Adam in Canada
New in Town
- Messages
- 33
- Location
- Calgary, AB, Canada
Hello all. My name's Adam. I live in Calgary, which is a bonus if you enjoy wearing leather jackets as the weather is leather-friendly nearly year-round. That is to say, other than a few rainy summer weeks and a few hot summer weeks, the rest of the year is mild or cold enough to justify a leather jacket every time you venture out.
Until about two months ago, and other than the ubiquitous Indy jacket infatuation and fascination, I had never put much thought or care into leather jacket selection or purchases. If I saw a jacket I liked, and the quality and price were acceptable to me, I bought it. End of story. And then I saw an advertisement for a lambskin Schott A2 with a WWII map of Europe screened/printed onto the lining. My wife liked it and bought it for my 41st birthday in January. It's this one (photo sourced w/o permission from Schott's website):
It fits beautifully and I'm enjoying it thoroughly. The A2 got me thinking about my favorite jacket, one I picked up in Seoul in January 1993. There are no tags or labels of any sort; no size, no manufacturer, no description of hide, nothing. The following photos are taken w/ my wife's cell phone (the quality of the photos speaks for itself). The color of the leather (on my screen, in any event) is only close to being true in this first image (also showing the lining). I'm hoping you can tell me a little something about the jacket. By the way, after 15 years of regular and rough wear, it is just now starting to break in. (There was a time not long ago it stood up on its own.)
Some googling brought me to this fine forum of yours, and then to the ebay page of a vendor/manufacturer known as Aero, which, to my taste, is an all you can eat (ie: spend) buffet.
My only other go-to jacket is this very old thing, which has styling similar to Aero's “Veste de Rallye” (that's me, by the way, doing an Oyster shot):
So, in addition to hitting you up for your insights as to the origins and backstory of the design of my Seoul jacket (not the A2, but the other brown jacket shown above), I'm hoping you can direct me to a resource for information on the differences, advantages and disadvantages of steerhide vs horsehide. I'm now interested in adding a "Cafe Racer" to my collection for use with jeans/t-shirt/boots, and considering having one custom made.
If I have learned anything from blowing my budget watch collecting, it's that you'll spend less in the long run if you take the plunge and spend the money to get exactly what you want right out of the gate, instead of accumulating a lot of less expensive close-but-no-cigar appeasements (if I can use that word), which, in the final analysis, has cost me more in the aggregate than I would have spent on the one or two or three must-haves.
That's my story, and I'll thank you in advance for your replies.
Best regards,
Adam
Until about two months ago, and other than the ubiquitous Indy jacket infatuation and fascination, I had never put much thought or care into leather jacket selection or purchases. If I saw a jacket I liked, and the quality and price were acceptable to me, I bought it. End of story. And then I saw an advertisement for a lambskin Schott A2 with a WWII map of Europe screened/printed onto the lining. My wife liked it and bought it for my 41st birthday in January. It's this one (photo sourced w/o permission from Schott's website):
It fits beautifully and I'm enjoying it thoroughly. The A2 got me thinking about my favorite jacket, one I picked up in Seoul in January 1993. There are no tags or labels of any sort; no size, no manufacturer, no description of hide, nothing. The following photos are taken w/ my wife's cell phone (the quality of the photos speaks for itself). The color of the leather (on my screen, in any event) is only close to being true in this first image (also showing the lining). I'm hoping you can tell me a little something about the jacket. By the way, after 15 years of regular and rough wear, it is just now starting to break in. (There was a time not long ago it stood up on its own.)
Some googling brought me to this fine forum of yours, and then to the ebay page of a vendor/manufacturer known as Aero, which, to my taste, is an all you can eat (ie: spend) buffet.
My only other go-to jacket is this very old thing, which has styling similar to Aero's “Veste de Rallye” (that's me, by the way, doing an Oyster shot):
So, in addition to hitting you up for your insights as to the origins and backstory of the design of my Seoul jacket (not the A2, but the other brown jacket shown above), I'm hoping you can direct me to a resource for information on the differences, advantages and disadvantages of steerhide vs horsehide. I'm now interested in adding a "Cafe Racer" to my collection for use with jeans/t-shirt/boots, and considering having one custom made.
If I have learned anything from blowing my budget watch collecting, it's that you'll spend less in the long run if you take the plunge and spend the money to get exactly what you want right out of the gate, instead of accumulating a lot of less expensive close-but-no-cigar appeasements (if I can use that word), which, in the final analysis, has cost me more in the aggregate than I would have spent on the one or two or three must-haves.
That's my story, and I'll thank you in advance for your replies.
Best regards,
Adam
.
