Five Star Leather vs Johnson Leather for Custom Jackets

[TheDonEffect]

Yes that is my former jacket but I don’t believe I paid double. It was however a fair bit more than what other posters had claimed to pay at the time. I’m not mad about it in the least, nor do I even remotely care anymore. My only point in this entire thread is ultimately that 5 Star, while being less capable in terms of materials is as good as most anyone else in terms of construction. I suppose my reviews should include more shots besides just fit pics so people can see how they are actually put together. By no means are they perfect but I believe they are quite good.
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Man, I'd care if that was the jacket (JL) I received for the price I paid.

Dang, that 5* is suhweet, got any more?

 

[TheDonEffect]

Which jacket are we looking at here, who's the maker?

I'm not sure if you were talking about mine, but the one I uploaded was my JL.

 

[Marc mndt]

I'm not sure if you were talking about mine, but the one I uploaded was my JL.

Yours looks great. I was referring to Hh212 post, with the wobbly stitching.

 

[ton312]

Man, I'd care if that was the jacket (JL) I received for the price I paid.

Dang, that 5* is suhweet, got any more?

I have three, one was a disaster of my own making in terms of fit. I’ve since had better luck but it’s not a simple process. Every single last detail and measurement is provided.
To be honest stitching is never something I’m overly concerned with. These are handmade, by a human being no less, so some wobbly stitching is unavoidable. Some are better than others at minimizing those things. The jacket on a whole was outstanding.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Yes that is my former jacket but I don’t believe I paid double. It was however a fair bit more than what other posters had claimed to pay at the time. I’m not mad about it in the least, nor do I even remotely care anymore. My only point in this entire thread is ultimately that 5 Star, while being less capable in terms of materials is as good as most anyone else in terms of construction. I suppose my reviews should include more shots besides just fit pics so people can see how they are actually put together. By no means are they perfect but I believe they are quite good.
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I think the compulsion for comparing makers is largely pointless but agree with you that as far as construction goes Five Star is as good, if not better than, many of the higher priced makers like Aero or JL. I have had JL, Aero and Five Star jackets. The issue we need to understand better is quality of Five Star materials - in 5-10 years, if any of us are still here, how will Five Star jackets be wearing? Will the zips fail and the linings turn to powder?

In terms of hides - I am not intereted in having a diversity of choice, I'd be happy to choose from just 2 or 3 good hides and 4 or 5 colours. Five Star distressed buffalo hide looks awful to my eye. But the undistressed buffalo and some of their goat looks pretty good. I don't go for pre-distressed hides like some Thedis, I prefer to add the character myself.

Some folk keep saying Five Star are 'good for the money' - which to me sounds like damning with faint praise. I personally like this option because for me leather jackets are work wear, and many of the makers today make jackets that show off high-craft, artisan skills, which is perfectly legitimate, but not why I like leather jackets. When I used to have leather jackets custom made for me back in the early 1980's by a great maker here in Melbourne, the odd crooked seam and small mistake were part of the process. I actually don't mind this. There seems to be a drive towards perfection in jacket making that to me isn't necessary.

 

[bn1966]

Certainly happy with my custom 5 Star G-1, I view it as a well made utility jacket, the goat hide protects from the elements and looks similar to service issue jackets, the construction is great and shouldn’t fall apart on me any time soon. Shawn was happy to accommodate the collar mouton, Conmar zipper, knits etc that I sourced and supplied. I see it as a different beast than my Eastman collection but no less fun...and fun is what I had with 5 Star at very small financial risk...there’s a lot to be said for fun..

 

[TheDonEffect]

I have three, one was a disaster of my own making in terms of fit. I’ve since had better luck but it’s not a simple process. Every single last detail and measurement is provided.
To be honest stitching is never something I’m overly concerned with. These are handmade, by a human being no less, so some wobbly stitching is unavoidable. Some are better than others at minimizing those things. The jacket on a whole was outstanding.

Totally. It's odd that I find myself on this side of the discussion because just in the other thread about the Schott x Shinki jacket I was talking about why do things like how many stitches per inch matter? If the jacket lasts with one stitch per inch, then I'm good with it.

I really do think 5* is a gem, and at this stage more than a diamond in the rough as they're coming into their own.

I think the compulsion for comparing makers is largely pointless but agree with you that as far as construction goes Five Star is as good, if not better than, many of the higher priced makers like Aero or JL. I have had JL, Aero and Five Star jackets. The issue we need to understand better is quality of Five Star materials - in 5-10 years, if any of us are still here, how will Five Star jackets be wearing? Will the zips fail and the linings turn to powder?

In terms of hides - I am not intereted in having a diversity of choice, I'd be happy to choose from just 2 or 3 good hides and 4 or 5 colours. Five Star distressed buffalo hide looks awful to my eye. But the undistressed buffalo and some of their goat looks pretty good. I don't go for pre-distressed hides like some Thedis, I prefer to add the character myself.

Some folk keep saying Five Star are 'good for the money' - which to me sounds like damning with faint praise. I personally like this option because for me leather jackets are work wear, and many of the makers today make jackets that show off high-craft, artisan skills, which is perfectly legitimate, but not why I like leather jackets. When I used to have leather jackets custom made for me back in the early 1980's by a great maker here in Melbourne, the odd crooked seam and small mistake were part of the process. I actually don't mind this. There seems to be a drive towards perfection in jacket making that to me isn't necessary.

Agreed. I believe that 5* makes a good if not great jacket, there appears to be some hiccups which is totally understandable, and frankly all makers have hiccups. Have they transcended into the luxury arena yet? That we do not know, and that's such a fickle conversation to have. If they have, and if they truly can produce a product that directly rivals the Aeros, JLs, etc on a consistent basis, I'm sure they could sell their product without as much of a discount.

I'm perhaps a bit more optimistic with 5* long term durability, based on those photos I have no reason to believe that those seams will fall apart at any faster rate than other other well made jacket.

I wanted to underscore these points to say that I am a proponent for 5*.

Where I deviate and position myself in a manner that may seem like I'm critical of 5* is when I'm trying to distinguish they are not comparable, which is not to say that 5* is necessarily inferior because they clearly produce great jackets, and like any other maker they have their hiccups as well but generally speaking, again, I don't doubt that they can produce a great jacket. But these are two different business models.

I've talked to countless overseas makers when I had some suits made, and my mom was in the garment business for a long time, gained some great perspective on the business, comparing doing things online vs in person. For instance, in the time it takes a sales rep, who needs to show up and behave to a specified standard, and consult with a client, go through all measurements, etc etc, a person on a laptop could respond to literally dozens of emails for the same product. In essence, one person on a laptop can capture and service far more clients than one person in a brick and mortar (which is why I think JL is finally getting with the times and updating their webpage).

It also puts the ownership on the client to provide the measurements, to figure out what they want, the back and forth that so often comes during a fitting is then put on you. Their job then becomes to make the jacket to those specs, which is related to but not exactly the same as making it to your liking.

Having a set list of hides that they know well, that they source in bulk, dramatically reduces the per unit cost and potential issues that arise. I'll note Schott since it's easily referenced, their Horween and Shinki products for instance come with a notable price increase, and a limited quantity, over there stock.

I raise all of these points not to diminish what 5* does, because they produce a great product. I raise these points to explain the difference in price. You may be ok with choosing from a handful of good options, but if those options are not Horween, Shinki, etc etc, there's a sizable price difference right there. 40 sq ft of Horween retail will run you over $200, more so for first run. Going for a character rich brown, need to match panels? There's going to be a lot of waste. But even so, that's already 2/3 of the price of a finished 5* jacket. Labor time is 2-4 hours per jacket. Factor in lining, zippers, shipping, marketing, customer servicing, and of course profit relative to their opportunity costs and specific situations, well you get the idea.

Before this turns into an all out economic/political discussion, my point is that these are two are not comparable, doesn't necessarily make one inferior to the other, they're just being measured with different scales.

 

[Hh121]

There are hundreds of great hide you can purchase from the internet and ship to 5star, the total price including shipping will still be much much cheaper than JL, with speedy delivery time.

 

[Jin431]

I asked Shawn again about the not distressed buffalo. Unfortunately, this is already distressed during the tanning process and so there is currently nothing else.
I asked Shawn to let us know if he had a different variant. would come across well here.

Also very interested if this is something 5* is willing to accommodate us for.

I took some dye to the Five star buffalo sample. The new formula of Bison brown is a good match. Perhaps we could “reverse engineer” the non-distressed version- as long as there are no abrasions.

Can you pls share that experiment? @Imuricecreamman did a pretty good dye job with his Cossack

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Wow, no wonder @ton312 didnt like his JL so much. I'm so lucky I don't have that with my goatskin or cxl jacket

Yes that is my former jacket but I don’t believe I paid double. It was however a fair bit more than what other posters had claimed to pay at the time. I’m not mad about it in the least, nor do I even remotely care anymore. My only point in this entire thread is ultimately that 5 Star, while being less capable in terms of materials is as good as most anyone else in terms of construction. I suppose my reviews should include more shots besides just fit pics so people can see how they are actually put together. By no means are they perfect but I believe they are quite good.
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That stitch job is excellent. Very clean, neat, straight. It's not just good for the price, it just is GOOD. If 5* starts to offer better leather, a lot of business is going their way not just from us folks here at the lounge.

I think you took my post out of context, because as critical as that portion of my statement is of 5*, I'm largely complimentary of 5*.

Because I agree with all your points, but the context of what I was saying is not that 5* is akin to mall jackets, but that they really compete and are therefore superior to mall jackets largely due to price. They offer a similar experience to the established brands here but at a mall jacket price, so like I said it's a no brainer what anyone should buy.

But no one is comparing them to Aero, SB, Vanson, etc etc, which JLs do draw comparisons to. As mentioned, it's an apples to oranges comparison, one offers in person consultations, actual fitting with a fit jacket, an exhaustive list of materials (to which you can also bring your own), and they will go out of their way to make sure you're satisfied with the fit. If these things are of no value to a prospective buyer, than the price will seem absolutely asinine. If they are of value, then it's a justifiable expense.

Of course, everyone's experience may vary, and the system is definitely not perfect as you mentioned, and I agree with all your points regarding errors. I often said a mark of a good vendor isn't flawless delivery, it's how they take responsibility for inevitable errors.

Agree with your take here. We are just lucky we are spoiled for choices regarding who we give out our business too. Different makers that offers their expertise at different price points but close to similar experience is welcome.

 

[Hh121]

Also very interested if this is something 5* is willing to accommodate us for.



Can you pls share that experiment? @Imuricecreamman did a pretty good dye job with his Cossack




Wow, no wonder @ton312 didnt like his JL so much. I'm so lucky I don't have that with my goatskin or cxl jacket




That stitch job is excellent. Very clean, neat, straight. It's not just good for the price, it just is GOOD. If 5* starts to offer better leather, a lot of business is going their way not just from us folks here at the lounge.





Agree with your take here. We are just lucky we are spoiled for choices regarding who we give out our business too. Different makers that offers their expertise at different price points but close to similar experience is welcome.

I am gonna order Horween hide and send to him.

 

[Jin431]

I am gonna order Horween hide and send to him.

Wow, this is something that is really cool. I'm sure a lot of us here will be very interested with how 5* will do with a better hide. Maybe Shawn (wink wink) reads this thread too and I'm sure they will want to knock this project out of the park to help keep up the momentum they built.

Can't wait to hear updates from your build

 

[Hh121]

Wow, this is something that is really cool. I'm sure a lot of us here will be very interested with how 5* will do with a better hide. Maybe Shawn (wink wink) reads this thread too and I'm sure they will want to knock this project out of the park to help keep up the momentum they built.

Can't wait to hear updates from your build

I talked to him today and he said he can do any thickness, of course I won't order 6oz , 4oz is enough but I will mail a sample to him for the testing purpose.

 

[Jin431]

I talked to him today and he said he can do any thickness, of course I won't order 6oz , 4oz is enough but I will mail a sample to him for the testing purpose.

Got it as I remember that thread from before. Is it the natural or brown cxl? That's very smart to do.

 

[Hh121]

Got it as I remember that thread from before. Is it the natural or brown cxl? That's very smart to do.

It was 6oz brown cxl, this time will be Bison I think.

 

[Jin431]

It was 6oz brown cxl, this time will be Bison I think.

Yes that's it.

Bison? Nice that will be very cool to see. Still the cross zip style jacket?

 

[Hh121]

Yes that's it.

Bison? Nice that will be very cool to see. Still the cross zip style jacket?

Just regular HB, try to make as simple as I can. I think this one looks fantastic. https://www.fivestarleather.us/coll...oatskin-leather-jacket-with-mouton-fur-collar

 

[Jin431]

^^ yes that's a good pattern to try and replicate with the Horween

 

[TheDonEffect]

There are hundreds of great hide you can purchase from the internet and ship to 5star, the total price including shipping will still be much much cheaper than JL, with speedy delivery time.

So... not that simple. I mean, how will Aero and such stay in business if you can provide any of the desirable leathers and have them build it?

You say much much cheaper, 40 sq ft of Horween CXL is just about $500 retail, which in itself cost more than a completed jacket shipped to your door from 5*.

Now how much does 5* charge for producing a finished jacket minus supplying the leather only? Factor in labor, thread, lining, zippers/buttons/shipping/generate a profit/etc. $100? $200? $300?

So what leather are they using?

Again, they make a great product, but these are different businesses.

 

[Carlos840]

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I would have sent that back!
That's shockingly poorly stitched!

 

[Downunder G Man]

Interesting read from afar in Perth Western Australia.

I have only ever had one jacket "made" for me , a copy of my 1990 Eastman Luftwaffe remade here in Perth in black goat.

Sinnika leather the company , still going today , same (now old) Greek owner. Excellent shop to visit (leather AROMA).

I don't think I have the patience and/or measurement skills to self spec' a jacket into the void of the internet.

Anyhow I have PLENTY of jackets to see me out , kinda went daft these last 4 or 5 years.

Perhaps I am just 'lucky' or more likely your average "everyman" size. Lucky with ebay searching as well.

Stock off the rack 44" from Schott/Vanson/Simmons Bilt/Eastman all fit me well. My 44" Aero Highwayman "fits big".

Does not stop me "looking" of course. BUT the thought of a single $1300 USD jacket ( $1800 AUD !) scares me.