Aero damage

[Worf]

They turned off AC in a Malaysian mall due to COVID shutdown and got this:

View attachment 237045

Holy moldy Batman! When I served in Asia (Thailand/Korea) Monsoon season would do this. Even freshly laundered fatigues would develop mold if left to their own devices. Boy does that bring back memories. As for the original jacket... the only thing that gives me pause would be the cracking round the neck. Everything else I could live with I suppose.

Worf

 

[zebedee]

The only fix for the neck area would be to always wear a collared shirt, I'd think.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

Looks like they needed to condition the jacket and take care of it a bit more.

 

[regius]

The OP jacket is made from Horween CXL right? CXL is originally shoe leather (of the thicker variant of course Monitor), it’s meant to withstand elements, but, perhaps not salt because the exterior is not usually exposed to sweat (or salt water unless it’s beach lifestyle). Looking at vintage jackets, it really takes decades for the neck to crack, so it either says something about the CXL can’t take salt or something more chemical at play here.

 

[zebedee]

The OP jacket is made from Horween CXL right? CXL is originally shoe leather (of the thicker variant of course Monitor), it’s meant to withstand elements, but, perhaps not salt because the exterior is not usually exposed to sweat (or salt water unless it’s beach lifestyle). Looking at vintage jackets, it really takes decades for the neck to crack, so it either says something about the CXL can’t take salt or something more chemical at play here.

Bad storage will do significant damage- in combination with no maintenance and extremes of temperature, you could do that to most leathers inside a year or two. Just keep it damp, chuck it in a warm corner on the floor and sweat into it after you've sun dried it and do that all the time. If you have little critters in your basement, definitely keep the jacket on the floor to give them a good chew on it.

 

[Dumpster Diver]

You oughta see The Soviet flight jacket that I'm wearing these days...this ain't nothin'! That being said...I'd give you like a hundred bucks for this here Jacket in the current shape it appears to be in.

 

[Psant25]

Could not pay me to take that jacket

 

[zebedee]

Could not pay me to take that jacket

It would still be interesting to see exactly how weakened it was- if, despite all the damage it was still structurally fairly strong, it would be reassuring in terms of how much (unwittingly severe) a hammering these jackets can actually take in the absence of any attempt at care at all.

 

[navetsea]

i believe it is still quite strong, I see a lot here leather jacket worn as riding gear with similar cracks around the neck, also hanged by the loop, never get treated, it is still going for years to come, it is a lot stronger than jeans, and on leather the weakened part is localized and not spreading.

 

[regius]

I've always had suspicions as to if the CXL was ever actually used as garment leather back in the day. Since Horween's formula is a heritage formula i'd say this leather has existed for decades, but i have not seen any original jacket that resembles the CXL. Also, judging from Aero's CXL and the way it ages, in a mere one to five years, i'm less convinved it was ever used on jackets in the 30s-50s.
the CXL, horse or cow, is very stretchy overall, it loses shape and became very "hobo" looking, totally unlike many vintage jackets, which look more like today's regular motorcycle cow/steer, or shinki, or jerky horse/vicenza/liberty etc.

 

[nick123]

I've always had suspicions as to if the CXL was ever actually used as garment leather back in the day. Since Horween's formula is a heritage formula i'd say this leather has existed for decades, but i have not seen any original jacket that resembles the CXL. Also, judging from Aero's CXL and the way it ages, in a mere one to five years, i'm less convinved it was ever used on jackets in the 30s-50s.
the CXL, horse or cow, is very stretchy overall, it loses shape and became very "hobo" looking, totally unlike many vintage jackets, which look more like today's regular motorcycle cow/steer, or shinki, or jerky horse/vicenza/liberty etc.

I remember reading that Aero was the first to use CXL on jackets; sometime in the 1980s? It certainly was not used on any significant scale prior. Most of the vintage jackets we think of were a less elaborate, fully chrome-tanned horse or steerhide. Almost all of the leathers reproduction manufacturers use are of a different composition, and often more cosmetically elaborate than their vintage ancestors. Even the original A-2 leathers were rather plain jane compared to how they are presented in many repros.

 

[torfjord]

I don’t think anyone has claimed CXL was used as a garment leather back in the day? I too seem to recall reading somewhere that Aero were the first to use it for jackets back in the 80’s. Or perhaps that was referring to being the first or among the first to start using horsehide for jackets again, after it had fallen out of use for a long time. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen any jackets from the 60’s or 70’s made from horsehide.

 

[Guppy]

Gee it's only $283 but shipping from Japan is free.

Note the description:
It is a used item. Since it is a used item, there is damage. As you can see from the picture, it is tired, but there are no holes inside. It was originally handed over and there were cracks around that time, so I decided to add oil every year from there. There is a hole on the inside of the zipper on the arm for tearing the leather part. Also, there are peeling of the surface due to rubbing, cracks etc. The hole is the fourth in the photo. Please check the condition of the product in the image before purchasing. Please check the product status etc. in the image. Please note that it is a used item.

Used does not automatically equal damaged! That is far beyond damaged. It's like it was hung out in the wind, rain & sun for 5 years...or worse.

Keep in mind that's a machine translation. Pretty much every listing I have read on Yahoo! Japan Auctions has a generic disclaimer about "damage" with used items.

I believe that it's a cultural thing for Japanese to be more stringent about condition, so what we'd consider "normal expected wear" and "character" they would consider as (whatever translates to) "damage".

In this case, though, it is pretty clear that this jacket is trashed, and anyone buying it would be getting a bad deal out of it.

 

[navetsea]

I think even now for general market, people want their leather jacket to look new longer, only small niche segment who seek fading into teacore or graining and other visual degradation of their highly priced garment, i have an uncle who asked me how to make his jacket trully black again because it started greying and looks old, and my aunt joked alot about if I like characters on my jacket why not letting my cat or her cats scratch them

people dont get it and to them faded jacket or heavily creased jacket is just the same with ruined jacket, the same with scratched jacket, or sometime people see ruined jacket as jacket with characters.

You see how people do to their nat vegtan items, then you see their view of characters.

 

[navetsea]

this is depiction of bum leather jacket in 1979 movie, here probably we called great patina.

 

[Guppy]

this is depiction of bum leather jacket in 1979 movie, here probably we called great patina.

Hollywood bums always dress much better than the real deal.

 

[Edward]

I don’t think anyone has claimed CXL was used as a garment leather back in the day? I too seem to recall reading somewhere that Aero were the first to use it for jackets back in the 80’s. Or perhaps that was referring to being the first or among the first to start using horsehide for jackets again, after it had fallen out of use for a long time. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen any jackets from the 60’s or 70’s made from horsehide.

I've always read that horsehide was common in the 20s and 30s owing to there being more horses around for basic transport, farming, pulling carts... asmechanisation increased, fewer horses around, soespecially in a culture where horsemeat is not commonly eaten, you're very quickly going to end up with not much hide available. Then think of cows, with beef being farmed for mass consumption, and all that cow / steer hide available as a by-product of the meat industry... It's not hard to see where that goes. Same with goat, the world's most widely eaten meat.

In this case, though, it is pretty clear that this jacket is trashed, and anyone buying it would be getting a bad deal out of it.

Depends on the rest of it, really - I wodner if, bougth cheap enough, the damaged panels could be replaced.

I think even now for general market, people want their leather jacket to look new longer, only small niche segment who seek fading into teacore or graining and other visual degradation of their highly priced garment, i have an uncle who asked me how to make his jacket trully black again because it started greying and looks old, and my aunt joked alot about if I like characters on my jacket why not letting my cat or her cats scratch them

people dont get it and to them faded jacket or heavily creased jacket is just the same with ruined jacket, the same with scratched jacket, or sometime people see ruined jacket as jacket with characters.

You see how people do to their nat vegtan items, then you see their view of characters.

Teacore is a minority of a minority. I like my jacket broken in, but not designed to look worn out a monthe after purchase!

Hollywood bums always dress much better than the real deal.

Better teeth too.

 

[mihai]

That jacket looks dry-rot. Likely it was given a washing treatment that stripped it of tanning fats. Fibers started to rub and break in frequent flexing areas.

I think even now for general market, people want their leather jacket to look new longer, only small niche segment who seek fading into teacore or graining and other visual degradation of their highly priced garment, i have an uncle who asked me how to make his jacket trully black again because it started greying and looks old, and my aunt joked alot about if I like characters on my jacket why not letting my cat or her cats scratch them

people dont get it and to them faded jacket or heavily creased jacket is just the same with ruined jacket, the same with scratched jacket, or sometime people see ruined jacket as jacket with characters.

You see how people do to their nat vegtan items, then you see their view of characters.

I share the same opinion. People/ buyers especially look for an item as close to new/unaltered as possible. I do the same.
Despite the great number of admiration posts for worn-out/old/faded jackets - ooh g dude that jacket has character... - the reality is different. Such jackets are hardly selling when they show up (classifieds/ebay). Even for 100-200 it's hard to justify for wearing unless you are collecting. How often do you need to pull that "hardened Staffel Commander after fierce dog fight" from Battle of Britain / The Wild Ones outlaw biker look?

 

[Will Zach]

^^
I agree. I would like to have just one jacket in my vintage collection with "amazing patina" and fades. The rest should be as close to NOS as possible. Easier said than done.

 

[dubpynchon]

this is depiction of bum leather jacket in 1979 movie, here probably we called great patina.

Two-tone!