Leather jacket meetup in London

[mumpy]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if there would be any interest to organise a meetup in London later the year (spring time?).

We could do a tour of the stores and then hit the pub!

 

[mvilla]

Yeah, I'd possibly be interested. Mainly on the pub part

 

[theeprimitivesound]

im gonna be visiting London in July, whats some good stores to visit!

 

[TartuWolf]

I'm visiting London March 18-21

 

[mumpy]

im gonna be visiting London in July, whats some good stores to visit!

There are a few I guess:

Rivet and hide
Lewis Leathers
Son of a stag
Clutch cafe
American Classics
Hey cowboy
Ralph lauren/RRL stores

And then there are more shops if you like shoes, hats, suits etc.

 

[Edward]

Depending on dates, yes!

 

[Edward]

There are a few I guess:

Rivet and hide
Lewis Leathers
Son of a stag
Clutch cafe
American Classics
Hey cowboy
Ralph lauren/RRL stores

And then there are more shops if you like shoes, hats, suits etc.

I've walked past Hey Cowboy many times, but not yet had a chance to go in. Interested to see it.

 

[mumpy]

I've walked past Hey Cowboy many times, but not yet had a chance to go in. Interested to see it.

I have also never been, would like to check it out.

 

[bn1966]

Cathcart are opening a London Store.

 

[ontz]

Argh, I used to live there! Would've totally joined. Hope you guys have a great time!

 

[theeprimitivesound]

There are a few I guess:

Rivet and hide
Lewis Leathers
Son of a stag
Clutch cafe
American Classics
Hey cowboy
Ralph lauren/RRL stores

And then there are more shops if you like shoes, hats, suits etc.

Much appreciated.

 

[Tom71]

By all means! Pretty busy for the next 12 weeks though, but I will try to make it.

 

[mvilla]

Perhaps someone's who's actually from London could organise an itinerary?

 

[Edward]

Cathcart are opening a London Store.

Oh! I had read hints this was on the cards - the pop up last year was great - but it's been confirmed now? I know it's something Simon has wanted to do since the early days. I'd love to be able to browse and try on in person. Last year I bought a suit and needed to go up one size in the waistcoat - it was really convenient just to be able to do that via the popup.

 

[bn1966]

Oh! I had read hints this was on the cards - the pop up last year was great - but it's been confirmed now? I know it's something Simon has wanted to do since the early days. I'd love to be able to browse and try on in person. Last year I bought a suit and needed to go up one size in the waistcoat - it was really convenient just to be able to do that via the popup.

Exciting news Edward,

I‘m up that way in a couple of weeks…mmmmm

 

[Chris_K]

That would be wicked, I'm tucked away across the pond (Irish Sea) but I'd definitely get a flight over for a couple days, would give me a chance to stop with my brother while I'm over there.

stopping around the stores you mentioned above - and a nice pub or two, with you gents, would be a treat!

 

[TartuWolf]

There are a few I guess:

Rivet and hide
Lewis Leathers
Son of a stag
Clutch cafe
American Classics
Hey cowboy
Ralph lauren/RRL stores

And then there are more shops if you like shoes, hats, suits etc.

Any more recommendations from London locals?

 

[mumpy]

Any more recommendations from London locals?

I don’t personally live in London so my knowledge is limited but there are also many vintage stores/markets that are worth visiting (quick google search should bring up a few).

 

[bn1966]

Enough places about for a couple of days worth of visits, will check as to whether Eastman pop up is popping up in Shoreditch this year.

 

[TartuWolf]

I don't plan to create a separate thread for this, so I'll just share my London experience in this thread.
4 days business trip to London. 1st time in UK.

Clothing places I visited and experiences with each:

1 . Various 2nd hand / Vintage stores
Stopped by a few places but quickly realized that the chances of the stars aligning (good quality, good materials, my size, my style) and doing so quickly without wasting the precious little time that I had were EXTREMELY slim.
So I just skipped the rest that I planned to visit.
Also why are all of them marketing themselves as "vintage" stores? They are 2nd hand / thrift stores, barely anything "vintage" about them..

2 . Various generic "leather jacket" shops
In the same neighborhood that I found a lot of "vintage" store there were a lot of "leather jacket" shops.
Horribly shit. Cheap, thin and flimsy leather. Generic Pakistan stuff. Avoid at all costs.
I came in, touched a few jackets for 1 sec and went right out.

3 . SON OF A STAG
My alltime favorite band (QOTSA) was being played at the store for the whole duration that I spent there. Huge bonus in terms of vibe for me personaly.
Nothing in my size in terms of leather jackets or the variations of military repro that I'm interested in (N1).
Tried on a few denim jackets but all of them were meh in terms of fit, fabric was also not to my liking.
Overall didn't find much interesting, but the staff was helpful trying to find stuff in my size.
In terms of leather jackets they mostly had Shangri-la. Was seeing those in person and touching them for the first time. Not too impressed.

4 . Leilah @Leilah Wilde
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/new-forum-member-brand-rugged-west.113663/
Had a great time talking to Leilah about jackets, boots and denim. Talked about her business, my leather jacket journey, Pakistan jacket makers etc.
From the jackets she had in stock none of them fit me. Some were ok in the body but way too tight in the sleeves (women models).
The leather itself seemed very inconsistent between the jackets and only one jacket had what I would call acceptable leather (for me personally). Not talking about suede here.
She agreed and is trying to improve that with the supplier.
I see great things ahead for her brand, if she can figure out a sustainable custom offering model that would be beneficial to both customers and her.
And if she can work out the leather consistency.
I would focus on improving quality (existing models, customization, leathers) rather quantity (adding/designing more models).

5 . Lewis Leathers
Not a big fan of LL, but was looking forward to checking them out in person.
For me personally most of the leather was rather dissapointing. Only the veg tan teacore cowhide seemed attractive, nothing else.
One model had a double male zip track for a fit adjustment, which was a very interesting idea for making it more universal in terms of t-shirt fit vs layering fit.
After trying ~5 jackets I didn't feel compelled to buy or order anything at all in the future.
Valuable but rather dissapointing experience.

6 . Rivet & Hide
This one I would definitelly recommend visiting.
Tried ~6 pairs of Iron Heart denim. The 21oz is surprisingly soft, feels like I could go for 25oz with Iron heart. Got a better idea of the cuts and sizing. I'd go for a 666 cut if I can find one gently used somewhere in my size. Definitelly not compelled to pay the full price though.
The Rogue Teritorry waxed canvas Supply Jacket in size XS fit me extremely well, that was the only item I was seriously considering buying. Would be great for summer use when it's too hot for a leather jacket.
They had some Vibergs, tried the 2040 model. Felt super solid and well built, but the toe box was too narrow for me even if the rest of the boot felt great. Great impression seeing and trying Vibergs on for the first time. Still pales to Nicks in my opinion.
Finally they head Japanese leather jackets. Don't remember all brands, but flathead and double helix were some of those. NOT impressed by the leather to be honest, but I like thicker stiffer leathers so it's personal preference. The cuts were horrendous - narrow shoulders and chest, ABSURDLY narrow sleeves, wide waist and bottom hem.
Great store, lots of cool stuff. Highly recommended.

7 . Red Wing store
Had nothing interesting to me. As dissapointing as all the other Red Wing stores that I've ever been to (Helskini, Berlin).

8 . Double RL
Very dissapointing. Especially the leather jackets. Flimsly think fashion leather, made in India, artificially distressed.
Everything was set up in the store to LOOK rugged, but when I touched stuff then it was artificially distressed meh clothing.
Would not recommend.

9 . American Classics
They had Bill Kelso and Eastman jackets. Nothing in my size or models that I'd consider.
Was shocked by how amazing the leather felt compared to everything else I touched in London. Absolutly incredible.
The 2000+ LL or Japanese stuff does not hold a candle to the ~1000 BK ones in my opinion.
One of the highlights for sure.

That's that, trying to keep things short and not going too much into detail.
Obviously all of this is just my experience / opinion and colored by my preferences.

Biggest takeaway from this trip - I fcking LOVE my Vanson E and would not trade it for anything that I saw in London.
It is simply incredible in all ways. And I paid ~200eu (or ~400 including shipping and all taxes) for it buying from Japan.
Best purchase ever.
Will write more about it the Vanson thread at some point.

Cheers!

Rogue Territory in XS:

My outfit for the trip: