Five Star Leather Jackets

[ton312]

Simulpost!

I'm not saying the darting (don't have a better term yet, and that's what I've been calling it in my head all week) is necessary, just a method that I have in front of me that adds both curvature AND dimension. Personally, I also like the detail of it for the style that's in my head.

It clearly IS down to how the material is cut, but HOW is the material cut? What is the actual difference? This is where people with sleeves that are "good" would take detailed photos where individual panels of sleeves are made as flat as possible. I suspect, there is curvature in the cut of these panels, and that's all there is to it. What is the angle though? Is it a gentle curve along the entire length, or are is it straight at one end or the other with a curved section (X%) in the middle?

To wit, here's an image of a jacket pattern where you can clearly see curvature in the arm panels (the panels themselves down in the bottom right corner parts E and F, not shown in the macro views at the top):

I picked that one specifically for the curvature of the actual panels, but there are plenty of jacket patterns out there with clearly straight arms.

Additionally, in the interest of putting things into finite terms for entering into the Fivestar machine, what ANGLE are the sleeves mounted to the body of the jacket? Maybe relative to the side panel (or is it too variable according to waist/hem dimensions)? The angle of the shoulders probably matters as well; what is that angle from some imaginary center line? To fully code a jacket, these details need to be known, otherwise we get whatever the pattern guy on hand puts out.

I don’t think there’s a single answer as to curvature. It varies for sure and you’re right about the angle at which the sleeve exists the shoulder. This plays a role too. I can’t give a single answer and I haven’t taken something apart to make the detailed notes required because at that point…why not just buy a jacket you can slightly modify without reinventing the wheel? The argument for and against 5 Star is circular. It just keeps going on and on and the end result is always the same. In other words…..

 

[JMax]

Ton beat me to it but Damn, that’s a lot of work. You essentially become a 5* employee working for less than the guys in Pakistan.

 

[spectre6000]

So don't play.

I'm not trying to rehash any debates, I'm trying to move the conversation along. Fivestar clearly isn't a designer fashion house, and JQ Publique clearly aren't fashion designers. Tim Gunn isn't riding us to "get it done" (or whatever his catch phrase was).

What Fivestar IS is a machine. It takes varied inputs, and spits out jackets. If we can figure out how to code for it, we should be able to get predictable results. I want to try to figure out what that is and codify it. I have bookmarks for the three Fivestar Pioneers and at least one of their orders. They're all very detailed (which is why they got good results), but none are complete. Each has details another is lacking. Obviously none have ALL the details required to get to the goal. That said, to my uneducated eye, the results of many many of the jackets in this thread have been EXCELLENT! Ignorance is bliss, and I want to hold onto that unless and until I can do something about it...

I want to do the engineer thing here to figure out how to work the Fivestar Machine.

I believe if we ignore the details (belts, pleats, gussets, collars, cuffs, etc.) and focus on the core of what constitutes a jacket, there are probably only maybe two or three... maybe four general styles. Silhouettes. Probably something like Cossack (baggy/round), Cafe Racer (tight/V?), Half Belt (middle ground/soft hourglass?), and... ? I dunno if there's an and. Trucker (square)? If we can come up with archetype cores upon which to hang the "details". From there, sizing seems to be very doable by the Fivestar Machine.

If they have example jackets of any archetypes, that short circuits needing to come up with that detail set, as we can just hang details on that particular archetype in a turn-key manner. It seems that it used to be the names of the jacket were somewhat indicative of whether or not they were copied from a pre-existing jacket, but I'm not sure that's the case any more... I know there was a police jacket and some truckers that were copied, but that's all I recall for sure from the last 390 pages... Anyone know more/better?

 

[ton312]

So don't play.

I'm not trying to rehash any debates, I'm trying to move the conversation along. Fivestar clearly isn't a designer fashion house, and JQ Publique clearly aren't fashion designers. Tim Gunn isn't riding us to "get it done" (or whatever his catch phrase was).

What Fivestar IS is a machine. It takes varied inputs, and spits out jackets. If we can figure out how to code for it, we should be able to get predictable results. I want to try to figure out what that is and codify it. I have bookmarks for the three Fivestar Pioneers and at least one of their orders. They're all very detailed (which is why they got good results), but none are complete. Each has details another is lacking. Obviously none have ALL the details required to get to the goal. That said, to my uneducated eye, the results of many many of the jackets in this thread have been EXCELLENT! Ignorance is bliss, and I want to hold onto that unless and until I can do something about it...

I want to do the engineer thing here to figure out how to work the Fivestar Machine.

I believe if we ignore the details (belts, pleats, gussets, collars, cuffs, etc.) and focus on the core of what constitutes a jacket, there are probably only maybe two or three... maybe four general styles. Silhouettes. Probably something like Cossack (baggy/round), Cafe Racer (tight/V?), Half Belt (middle ground/soft hourglass?), and... ? I dunno if there's an and. Trucker (square)? If we can come up with archetype cores upon which to hang the "details". From there, sizing seems to be very doable by the Fivestar Machine.

If they have example jackets of any archetypes, that short circuits needing to come up with that detail set, as we can just hang details on that particular archetype in a turn-key manner. It seems that it used to be the names of the jacket were somewhat indicative of whether or not they were copied from a pre-existing jacket, but I'm not sure that's the case any more... I know there was a police jacket and some truckers that were copied, but that's all I recall for sure from the last 390 pages... Anyone know more/better?

I think the danger in your approach is that it ignores the fact that there is also an element of art and creativity in this process. You won’t find that with 5 Star. That said, best of luck!

 

[spectre6000]

The exact point in figuring out how to code for the machine is to take the art and creativity aspects away from Fivestar for that very reason.

I want the end result of this little exercise to be a Fivestar order form of sorts along the lines of "starting with the 'Fedora Lounge Cafe Racer' core pattern, add the following details:" insert list of pockets and whatever off a menu with a system that simplifies the whole thing. Maybe even a sort of simple grid for locating things by percentage distance from set points.... If any members are CSS masters (it's been close to a decade since I even thought about CSS), this might be a neat WYSIWYG project.

 

[El Marro]

The exact point in figuring out how to code for the machine is to take the art and creativity aspects away from Fivestar for that very reason.

Taking the art and creativity out of it sounds bad to me. Like mediocre jackets with no soul.

 

[spectre6000]

Take the art and creativity away from Fivestar (who has proven to lack it in the first place) and give it to the person commissioning the jacket...

 

[ton312]

 

[JMax]

View attachment 582936

Mean Jerk Time, D2F and girth are easier to account for.

 

[Imuricecreamman]

Sorry if you said this elsewhere, but which colour is this?

I think this was their distressed bison.

 

[Furrowson]

I think this was their distressed bison.

My favourite kind of bison. Thanks, looks great. Wonder how it ages.

 

[mysternee]

Hello, new account here but I've lurked for years and often used this site for info and ideas. Thank you!
I recently bought a stock five star jacket on Jan 12th, 10 days ago, and never recieved any shipping confirmation. I tried emailing them days ago and got no response. Is this the normal amount of time? Seems like many of you have recieved custom jackets in 2 weeks or so. I'm also wondering if it has anything to do with the Iran Pakistan conflict...
Anyways, if any of you have also bought a jacket recently or have any insite I'd appreciate it!

I would try contacting them on WhatsApp via the pop-up on their site, or emailing Shawn via Shawn.fivestarleather@gmail.com - I've placed a custom order, and even had it sent out, just in the last few days, with plenty of contact inbetween.

 

[mysternee]

I think the safest bet in this direction would be to get one of the original model-patterned G-1 types (like the one I mentioned, H&L Block) and ask for a removable collar. No other changes just because I think any additional variable increases the chance of something going wrong.

Could add side-entry handwarmers if you explicitly stipulate that you want the pocket shape/size to remain the same as the standard model. That way there’s no case where they’d have to guesstimate the size or placement of a new pocket or something.

I think there’s a chance of getting a good product there but you need to be very mindful about how you do it; providing measurements doesn’t do much to help because then you’re back to them developing a pattern.

After some annoying back-and-forth on ebay, I ended up going down this road. I spent a lot of time looking at different patterns, and in the end I felt like the H&L block just wouldn't suit my proportions, unless I started messing with it to a degree that would definitely invite more risk than I want. I ended up going with the Bauer 55j14 pattern, which I gather might be a 'copy of a copy', but it has proportions which I think will be more favorable, as well as a small collar. Anyway, they very promptly put it together, and as of today it's in the mail. Pic attached.

For better or worse, I'll let everyone know how it works out. Based on the photos, all the measurements are as requested, and I don't see any obvious measuring-tape distortion. My biggest concern is just how it will sit on me in practice, but that's always an issue when ordering online. Will post pictures and impressions once it gets here and I've had a chance to wear it a bit.

 

[Aloysius]

After some annoying back-and-forth on ebay, I ended up going down this road. I spent a lot of time looking at different patterns, and in the end I felt like the H&L block just wouldn't suit my proportions, unless I started messing with it to a degree that would definitely invite more risk than I want. I ended up going with the Bauer 55j14 pattern, which I gather might be a 'copy of a copy', but it has proportions which I think will be more favorable, as well as a small collar. Anyway, they very promptly put it together, and as of today it's in the mail. Pic attached.

For better or worse, I'll let everyone know how it works out. Based on the photos, all the measurements are as requested, and I don't see any obvious measuring-tape distortion. My biggest concern is just how it will sit on me in practice, but that's always an issue when ordering online. Will post pictures and impressions once it gets here and I've had a chance to wear it a bit.

H&L Block wasn’t the only one patterned on an original though; there were other options. I wasn’t trying to steer you to H&L Block, just away from something patterned by Five Star.

Hopefully this is also based on something real and not one of the “TFL member sends a photo” jackets!

 

[Furrowson]

Looks promising! That's their goat hide I assume?

After some annoying back-and-forth on ebay, I ended up going down this road. I spent a lot of time looking at different patterns, and in the end I felt like the H&L block just wouldn't suit my proportions, unless I started messing with it to a degree that would definitely invite more risk than I want. I ended up going with the Bauer 55j14 pattern, which I gather might be a 'copy of a copy', but it has proportions which I think will be more favorable, as well as a small collar. Anyway, they very promptly put it together, and as of today it's in the mail. Pic attached.

For better or worse, I'll let everyone know how it works out. Based on the photos, all the measurements are as requested, and I don't see any obvious measuring-tape distortion. My biggest concern is just how it will sit on me in practice, but that's always an issue when ordering online. Will post pictures and impressions once it gets here and I've had a chance to wear it a bi

 

[mysternee]

H&L Block wasn’t the only one patterned on an original though; there were other options. I wasn’t trying to steer you to H&L Block, just away from something patterned by Five Star.

Hopefully this is also based on something real and not one of the “TFL member sends a photo” jackets!

FIngers crossed! It's this one here:

https://www.fivestarleather.us/prod...al-military-spec-leather-flight-bomber-jacket

They certainly say it's a reproduction of a specific model/reference, so hopefully that's true.

Looks promising! That's their goat hide I assume?

Yeah, the premium goat in seal brown, handwarmers, no collar, brown knits, brown cotton lining, and I requested dark brown buttons but they look on the black & white side, guess we'll see. My big concerns are the overall fit: I sized up to a 40 to get the kind of space and proportions I wanted, but sized down the sleeves to their 38 lengths as I felt they'd be too long on me given my stature. Just hoping I judge the sizing right. Also curious as to whether I'll actually be able to put my hands in the handwarmers with ease, or if it'll be too snug for comfort. Will know in a few days!

 

[Furrowson]

Yeah, the premium goat in seal brown, handwarmers, no collar, brown knits, brown cotton lining, and I requested dark brown buttons but they look on the black & white side, guess we'll see. My big concerns are the overall fit: I sized up to a 40 to get the kind of space and proportions I wanted, but sized down the sleeves to their 38 lengths as I felt they'd be too long on me given my stature. Just hoping I judge the sizing right. Also curious as to whether I'll actually be able to put my hands in the handwarmers with ease, or if it'll be too snug for comfort. Will know in a few days!

Do you know if the premium goat is full veg tanned? Sounds like a cool spec you've ordered. I think this is my favourite looking jacket of theirs, not that I've done a deep dive. It looks boxy and tapered and... hefty. The shoulder width seems quite large for the chest size, but i wonder if thats because of the extra pleats at the back. Did you alter that at all? Very curious to see how this turns out. Saving for an Aero atm so I'm enjoying this vicariously haha.

 

[GraceNote13]

I ordered a double rider using Mysteryo’s 1930’s original jacket pattern in the 2mm CHL from 5*. These sleeves have a ton of curve and taper to them. The vintage pattern and the 6 pages of pics/ instructions I sent Fargham made the difference. The pattern has a lot of curvature, definitely not the tube sleeves I received on my first 5* jacket. In the last pics you can see how much it curves near the elbow. Jacket just shipped, will review once it arrives.

I went with the CHL steer, not a big fan of the premium goat. I soaked my last jacket in hot bath water for 20 minutes and tossed it in the dryer to get rid of plastic feel. Still don't care for the pebble finish but it feels way better and no longer squeeky.

Thank's Mysteryo for sending in your original jacket to create the pattern.

 

[spectre6000]

I ordered a double rider using Mysteryo’s 1930’s original jacket pattern...

Which pattern is this?

 

[GraceNote13]

Which pattern is this?

Fivestar Leather 30's Sports Seal Brown Horse Hide Men Jacket

"A" Grade Top Quality Real Leather Jacket Made from Genuine and high quality Seal Brown Horse hide Leather Front Repro Talon Zipper Zipper Fastening Multiple Cross Slash Pockets High quality 100% Green Satin in Body and Black Satin in Sleeves All sizes are available in stock

www.fivestarleather.us