Belstaff Howard Blouson

[SpykiE]

Hey all,

I know this was brought up in another thread a few months back and I supplied a link to one person who happened to be selling these on ebay, but since then, I haven't seen it again. I have been searching but have not been able to find a place that sells this particular jacket. Not even Belstaff themselves supply stores that sell their products either... and searching google or ebay is obviously useless... upon searching I either find information on the jacket (w/ no price) or pictures. Anyways, anyone with any information on where I could purchase this jacket would be SO great!! Here is a pic of the jacket, for those wondering about it (and yes, this is the jacket that was featured in "The Aviator", the one in which Howard Hughes (Leo DiCaprio) wears when shooting "Hell's Angels" in the beginning of the movie):

Thanks!!

-=SpykiE=-

 

[scotrace]

I second that

I would also like to find a source for these. Nice, unusual jacket.
Then, I'll have to find a source for money.

 

[SpykiE]

Anyone?? Or maybe if someone could possibly post this link into another forum (I'm not too familiar with other forums of this type)... to try to get some people that don't usually frequent this forum, that'd be great!!

-=SpykiE=-

 

[Vincence]

Belstaff sources in Italy

Hello,

to my knowledge Belstaff is now under Italian management. Belstaff is very hip in Italy right now. And I think the jacket is part of the fashion line not the traditional motorcycle appararel. I don't know how good your Italian is but I would recommend to contact an Italian Belstaff dealer (contacts should be available through the Belstaff homepage).

I tried the same procedure a couple of months back to get my hands on a pair of special Persol sunglasses (the Steve McQueen folding model) which were only available to the Italian market.

Hope this helps

Martin

 

[BellyTank]

I have a friend who used to work for Belstaff in England- I'll see if I can get a definitive answer from him...
I saved this image from the eBay sales of those jackets-

B
T

 

[SpykiE]

Thanks Bellytank, I would really appreciate it if you can get any information, that would be real helpful!

-=SpykiE=-

 

[BellyTank]

Have you seen this (re: retailers)on the Belstaff site???

http://www.belstaff.net/belstaff_english/index_reseller.html

B
T

 

[SpykiE]

Yeah, I looked on that search, however, there were none even remotely close to me and I didn't see any phone # or website in which to even contact these places....

-=SpykiE=-

 

[SpykiE]

Hmm... that article was really interesting BT. I can't say I'm big into motorcycling, but the whole aviator style of jackets they make really intrigues me b/c of how different they all look. If I ever make it over to Europe, I will be sure to check out that store/museum.

-=SpykiE=-

 

[BellyTank]

Spykie- just for you-
A friend forwarded me this BBC article on Belstaff...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2005/06/10/belstaff_clothing_feature.shtml

B
T

 

[GateXC]

I actually picked up one of these jackets (Howard Blouson) towards the end of the Fall from the guys who are the US agents for Belstaff. They special ordered it for me (at the wholesale price I might add/brag). But in talking to the guys, they said that the Aviator collection that Belstaff had come out with wasn't picked up very much in the US. Only a handful of places put in orders for the jackets and then for mostly the other ones (i.e. the Fokker Blouson, etc) that you can see on the Belstaff site. Based on their comments, I would say that trying to find one of these aftermarket or even in a store would be rare.

All that said, it is a sweet jacket and looks great with a tie, nice trousers and a grey hat (I'll post a picture at some point). And the best part for me is that it is unlike any other leather jacket you'll ever see walking the streets of NYC. As a bonus, it's also pretty sweet for riding my Vespa around the city.

 

[Flitcraft]

Man, I'm glad somebody bought one! I'm really curious to see a picture of someone other than DiCaprio actually wearing one.
Post pic when you can, Amigo!

 

["Doc" Devereux]

Are these still available, I wonder - does anybody know?

 

[Flitcraft]

Tough to find...

someone had a few on Ebay 2or 3 years ago, but I haven't seen them since. It seems that by the time The Aviator came out, Belstaff had moved on to something else. I never really have seen the leather Belstaff jackets too much in the U.S.
Even Belstaff's more modern jackets can be difficult to find in retail stores, again, at least in the U.S. I bought my Trialmaster off of Ebay, but I have never seen one in a brick and mortar storefront.

 

["Doc" Devereux]

I've already spoken to the London store, who have a 'Howard Trench' (which seems to be a 3/4 length leather coat along the lines of an Aero Barnstormer) but no sign of a blouson. Apparently I can ask again at the end of February, when they'll have the new season's stock - about which they seem to have no idea until it arrives.

With service like that, I'm looking everywhere else I can think of. I hate shopping in Mayfair.

To be fair, that's not entirely true: the older places in Mayfair suit me very well indeed. The fashionable shops, on the other hand, need a major lesson in customer service.

 

[Flitcraft]

Too True...

The fashionable shops, on the other hand, need a major lesson in customer service.

And not just in London...

 

[Alan Eardley]

I wouldn't blame any store for not stocking the modern Belstaff...stuff!

Alan

 

["Doc" Devereux]

I wouldn't blame any store for not stocking the modern Belstaff...stuff!

Alan

Are they no longer good, Alan? Should I be considering alternatives?

 

[Alan Eardley]

I guess I'm prejudiced, having worked for the company. They used to make unstylish, practical and durable clothing that was endorsed by world champion motorcyclists, mountaineers and the like. The price was expensive, but affordable. They sold through the sort of stores that working men would frequent. The heritage came with the clothing.

Now they make clothing that has more reference to style than function, make claims for 'heritage' that they cannot possibly back up, use supermodels and 'product placement' as cynical marketing ploys, sell through 'high end' stores and set prices that are difficult to justify.

But apart from that they're OK... Just my opinion.

It depends what you want. What is about that jacket that you value?

Alan


[QUOTE="Doc" Devereux]Are they no longer good, Alan? Should I be considering alternatives?[/QUOTE]

 

["Doc" Devereux]

It depends what you want. What is about that jacket that you value?

I appreciate your honesty, Alan. It's exactly what I was hoping for, so thank you.

For a start, let me be honest in return: I think it looks nice. I want a new brown leather jacket this spring/summer and with all the Indiana Jones hype that's about to hit us I want something that looks as little like his jacket as possible*. So the aesthetics fit the bill.

Secondly, I'm hoping that it's built to the same standard as the Belstaff clothing I've come across on friends over the years. I can live with the idea of it being expensive, but I've made a commitment to stop buying disposable trash wherever possible and invest in kit that will last.

Both of these factors are important to me,the former because I'm vain and the latter because I'm cheap. That means that failure to meet either is a deal-breaker as far as I'm concerned. I know full well that I'm never going to look like Hughes or diCaprio no matter what I wear, but this looks smart enough to be good for wearing with a shirt and tie, jumper, overalls or whatever. What I hope is that the build quality will live up to the name, and if it doesn't then I need to look elsewhere.


* Note for Indy fans: I like the movies too, I just want to skip out on the inevitable comments. I've had enough of them as it is with a black cyclists' jacket. I won't avoid them all, but every little helps