Five Star Leather Jackets

[Observe]

Brutal stuff these last couple pages, and I say that as someone who did about as well as you can hope for with Five Star. I'm not really in the market for any leather jackets right now, but I definitely won't be trying my luck with Five Star any more. My tentative future plan for leather is if I find myself on a trip to Scotland, a detour to Galashiels to see about a Speedway, I think...

 

[PilotJens]

Is it normal that I can shine light though the stitch holes ?. They used such a big needle that I can shine though any hole

 

[ton312]

Is it normal that I can shine light though the stitch holes ?. They used such a big needle that I can shine though any hole

Man I would not be happy with that jacket on any level. I’d literally ball it up, bag it and toss it in the donation bin. I’ve done that to jackets before. Two of them recentlly ( not 5 Star, I got rid of those all long ago).

Sometimes stuff just isn’t good, not just from 5 Star but any jacket. Something like that though. Right to the bin.

 

[PilotJens]

I mean I can live with it as long as it looks decent on me .I need a mix of S and XS and I cannot buy vintage .I have a noble house "Eastman Ostmann" copy in horsehide and recently bought a schott black leather peacoat . The noble house was my first okay jacket and the schott is well made but I look like a SS officer in it with my Arian look.

But I am kind of disappointed in five star. My other jackets are fine .The goatskin infused with snow seal is very nice .The Irvin is nice. The brown heron style jacket fits decent after breaking it in and oiling and going through all kinds of weather .


But this one will not join the club .It is relatively poorly made and those stitchholes are comical. The leather is thin and feels more like goatskin.The fumes make me nauseous .The lining seems to be made of short fibre cotton.

I don't "need" the money I spent on it necessarily but I would feel better if I paid about 100€ less on it .

 

[ton312]

I mean I can live with it as long as it looks decent on me .I need a mix of S and XS and I cannot buy vintage .I have a noble house "Eastman Ostmann" copy in horsehide and recently bought a schott black leather peacoat . The noble house was my first okay jacket and the schott is well made but I look like a SS officer in it with my Arian look.

But I am kind of disappointed in five star. My other jackets are fine .The goatskin infused with snow seal is very nice .The Irvin is nice. The brown heron style jacket fits decent after breaking it in and oiling and going through all kinds of weather .


But this one will not join the club .It is relatively poorly made and those stitchholes are comical. The leather is thin and feels more like goatskin.The fumes make me nauseous .The lining seems to be made of short fibre cotton.

I don't "need" the money I spent on it necessarily but I would feel better if I paid about 100€ less on it .

That just sucks man. Hopefully people will start paying attention to posts like these....

 

[Marc mndt]

I feel like Ali Express (made in China) jackets are a much better deal. They're cheaper, have wearable patterns (note the 3D sleeves) and when the jacket isn't as advertised you'll be refunded by Ali Express.

 

[spectre6000]

As opposed to having Fivestar make one for me? I’m not sure it’s any more likely to turn out well… I doubt I could hand stitch cleanly enough to make it look decent. And cost wise, I’d come up short as well since I would have to buy an appropriate sewing machine in addition to hides.

That said, I still haven’t managed to get leather samples…

EDIT: Oops. Lost the context. There were half a page of responses I didn't see between @handymike 's post and my response. I thought they were on top of each other.

 

[PilotJens]

I know the owner of cidu and have videos of their production .Their production is pretty clean .It is not a sweatshop.I told him to stop buying hides from India and focus on Americans tanneries for the Western marked .

 

[JMax]

Must be one of the worst patterns I've ever seen. Pant leg sleeves that don't match the shape of the armholes, hence the stress points. What a joke.

View attachment 594685

I’m trying to figure out what that puckering at the armhole looks like…

 

[thor]

Just saw this on the Five Star Facebook page; it will be interesting to see the results in newly constructed jackets

 

[ton312]

I think the jig is up on the civilian line. The military stuff seems to turn out better. Truthfully I wouldn’t know. But the blown proportions, poor leather quality, and construction issues seem to be the norm. It’s beating a dead horse for some 50 plus pages in this thread but there are just so many better options. Even cheap ones like Marc pointed out that just make this whole thing seem quite silly.

 

[KBlake]

I am not planning to buy any more 5* now that I’ve had luck with vintage and know my measurements and preferences enough to invest in a higher end piece.

That being said, Regius who knows a bit about jackets asked me if this is an aero. Does that mean every 5* is this good? No! It took me at least ten 5*s to get to this jacket. I’ve since sold almost all the others at a consignment shop. Live and learn.

 

[handymike]

I know the owner of cidu and have videos of their production .Their production is pretty clean .It is not a sweatshop.I told him to stop buying hides from India and focus on Americans tanneries for the Western marked .

The pattern on my Cidu was fine, the leather was not!

 

[ton312]

I am not planning to buy any more 5* now that I’ve had luck with vintage and know my measurements and preferences enough to invest in a higher end piece.

That being said, Regius who knows a bit about jackets asked me if this is an aero. Does that mean every 5* is this good? No! It took me at least ten 5*s to get to this jacket. I’ve since sold almost all the others at a consignment shop. Live and learn. View attachment 594754

I’m surprised to hear that. To me the difference is not hard to see at all…

 

[spectre6000]

I had a brief video chat with Shawn on WhatsApp this morning. They're in the process of moving to a new facility. Might shed some light on recent dealings, or maybe provide a lens through which to interpret recent events (the weird sleeves on PilotJens's jacket maybe?). Explains the photo of the new pattern room yesterday. One department of many (13, I believe he said).

 

[PilotJens]

The picture I posted is horrible.It looks way different in real life.I will post a better picture.

The main complaint for me is the very thin leather and lining.

I have not checked any measurements yet

 

[PilotJens]

So the leather is oiled and I was able to tug out some of the misshapen areas .For example the shoulder seam sits normal now .For some reason nobody has hammered the seams or properly tug/ironed them out after making it .

The sleeve shape is from this pattern
https://www.fivestarleather.us/de/products/30s-sports-seal-brown-horse-hide-men-jacket
Which was copied of a original.

The sleeves have some curve

 

[PilotJens]

Reference picture for the sleeve attachment.
They did change it like I ordered though

 

[spectre6000]

That's the same pattern I have tagged for sleeve reference, and for the same reason.

 

[PilotJens]

I think the leather is the problem.It was tumbled to the point where it feels spongy and it doesn't drape very nice .It doesn't create the shape because it will shift around too much.

I will add beeswax once the oil is absorbed in order to remove the sponginess and create some drape/firmness.

I will still write them a complaint.

This leather might have been some very old stock they found while moving.
And the moving could explain the wrong needle size .

Is it a excuse to deliver something like that I don't know