understand something more of what I like. First ad all I noticed that none of them is ok for me.
I want to highlight and discuss with you about two of them:
The first one actually is pretty well with size and fit (maybe the best), this one:
https://www.yoox.com/it/41993910FU/item#sts=orders&cod10=41993910FU&sizeId=1&sizeName=44
From the description, it is made of calf leather. I don't know the thickness (how can I measure it here at home?), but my first impression is that it is heavy and rigid. I'm not sure I like these characteristics. Maybe it is the limit for me (I don't want something more rigid, or heavier).
The second one is this (very cheap I know):
https://www.yoox.com/it/16014822WM/item#sts=orders&cod10=16014822WM&sizeId=&sizeName=
The description says that it is made by lambskin. Actually it is very soft. I don't like the style: the collar is ugly, the jacket is...characterless, but maybe, this the type of leather I'm looking for. At least for softness and suppleness. For you it could be a little boring, it surely has "less character", but if I find something better in fit, maybe MTM, with a better style, but with a leather with these characteristics, I think it could be my first choice.
I attach 3 photos of them.

The first one, in size XS, weigh 1.4 kg -> 3.1 lb. It's a lot! Horsehide leather would be pretty the same? Better of worse? Even more rigid?

 

[navetsea]

Jacket weight is not only affected by the leather but also by the lining material, hardware, double panels (like kidney panel, patch pockets, gusset action back panel) , and also the fit of the jacket if the jacket is hanging on you someway then you feel its weight all day, but if the jacket fits you right it doesnt feel heavy on you, just feel like you gain weight 2 kilos. However with thick leather cow horse etc, you will feel initial stiffness, just like heavy jeans, but it also give the jacket more shape or able to maintain its own shape better for a very long time, if you like the silhouette of certain jacket then if you have it in stiff heavy hide its initial shape is going to last, while if you have it in lamb, or anything that is soft, flexible, stretchy, it will be copying your body after a month or two or the first time you get in the rain wearing it, will look like a little bit shinier hoodie, will look effortless very fast, you can roll the sleeve and thing, depending what you like.