Addict clothes leather vs Lewis leathers

[leathermilitia]

Lurked for a long while. With the exchange rate of the yen vs the dollar, an addict jacket is about $500 cheaper than the cheapest option from lewis leathers now (vs when an addict jacket was like twice the price). So i'm wondering if I should just opt for an addict jacket over the lewis. Can anyone tell me who has a better fit and hides?

 

[Aloysius]

Lurked for a long while. With the exchange rate of the yen vs the dollar, an addict jacket is about $500 cheaper than the cheapest option from lewis leathers now (vs when an addict jacket was like twice the price). So i'm wondering if I should just opt for an addict jacket over the lewis. Can anyone tell me who has a better fit and hides?

If you're in the US, remember that the Lewis price is 20% lower than you see on the site.

 

[leathermilitia]

If you're in the US, remember that the Lewis price is 20% lower than you see on the site.

Oh, really? I was just going by GBP to conversion rate but I suppose their site listed price is the VAT?

 

[Aloysius]

Oh, really? I was just going by GBP to conversion rate but I suppose their site listed price is the VAT?

Correct.

 

[leathermilitia]

Correct.

Either way an addict still seems to come out slightly cheaper price wise, and I have the option of only paying half upfront with addict until it's ready to be delivered.

 

[Aloysius]

Either way an addict still seems to come out slightly cheaper price wise, and I have the option of only paying half upfront with addict until it's ready to be delivered.

Lewis might allow that as well; most MTO makers do.

 

[Tom71]

I have had both, and my 2 cents would be:

Pros for LL:

- standard sheep is a great hide
- the veg-tan hides looks spectacular, although I havn´t handled them in person
- customization options
- brand appeal

Pros for Addict:

- standard horsehide MUCH nicer than LL standard horse
- hardware looks and feels better
- by now cosiderably cheaper than an "upgraded" LL.

Sizing depends on the wearer, of course. LL offers customized measurementsm so that´s a pro. If you go by standard sizes, Addict wears ca. half a size smaller than LL, so an Addict size 44 would wear like a LL "size 43"...

I have always cosidered Addict to be an "upgraded repro" of LL. I am now back to LL as I value the history higher than I did, but I would NEVER again opt for the standard horse.

 

[TartuWolf]

I visited LL in London and here's how I would shortly describe the experience:

5 . Lewis Leathers
Not a big fan of LL, but was looking forward to checking them out in person.
For me personally most of the leather was rather dissapointing. Only the veg tan teacore cowhide seemed attractive, nothing else.
One model had a double male zip track for a fit adjustment, which was a very interesting idea for making it more universal in terms of t-shirt fit vs layering fit.
After trying ~5 jackets I didn't feel compelled to buy or order anything at all in the future.
Valuable but rather dissapointing experience.

Haven't handled Addict Clothing, but I would not buy LL personally unless you go for the veg tan teacore cowhide, that was pretty decent.

 

[Edward]

I have had both, and my 2 cents would be:

Pros for LL:

- standard sheep is a great hide
- the veg-tan hides looks spectacular, although I havn´t handled them in person
- customization options
- brand appeal

Pros for Addict:

- standard horsehide MUCH nicer than LL standard horse
- hardware looks and feels better
- by now cosiderably cheaper than an "upgraded" LL.

Sizing depends on the wearer, of course. LL offers customized measurementsm so that´s a pro. If you go by standard sizes, Addict wears ca. half a size smaller than LL, so an Addict size 44 would wear like a LL "size 43"...

I have always cosidered Addict to be an "upgraded repro" of LL. I am now back to LL as I value the history higher than I did, but I would NEVER again opt for the standard horse.

I lean to the view that with Lewis it's best to stick to the hides they originally produced them in - which would be the sheep and the flat black cow. Willing to be corrected on this, but afaik horse is a newer thing from them, brought out when horse became fashionable in the last 20 years or so on the heritage jacket front. Similarly the teacore stuff is a newer, fashion-led think in the retro circuit. I've handled a *lot* of vintage Lewises from the 60s & 70s; if they ever did make a line that was 'teacore' or otherwise wore to a brown rather than a faded black over time and hard wear, I've never seen one.

Similarly, Lewises were never about 'grain' - smooth, shiny flat black was always their thing. I like them for what they are, but inevitably they won't be for everybody. I still would love to have a Lightning in 1958 spec (no chest logo, and - more importantly - no forearm zip pocket), though with the latest round of price rises at Lewis that might not be viable for the foreseeable future.

 

[leathermilitia]

I visited LL in London and here's how I would shortly describe the experience:

Haven't handled Addict Clothing, but I would not buy LL personally unless you go for the veg tan teacore cowhide, that was pretty decent.

addict sells a "veg tan teacore kip" leather option for about $1100 USD atm.

 

[leathermilitia]

I think I'll try for an off rack addict jacket since it's cheaper now, and then a cow hide flat black LL vest later on...

 

[leathermilitia]

also do the addict jackets have a slim/tapered profile? how is the cut

 

[Tom71]

also do the addict jackets have a slim/tapered profile? how is the cut

Neither LL nor Addict are particularly tapered in the way, say a Perfecto is.

As I said before, Addict is a bit smaller than LL in the same tag size, but the pattern itself is similar.

 

[cbez]

lots of second hand addicts in the japanese used market, especially if youre a smaller size

the ugly lewis logo is a dealbreaker for me

 

[MrProper]

the ugly lewis logo is a dealbreaker for me

I kind of like it. Fits the jacket because it's always been on it.
But I can understand if you prefer it without.
My gripe with the LL jackets is that they're not well made if you want a pronounced V or even better a Y shape to the jacket.
Both of my jackets had far too much material around the abdomen, even though the measurements on the hem were right. The taper simply started too low down.
Fortunately, this is nothing that a leather cutter can't fix afterwards.

 

[Tom71]

I lean to the view that with Lewis it's best to stick to the hides they originally produced them in - which would be the sheep and the flat black cow. Willing to be corrected on this, but afaik horse is a newer thing from them, brought out when horse became fashionable in the last 20 years or so on the heritage jacket front. Similarly the teacore stuff is a newer, fashion-led think in the retro circuit. I've handled a *lot* of vintage Lewises from the 60s & 70s; if they ever did make a line that was 'teacore' or otherwise wore to a brown rather than a faded black over time and hard wear, I've never seen one.

Similarly, Lewises were never about 'grain' - smooth, shiny flat black was always their thing. I like them for what they are, but inevitably they won't be for everybody. I still would love to have a Lightning in 1958 spec (no chest logo, and - more importantly - no forearm zip pocket), though with the latest round of price rises at Lewis that might not be viable for the foreseeable future.

I agree in principle .

Yes, LL is not about being a "grain monster". I just feel that the standard horsehide has deteriorated over the years. I have a Lightning of older vintage with a very nice, subtle hide that still has that typical "LL shine"; later jackets I have had (or have handled) had bacthes made from a super smooth, lifeless hide with an almost vinyl-like hand. This hasn´t changed since.

 

[cbez]

I kind of like it. Fits the jacket because it's always been on it.
But I can understand if you prefer it without.
My gripe with the LL jackets is that they're not well made if you want a pronounced V or even better a Y shape to the jacket.
Both of my jackets had far too much material around the abdomen, even though the measurements on the hem were right. The taper simply started too low down.
Fortunately, this is nothing that a leather cutter can't fix afterwards.

I would also never buy a new jacket I felt like I needed to make major alterations to.

 

[Aloysius]

Neither LL nor Addict are particularly tapered in the way, say a Perfecto is.

As I said before, Addict is a bit smaller than LL in the same tag size, but the pattern itself is similar.

My impression is that Addict didn't pander to the Japanese fashion fit the way Lewis Japan did with the "T" line, which bizarrely "slims" things by making the shoulders smaller and the hem much wider. Rather it's the classic pattern but tagged bigger.

My very slim and athletic friend in Tokyo was talked into the "Tight" fit by Lewis Japan then had to alter it to remove the wide hem lol.

 

[Canuck Panda]

If you go with Lewis, their veg tan sheep is really nice leather.
If you go with Addict, probably their horsehide. There is an Addict video here you can watch the jacket gets made from scratch to finish.

When I bought my Lewis jacket they were still "reasonably" priced like Aero (£832 shipped to Vancouver, May 18th, 2021). Now they're doing the more expensive is better marketing thing. So Addict today will offer much better value, especially in horsehides. I had one Lewis normal horsehide jacket and that leather isn't great, and I have sold it on.

Stock fit seems very similar between the two, the difference is the half sizing and with Lewis you can custom taper but only in certain increments, check Mr Proper jackets. With Addict you can only custom length I think.

 

[leathermilitia]

I'm a slim/skinny guy thats kind of tall, so I was tempted by LLs "tight" fit option as well. I'll try it out with a vest MTO from them maybe. On the subject of measurements, should I just find a tailor to measure me? I bought a pair of jeans from addict and going by their measurements vs the ones listed for the pair i was currently wearing, addicts measurements appeared to be bigger but when I got them they were way too small.. so.. yeah.