Lewis Dominator review

[DirtyHarry]

the pros: yes holy smoke the zippers have nice hardware, aside from the chest ones. the leather & its smell are like an aphrodisiac to my wife.....that's it?

the cons: side buckles are like treble hooks on your side; catch on everything you walk by & try to rip themselves off the jacket when you slide into a sports car with bolstered seats/sport seats or any other vehicle/chair/leather furniture (thought mine were sewed on wrong, double checked, nope they are supposed to flare out at the end of the buckle to snag). Fits like a tailored dress shirt, meaning you cannot wear anything more than a t-shirt underneath or wear a watch without it ripping up the silk? sleeve lining. I have no beer gut & the jacket's sleeves & length are spot on, so don't cite my diet when you dispute my argument.

Altogether I think it comes off as screaming hey look at me I'm trying too hard to be noticed-ish. the brilliant red lining, nipple tassles I mean chest zippers, extreme tailored fit....I wear it with jeans & doc marten square toes & still have to laugh at myself. The chest zippers I tucked in to the pocket because they put my black leather jacket named the Dominator over the top. I wish half the collared shirts in my closet fit this tight, but it's supposed to be a jacket for cripes sake.

I read a lot of bashing on noble house bf109 jackets here but I am about to order a medium brown one, hit it with lexol, & probably look a lot better with a heavier wallet to boot- their side buckles are made to fit snug to the body & the chest pocket zippers are so much classier, not to mention the button over zippered sleeves to boot.

When my jacket first arrived my wife loved it on me & still does, but the side buckles trying to constantly rip themselves off on everything I pass drives me nuts. Not sure if I'll keep the dominator but the fact that the total hack Sid Vicious wore one does not help its case. IMO it is a top notch jacket produced with defects of british engineering- side buckles from hell & nipple tassels.....WHY OH WHY?!?!?!?

 

[Boyo]

Well, now I've got to see it! Any chance of pix

 

[DirtyHarry]

I'm new here so the forum probably doesn't allow me to post pics

 

[Sloan1874]

Has to be said, the website itself does feel like it's selling high-end sports cars rather than leather jackets - I like it, but I'm always shocked at the price tag at the bottom of the page.

 

[Dav]

No restrictions on posting pics, only on sending private messages, just upload them to a site like Photobucket and post the img code in the reply box.

 

[Sloan1874]

I'm new here so the forum probably doesn't allow me to post pics

G'wan, g'wan, g'wan. We want to see this jacket!

 

[majormajor]

I'm new here so the forum probably doesn't allow me to post pics

If you host the pics elsewhere (eg imageshack.us) and use img tags in your post, your pics will show

Just copy the "direct link" from the host site, and place "IMG" (without the commas, but surrounded by [ brackets) before the link, and "/IMG" after it, job done.

 

[Fanch]

If you host the pics elsewhere (eg imageshack.us) and use img tags in your post, your pics will show

Just copy the "direct link" from the host site, and place "IMG" (without the commas, but surrounded by [ brackets) before the link, and "/IMG" after it, job done.

Photobucket works very well for me.

 

[Dickie Teenie]

Tassel's please...

 

[majormajor]

Photobucket works very well for me.

Yup, Photobucket is good. All those image-sharing sites do basically the same thing.

Only thing to beware of on photobucket is posting the wrong link will give folks access to your whole library of photos, rather than just the one:eeek:

 

[Dickie Teenie]

OUTch:eusa_doh:

 

[Edward]

Has to be said, the website itself does feel like it's selling high-end sports cars rather than leather jackets - I like it, but I'm always shocked at the price tag at the bottom of the page.

Well, I don't know. I know I saw a lot of Lewis jackets being worn in images of my punk heroes from back in the day, but I wasn't really aware of them as a brand until around 1999, when Rocky Horror fandom brought me to it (I never could afford to replicate Frank'n'Furter's leather jacket properly - a heavily patched and badged, slightly modified, Plainsman). Back then they were around GBP400, which seemed extortionate, but back then I was also buying "low-end" jackets at seventy pounds or so as the norm. When Lewis went out of business, before the brand changed hands and revived a few years ago, they were competing with Aero / Eastman on price. When they reopened they were significantly more expensive, but all the other brands are pretty much equivalent now. The nearest Aero has to a Dominator is the zip-sleeve Highwayman, which is currently GBP615. So I'd be reluctant to call them over-priced considering their direct competition. Personally, I find their hides rather flimsy for that sort of price range, but that is to personal taste (and they are accurate to the original jackets in that respect - quite typical of all the British stuff I have handled from the 60s / 70s. I've seen a lot of original Lewis jackets, and not one of them was significantly heavier than the average A2).

Being bike jackets they always were neat fitting (I get the impression this is why the guys from Insurrection seem so fixated on making their Aeros skintight). Buckles might well be chunkier than Aero etc, as would have been typical in Lewis' Sixties and Seventies heyday. Particularly the Seventies.... I've seen lots of British jackets from that period with zips that could hold a tank together, let alone close a jacket. That might add to the catching. Of course, as they were designed with bikes in mind, the design won't have been optimised for sports car seats, and then we get back to the old debate about period accuracy vs adaptation for contemporary usage.

 

[Sloan1874]

Actually, I stand corrected, they're not as expensive as I thought. For some reason I got it locked in my head that they were about a grand a pop - I did consider the Universal Racer when I started looking at jackets, but wanted something longer. Still rather fancy one, though, and the close fitting style appeals.

 

[Edward]

Actually, I stand corrected, they're not as expensive as I thought. For some reason I got it locked in my head that they were about a grand a pop - I did consider the Universal Racer when I started looking at jackets, but wanted something longer. Still rather fancy one, though, and the close fitting style appeals.

Yeah, they're closing in on seven hundred. Not much above the Aero mc jackets now, but a couple of years back when Aero's that are £600+ were all at £500 and just under, it would have looked much pricier. Lovely looking jackets and really accurate to the original Lewis designs. I get the collywobbles about how light the leather is on some of them, but that's purely personal preference. I like my leather to be as armour like as possible. Cut me leather jacket teeth on biker gear in the Eighties, so... [huh]

The wax cotton Mudlarker looks really nice, if pricey (while it has some lovely appointments, even allowing for it being hand-made I don't think I could justify the cost over and above an International). I have seen what are meant to be legit Lightenings made of wax cotton rather than leather. They were really sharp. Can't recall where that was, though.

Love the look of the MKI Universal Racer - puts me in mind of some of those quirky Scandinavian despatch rider jackets, or something pp a Luftwaffe boy might have worn.

 

[Blackadder]

Totally agree with the t-shirt part. If you can wear more than a t-shirt inside, the Lewis is too big for you. LOL. Also agree with your wife about the smell. Here is a quick snap of my Lewis Europa (I have sloped shoulder, so I need the pads). Anxiously awaits pics of your dominator.

 

[Dickie Teenie]

I get the collywobbles about how light the leather is on some of them, but that's purely personal preference. I like my leather to be as armour like as possible.

Collywobbles......learn something new every day....that has to be the same meaning as our HebeGeebees.....

 

[Edward]

Collywobbles......learn something new every day....that has to be the same meaning as our HebeGeebees.....

Yes..... I don't know the etymology of it (might be an Irish thing? Obvious reasons), but it's the same meaning.

 

[DirtyHarry]

ok let me fire up the bootleg internet connection & wait for it to load pics to photobucket, they're coming....

 

[DirtyHarry]

I don't ever dress like this, but just got off work & am answering the pic requests

note the rear of the buckle that flares out to grab all unsuspecting stationary objects

 

[Boyo]

The jacket looks like it fits great... You can certainly pull off the the snug fit.. Is there an alternate way to fasten the side buckle, could it be done up wrong?
BTW,it doesn't look bad with the camo