Lee Trevor Trucker 101-J

[Guppy]

Almost looks to have a cordo tint. Nice!

It does have a warm reddish tone to the brown.

 

[Monitor]

Won't be able to improve on that one, regardless of the brad. Fits & looks awesome. Just like denim Lee. Man, doesn't seem to be one bit inferior to my Aero in this style. Gotta find one in my size and in the right leather. One I bought from Terry, that jacket was sooo nice. Why'd sleeves had to be 23"...

Prices of Lee Trevor jackets have skyrocketed as well and it's all TFL. When I got mine, there literally wasn't one bit of info about them to be found. But the jackets are of outstanding quality. I'm glad they're getting the recongition they deserve.

 

[Guppy]

Here's one more, indoor museum lighting.

 

[Guppy]

One more.

 

[Guppy]

So here's a mystery. After wearing the jacket for two days, I've noticed that the two waist cinches are missing the buckles. They're just not there. The strap that goes through the buckle has folds in it indicating that once there had been a buckle there. The side of the strap that held the buckle is sewn in a loop, indicating that whoever removed the buckle sewed the strap back up.

I wrote to the seller to ask what he knows about it, and went out of my way to tell him that I had no intention of trying to return it. He claims that the jacket was new and unaltered, and that I must be a liar, and am using pictures of another jacket. Which, of course, is nonsense. Sigh.

What's weird is, his listing photos clearly show that the straps did have buckles at one time. As he claims the jacket is new, I have no idea why the buckles would have been removed, but that could only have been done by the seller.

Seller's photo:

My photo:

So it looks like I'll need to source some buckles that will fit these straps and have someone sew them on for me.

 

[user290389023]

How the he** did you get ahold of this jacket? I suppose they arent produced anymore, i dont know too much about Lee Trevor. I had seen terry mitchell wear an old worn in one full but seeing a new one was very cool. Too bad they dont produce these anymore, its a very cool jacket.

 

[Guppy]

How the he** did you get ahold of this jacket? I suppose they arent produced anymore, i dont know too much about Lee Trevor. I had seen terry mitchell wear an old worn in one full but seeing a new one was very cool. Too bad they dont produce these anymore, its a very cool jacket.

Saw it listed on ebay from a fellow in Australia. Seller wanted too much for it for what I was willing to pay, but I kept watching it, and after about 6 months he came down slightly, and I was able to talk him down a little further to a more reasonable price, still a bit high, but considering it was a new old stock, arguably it was a square deaal, and bought it from him.

It arrived, I found it missing the side adjuster buckles, and wrote back to ask about it, and he disavowed any knowledge of it, called me a liar, and left negative feedback on the transaction.

I filed a case for an item not as described at that point. I was not interested in returning the jacket or anything, but I just wanted to find out what the story was about the missing buckles, and if there was any chance that he might have them in a drawer somewhere, or something. But I took umbrage at having my feedback score ruined, and drew the line and decided to fight it as a matter of principle.

Ebay found in my favor, and he changed his tune after he realized he might lose the proceeds from the sale, apologized to me, and asked what he could do to make it right. I told him like I'd said all along I didn't want to return it, just wanted to know what the story was, if he knew anything, and if by chance he had the buckles. He still didn't have any explanation for it, and didn't have the buckles, so the only thing that I was interested in was if he could get the negative feedback stricken from my record, and I'd be happy to close the case and keep the jacket, no price adjustment or anything. He agreed, apologized for freaking out at first when I asked him my question, he was just being paranoid in spite of the assurances that I'd conveyed that I wasn't interested in a return or partial refund, and he got ebay to erase the negative feedback, and I sourced buckles on my own and had them installed at a local leather repair shop.

It was pretty crazy. But in the end it was ok.

 

[Monitor]

I missed the buckles story! Interesting and kinda crazy. Doesn't look like the straps were opened at any point, stitching all looks original. Good you settled everything, @Guppy and that's a very nice jacket!

 

[navetsea]

just brass double D jump rings and pliers, no need for tailoring in covid stricken world as of now probably is your best solution, or temporary double tape them in place

 

[Monitor]

just brass double D jump rings and pliers, no need for tailoring in covid stricken world as of now probably is your best solution

People gotta work. And eat. COVID death rate is what, 14%? Death rate by starvation is 100%. Let's help out small business!

 

[navetsea]

sure if there is one that is still open, give them a job.

 

[Guppy]

just brass double D jump rings and pliers, no need for tailoring in covid stricken world as of now probably is your best solution, or temporary double tape them in place

That's maybe a possible explanation. I don't know what kind of buckles were used originally, but the loops they ran through were still closed, and I can't imagine anyone would cut the stitching and then re-sew the loops without buckles in place.

I did find a fragment of metal in the mailing bag it came shipped with, and my only working theory was that the buckles were made from poor quality metal which fractured at some point during transit from AUS to USA. Perhaps in airmail they were exposed to low temps in an unpressurized part of the plane, became brittle, and fractured. I still have my doubts, as the bag was well sealed, and there was only a single fragment in the bag, not enough to piece together even one complete buckle, let alone two. Did they shake out of the bag along the way? Could be, maybe.

If the fragment was from one of the buckles, it did not look like round wire of the sort that they typically make D-rings from.

I'll have to post some pics of the replacements I had installed at some point. The shop did a really nice job installing them.

 

[Guppy]

People gotta work. And eat. COVID death rate is what, 14%? Death rate by starvation is 100%. Let's help out small business!

This was well before the pandemic outbreak.

Globally the death rate is about 7% right now, according to coronavirus.app. As long as businesses can make adjustments to implement effective precautions to enforce distancing recommendations, I don't see a problem with them resuming operations. But a lot of businesses realistically aren't easily able to do that. And until the medical community can develop effective treatments, we need to do everything we can to help reduce the demand we're putting on them to treat COVID cases. People don't need to starve. They need assistance.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

@Guppy:
Just for historical purposes, here’s a couple pics of the original buckles on the Trevor. They appear solid brass but the back half of one of mine is broken off so i guess they do break.
B

 

[Guppy]

View attachment 230072 View attachment 230073 @Guppy:
Just for historical purposes, here’s a couple pics of the original buckles on the Trevor. They appear solid brass but the back half of one of mine is broken off so i guess they do break.

Thanks. Those look a lot like what I used for replacements.

 

[navetsea]

the huge solid alloy buckle on my old belt (dull silver in color) just crumble, I don't see air pocket in casting or visible oxidation but they suddenly after a decade it just crumbles like cookie dropped on the floor.
metal in the cross section is greyish, solid brass buckle is a lot more dependable and flexible a lot less brittle.

 

[Guppy]

the huge solid alloy buckle on my old belt (dull silver in color) just crumble, I don't see air pocket in casting or visible oxidation but they suddenly after a decade it just crumbles like cookie dropped on the floor.
metal in the cross section is greyish, solid brass buckle is a lot more dependable and flexible a lot less brittle.

Yeah, sounds like poor metallurgy, maybe poor casting or metal injection molding process.