Let's see those photos of broken-in brown Vicenza leathers

[tnjyoung]

Good morning everyone,

I have done a lot of research in the past several days and, while I found one or two similar posts on here, I am having trouble finding more than an example or two of aged/broken-in brown Vicenza leather. I remember when the stuff came out in 2014 (or so) that almost everyone queued up orders for this beautiful leather. This tells me that there should be several of you who have worn that leather for 3-5 years by now.

What I would like is for those of you who have the time and would be gracious enough to post some photos of your brown (Russet, Italian, Seal, Dark Seal) jackets (preferably you wearing them).

I am particularly interested in russet. In some photos it appears bright and almost orange, while in others it appears to be a rich medium brown. Which is true?

Also, please leave a comment or two as to what you think of the Vicenza now that there is beginning to be enough history with the leather to make some general observations.

I know that CXL FQHH seems to be king on here, and the newest craze is the Badalassi, but I am really interested in the Vicenza.

 

[Psant25]

I had a type iii in brown vicenza sold it mainly due to fit issues and it was not as specified (press studs not buttons and contrast stitching I did not want) Broke in pretty quick. Take a look of the gentleman that rode cross country in his vicenza mc jacket. Probable would take many years of wear to get it broken in like that. I think either you are a fan of the lighter weight and very heavy grain or not. I may end up getting another spring/summer jacket in vicenza, but rolling cxl hh these days.

 

[ton312]

Paging @Fanch
I believe he has more than one vic jacket in the available browns.

 

[Guppy]

I thought that there was some significant variance in the batches with Vicenza. The original stuff looked amazing, rich color and lots of grain, but later vic that was typical of 2017-2018 jackets seemed to be flatter in color and less grainy. I've only seen one Vicenza jacket in person, a used 1930s half belt in black that i picked up this year, I think it is an older jacket, but I don't know when it was made. I also have a natural Badalassi jacket, made by Bill Kelso, which has matured to a burnt orangish brown. They're quite different in character, the Vicenza drapes and isn't nearly as stiff. In fact I'd say that the Vicenza isn't stiff at all, while the Badalassi still has some stiffness to it.

 

[BloodEagle]

edit - oops, sorry I didn’t read the bit about it needing to be brown.

 

[tnjyoung]

No worries. Thank you everyone for the input so far. I love the look of the CXL Brown, but I want that "next step down" in stiffness. I am looking for a buttery-soft leather that is as comfortable to wear as it is beautiful. Because at the price of these jackets, I don't want it to just look good in photos....I want to "want" to wear it.

 

[Mich486]

I’d give a thought also to the seal jerky HH as well as the battered seal HH. Seal jerky is definitely a pleasure to wear and still plenty thick.


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[jacketjunkie]

I own a very rarely worn Aero A-2 in russet vicenca horsehide. The jacket has a number of issues which make me not wear it, the Vicenca leather being one of them, so I cannot help you much with how it looks broken in. I can tell you the hide looks kinda dull mid brown in artificial light and not very desirably, but in the sunlight it somehow lights up and looks truly beautiful. It scratches too easily for my taste though. Don't get me wrong, clx scratches easily too, but scratches on the accelerately aging clx leather blend in as wear while on the vicenca, scratches stand out more and look like damage. Atleast that's how I feel about them.

If you want a lighter hide, I'd recommend goatskin. Super
tough, available in nice looking shades of brown (russet and seal) and while goat ages very slowly, a truly broken in goatskin jacket looks beautiful.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Mine isn't old enough for your purposes but I have an 8 month old Thurston Bros Aero half-belt Vic in some version of brown - don't remember which. Mine is not a soft leather or particularity grainy. It has a firm/stiff hand and I would describe it as FQHH light. I prefer the qualities of goat but Vic is ok. It scuffs up and wrinkles quickly but the scuffs fade away. Mine's a size 42 and weighs close to 4 pounds.

Leather varieties when new don't usually excite me and in my view the only test of leather is what it looks like years on. Some hides today seem to be created to appeal to the buyer immediately, with shades, fades and textures that are present in the shop, but you wonder what these "pretty hides" will look like years on.

 

[Grayland]

The truth is that most people here have so many leather jackets that no one jacket ever gets broken in enough.

 

[tnjyoung]

Hahaha!

Edit--The quote did not show up. I was laughing at the comment about everyone having too many jackets to ever break one in.

Thank you everyone for your contributions.

 

[AeroFan_07]

So TNJ young - this is not brown, and the jacket was sold to a FL member in Australia due to the fit not being what I liked after I received it. This is a highly grainy batch of Vic, in black, but the leather itself was stunning. I debated hard about the sale. I have no trouble recommending this leather after trying this jacket out. Hope these photos help, I also (briefly) owned your Sheene a couple years back...


Golly, I miss this jacket!

 

[tnjyoung]

That one really is beautiful!

 

[marker2037]

I hope this thread picks up steam as I'm interested in possibly ordering a dark seal vicenza A-1 from Aero with olive knits, but I'd love to see some more real life, used pictures of the leather in any color.

 

[Fanch]

The truth is that most people here have so many leather jackets that no one jacket ever gets broken in enough.

Ain't that the truth??!!

 

[Fanch]

Paging @Fanch
I believe he has more than one vic jacket in the available browns.

Tony, as @Grayland pointed out "The truth is that most people here have so many leather jackets that no one jacket ever gets broken in enough." That certainly applies in my situation.

At one time I had some pictures saved from PAWINEGUY loaning me his Russet Vicenza Sheene as a fit jacket since he and I are roughly the same size. I took a number of pictures of his jacket at the time but apparently deleted them. The only jacket i have that shows any degree of wear/patina is my CXL FQHH Brown Teamster.

 

[tnjyoung]

Okay, I have settled on a hide....and it was not Vicenza. @Marker2027 would still like to see this post stay alive, however, so post away.

I myself, kept seeing Russet Vicenza look organish-red in some photos and this scared me. I ended up going with "Seal Jerky HH" to make certain that I get a true "brown". I will post photos when she arrives, but that may not be until late February.

Cheers everyone. Thank you for your help, and Happy Holidays to everyone!

 

[regius]

I wish I have either no bone in my upper body or have many joints in the arms.


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[Superfluous]

I wish I have either no bone in my upper body or have many joints in the arms.

 

[Thuggee]

So TNJ young - this is not brown, and the jacket was sold to a FL member in Australia due to the fit not being what I liked after I received it. This is a highly grainy batch of Vic, in black, but the leather itself was stunning. I debated hard about the sale. I have no trouble recommending this leather after trying this jacket out. Hope these photos help, I also (briefly) owned your Sheene a couple years back...
View attachment 200941 View attachment 200942 View attachment 200943 View attachment 200944 View attachment 200945

Golly, I miss this jacket!

Don’t worry it’s been well cared for here in Australia

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