Five Star Leather Jackets

[Aloysius]

$700 USD? I’m looking at £750 on my end for a RAF.

We were talking about the stock jackets.

Is it the RAF/Irvin jacket you’re after, rather than the B-6?

Honestly even though the Aero is ‘better’, there’s a matter of comparative advantage and given that this is going to a Californian (who is presumably into the charms of WWII pilot wear but won’t be wearing the jacket all that often), the durability difference or shearling grade won’t matter all that much.

A stock size (or perhaps sizing down one, in a stock size) from 5* for a wartime jacket will give the desired ‘vintage pilot’ fit, and there are tons of very positive discussions of these jackets among vintage military jacket collectors.

I would also suggest that you consider the M-444. It’s a more versatile jacket than the shearlings people more often talk about, but it‘s not very widely reproduced. I think Five Star ended up doing it because a collector in the US sent him an original to study and reproduce.

 

[I-Jusa-I]

I've been thinking of doing a customized order from Fivestar as I've really started to like this old 90s Schott "college" style jacket I found here on the classifieds. Its unfortunately a tiny bit too small on the chest and hem for my liking.

Those who have experience with ordering from them, do you think an image like this would be clear enough to avoid any mistakes? I would also specify the materials and pocket type on the email with the image.

And do you think I've made any glaring mistakes in my measurements?

I was thinking of black goat and black knits.

 

[MrProper]

I've been thinking of doing a customized order from Fivestar as I've really started to like this old 90s Schott "college" style jacket I found here on the classifieds. Its unfortunately a tiny bit too small on the chest and hem for my liking.

Those who have experience with ordering from them, do you think an image like this would be clear enough to avoid any mistakes? I would also specify the materials and pocket type on the email with the image.

And do you think I've made any glaring mistakes in my measurements?

I was thinking of black goat and black knits.

Angle of the pockets.
Height of the knitted cuffs.
Height of the knitted cuff at the neck.
Height of the knitted cuff at the hem.
5* tends to sew in the knit waistband at the hem too loosely, with too little tension. I would still explicitly specify the width of the hem at the knit cuff. Or do you mean that with 45 cm and the leather part 50 cm? Really describe so that there is no possibility of interpretation.
Sleeve width? Armhole size?
Details, such as that the yoke attaches to the sleeve seam? Is on the photo, but everything that is not explicitly stated is left to chance.

 

[I-Jusa-I]

Angle of the pockets.
Height of the knitted cuffs.
Height of the knitted cuff at the neck.
Height of the knitted cuff at the hem.
5* tends to sew in the knit waistband at the hem too loosely, with too little tension. I would still explicitly specify the width of the hem at the knit cuff. Or do you mean that with 45 cm and the leather part 50 cm? Really describe so that there is no possibility of interpretation.
Sleeve width? Armhole size?
Details, such as that the yoke attaches to the sleeve seam? Is on the photo, but everything that is not explicitly stated is left to chance.

Yeah I'd like the hem knit to be 45cm at its "relaxed state" with enough leather to be able to stretch it out to a 50cm with the back pleats. The Schott has 10cm of stretch on it according to my measurements. I'll try to make that clearer.

Thanks for the tips, I'll make sure to include all of them!

 

[Eddiesuave]

Hello All!
Hope this message finds you well. I was looking into buying a G-1 Flight Jacket from Five Star. I am wondering if anyone has had any good experience with their Goat Skin specifically their 1.2mm Seal Brown. I’ve seen the word “premium goat skin” get thrown around a couple of times. Was wondering if it meant 2mm or if that’s just a bit of a selling for Five Star. Another important thing is how long should the cuffs and ribbings be in the jacket. They seem huge in the basic sizing.

Thank you in advance!

 

[MrProper]

Hello All!
Hope this message finds you well. I was looking into buying a G-1 Flight Jacket from Five Star. I am wondering if anyone has had any good experience with their Goat Skin specifically their 1.2mm Seal Brown. I’ve seen the word “premium goat skin” get thrown around a couple of times. Was wondering if it meant 2mm or if that’s just a bit of a selling for Five Star. Another important thing is how long should the cuffs and ribbings be in the jacket. They seem huge in the basic sizing.

Thank you in advance!

Premium goat is the 1.2 mm.
Seal brown is ok, but is not colored through, but has a light brown core. May one or the other less like, I find it ok.

Premium seal:

 

[Aloysius]

I would definitely go with the premium seal for a G-1; not just because seal is the correct color for a G-1, which it is, but also because Five Star’s “russet” is an ugly milk chocolate brown that is definitely not russet.

 

[Eddiesuave]

Premium goat is the 1.2 mm.
Seal brown is ok, but is not colored through, but has a light brown core. May one or the other less like, I find it ok.

Premium seal:
View attachment 466150

You are seriously the one man army to this thread and I really appreciate it. Do you think I should I swap it out for their HH or Steer-hide instead? Or are they around the same quality wise?

 

[Eddiesuave]

I would definitely go with the premium seal for a G-1; not just because seal is the correct color for a G-1, which it is, but also because Five Star’s “russet” is an ugly milk chocolate brown that is definitely not russet.

I do agree. Either way I’ve never been into lighter colored jackets so I am in luck.

 

[MrProper]

You are seriously the one man army to this thread and I really appreciate it. Do you think I should I swap it out for their HH or Steer-hide instead? Or are they around the same quality wise?

The steerhide of 5* I unfortunately do not know myself, HH I have the 2 mm, but which is no longer available and also clearly too thick and too stiff for such a jacket. Then I still have 1.2 mm pull-up HH, but there I find the color for a g1 not suitable.
No, I think premium goat is a good choice.

 

[Aloysius]

You are seriously the one man army to this thread and I really appreciate it. Do you think I should I swap it out for their HH or Steer-hide instead? Or are they around the same quality wise?

Definitely do not do that. The ‘sweet spots’ for 5* are their premium goat and their shearling.

 

[KBlake]

any photos of this? I'm considering the roadmaster as well

5* uses different patterns for different jackets and they have two cross zips that look similar but one has higher armholes and a better fit. Unfortunately the one I ordered was the wrong one. There are posts here about how to determine whether a 5* is made with high arm holes or not but the road master cross zip isn’t one of them. I took mine to a local consignment store

 

[Aloysius]

5* uses different patterns for different jackets and they have two cross zips that look similar but one has higher armholes and a better fit. Unfortunately the one I ordered was the wrong one. There are posts here about how to determine whether a 5* is made with high arm holes or not but the road master cross zip isn’t one of them. I took mine to a local consignment store

I would assume the one that’s desirable is the J.C. Penney 2-star, since that’s patterned off of an original. The D-pocket (and many others) are off the original 5* pattern block.

 

[Aloysius]

This one is the Penney repro.

@Marc mndt @Canuck Panda from the seams, this is technically a panelled lining, I would think?

 

[sshack]

Late to this party, but I think I'll see what $300 buys these days. Ordering an AN-6552 in Seal Goat.

My question: Was there ever a consensus reached on the proper height for the waist ribbing? Is the good-looking standard 3 inches? 3.5 inches? 4 inches? I received a bare pic from 5* re: waist ribbing and they measured an unattached ribbing at 5 inches +. Not to say it will 5 inches long on the jacket once attached. I'm guessing they have some control on the height.

 

[I-Jusa-I]

About 5 days from ordering my jacket with (MrProper level) instructions and a few customizations is already done.

Just recieved pictures and all the measurements and instructions were spot on!
Communication was also really good throughout the whole process.

They had accidentally quoted me the wrong (a bit cheaper) price with all my custom options, but they were committed to the quote given to me at first, even when I offered to pay the remaining price.

Only need to wait for it to be delivered now, worst part after seeing all the images!

 

[sshack]

Wish me luck gents... I gathered all the great info on these jackets and rolled the dice. AN-6552 on the way... now with LESS ribbing!

 

[CBI]

Just no time to post anymore. Promised Shawn a review but just can't swing it- too busy. here are pics, made to my measurements, really hard to find good representative pics of the color of the pull-up anywhere online, I think the outside pics are the most accurate. had to take them at a strange angle to avoid shiny/light reflection. As always, excellent, quick turn around. I did have to replace the buttons as the ones that were on the jacket when it arrived were not terribly vintage looking. Pull-up is nice HH, definitely not boutique quality which is exactly the point. Very vintage looking 100% wool knits, cotton lining. I didn't want legit small A-1 pockets but these are maybe a 1/2 inch taller than I would like but they are about the same as my other Five-Star and Bronson (see pic). Its a very practical pocket size and pockets I actually use!!!! Overall excellent work by the Five-Star team and the fit IMO is SPOT on since I was able to provide all of my own measurements. thanks so much Shawn

 

[navetsea]

the one with olive or was it sage knit looks very hip and modern

 

[CBI]

the olive knit A-1 is from Bronson - in some respects my very favorite A-1 maker