Really nice jacket but I still feel obliged to say how great it feels to have people waiting a full 2 1/2 years less are getting their jacket before me (and the others in the queue longer than me).
I guess its encouraging that he is still alive and making jackets
To me, GW jacket has a quality the big maker will never achieve.
What I am referring to is the extensive research John has done into the full line of US-made WWII flight jacket contracts. John has produced an electronic file of his research prior to starting GW. I imagine John can site from memory, variations in each individual contract through the time the contract produced jackets for the US military. Johns' jackets start with an authentic fit based on patterns of the original contract modified if requested to the clients' needs. Each and ever jacket is produced by one artist (John) with a passion for translating WWII era jacket into the modern world. The original WWII flights jackets that saw service and remain in pristine condition are rare and owners might be relucent to wear them except special occasions. I do not know if handling one of Johns' jackets, anything is going to be apparently a higher wow factor than other jackets made from top materials and skilled craftsmen. Perhaps the intrinsic feature of a GW jacket is lost on persons without knowledge of the contract and passion to own a reproduction of a specific WWII contract jacket. When I chose a contract for my A2 I went with Bronco because the original pattern fit my body shape. I can wear a jacket cut the same way as if it was during the war not modified to modern fit styles and still be comfortable. I do not feel I am explaining myself well it's the best I can do at this time.@thekiyote , nice jacket. Fits you really good.
Could you please elaborate on that a bit more? Genuinely interested, as I've already heard this statement paraphrased and repeated before (once in this thread) and having never handled a GW jacket, it is lost on me. To be perfectly blunt, all I'm seeing here is a well made, well fitting brown flight jacket but nothing stands out to me as truly extraordinary or previously unseen.
Oh Lordy, sounds like someone drank the kool aid.
Perhaps you should try the cool aid yourself. Might mellow you enough to get off your high horse.
Yep, pretty much this.
I think that @Big J has been completely fair in his comments. He just went in from a logical perspective.
@thekiyote it's a very nice jacket and the fit is great. It's good you are happy with the jacket, but no need to try to defend Jon, I don't think you will convince those of us that have been waiting for much longer than you.
I know what you mean, Monitor, A-2s are so common that it's hard to get a sense of what's a good un. But with John's, the pics never really do them justice. When I got mine, I was expecting something strong but I really taken aback by the quality of hides, stitching and construction. They outstrip ELC, who I see as JC's main competitor, by a long chalk.
To be honest, I'm not trying to convince anybody of anything. I understood the argument that Big J was trying to make perfectly fine, and think he's completely justified for that opinion.
Normally I'd just let it go since it's clear what he meant, and it doesn't make him wrong, but I just couldn't help but pointing out the irony of him claiming Jon made a logical fallacy when he just made one himself.
Ok, I might be wrong but enlighten me here:
- You said that is is art and John should be treated as an artist. Does that mean that he is given a free pass on the bad points? The people waiting just don't "understand", is that it?
- Does that also mean that none of the other makers are artists?
I wear a size 44 in Aero or 46 in Vanson and I find that the largest available size in most Japanese outerwear is at least one size too small for me. I recently sent back an Iron Heart jacket in size XXXL because it was to trim to wear comfortably.I think also that the japanese/western sizing difference is a bit exaggerated. I’m not saying isn’t there but I find that going up a size does the trick and is not always needed
I wear a size 44 in Aero or 46 in Vanson and I find that the largest available size in most Japanese outerwear is at least one size too small for me. I recently sent back an Iron Heart jacket in size XXXL because it was to trim to wear comfortably.
I agree that Buzz Rickson does make jackets a bit larger and I have found some of them fit me quite well.
To start off with, I'm describing a subjective opinion. You can agree with my line of thinking, or not. It's cool either way, since there's no way to "prove" someone's opinion.
John Chapman sits very far on the artist side of the spectrum. He cares very little about the business side of his business. To him, it's just a way to make a living so that he can keep making as perfect jackets as he feels he can create. That's the important bit to him, everything else is just a distraction, so it starts falling by the wayside.
Should a buyer give him a pass for that? Well, maybe, if that level of quality is important to them. It's not that it somehow makes it so that John is running a great business, it's just that getting a jacket is important enough to the buyer that they're willing to put up with it.
It's also important to add that this level of detail might not be important enough to put up with GW. An average Joe won't notice difference between something John makes and say, an Eastman. A person who's into leather jackets might be able to tell, but don't really care that a couple of stitches don't line up 100%, or that the knit doesn't look exactly like it does in old photographs. But as long as there's enough people who do put enough of a credit in those things, Good Wear stays in business.
I will add that it's possible to run a good business AND have a top notch quality product. I think that Himel Bros. is a really good example of that. But there's still always a cost to that, and that's typically price. There's a reason why a Himel Bros. jacket is twice the price of a Good Wear: There is significant overhead to either pay people to do your marketing, or to make your leather jackets for you, to your standards (or both).