Five Star Leather Jackets

[Canuck Panda]

Just arrived today. Cossack in cream Shawn “CXL”. The leather feels nice and a little sandy. Nice character and marks where we scratch it. The color is not as I expected though. And for some reason even having let a few cm here and there for a comfortable fit, my arm movement is restricted forward and up and it pulls the jacket up. Perhaps needs to break in? I’m really annoyed by the restrictions. For the rest I’m happy.

The Horween/Aero Natural CXL feels sandy too. But I am more anxious about how Shawn's CXL will actual show the pull up effect. I am hoping it will have multi tone color variations like the Horween. Fingers crossed.

 

[FL2021]

Maybe the Pattern, Hopefully one of the more Senior Members can fill us in. I would't think 25cm or 10inches in Diametre is out of line.

 

[Grasp loo paper]

Well here are some pictures if I believe it’s multi toned

 

[Dionysus]

5star has zero knowledge about the pattern that allows arm movement, and now they are launching the thicker leather .....

 

[MrProper]

Just arrived today. Cossack in cream Shawn “CXL”. The leather feels nice and a little sandy. Nice character and marks where we scratch it. The color is not as I expected though. And for some reason even having let a few cm here and there for a comfortable fit, my arm movement is restricted forward and up and it pulls the jacket up. Perhaps needs to break in? I’m really annoyed by the restrictions. For the rest I’m happy.

I like it very much. Much better than the sloppy Cossacks.
I almost have to think about whether I have to be a bit more generous with this leather with my measurements. Actually, I assume that my standard dimensions + 5mm should also fit, since the leather is "only" 0.5mm thicker than my usual mid-weight leather. But if it's very stiff, maybe more is needed?

5star has zero knowledge about the pattern that allows arm movement, and now they are launching the thicker leather .....

What exactly makes your opinion?
I'm not exactly the specialist, but I claim that jackets from 5* are in no way inferior to other manufacturers in terms of fit. In fact, I would say that my most comfortable leather jackets are from 5*.

In my opinion, a jacket moves a lot upwards when the interplay between shoulder width, armhole and P2P is not right. Pointed shoulders add to the problem.

 

[Canuck Panda]

I like it very much. Much better than the sloppy Cossacks.
I almost have to think about whether I have to be a bit more generous with this leather with my measurements. Actually, I assume that my standard dimensions + 5mm should also fit, since the leather is "only" 0.5mm thicker than my usual mid-weight leather. But if it's very stiff, maybe more is needed?

Hey MrProper, FWIW, I went half inch up for the thicker leather built with Shawn. I am just pulling this outta my arse though, as I have no idea how it will turn out.

My previous jackets from Shawn (in goat) specs:
Shoulder 19"
P2P 23"
Waist 19" - 19.5" (where the half belt is, I got sewn in elastics instead of side straps)
Hem 20"
My upcoming CXL thick leather with Shawn:
Shoulder 19.5"
P2P 23.5"
Waist 19.5"
Hem 20.5"
I kept the back length and sleeve length the same.

I have also read somewhere on this forum that Field Leathers suggest going up 0.25" for thicker leather. This would translate to your +5mm.

Mr. Graspe loo Paper's new jacket looks exact like how a new Aero CXL jacket would drape though, so that's a big positive!

 

[Riu]

Just arrived today. Cossack in cream Shawn “CXL”. The leather feels nice and a little sandy. Nice character and marks where we scratch it. The color is not as I expected though. And for some reason even having let a few cm here and there for a comfortable fit, my arm movement is restricted forward and up and it pulls the jacket up. Perhaps needs to break in? I’m really annoyed by the restrictions. For the rest I’m happy.

Looking great! I'm sure more qualified people know more about this but maybe a smaller armhole could help with that? How does the leather feel?

 

[Grasp loo paper]

Looking great! I'm sure more qualified people know more about this but maybe a smaller armhole could help with that? How does the leather feel?

The leather feels good, softer than the goat, but I still think it can become softer. It’s very thick, when I fold my arms my elbows hurt a little. Overall it’s very nice leather. If I can get the a little more mobility from the arms by breaking it in, I’d be perfect! I regret not making the waist tighter though don’t like the boxy belly.

 

[Riu]

Looks fine to me, I hope it will feel more comfortable after it will mould around your body a bit more, I'm also curious how it will look after some rain and wear. Congrats and enjoy it

 

[navetsea]

I gave 44 cm shoulder (I am 43)
Gave 108 chest (I’m 96)
And gave armhole 25cm (50cm) I have extra space everywhere. It feels it’s tightening my forearm when lifting my arm up (sleeve slips up) but I have let extra cm everywhere perhaps the pattern?

your measurement seems close to my size,
but my armhole in that size is 19cm (38cm around) or 20cm (40cm around) and don't add to much on the chest if you are 96cm around chest I think between 100cm or 104cm on the jacket is maximum, seems your problem is that your arm hole is too low and the chest is roomy, so rather than forcing the sleeve to crease up as you lift your arm, the whole jacket rather move up since it has less resistance to do that, eventually it will settle once broken in, try to wear backpack on top of the jacket, wet your upper sleeve and lift your arm up and down several time, do swimming arm movement, driving movement while the sleeve is wet to make the jacket's sleeve learn where to crease without lifting the whole body up.

 

[MrProper]

I once had fun taking pictures of some of my jackets while raising my arms.
As you can see, there is no jacket that doesn't raise the hem at least a little. Only the one with the football on her armpits hardly moves at all.
By the way, the jeans are low rise.
For me, this freedom of movement fits perfectly, because I tend to never walk around with my arms stretched to the side or forward. The exception might be a zombie walk.

5* Cossack, pointy shoulders

5* Cafe Racer, rounded shoulders

Aero Sheene

 

[MrProper]

Aero Ridley

5* Trucker Deerskin, rounded shoulders

5* Flight Jacket, pointy shoulders, football gussets (btw my first 5*)

 

[MrProper]

Field Leathers, very pointy shoulders

5* Trucker (missing photo with normal position, but it's similar to my other 5* trucker

 

[navetsea]

I once made a vest. let's see what schawn says about it.
the fabric on my photomontage should be seal-colored steerhide. The reinforcements too.
View attachment 335138 View attachment 335139

cool vest, I think either make the patch pocket a little bit smaller so the edges not covering the brown leather edge or have the patch canvas pocket sandwiched under that brown edge trim.

 

[MrProper]

cool vest, I think either make the patch pocket a little bit smaller so the edges not covering the brown leather edge or have the patch canvas pocket sandwiched under that brown edge trim.

You're absolutely right ... if the pockets were made of canvas. Unfortunately, as far as I know, Shawn doesn't have a heavy canvas, Just the heavy cotton drill and that doesn't satisfy me.
So my idea is to use the seal-colored steerhide instead of canvas.
With canvas bags for me it would looks so:

 

[Riu]

You're absolutely right ... if the pockets were made of canvas. Unfortunately, as far as I know, Shawn doesn't have a heavy canvas, Just the heavy cotton drill and that doesn't satisfy me.
So my idea is to use the seal-colored steerhide instead of canvas.
With canvas bags for me it would looks so:
View attachment 335493

I've asked him about the canvas too, the only way to have it done is to provide him the fabric.

 

[Hh121]

That is very helpful @MrProper, in some pictures I can see no difference between rounded shoulder and pointy shoulder, it looks same, can you enlighten me what exactly is rounded shoulder?
Vanson B has pointy shoulder but won't bunch up when raising your arm from side.

 

[Grasp loo paper]

your measurement seems close to my size,
but my armhole in that size is 19cm (38cm around) or 20cm (40cm around) and don't add to much on the chest if you are 96cm around chest I think between 100cm or 104cm on the jacket is maximum, seems your problem is that your arm hole is too low and the chest is roomy, so rather than forcing the sleeve to crease up as you lift your arm, the whole jacket rather move up since it has less resistance to do that, eventually it will settle once broken in, try to wear backpack on top of the jacket, wet your upper sleeve and lift your arm up and down several time, do swimming arm movement, driving movement while the sleeve is wet to make the jacket's sleeve learn where to crease without lifting the whole body up.

Thank you for the in-depth explanation, the combination of Chest & low armhole might have added to the problem, driving is difficult with it.
How do you determine your armhole size? Also anyway I can try to fix this jacket?

 

[Carlos840]

Aero Ridley

View attachment 335474
View attachment 335475 View attachment 335476

5* Trucker Deerskin, rounded shoulders
View attachment 335477 View attachment 335478 View attachment 335479

5* Flight Jacket, pointy shoulders, football gussets (btw my first 5*)
View attachment 335480 View attachment 335481 View attachment 335482

I'm not sure how helpful this is...
You are basically comparing a bunch of jackets with poor mobility trying to figure out which is best.
Aero has IMO horrible patterns as far as mobility is concerned, FL patterns suffer from similar issues, and 5 Star can be all over the place.
IMO it's a bit like comparing McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy's looking for the best burger, odds are you are not going to find it there...

If you took the same pics comparing a Langlitz Columbia, a Lewis MkII and a Vanson Model E you would see basically no movement of the jacket when changing position as these jackets have patterns designed for free movement.

 

[navetsea]

Thank you for the in-depth explanation, the combination of Chest & low armhole might have added to the problem, driving is difficult with it.
How do you determine your armhole size? Also anyway I can try to fix this jacket?

just using measurement tape around my shoulder under my arm, slide in a finger or two for extra space.
just break it in so the upper sleeve is softer and will crease there first as you lift your arm, if we are talking real fix then probably underarm gusset/ football as it raise your underarm and add extra expansion panel there, rotating the sleeve forward a few degree also helps a lot. pattern wise, I think for a jacket without gusset the lower back need to have some space to make your forward arm movement unhindered, if you taper the lower back too close to your spine, while the jacket will look neater viewed from behind, but it will limit forward rotation of your arm.