Field Leathers

[Aloysius]

@Aloysius I'm not angry, I appreciate constructive feedback. Haven't heard any from you yet. But It's fine, I've had my share of people like you. Like I said, reflective of the real world. Prevents this from becoming a pleasant echo chamber.

So me pointing out pattern issues you might run into, making leather suggestions, noting that you should be mindful of reading measurements off of a Five Star jacket (due to their pattern issues), etc were not “constructive” because I happened to concur that the Simmons above (which allegedly you were redesigning anyway) has an unattractive double strap (which I said might be fixed by bringing them closer together.)

Fascinating. You really do remind me of the German guy now.

 

[Aloysius]

It had occurred to me, how irritated I would've been to be in Greg's queue for almost a year (or whatever his current wait time is) only to have the queue paused for a side project, social media stunt release. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the queue, but that would've really irked me.

I mean the troll was also arguing it was part of a conspiracy to remove the sacred Shinki lol.

 

[Daniel Veit]

It had occurred to me, how irritated I would've been to be in Greg's queue for almost a year (or whatever his current wait time is) only to have the queue paused for a side project, social media stunt release.

That's me you are portraying here. I ordered on Jan. 22, 2022 and as per the last email I am lucky to recieve the jacket in mid to late april.
I paid the full price as requested on Jan. 19, 2023
:/
Edit: By mid april I should get my second jacket.

 

[ChewingWax]

So me pointing out pattern issues you might run into, making leather suggestions, noting that you should be mindful of reading measurements off of a Five Star jacket (due to their pattern issues), etc were not “constructive” because I happened to concur that the Simmons above (which allegedly you were redesigning anyway) has an unattractive double strap (which I said might be fixed by bringing them closer together.)

Fascinating. You really do remind me of the German guy now.

Zangy003!

 

[Marc mndt]

Zangy003!

AKA Formeruser012524

 

[JMax]

AKA Formeruser012524

AKA Eugene Tooms, X-Files

 

[calvin006]

Yes, very nice to have "make my eyes bleed" and "hideous" thrown at the something I'm planning to order.

Strong words, no doubt, but isn't better to get opinions before you make an order? Whether or not you agree with those opinions is your own choice. You gotta go with what feels right for you.

Reminds me of the days in my past when I had long dreadlocks and would get random insults somewhat regularly on the streets.

I doubt you would receive the same ridicule for side adjusters on a jacket. But re: dreadlocks, a good friend of mine had dreadlocks throughout college. He certainly received a lot of ridicule. Perhaps justified, as white people with dreadlocks is problem on a few different levels. But the derision may have been outweighed by the amount of strangers that would offer him marijuana.

 

[ton312]

That's me you are portraying here. I ordered on Jan. 22, 2022 and as per the last email I am lucky to recieve the jacket in mid to late april.
I paid the full price as requested on Jan. 19, 2023
:/
Edit: By mid april I should get my second jacket.

There’s probably no “good time” to do something like that. Launch a ready made campaign when you have (presumably) many orders to fill as is. So why do it at all?…is it a positive direction for a bespoke jacket maker with a bunch folks waiting? If I were waiting a year it would send me through the roof.
No offense to Greg or Carl, but the jacket and the way the pricing and sale was laid out, etc felt very much like a contrived social media exploit. Carl should have just got in line with everybody else and if the jacket was so wildly popular, Greg could’ve introduced as a regular in his line.

 

[Fonzie]

There’s probably no “good time” to do something like that. Launch a ready made campaign when you have (presumably) many orders to fill as is. So why do it at all?…is it a positive direction for a bespoke jacket maker with a bunch folks waiting? If I were waiting a year it would send me through the roof.
No offense to Greg or Carl, but the jacket and the way the pricing and sale was laid out, etc felt very much like a contrived social media exploit. Carl should have just got in line with everybody else and if the jacket was so wildly popular, Greg could’ve introduced as a regular in his line.

According to Carl’s post here they’ve sold 50 (!!) jackets in the first 24 hours after the launch.
That sounds like a lot of jackets to be made by a one-man-show that has a serious backlog of orders.
Perhaps, and this is just speculation, he is outsourcing some of the construction of this line of jackets?

 

[ton312]

According to Carl’s post here they’ve sold 50 (!!) jackets in the first 24 hours after the launch.
That sounds like a lot of jackets to be made by a one-man-show that has a serious backlog of orders.
Perhaps, and this is just speculation, he is outsourcing some of the construction of this line of jackets?

Yes that would seem otherwise impossible so perhaps you are right.
If not, are these jackets that sold added to the existing queue? At the end I should hope.

 

[Fonzie]

If not, are these jackets that sold added to the existing queue? At the end I should hope.

If that’s the case, they’ll be looking at years before they actually get a jacket they bought in a mad rush on the pre-launch day.
Doesn’t seem like a reasonable option in my opinion.

 

[ton312]

If that’s the case, they’ll be looking at years before they actually get a jacket they bought in a mad rush on the pre-launch day.
Doesn’t seem like a reasonable option in my opinion.

So then it is written….Field Star

 

[JMax]

The GW business model 2.0.

 

[navetsea]

@TG3
The "Pacific" is just a one of Simmons Bilt models. The one that I'm planning to order to be more specific.
https://simmonsbilt.com/products/pacific
Canuck Panda mentioned me because it is quite similar to your lovely FL jacket.
If I can get a similar look and fit - I'll be a very happy man.
How's the quilted lining by the way?
I'm going with "Cotton Black Watch Tartan" lining with my order.
Also are you happy with going zipped hand warmers?

I think the hand warmer is too vertical, and the chest pocket can be a little lower to better balance the pocket config, lol I strangely didn't mind the dual adjusters, it gives more fantasy "could have been" a tanker crew jacket in WW2 or perhaps it will match double monkstrap shoes, but I kind of agree with the other comment above the spacing between the straps made it look bad, and I imagine with wear it will trap the leather in between the straps and create unsightly love handle on the waist

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

There’s probably no “good time” to do something like that. Launch a ready made campaign when you have (presumably) many orders to fill as is. So why do it at all?…is it a positive direction for a bespoke jacket maker with a bunch folks waiting? If I were waiting a year it would send me through the roof.
No offense to Greg or Carl, but the jacket and the way the pricing and sale was laid out, etc felt very much like a contrived social media exploit. Carl should have just got in line with everybody else and if the jacket was so wildly popular, Greg could’ve introduced as a regular in his line.

I'm really supportive of Greg. I was probably in his first 100 jackets made. I can really respect someone trying to make a business in the worst of covid and I think it's just a cool thing to support artisans. I got in line for #2 about 18 months ago because it seemed ridiculous to pay $3000 plus for a RMC or Freewheelers type design I was interested in. There was a huge delay with the Shinki brown pony. I decided to wait it out. Believe me I thought a few times about cancelling, mostly because I'm just maxed out on jackets and I'm pretty happy with what I got now. But I ain't going to lie, it's going to be a hell of a jacket, and in brown which helps me round things out.

I forget the exact timing of everything, but apparently the brown pony has arrived or is en route in the least. When I heard that, I confirmed and paid the rest of the order a couple weeks ago. I am now a little concerned the finishing up of my jacket is going to be further delayed now with all this B3 hoopla. There's been other side projects like wallets and what not along the way, but it was of no consequence to me because he didn't have the leather to make my jacket anyway. I can definitely see the other side of it though too. Most of his orders end up going long from the stories reported here. It's something that might bite him in the long run, so he needs to be careful with it. It can't be easy trying to strike while you're hot vs. chipping away at your already established success.

In the back of my mind, I was thinking I'd be getting my jacket end of march, first week of April. I'd be ok with that all things considered. We'll see. If it goes longer than that, then I'm probably going to have a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

 

[Fonzie]

History in this forum shows that makers can go from heroes to villains rather seamlessly.
I remember clearly when John Chapman of GoodWear was revered on a god-like status a few years ago, then the prolonged wait times and lack of communication made him loose that status and now we hardly ever see a post about him, and mostly in the classifieds.
Dave Himel was another super sought after maker that could do no wrong, and now he is well and truly in the naughty list according to most of the threads about him in the last couple of years, he’s even the source of mockery in some threads.
The list goes on with others that had their 15 minutes of fame like Diamond Dave, who disappeared to never return after his fallout.
Even Aero has had some rough patches here and when I first joined TFL, 90% of the posts were about them and the most positive reviews were about them too.
So I think this should serve as a reminder that this niche is quite fickle, so you need to play your cards well if you plan the long game and to stay relevant.

 

[jeo]

History in this forum shows that makers can go from heroes to villains rather seamlessly.
I remember clearly when John Chapman of GoodWear was revered on a god-like status a few years ago, then the prolonged wait times and lack of communication made him loose that status and now we hardly ever see a post about him, and mostly in the classifieds.
Dave Himel was another super sought after maker that could do no wrong, and now he is well and truly in the naughty list according to most of the threads about him in the last couple of years, he’s even the source of mockery in some threads.
The list goes on with others that had their 15 minutes of fame like Diamond Dave, who disappeared to never return after his fallout.
Even Aero has had some rough patches here and when I first joined TFL, 90% of the posts were about them and the most positive reviews were about them too.
So I think this should serve as a reminder that this niche is quite fickle, so you need to play your cards well if you plan the long game and to stay relevant.

Yup. Seems like no one can win 'round here. At least not for long.

This reminded me of that quote from The Wire, "you can't lose if you don't play"

But if you want to "win" and be in business you're going to make mistakes, you're going to have to eat shit and I guess makers just have to learn, adapt and do their best so they do stay relevant.

 

[navetsea]

but all is forgiven as long as the maker don't go TOJ style lol

 

[Marc mndt]

If not, are these jackets that sold added to the existing queue? At the end I should hope.

looks like a different / new queue

 

[Carlos840]

That's me you are portraying here. I ordered on Jan. 22, 2022 and as per the last email I am lucky to recieve the jacket in mid to late april.
I paid the full price as requested on Jan. 19, 2023
:/
Edit: By mid april I should get my second jacket.

Honestly i am not surprised...
I was supposed to get a jacket in 2021, all info given in February 2021, mock up promised by the 12th of march 2021.
I sent vintage buttons to be used to Greg, it all sounded great.
The first Carl Murawski video came out and suddenly Greg lost all interrest in making me a jacket.
Months started passing by, in July i was still promissed a mock up "soon".
In november 2021 i asked for an update, was told that "as soon as the pattern was ready i would be the first to know"
October 2022 still nothing, i told him i was done waiting and wanted my buttons back.
Buttons where lost.
Almost two years of waiting, no jacket, no more vintage buttons... Great.

To me it really felt like in the begining Greg thought that TFL could help him get his business started and he tried very hard to get jackets out to active members that post a lot of reviews. ( @red devil, @Marc mndt, me for example)
As soon as the Murawski thing happened he didn't need TFL advertising anymore and stopped caring.
I can't help but feel like the same thing is happening on a larger scale now.

As @JMax says, it reeks of GW 2.0 to me...