Five Star Leather Jackets

[MoFo]

Mine has a topcoat, for lack of a better word that chips off.

It was a "bad batch", I got mine replaced.

 

[Hobbes1]

As I have stated earlier in this thread, I feel like I'm nearly done with 5*, at least for a good while. They really need to do two things to improve the customer experience:
1. update their website with recent, good quality pictures of the available hides and other custom items as well as a description of each.
2. have a better approach to communication with customers. Right now, there are numerous ways people can get in touch and it's hit or miss with getting even a partial response (or no response) from any given communication platform.
I have mentioned these things to "Shawn" but there is very little that has changed on the website. Oh well...not my business. They have listened to some things people suggest but not this particular item that I feel would go a long way to cutting down on the (probably numerous) requests they get every day.

Right now, I have an invoice sent from Shawn to me for a jacket. I have had several questions I wanted clarified prior to paying for another jacket but just can't get anyone there to respond beyond one "I'll send you pictures" which never happened. Anyway...I'm glad to see some people are getting good results and especially this nice, recent OTR jacket. Good to hear that the hides continue to improve. (@ton312 did you happen to know what hide thickness your jacket is?)

 

[ton312]

As I have stated earlier in this thread, I feel like I'm nearly done with 5*, at least for a good while. They really need to do two things to improve the customer experience:
1. update their website with recent, good quality pictures of the available hides and other custom items as well as a description of each.
2. have a better approach to communication with customers. Right now, there are numerous ways people can get in touch and it's hit or miss with getting even a partial response (or no response) from any given communication platform.
I have mentioned these things to "Shawn" but there is very little that has changed on the website. Oh well...not my business. They have listened to some things people suggest but not this particular item that I feel would go a long way to cutting down on the (probably numerous) requests they get every day.

Right now, I have an invoice sent from Shawn to me for a jacket. I have had several questions I wanted clarified prior to paying for another jacket but just can't get anyone there to respond beyond one "I'll send you pictures" which never happened. Anyway...I'm glad to see some people are getting good results and especially this nice, recent OTR jacket. Good to hear that the hides continue to improve. (@ton312 did you happen to know what hide thickness your jacket is?)

I can say it is 3-3.5oz steer. I made no special request with regard to the hide. I just took what was on the cutting room floor. Sorry to hear of your comms troubles. While I agree it's a bit slower...I always hear back w/in a day.

 

[Hobbes1]

@ton312 what platform do you use to communicate with them? Thanks

 

[hughesovka]

As I have stated earlier in this thread, I feel like I'm nearly done with 5*, at least for a good while. They really need to do two things to improve the customer experience:
1. update their website with recent, good quality pictures of the available hides and other custom items as well as a description of each.
2. have a better approach to communication with customers. Right now, there are numerous ways people can get in touch and it's hit or miss with getting even a partial response (or no response) from any given communication platform.
I have mentioned these things to "Shawn" but there is very little that has changed on the website. Oh well...not my business. They have listened to some things people suggest but not this particular item that I feel would go a long way to cutting down on the (probably numerous) requests they get every day.

Right now, I have an invoice sent from Shawn to me for a jacket. I have had several questions I wanted clarified prior to paying for another jacket but just can't get anyone there to respond beyond one "I'll send you pictures" which never happened. Anyway...I'm glad to see some people are getting good results and especially this nice, recent OTR jacket. Good to hear that the hides continue to improve. (@ton312 did you happen to know what hide thickness your jacket is?)

My main complaint with Five Star is that earlier in the thread, I saw all these beautiful tan leather jackets that were made, and when I went to have one made myself, I was told that the tan steerhide was out of the rotation currently because of customers saying it was too stiff. I said stiff leather wasn't an issue for me, but no go. The conic goat is an approximation I guess, but those tan jackets looked excellent. Also even after talking with Shawn on whatsapp, I still don't have a clear idea of what linings they offer. I don't want to keep bugging the guy, but it would be nice to get a clear answer

 

[ton312]

@ton312 what platform do you use to communicate with them? Thanks

Facebook messanger.

 

[Hh121]

My 7 oz cxl jacket took nearly 3 months after Shawn received the leather.

 

[Hobbes1]

My main complaint with Five Star is that earlier in the thread, I saw all these beautiful tan leather jackets that were made, and when I went to have one made myself, I was told that the tan steerhide was out of the rotation currently because of customers saying it was too stiff. I said stiff leather wasn't an issue for me, but no go. The conic goat is an approximation I guess, but those tan jackets looked excellent. Also even after talking with Shawn on whatsapp, I still don't have a clear idea of what linings they offer. I don't want to keep bugging the guy, but it would be nice to get a clear answer

Trust me, you don't want the heavy tan "CHL" leather they were offering. The jacket I had made using that leather (pictures earlier in the thread) still hasn't broken in enough for me to comfortably wear it. That leather is t-o-u-g-h and nothing I've done has made it submit. I'd sell it on but I don't want someone else to unwittingly take on a task they may not be prepared to finish. Shawn said it took two guys a week working solely on that jacket to get it done and it was a learning experience for them (not in a good way). I think the Conic Glazed might be a good choice instead. I'm thinking of redoing the jacket but just having a struggle getting questions answered. Sometimes a week goes by with no reply and then a minimal answer that doesn't address the questions.

Facebook messanger.

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of...I don't have or want a FB account so that's out. Oh well. at least the money is in my pocket

 

[hughesovka]

Trust me, you don't want the heavy tan "CHL" leather they were offering. The jacket I had made using that leather (pictures earlier in the thread) still hasn't broken in enough for me to comfortably wear it. That leather is t-o-u-g-h and nothing I've done has made it submit. I'd sell it on but I don't want someone else to unwittingly take on a task they may not be prepared to finish. Shawn said it took two guys a week working solely on that jacket to get it done and it was a learning experience for them (not in a good way). I think the Conic Glazed might be a good choice instead. I'm thinking of redoing the jacket but just having a struggle getting questions answered. Sometimes a week goes by with no reply and then a minimal answer that doesn't address the questions.

I believe you told me what you know about the differences between conic and conic glazed, but I still have no idea what they are. Apparently the glazed is waxed or something?

 

[Hobbes1]

I believe you told me what you know about the differences between conic and conic glazed, but I still have no idea what they are. Apparently the glazed is waxed or something?

Another example of the 5* communication issues. You know as much as I do about it. **shrug** It took a week for me to get even that little explanation from them and I could not get anything else. I'm happy to spend my money with them but not if I have no idea what I'm gonna get in return.

 

[hughesovka]

Another example of the 5* communication issues. You know as much as I do about it. **shrug** It took a week for me to get even that little explanation from them and I could not get anything else. I'm happy to spend my money with them but not if I have no idea what I'm gonna get in return.

I'm with you. I'm going to place an order with them in the next week or so, but I'm doing my homework as best I can before I do so.

 

[Canuck Panda]

@Hobbes1
I am not sure what your ordering situation is with Shawn, I can only talk a bit about mine to see if anything can be related:
I still have five jackets in queue with him. None I have paid for, nor has he asked me to pay yet. Two of the five I sent him Horween leather, the rest uses his house leather, 20mm sheepskin, brown horsehide and black CHL. All five are fully custom bespoke patterns. It has been a while since I have heard from him. But I am not pulling orders out from him either. Because all my prior experiences were good enough for me to stick around. Most recent was the sheepskin I ordered directly from his web store, stock, no customs. The turn around time was less than two weeks. The jacket before that was a fully custom bespoke job that took him forever but one day out of the blue he sent me an email and delivered. And while I was charged for the Sheepskin jacket I have not been charged for the fully custom jacket prior to that. I take it as Shawn's way of saying (fully) custom jackets takes LONG time. I am sure he will bill me when he completes my next custom jacket. But so far there is also no money going out of my pocket either as he is taking on all the developing cost.
I've also signed up for Facebook just to join his group page, and now Aero's too. And Instagram for other makers. I don't use social media except for lurking jackets porn and some communication with maker.
From Ton's most recent jacket, I would say the best results from Shawn will come from his stock patterns, using his stock leather. Maybe with small alteration customization, but not fully bespoke like we were used to when this thread first begun. In comparison, the makers who offer fully bespoke jackets takes more than a year to deliver. Even if Shawn has 5 times the man power due to his wage advantage in Pakistan, he'd still be the same given the amount of custom jobs he would get at the price he ask them.
Writing this out has just made me realize I might just alter some of my fully custom orders to his existing patterns with alterations.
Anyways, I am also sorry to hear your experience with Shawn. I am not sure how custom the project is. But it seems like the fully custom jobs are something in the past or it will take much longer now. I hope you can reach some sort of resolution with him before money is exchanged.

 

[Hobbes1]

@Canuck Panda
Thanks for your thoughts.
So, the jacket in question, that I was sent an invoice for, is a remake of my CHL in a different hide. Shawn, et. al. and I have been “discussing” for maybe a month. I’ve simply been trying to get some pics and a couple of clarifying questions answered but he/they keep giving incomplete answers, no answers or just not following up on promised photos or answers.
I totally get that there are various challenges such as language, time zones, pandemic, etc. I have tried to limit my questions and be as succinct as possible to minimize the communication burden on 5*. Maybe it’s just not meant to be right now. After all, winter is more than half over where I live. Maybe things will ease up by summer.

 

[Canuck Panda]

@Canuck Panda
Thanks for your thoughts.
So, the jacket in question, that I was sent an invoice for, is a remake of my CHL in a different hide. Shawn, et. al. and I have been “discussing” for maybe a month. I’ve simply been trying to get some pics and a couple of clarifying questions answered but he/they keep giving incomplete answers, no answers or just not following up on promised photos or answers.
I totally get that there are various challenges such as language, time zones, pandemic, etc. I have tried to limit my questions and be as succinct as possible to minimize the communication burden on 5*. Maybe it’s just not meant to be right now. After all, winter is more than half over where I live. Maybe things will ease up by summer.

I had VERY SIMILAR scenario!

I first had this custom done. Basically an Aero Teamster with cargo pockets and plain back. I loved the green one he did for me (I sent him the leather), so I sent him some brown horsehide to make a second one. Same pattern but brown leather. This has been months maybe a year ago. So long I cannot remember. My theory is that he got so busy at the shop my original custom pattern was lost. And then I got stuck behind the very long custom order backlog. It is too bad because he has no long half belt stock pattern (surcoat length) right now.
This was my Teamster copy, I called it the Railman. FWIW, Shawn did an excellent job on the jacket. But it was like a one hit wonder. No brown encore for me.

What I am trying to say is that I believe his shop has misplaced your original pattern. That's my theory. And I am sorry for your experience. It sort of happened to me too. That's why I said the fully bespoke run has come to an end as it seems. And you're right about holding back. Sounds like custom pattern is what you are after and if he can't assure you all the details you need then it's no go.
I am in slightly different boat as I have already sent him some leather, so I am making a few detours and seeing this thing through.

 

[TheDonEffect]

I also ordered one of the CHL jackets but in brown, and yeah, you don't want it. It's unnecessarily thick and stiff, like belt leather. It does look great and all that, but as a garment it's pointless. I think Ton did a nice write up of the process he put his through to soften it up, but why. I think it was a defunct experiment he based on someone sending him ridiculously thick CXL and Shawn probably thought this was popular, when in fact it was very much the exception.

His new HH looks promising, saw that he just posted a black HH jacket today, so I wonder how that hide wears.

But that's sorta the risk/reward with 5*, I had a jacket that was unwearable, with little to no resale that was worth the effort to list and ship, and no recourse for return, etc. And now with the recent communication backlog, the economic gap/advantage 5* had is now diminishing.

 

[Hobbes1]

I had VERY SIMILAR scenario!

I first had this custom done. Basically an Aero Teamster with cargo pockets and plain back. I loved the green one he did for me (I sent him the leather), so I sent him some brown horsehide to make a second one. Same pattern but brown leather. This has been months maybe a year ago. So long I cannot remember. My theory is that he got so busy at the shop my original custom pattern was lost. And then I got stuck behind the very long custom order backlog. It is too bad because he has no long half belt stock pattern (surcoat length) right now.
This was my Teamster copy, I called it the Railman. FWIW, Shawn did an excellent job on the jacket. But it was like a one hit wonder. No brown encore for me.
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What I am trying to say is that I believe his shop has misplaced your original pattern. That's my theory. And I am sorry for your experience. It sort of happened to me too. That's why I said the fully bespoke run has come to an end as it seems. And you're right about holding back. Sounds like custom pattern is what you are after and if he can't assure you all the details you need then it's no go.
I am in slightly different boat as I have already sent him some leather, so I am making a few detours and seeing this thing through.

wait. You sent him the leather as much as one year ago with no jacket so far? You are more gracious than I would be. I would sever all ties over that and never do business with that company again.

so, my choice is to either pay the invoice and hope for the best (again) or bail. I’m going to sit tight for awhile and see what communication if any, I get.

 

[ton312]

It seems the best option at this point is to simply select from his catalog and tweak. My jacket was delivered two weeks from the purchase date. My gripe is there is always something I fail to mention or overlook or mis-spec. In the case of my last one it’s the diameter of the biceps, which is a gargantuan 9”. Not terrible but it’s like 98% perfect. That said, nothing helps a new 5 Star like some water.

 

[Canuck Panda]

wait. You sent him the leather as much as one year ago with no jacket so far? You are more gracious than I would be. I would sever all ties over that and never do business with that company again.

so, my choice is to either pay the invoice and hope for the best (again) or bail. I’m going to sit tight for awhile and see what communication if any, I get.

Well, to be fair, he did deliver one out of three, so I’m only waiting for the other two. And I’ve waited longer with other makers that cost a lot more than what Shawn charges. And Shawn hasn’t billed me for this one, yet.

That’s the thing with him. His shop can do excellent work for very little money. Same quality as the bigger brands but 1/2 to 1/4 the cost. But the full custom/bespoke wait time is stretching out. Which is why I sent him a message just today to change over to his stock patterns. My Irvin was not custom and was delivered in 2 weeks.

For your custom jacket if you can’t get the answers you’re looking for don’t do it. $350 can buy a lot still. Spring is right around the corner and most makers will start to slow down and have more time for the projects that got buried in peak season.

 

[Imuricecreamman]

Just ordered the 5x J24 in the steerhide. Added a removable rust colored collar for a little extra sizzle.

 

[ton312]

Better pics of my jacket after a couple days of a proper Chicago winter. Rain and driving snow today. I like it so much I ordered its twin in brown HH. Different cuff and slimmer sleeves. I do feel Shawn has stepped up his game. All my past jackets has slight flaws. This one does not. It’s just built to a better standard.

$2k LW:

$250 5 Star. Just sayn’!

I know, I know eye roll how dare I