Repro 1930s Sears Original Hercules jackets; whose is best?

[nick123]

That's dignified. But it seems you don't need any extra votes.

For me this is an interesting poll and what it shows if nothing else, is that this type of poll absolutely has to be public. This way you can see who has voted twice for their own jacket for example! You can also see and subtract from the final total votes that you know to be completely partisan. In addition, you can see who has actually opened an account just to cast a vote!

How do you vote twice? Can I go back and vote for the other two?

 

[IXL]

I believe the particular entity being referenced actually voted three times.

 

[handymike]

I'm going to point to my other thread here.
I love my GW Imperial!!!
but I think that if. we put pics side by side of the way the jackets look when worn, you all will see differences, and see that mine isn't strictly a Hercules reproduction. I of course an assuming that Aero's is.
Schitz, can I copy your fit pics so we can have at least 2 of the jackets side by side?

 

[nick123]

Apples and oranges, apples and oranges. Same song being covered three different ways...none of them are better than the other.

 

[handymike]

Good morning to you too, Nick! ;-)

 

[nick123]

Good morning to you too, Nick! ;-)

lol

 

[bretron]

I'm going to point to my other thread here.
I love my GW Imperial!!!
but I think that if. we put pics side by side of the way the jackets look when worn, you all will see differences, and see that mine isn't strictly a Hercules reproduction. I of course an assuming that Aero's is.
Schitz, can I copy your fit pics so we can have at least 2 of the jackets side by side?

I think to Eric's point and that of JC a few posts back; the GW Imperial really shouldn't be considered in this poll as it was not intended to be a repro Herc (at least not to the level of a JC standard). Or put another way, if John wanted to reproduce the Hercules you could safely close this poll altogether knowing his was crowned King. You don't see a lot of polls asking who makes the best Dubow, Werber, Rough Wear, etc etc

Ironically, if you caught what JC was saying and why he makes the Imperial and not a Hercules, it's because to him the Herc wasn't worth copying to begin with. That said, perhaps neither the Aero nor the BK versions may be all that accurate either because when fitted properly look better than originals!

So I want to recast my vote; "they all lose"!!

 

[handymike]

Maybe more appropriate would be BK / Rainbow Country / Aero. They all claim to have been taken from originals.

 

[pipvh]

I went for the BK. My Greek ancestry did NOT sway me in any way... Seriously, I love the fact that BK did a straight-down-the-line repro of one particular jacket, pictures of which I have been gazing at online for several years. The other two jackets are excellent, don't get me wrong, but I think BK nails the details that matter to me.

 

[zhz]

I vote for BK but here's what I think about these three jackets:

John's jacket is not accurate repro because he intend to not make a accurate repro but a good looking jacket. But, the imperial is a great looking jacket.
BK makes an accurate repro, and the details are great, and I personally like the leather used by BK. But from what I've heard, the price of this jacket is too high.
Aero, I dont know how accurate their repro is, because I still think they didnt get the cuff right, the original one they have seems to have a sharper cuff? But I think this is easy to change if they want to. And the price of Aero's one is a big win.

 

[Dinerman]

How many of you own both an original and a repro to be able to make an informed comparison?

 

[Blackadder]

How many of you own both an original and a repro to be able to make an informed comparison?

I have been wondering about that along with a related question. Hercules is a line of clothing by Sears and in that there are many leather jackets with the Hercules label that are of different styles. The question is then did Sears under the Hercules label just make one leather jacket style over the course of ten years i.e. the 30s or is there a consensus that only one style could be called the "original" 30s Hercules?

 

[Dinerman]

There were lots of different models produced by Sears under the Hercules label, and within those models, variations from year to year and contractor to contractor. The "original" line is just modern marketing hype. The particular model everyone seems to be producing is a specific one, made in the mid-late 1930s (previously reproduced by Aero as the 1920s halfbelt before the name change).

 

[simonc]

I own vintage and new jackets, and I usually now only buy new jackets as buying an old leather jacket (for me) is like buying an old dog. I went for the Aero as I am a fan of Ken's work.

 

[zhz]

BK has two jackets named under Hercules, the new original Hercules, which is the one we discussed here, and another one is Westfall.

 

[schitzo]

Schitz, can I copy your fit pics so we can have at least 2 of the jackets side by side?

sure, go ahead

Maybe more appropriate would be BK / Rainbow Country / Aero. They all claim to have been taken from originals.

I think to Eric's point and that of JC a few posts back; the GW Imperial really shouldn't be considered in this poll as it was not intended to be a repro Herc (at least not to the level of a JC standard). Or put another way, if John wanted to reproduce the Hercules you could safely close this poll altogether knowing his was crowned King. You don't see a lot of polls asking who makes the best Dubow, Werber, Rough Wear, etc etc

Ironically, if you caught what JC was saying and why he makes the Imperial and not a Hercules, it's because to him the Herc wasn't worth copying to begin with. That said, perhaps neither the Aero nor the BK versions may be all that accurate either because when fitted properly look better than originals!

So I want to recast my vote; "they all lose"!!

For those still pushing the apples and oranges angle let me ask one simple question. How many of you can honestly say you'd seriously contemplate owning more than 2 of the three from this poll? I know they're not the exact same thing, but close enough I think that you wouldn't want two ergo if you're a buyer contemplating a jacket in this style these 3 along with rainbow county (assuming you're not too tall nor averse to financing it) are the likely contenders. Am I wrong?

EDIT: Schitzo got in around 5 last night, a little juicy. Obviously I meant MORE THAN ONE

 

[Dinerman]

Alhough the Westfall, sold as a 1930s Sears model, is based on a late 1940s jacket that I sold that wasn't sold by Sears. Such is the repro business.

 

[Blackadder]

There were lots of different models produced by Sears under the Hercules label, and within those models, variations from year to year and contractor to contractor. The "original" line is just modern marketing hype. The particular model everyone seems to be producing is a specific one, made in the mid-late 1930s (previously reproduced by Aero as the 1920s halfbelt before the name change).

That leads me to your question of comparing the original to repros. Are all three companies copying the same model or did they all copy different models? This poll is framed in such a way that there are 2 issues at hand. One is a comparison of the three jackets as they are on their own to get which people think is the best, the other is which jacket is the best repro of the original which involves accuracy of styles, leather, fabrics and other materials used etc.

 

[zhz]

For those still pushing the apples and oranges angle let me ask one simple question. How many of you can honestly say you'd seriously contemplate owning more than 2 of the three from this poll? I know they're not the exact same thing, but close enough I think that you wouldn't want two ergo if you're a buyer contemplating a jacket in this style these 3 along with rainbow county (assuming you're not too tall nor averse to financing it) are the likely contenders. Am I wrong?

Exactly, these threes are very similar, and this makes it hard to decide which one to go for. And I don't think the purpose of this thread is to compare which one is the most accurate one, (of course, this is one important factor and thats why we discussed about it).

 

[pipvh]

How many of you own both an original and a repro to be able to make an informed comparison?

Good point. I haven't, personally. In fact I don't like scrupulous reproductions of this style because I don't really like the way the lower front panels point downwards below the level of the back hem.

Btw, here's a link to the jacket BK seem to be inspired by: http://www.vintageworkwear.com/2011/10/1930s-hercules-cossack-style-belt-back.html