Ever think some jackets are overhyped

[Rgcards]

I recently bought a jacket as the second owner. It's from a company lauded for it's craftsmanship. The original owner felt it was too big and ordered a smaller size. I paid more than I usually would; these jackets are about 2500 new and the size was right. Anyway it's a fine jacket , fits well , nice leather and lining, but for the life of me it doesn't seem better made than schott, lvc, or aero. Here are some pics. Doesn't seem like laser straight seams to me

 

[casechopper]

Definitely. The bang for your buck drops off significantly past around $1000 msrp IMO. The higher priced jackets are aimed at people who are ready to pay significant premium for brand, exclusivity/small scale production and details that most people wouldn't value as much like minor cut changes. They aren't generally aiming their products at highly price conscious buyers.

 

[Marc mndt]

I think it would be fair to tell us what we're looking at. Apart from the maker I wonder which hide this is since you're making a comparison between this maker and LVC and others. LVC uses sheepskin or lambskin which has other properties than horsehide for instance. Also, Aero jackets are purpose built (Aero considers function/longevity more important than neat stitch lines).
What I'm trying to say is, you're comparing apples and oranges imo.

 

[Monitor]

Yeah. All of them.

 

[Mich486]

Not the neatest stitching for sure. Tell us what we are looking at

 

[Monitor]

Lemme guess... RMC!

 

[JMax]

Yeah. All of them.

Probably a big reason why many of us have larger collections. Individually, nothing is perfect.

 

[Rgcards]

I don't want to throw anyone other the bus. First of all I'm satisfied with the jacket. Second , im not the original owner. The jacket is shinki horsehide. It smells great by the way. Its probably midweight, not lost worlds thickness. The main thing I wanted to point out is that some brands are famed for the craftsmanship, others more mass market brands are often panned for their quality, but in a lot of cases I think it's more reputation, and maybe expectation than fact. I paid about 1300 with overseas shipping for this jacket, and my cxl aero is just as nice at half the price. The design is very nice. And it's not rmc!!

 

[sweetfights]

You are not throwing anyone under the bus by discussing manufacturers here.
We come together as a community to share not play guessing games.

 

[Rgcards]

Ok. Well again, I'm very happy with the jacket. And there are other parts tat are beautifully stitched. But it's a himel bros. And I don't want to dissuade anyone from buying himel. I would buy it again. But I think talking about how straight the seams are , or the stitch count as a measure of quality is probably a rationalization for some people to justify high prices. Aero is not for being utility built, but their seams can be very straight. And this himel has sort of uneven stitching. Overall it's a beautiful jacket , and frankly I couldn't care less about a few mm deviation from linearity. I just thought it was interesting that people rave about the sewing from some companies, while others get denigrated for lesser quality control, while the truth is, if you like the style and the leather, you can get a really well made jacket for less than some would have you believe

 

[Carlos840]

Ok. Well again, I'm very happy with the jacket. And there are other parts tat are beautifully stitched. But it's a himel bros. And I don't want to dissuade anyone from buying himel. I would buy it again. But I think talking about how straight the seams are , or the stitch count as a measure of quality is probably a rationalization for some people to justify high prices. Aero is not for being utility built, but their seams can be very straight. And this himel has sort of uneven stitching. Overall it's a beautiful jacket , and frankly I couldn't care less about a few mm deviation from linearity. I just thought it was interesting that people rave about the sewing from some companies, while others get denigrated for lesser quality control, while the truth is, if you like the style and the leather, you can get a really well made jacket for less than some would have you believe

Like Monitor, my first guess was RMC.
I can't help but smile now that i know it's a Himel, I have a Himel and it has some of the worst stitching i have seen on a 2000$+ jacket... (worst than what you are pointing out)
I keep reading people calling Himel a master, saying his stitching is one of the best, IMO his patterns are very nice, but the stitching is definitely not the neatest, at least not on mine or on what i am seeing online.
I personally would agree with you that IMO Himel is overhyped.

Edit: i think very highly of his patterns and designs, they are very cool and comfortable, i just think the execution is not as good as it should be.

 

[sweetfights]

Ok. Well again, I'm very happy with the jacket. And there are other parts tat are beautifully stitched. But it's a himel bros. And I don't want to dissuade anyone from buying himel. I would buy it again. But I think talking about how straight the seams are , or the stitch count as a measure of quality is probably a rationalization for some people to justify high prices. Aero is not for being utility built, but their seams can be very straight. And this himel has sort of uneven stitching. Overall it's a beautiful jacket , and frankly I couldn't care less about a few mm deviation from linearity. I just thought it was interesting that people rave about the sewing from some companies, while others get denigrated for lesser quality control, while the truth is, if you like the style and the leather, you can get a really well made jacket for less than some would have you believe

I have two Himel Kensington’s which I love. Dave would be the first to comment that his stitching is not in the league of being laser straight. But I do love some of his design offerings and Himel Shinki is spectacular!

 

[Captain Sensible]

It's not just the stitching on Himel jackets that can be off. One of mine has sleeves that are attached at different rotations. Still a great jacket/coat, still one of my faves, you'd only notice it if you were closely inspecting but when you see it it's not insignificant.

 

[Rgcards]

Again, I love the jacket. The point I'm making is that I love it because of how it looks and feels when I wear it. Paying more because it's the right jacket for me is fine. But, saying it's worth because it's better made is kind of delusional. Frankly who cares how it looks under a magnifying glass?

 

[Marc mndt]

Frankly who cares how it looks under a magnifying glass?

I do. Above a certain price level I expect the stitching not to be sloppy.

 

[Carlos840]

Frankly who cares how it looks under a magnifying glass?

I do...
I'm a musician, my job is to master what most people think is a simple activity, to focus on minute details.
It takes years and years of practice to become very good at it, IMO stitching a jacket is the same thing.
To me jackets are a craft/artform that i really enjoy because when i see a "perfect" jacket i relate to the hours of training and practice that it took to reach said perfection. The same reaction i have when i hear an amazing musician...
Some people say "i want to see that it was made by a human" to justifie poor craftsmanship, i think it's BS.
I enjoy seeing that the person who built a jacket cared enough and was good enough to make it as well as humanly possible.
I love the constant strive for perfection, and sloppy work is a real turn off for me.

If i didn't care about that i would just buy a Schott and be done with it...

Edit: sloppy workmanship is the main reason i barely wear my Himel, every time i put it on i know i am wearing a poorly constructed jacket, that bothers me more than how great it fits and looks...

 

[El Marro]

I definitely think some jackets are overhyped. The most immediate example the that came to mind is my Iron Heart IHJ-54 Horsehide Riders jacket with collar.
Now let me start by saying that I love this jacket, it is well cut, well made, and more comfortable to wear than any of my other leather jackets. if I had to do it over again I would definitely buy it again.
The reason I say that is overhyped is because of the description of the leather on the IH website. To quote them, they say that it is “The nicest horsehide we have ever seen from any tannery anywhere.” While I certainly like the hide (it is substantial and yet as soft as lambskin) I would not put it above jackets I have made from Shinki horsehide, nor from horsehide tanned by Victoria in Italy, nor from Horween in Chicago for that matter.
Now I have to assume that the guys and IH have seen a lot of horsehide by now and so when I read this description (and looked at the $1750 price) I assumed that I was purchasing some truly unique leather that would make me forget I even owned other leather jackets and that simply was not the case. As I said at the beginning, I don’t regret this purchase at all but I do feel like they went a little overboard in the sales copy on this one.

 

[Marc mndt]

I do...
I'm a musician, my job is to master what most people think is a simple activity, to focus on minute details.
It takes years and years of practice to become very good at it, IMO stitching a jacket is the same thing.
To me jackets are a craft/artform that i really enjoy because when i see a "perfect" jacket i relate to the hours of training and practice that it took to reach said perfection. The same reaction i have when i hear an amazing musician...
Some people say "i want to see that it was made by a human" to justifie poor craftsmanship, i think it's BS.
I enjoy seeing that the person who built a jacket cared enough and was good enough to make it as well as humanly possible.
I love the constant strive for perfection, and sloppy work is a real turn off for me.

If i didn't care about that i would just buy a Schott and be done with it...

Edit: sloppy workmanship is the main reason i barely wear my Himel, every time i put it on i know i am wearing a poorly constructed jacket, that bothers me more than how great it fits and looks...

Hear hear.

 

[sweetfights]

I agree with the above posts.
Expectations should be higher at this end of the leather jacket spectrum.
North of $2000 craftsmanship should be there consistently.
And as others allude to, enjoyment can be a separate issue from high cost/details.

 

[Kalmer]

Not a surprise to me, and Himel had indeed been my first guess before the answer was revealed. I'm never an OCD person when it comes to leather jackets, and I've never closely examined the stitch work on my Himel jackets, all I know is that they look pretty neat at a quick glance.

That being said, I did spot sloppy stitching on some of those few put on sale fairly easily. Not sure if it has anything to do with their increasingly coming in orders, which I keep reading from his posts, but I do think they could have done a more strict QC process.

Will I buy another Himel? Absolutely, they still offer quite some unique styles and one-of-a-kind designs, although at that price, I do expect a little more consistent quality.