Five Star Leather Jackets

[handymike]

Cuz they are so bitchin...

 

[ton312]

Cuz they are so bitchin...
View attachment 274917

That hide looks exactly like Shawn's seal brown...Screen Grab complete. I'm building that, or rather...he is.

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

Just be precise. I want the pockets placed 1 inch from the bottom, 3/4 inch off center of the zipper, etc. Collar needs to be X amount wide and should be stiff, floppy, whatever. Literally break your jacket down into pieces and give details on each piece. What kind/size zipper you want. Sleeves, how wide on the biceps, how wide on the forearms, how wide on the wrist opening. If you want even thickness on the leather everywhere, or do you want certain pieces thinner or thicker.

Last bit of advice on the design because this is what ultimately screwed up my job, don't trust the colors on his website. He's using flash photography and it's not capturing correctly. Don't assume red is red and green is green. I know it sounds like we're being super nerdy or picky, but you can go to the other thread and read about 20 pages of little "mistakes" that some of us wish we would have clarified.

Once you get all the design details, then you really need to make sure about your own measurements. Get your best 2 or 3 fitting jackets and lay them on the floor and take measurements of the key area (p2p, shoulder, back length you want, neck circumference, sleeve length, etc.). Take pics of the tape so it's clear when you say I want 23 p2p, he can look at that photo and see how your 23 was referenced.

I would go all in on the leather. That's not going to affect his ability to nail the design. Last thing you want is for him to do a good job and then not be happy with the leather and you have to start all over again. He's done some nice detail work. Look up Jonesey's Sunset jacket. That had a lot of detail. So I don't think that's going to be the main concern. But I wouldn't get anything less than the premium goat or premium steer/cow.

 

[Bahabp100]

I hit a snag in my V2 jacket from Shawn , pattern is already cut . I had asked him to match leather on one of these golden tan and brown Cidu Jackets that I saw here and liked but he send me this picture that looks reddish that misses the Mark so Any suggestions ?

 

[handymike]

Try the vintaged distressed buffalo. It looks close to the Cidu.

 

[Marc mndt]

View attachment 275287 I hit a snag in my V2 jacket from Shawn , pattern is already cut . I had asked him to match leather on one of these golden tan and brown Cidu Jackets that I saw here and liked but he send me this picture that looks reddish that misses the Mark so Any suggestions ?
View attachment 275281 View attachment 275282

It looks like they simply added a few paintbrush stripes to the sleeves in order to make it look like creases.

This is how it should be done to make it look natural

Fill up the sleeve, crease it up a little and then apply wax.

 

[Bahabp100]

It looks like they simply added a few paintbrush stripes to the sleeves in order to make it look like creases.

This is how it should be done to make it look natural
View attachment 275292
Fill up the sleeve, crease it up a little and then apply wax.

The wax is what darken distressed it?

 

[Marc mndt]

The wax is what darken distressed it?

This his how Thedi waxes their jackets. I think the RRL knockoff may have been given a thin topcoat which is then rubbed off in a similar way.

Anyway, I would opt for the distressed buffalo like @handymike suggests.

 

[red devil]

Do you think they are up to the detail work? I hope so- I’ll be anxiously waiting along with you (2 weeks ).

I still need to take the time to specify everything, but once it goes, should be fun

I am mystified by the desirability of these East West Musical Instrument jackets. They were not particularly well made. I had one hanging in my closet for 40+ years. As new and unworn, I sold it for a big number.

I personally like their crazy designs as @handymike mentionned. Not keen to pay the crazy prices for originals

Just be precise. I want the pockets placed 1 inch from the bottom, 3/4 inch off center of the zipper, etc. Collar needs to be X amount wide and should be stiff, floppy, whatever. Literally break your jacket down into pieces and give details on each piece. What kind/size zipper you want. Sleeves, how wide on the biceps, how wide on the forearms, how wide on the wrist opening. If you want even thickness on the leather everywhere, or do you want certain pieces thinner or thicker.

Last bit of advice on the design because this is what ultimately screwed up my job, don't trust the colors on his website. He's using flash photography and it's not capturing correctly. Don't assume red is red and green is green. I know it sounds like we're being super nerdy or picky, but you can go to the other thread and read about 20 pages of little "mistakes" that some of us wish we would have clarified.

Once you get all the design details, then you really need to make sure about your own measurements. Get your best 2 or 3 fitting jackets and lay them on the floor and take measurements of the key area (p2p, shoulder, back length you want, neck circumference, sleeve length, etc.). Take pics of the tape so it's clear when you say I want 23 p2p, he can look at that photo and see how your 23 was referenced.

I would go all in on the leather. That's not going to affect his ability to nail the design. Last thing you want is for him to do a good job and then not be happy with the leather and you have to start all over again. He's done some nice detail work. Look up Jonesey's Sunset jacket. That had a lot of detail. So I don't think that's going to be the main concern. But I wouldn't get anything less than the premium goat or premium steer/cow.

Thanks for all the advice, I am taking this jacket as a test run to see what comes out, that's why I am not so sure about going all out in the leather yet.

 

[red devil]

So these are the measurements I am loooking at

Thedi
Neck 18"
Shoulders 19"
Chest P2P 21.5"
Waist 20.5"
Hem 21.5"
Sleeve 25.5
Sleeve: 18.5"
Biceps 7.5"
Elbows 7"
Cuff 6"
Armscye 11"

Little Wing
Neck 18"
Shoulders 18.5"
Chest P2P 21"
Waist 19.5"
Hem 19.5"
Sleeve 25"
Sleeve: 19"
Biceps 7"
Elbows 6.5"
Cuff 5.5"
Armscye 10.5"

Not so easy to take measurements, the leather and how well you can spread it adds quite a bit of variability. But in general, do these measurements make sense for a size 42 overall?

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

color was my demise. be careful. have him put something recognizable in the picture so you can reference and have a better guess.

 

[red devil]

color was my demise. be careful. have him put something recognizable in the picture so you can reference and have a better guess.

Exactly, if I pay more to have the colour not fitting what I want... it would bother me a lot. I am thinking of either going with what he calls "conic brown", knowing that it will work no matter how the shade varies. Or asking if he has a natural hide

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

what's your actual chest size? You got to give like .25 inch on the p2p for the leather/lining and then some more for what you plan to wear underneath, and then I think another .5 to 1 just so you can breathe : )

Biceps seem tight. Mine were 7.5 to 7.75 and there's just enough wiggle room. I think my actual bicep measurement is like 14.

what's the 2 different sleeve measurements?

That waist and hem measurement going to give you a straight line in the body, not the flare out you have in your examples. So you have to take in the mid section some or go bigger on the hem.

 

[MrProper]

For me the measurements make sense for a 42.
And now take a photo and draw the lines of the measurements and measurements itself on the photo.
Like this

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

Exactly, if I pay more to have the colour not fitting what I want... it would bother me a lot. I am thinking of either going with what he calls "conic brown", knowing that it will work no matter how the shade varies. Or asking if he has a natural hide

yep. I got a beautiful jacket, but has way more contrast stitching than what I was expecting. Nothing wrong with the quality of the jacket, but wasn't what I was expecting, so now I'm kind of stuck.

I asked for samples of the distressed goat and buffalo, but he didn't send. So don't even want to guess. The cognac is a lot darker than what shows on his website, but it's thinner goat, not the thicker prem stuff, or at least that's what he sent me.

The seal brown steer has been chipping a lot and underneath it's a more orange brown. So I don't think it's going to get what you're looking for. More of a teacore effect than a patina.

Not sure if seal brown goat will be better for patina.

All the top coats are pretty tough. My original thought was to take the cognac and add some coconut oil/beeswax and create a sort of poor man Natural CXL. But nothing penetrating any of the samples I got.

That's why I'm holding off on ordering anything else until I see how my leather holds up and ages, and also some of the others on this thread. I'm not expecting the thing to disintegrate or anything like that, I just got a feeling the leather isn't going to have much more character than what you get when you first get it. So better get the color right off the bat.

 

[Bahabp100]

He showed me his conic or cognac distressed I think there’s is dark and light versions , for my order picture on this post, in the last post is supossed look like the original, even “closely match it” but the picture looks russet red to me and I made clear I wanted something to match the original jacket either the dark or light but he said conic will. He told me it’s a national holiday and the factory is closed Friday and open Saturday so I’m not bombarding him with emails and wait for new samples before sewing the pattern is cut

 

[red devil]

what's your actual chest size? You got to give like .25 inch on the p2p for the leather/lining and then some more for what you plan to wear underneath, and then I think another .5 to 1 just so you can breathe : )

Biceps seem tight. Mine were 7.5 to 7.75 and there's just enough wiggle room. I think my actual bicep measurement is like 14.

what's the 2 different sleeve measurements?

That waist and hem measurement going to give you a straight line in the body, not the flare out you have in your examples. So you have to take in the mid section some or go bigger on the hem.

My chest size is currently about 41", I am planning to only wear iit with t-shirts (I have enough warmer jackets, or jackets I can layer in).

My biceps seem to be around 14" as well.

For me the measurements make sense for a 42.
And now take a photo and draw the lines of the measurements and measurements itself on the photo.
Like this
View attachment 275328

Thanks will post a similar pic a bit later

 

[Bahabp100]

yep. I got a beautiful jacket, but has way more contrast stitching than what I was expecting. Nothing wrong with the quality of the jacket, but wasn't what I was expecting, so now I'm kind of stuck.

I asked for samples of the distressed goat and buffalo, but he didn't send. So don't even want to guess. The cognac is a lot darker than what shows on his website, but it's thinner goat, not the thicker prem stuff, or at least that's what he sent me.

The seal brown steer has been chipping a lot and underneath it's a more orange brown. So I don't think it's going to get what you're looking for. More of a teacore effect than a patina.

Not sure if seal brown goat will be better for patina.

All the top coats are pretty tough. My original thought was to take the cognac and add some coconut oil/beeswax and create a sort of poor man Natural CXL. But nothing penetrating any of the samples I got.

That's why I'm holding off on ordering anything else until I see how my leather holds up and ages, and also some of the others on this thread. I'm not expecting the thing to disintegrate or anything like that, I just got a feeling the leather isn't going to have much more character than what you get when you first get it. So better get the color right off the bat.

Can you post of picture of the conic or a link Thank You

 

[red devil]

yep. I got a beautiful jacket, but has way more contrast stitching than what I was expecting. Nothing wrong with the quality of the jacket, but wasn't what I was expecting, so now I'm kind of stuck.

I asked for samples of the distressed goat and buffalo, but he didn't send. So don't even want to guess. The cognac is a lot darker than what shows on his website, but it's thinner goat, not the thicker prem stuff, or at least that's what he sent me.

The seal brown steer has been chipping a lot and underneath it's a more orange brown. So I don't think it's going to get what you're looking for. More of a teacore effect than a patina.

Not sure if seal brown goat will be better for patina.

All the top coats are pretty tough. My original thought was to take the cognac and add some coconut oil/beeswax and create a sort of poor man Natural CXL. But nothing penetrating any of the samples I got.

That's why I'm holding off on ordering anything else until I see how my leather holds up and ages, and also some of the others on this thread. I'm not expecting the thing to disintegrate or anything like that, I just got a feeling the leather isn't going to have much more character than what you get when you first get it. So better get the color right off the bat.

Something without a top coat would be good, or maybe I send him the leather... hmmm

He showed me his comic or cognac distressed I think there’s is dark and light versions , for my order picture on this post, in the last post is supossed look like the original, even “closely match it” but the picture looks russet red to me and I made clear I wanted something to match the original jacket either the dark or light but he said conic will. He told me it’s a national holiday and the factory is closed Friday and open Saturday so I’m not bombarding him with emails and wait for new samples before sewing the pattern is cut View attachment 275339 View attachment 275337 View attachment 275336 View attachment 275336 View attachment 275337

Yeah this looks like a russet to me

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

Can you post of picture of the conic or a link Thank You

bottom right is where I put coconut oil/beeswax conditioner. It darkened, but I don't like the texture. Anyway, was expecting it to be more natural/tan color like the website, but it's like a caramel brown. He's using flash photography and like I said, I wouldn't trust any color reference on there.

this piece is super thin and stretchy though. I wouldn't recommend. Maybe if he has in the premium thickness. From what I can gather, the thinner stuff is semi veg tanned.

the photo you posted of him measuring looks pretty good for color. not so red. If he's already constructed the jacket, good luck getting him to change now. Same thing happened to me with my giraffe collar. Charged me $30 to change.