Johnson Leather M200 in Horween Vermont Leather

[mowgli222]

Just took delivery of the jacket from Alan at Johnson Leather. This is the M200 model that he sells with added body length in a size 40. This is not for riding and will be used as an evening jacket. Love what Alan does. The jacket is very well made and am very happy with the interaction that I had with him. I also have to thank technovox as his jacket was what introduced me to this leather and Johnson Leather.

Some pictures here.

Zipped up from the back..

Zip open from the back..

One in the shade..

In my excitement of getting this jacket, I forgot to ask Alan to not put the wind flap behind the front zipper. In the pictures I folded it back. I am going to mail the jacket to him to get that taken out.

Also looking at the pictures, I feel that the back is a little big on me. So I will discuss with Alan the possibility of taking it in a little bit.

 

[thor]

I think the jacket looks great and to me the fit is fine. If you're only wearing a t-shirt in these pics, you may want to have some room for layering. Congratulations. Wear it in good health.

 

[morrison2951]

Looks good from here! Congrats!

 

[nick123]

It looks great. Think long and hard before you decide to take it in. It doesn't look too big from here.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I think the fit looks good what is Horween Vermont leather? Thickness, tanning and beast specs?

 

[Fanch]

Looks very good to me too. The JL product continues to impress.

 

[nick123]

Here's the Horween tannage list with Vermont listed towards the bottom:
http://horween.com/leathers/full-tannage-list/

Comparing it to Chromexcel, the differences being the Vermont is a straight vegetable tanned vs the CXL being combination tanned, Vermont being fat liquered vs CXL being hot stuffed. Vermont only comes in light weights. CXL-full range of weights. CXL-waxy, Vermont-smooth.

Oddly the CXL isn't listed as waterproof despite it being practically known to be here! (I think they make a CXL variant that is even more water tight).

 

[trapp]

I love the leather, esp. the color, and the jacket looks very nice with the extra length. The stock JL m200 is normally a really short jacket.

I'm going to go against the majority and agree with you that the jacket looks a bit roomy. The m200 is supposed to be a fairly snug fit and even taking into account the extra length it would look better, imo, as a more fitted jacket. Alan designed these jackets so that adjusting the body is very simple - in this case he would simply trim a little off each panel in the right and left side. If the jacket weren't custom, and if you weren't sending it in already for other adjustments (the windflap) I would say the jacket looks okay. But having seen well-fitted m200s (I'm not talking skin-tight here) I just think you could get a more flattering result with minimal adjustment. Just my $.02 of course.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I like it even more now I know it is a light weight leather.

 

[ProteinNerd]

I'm going to go with trapp here, if its already going back to get the wind flap taken off, I'd shave a little off the body while he is at it. It doesn't look bad at all but its obvious that there is some extra room in there when you look for it.

 

[Bunyip]

Looks fantastic! Great jacket. I think it suits you, and for a casual jacket the cut/ sizing looks really hood to me. Enjoy it. Wouldn't mind some close ups of the stitching and the grain?

 

[Monitor]

+2 on what Trapp said.

It looks good, but it could look better. If you like it as it is, everyone should, and while it doesn't seem too large, there is definitely some roominess going on in the body, especially on the back. I find it that lighter hides work best on snug fitting jackets.

 

[mendelboaz]

Jacket looks superb! What are those boots?

 

[mowgli222]

Thanks guys.. I love the weight of the leather and the jacket feels already broken in..

Since I am already getting the wind flap removed, I am just going to see if I can get the jacket to look fitted, not tight...

The boots are Redwing IRs in Amber Harness..

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[Damo]

The jacket looks great!! I think it would look even better if you tighten up the body and if even consider the upper arm areas as well. Or just get bigger arms by banging out lots of curls for the gurls!!!!

I really like the added length you had done. I'm working on a jacket with Alan and after seeing yours I'm definitely going to add some length to mine. And also a big thank you for reminding me about the wind flap. Please post pics again when you receive the jacket back from Alan

 

[technovox]

Good looking jacket! Well done!
I found the Vermont Horsehide to be very comfortable, easy to wear, and with a lot of character. I was told by Horween that the Vermont Horsehide is a “full grain” leather. And I think they said it comes in at around 2.25 to 2.5 oz. If anyone is interested in the Vermont, I believe Alan, is expecting a new shipment of it in a very rare darkish brown color. It’s kind of a one-off color that Horween doesn’t produce very often. (You can see this particular color in the pics of the Johnson Leathers M200L jacket I posted a while ago on Fedora.)

Good call on the wind flap. (For my purposes, I always felt windflaps were unnecessary and just added weight, so I had Alan make mine without wind flap as well.) Also I found I didn’t need as much bulk on the upper sleeves, so later on I had Alan tighten up the sleeves a bit. The profile turned out much better. Another option to consider.

I like the simple back on your jacket. What kind of lining did you get? Did you get an inside pocket? You might ask Alan if he has any of the special horsehide labels left (he was running out of them, so he might not like me suggesting this.)
Enjoy!

 

[mowgli222]

The lining is the regular Brown cotton drill on this. I also have an inside pocket. Also I have the same horsehide label on the inside pocket that you have on your jacket..

 

[technovox]

Looking at the pictures again, I'm thinking the shoulders look perfect. Just maybe a tuck on the sides, especially around the waist, for a slimmer profile. Great versatile color. Should age beautifully. Glad you got the horsehide label- maybe the last one!

 

[hondurasdave47]

Mowgli,

FWIW, I think the fit is great. I worked with Alan on a Sears Hercules repro - he's the consummate professional. Your jacket makes me want to get something made out of the Vermont Espresso!

Dave

 

[Cooperson]

That's a good looking jacket. I can understand you wanting the wind flap removed, I've never really looked the them myself. As it is, the jacket would work well with a sweater but if it's going to be worn with just a tee shirt then it could probably loose some in the body - isn't that major jacket surgery though?