Five Star Leather Jackets

[SPUdMurphy]

Is your nylon a 1950s original (or Buzz Rickson’s repro thereof)? Later batches, both military and civilian, use a much lighter nylon and are constructed differently.

Five Star’s MA-1 pattern is based on those originals that a flight jacket collector sent them to study.

No, it's definitely a fashion style reproduction, far from authentic. I've had an authentic styled reproduction in the past and it was much bigger all round

 

[Aloysius]

Yes the sizing is generally wider to fit over a flight suit. But I asked because you won’t see the shoulder fit on the later versions.

 

[SPUdMurphy]

Yes the sizing is generally wider to fit over a flight suit. But I asked because you won’t see the shoulder fit on the later versions.

Ah, i see, that makes sense. Im less worried about the shoulder, as I think it will improve as the jacket wears. I can get my tailor to resolve that, and take in the waist which is a little boxy for my taste.

Unless they want me to return the jacket for a full refund, then I will have to make a choice.

Im currently hanging it in the closet until I hear back from Shawn and Fargham on what they will do. So far, no response, but it has only been 12hrs. Ill give em a few days to reply before I start talking to my CC company.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Looks like cigarette burn mark. And I can see it now in the low res QC photos which is even worse as it got all the way through to the final measure stage... QC could have picked it out much sooner, after cutting before machining. I would have been ok with the burn mark in less noticeable spots for this price range but not front and center. This would be one of the strongest return and refund case in this thread imo. This is quite unfortunate as there were a couple good jackets before yours and it was your b-day but the odds were against your jacket...

The square shoulders also does not work with the bomber jackets. But I suspect this was from the early build a bear era from this thread. While I think square shoulders works with racers and half belts, bombers needs the bomber cut where the sleeves go into the shoulder at a much wider angle.

Even my fashion bombers are not square shoulder, and I think Shawn's civilian bomber pattern could get an overhaul, toss the old square shoulder and update it to something like these,

 

[SPUdMurphy]

Looks like cigarette burn mark. And I can see it now in the low res QC photos which is even worse as it got all the way through to the final measure stage... QC could have picked it out much sooner, after cutting before machining. I would have been ok with the burn mark in less noticeable spots for this price range but not front and center. This would be one of the strongest return and refund case in this thread imo. This is quite unfortunate as there were a couple good jackets before yours and it was your b-day but the odds were against your jacket...

The square shoulders also does not work with the bomber jackets. But I suspect this was from the early build a bear era from this thread. While I think square shoulders works with racers and half belts, bombers needs the bomber cut where the sleeves go into the shoulder at a much wider angle.


Even my fashion bombers are not square shoulder, and I think Shawn's civilian bomber pattern could get an overhaul, toss the old square shoulder and update it to something like these,
View attachment 620791

What is this jacket? That looks pretty nice from the back at least. lol

 

[Canuck Panda]

What is this jacket? That looks pretty nice from the back at least. lol

The leather non hoodie one is Johnson Leather's M-100 in their house horsehide.

The leather hoodie is Roots Canada! They have a non hoodie version. Highly recommend, especially during their two major sales. Made in Ontario, Italian full grain naked cowhide, best bang for the buck imo.

 

[SPUdMurphy]

The leather non hoodie one is Johnson Leather's M-100 in their house horsehide.

The leather hoodie is Roots Canada! They have a non hoodie version. Highly recommend, especially during their two major sales. Made in Ontario, Italian full grain naked cowhide, best bang for the buck imo.

Ah, safe to assume the JL one was big bucks then. Hence why it looks so good. lol

 

[Canuck Panda]

Ah, safe to assume the JL one was big bucks then. Hence why it looks so good. lol

A custom JL is in the Aero price range. A stock one much less. They do have a sale on stock jackets now and is worth to call to find out if they've got a bomber in your size on the sale rack. It's also worth to take a look at Golden Bear for stock jackets, they also make very good bomber jackets.

 

[blood_e]

The recent trend of dissing 5star is getting boring. Go spend thousands on aero. Your son still thinks you're lame

 

[MrProper]

The recent trend of dissing 5star is getting boring. Go spend thousands on aero. Your son still thinks you're lame

There is a very simple solution to this. Just don't read this thread.
Or put those who, in your opinion, diss unfounded on the ignore list.

 

[ton312]

The recent trend of dissing 5star is getting boring. Go spend thousands on aero. Your son still thinks you're lame

The jackets definitely speak for themselves.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

The recent trend of dissing 5star is getting boring. Go spend thousands on aero. Your son still thinks you're lame

So be bored. This isn’t Facebook - no one is here to entertain you. One of the functions of this site is to increase the collective knowledge of bespoke dealers (in hats, leather, suits, shoes, etc.). If you don’t believe 5* deserves criticism, then defend it as @SPUdMurphy has done. Otherwise, if you want to censor someone, that’s what the ignore button is for. But telling people in essence to “shut up” runs counter to the spirit of the Lounge.

I’ll say this again: imo any Lounger who purchases from 5* and has a less-than-satisfactory experience has already had ample warning, because this thread is full of those warnings starting all the way back at the second page. There is nothing whatsoever “recent” about it. Some believe the benefits outweigh the risks or the price is the worth the gamble. Fine. Doesn’t mean the rest of us should stop pointing out that there is at least one loaded chamber in the revolver they are juggling.

 

[bigmanbigtruck]

everytime I open this thred:

 

[JMax]

everytime I open this thred:

I curse @TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead almost daily. lol.

 

[El Marro]

I’ll say this again: imo any Lounger who purchases from 5* and has a less-than-satisfactory experience has already had ample warning, because this thread is full of those warnings starting all the way back at the second page. There is nothing whatsoever “recent” about it. Some believe the benefits outweigh the risks or the price is the worth the gamble. Fine. Doesn’t mean the rest of us should stop pointing out that there is at least one loaded chamber in the revolver they are juggling.

Exactly! I feel like I am doing a public service announcement every time I tell people about the bad side of Five Star, and also that there is no good side of Five Star. And it’s funny to see people line up again and again, knowing that the best they can hope for is something truly mediocre.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Exactly! I feel like I am doing a public service announcement every time I tell people about the bad side of Five Star, and also that there is no good side of Five Star. And it’s funny to see people line up again and again, knowing that the best they can hope for is something truly mediocre.

I don't disagree with that at all. If 5* were still an unknown quantity, then it would be worth the gamble for the price. I recently took a similar gamble on a bespoke fedora from a brand new hat maker and received a product that was worthy of the price. It had newbie flaws, period, but the price reflected that. But if that hat maker continued to make the same mistakes after four years and countless clients, then I would absolutely be asking why we are still giving them our business.

Whatever, it's not my money and folks can read this thread just as easily as you or I. I'm not really trying to warn people away and I'm gonna stop coming here as soon as my curiosity let's up. It's just that i'm still in the "how bad can it get?" mode or maybe even the "I can't believe it's THIS bad" mode.

 

[SPUdMurphy]

Exactly! I feel like I am doing a public service announcement every time I tell people about the bad side of Five Star, and also that there is no good side of Five Star. And it’s funny to see people line up again and again, knowing that the best they can hope for is something truly mediocre.

Whilst I understand exactly what you and others are saying, there is no option for jackets of this quality (which I understand is subjective, and open to interpretation), for the cost. It is soley going to be down to what each person's perception of cost vs value is.

If my jacket had arrived without the blemish in the chest, I would have been way more than satisfied for the $280USD pricetag. Any other leather bomber I could find was made of lambskin, and was at least $350USD. I think a goatskin jacket in this price range is pretty unbeatable.

Im still hoping that 5* will come to the party and compensate me partially at least, otherwise I will have to find another recourse for remedy which I would prefer not to do. I still think 5* has value, and I would like to perhaps give them another shot in the future.

I have an Alexander Leathers Steerhide cafe jacket which was big bucks (which I got from our local consignment store, but new), and I wanted something much cheaper that I can not be too concerned about if I wear it to pubs, etc, knowing I have not spent a fortune on it. In the event that Fargham had been upfront with his QC images, I think I would have been more than happy with my purchase, as the issue would have been resolved before it was sent. I still hold out hope that I will be. resolved to each parties satisfaction.

 

[JMax]

The not being upfront on the QC images is a big problem for me. Personally, I can deal with issues with a jacket, especially at that price point. Some things just don’t bother me. But shadiness? That is a no go. We all have our lines of course. What’s interesting is that 5* repeatedly crosses all sorts of lines for all sorts of customers. And folks still think, “I’ll make it work”.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

The not being upfront on the QC images is a big problem for me. Personally, I can deal with issues with a jacket, especially at that price point. Some things just don’t bother me. But shadiness? That is a no go. We all have our lines of course. What’s interesting is that 5* repeatedly crosses all sorts of lines for all sorts of customers. And folks still think, “I’ll make it work”.

Same.

 

[SPUdMurphy]

The not being upfront on the QC images is a big problem for me. Personally, I can deal with issues with a jacket, especially at that price point. Some things just don’t bother me. But shadiness? That is a no go. We all have our lines of course. What’s interesting is that 5* repeatedly crosses all sorts of lines for all sorts of customers. And folks still think, “I’ll make it work”.

Hey, trust me. It bothers me too. I am still hoping that Shawn will come to the table and do something to help compensate for the obvious lack of QC or disregard for the end user experience. Either of those is not OK with me either.

That said, I knew what I was getting into from the thread, and am able to overlook some of the issues. As mentioned, the QC issue is not something that I can overlook, and am going to exhaust every option for restitution.

I just think that they do offer great value / $, so as long as you at least get what you paid for, and were expecting. In my case, I did not get what I was expecting, based off of the QC images I approved prior to shipping.