Himel Bros Heron in Harris Tweed

[handymike]

Wow, just saw this:

http://himelbros.com/collections/men/products/heron-a-1-1929-harris-tweed

 

[Sloan1874]

Really nice, but that's a steep price tag - though Harris tweed's always pricey.

 

[handymike]

1/2 the price of the all leather one

 

[Sloan1874]

lol

 

[mendelboaz]

Wow, never knew their prices were so steep! Don't think I'll pay that kind of $$$ on any jacket in the next couple of years... Although a RMC Buco J-24 would be very nice some day

 

[nick123]

A nice jacket!

 

[tropicalbob]

The price isn't surprising, as Himel Bros. has always been at the lead in well-made jackets at outrageous prices. What always amazes me, though, is the availability of Harris tweed jackets on the Bay and Etsy at very reasonable cost, often for $50 or less. I've a whole closet full of them.

 

[nick123]

Wow, never knew their prices were so steep! Don't think I'll pay that kind of $$$ on any jacket in the next couple of years... Although a RMC Buco J-24 would be very nice some day

Have you seen the Himel two-tone Avro? Right up your alley.

 

[EmergencyIan]

Here is the link:

http://himelbros.com/collections/men/products/heron-a-1-1929-harris-tweed

Nice jacket, for sure!

- Ian

 

[Worf]

SPEW!!!! $875 for a cloth jacket? Hey I'm no piker but even I gotta cry foul over that one. Mercy. I've lusted after one of their Luftwaffe jackets for a while now but I'd have to drop one more size in-order to fit in one still... Mercy!

Worf

 

[Edward]

Funny how, psychologically, there's a price point we're all prepared to pay for leather, but change that one variable (I don't think the difference in material costs is huge?), and it seems too much.... Not poking at anyone here, so much as myself....

Comes down to in and around GBP500.... TBH, I don't think it's too bad for what it is. Can't find one of the Aero wool/leather halfbelts on their site atm for a comparison, price-wise; I think they, too, were about half the price of the same jacket in leather? Easier to work, the tweed, though I imagine there's not a huge amount of difference in man-hours? Be interesting to feel the heft of the cloth.

 

[Superfluous]

Its all relative. One certainly can purchase a cloth jacket for less; just as one can purchase a leather jacket for less than what GW, ELC, and Aero charge. That said, there are plenty of similarly priced, and more expensive, cloth jackets offered by other manufacturers discussed on this forum.

 

[bretron]

No doubt about that at all. Consider the Mister Freedom N1-H deck jacket as example. http://www.misterfreedom.com/deck-jacket-n-1htroy.html

That thing is a work of art IMO. And although it's not made out of leather, I think you'd be hard pressed to argue its worth less than the approx $900 sticker price.

 

[Edward]

No doubt about that at all. Consider the Mister Freedom N1-H deck jacket as example. http://www.misterfreedom.com/deck-jacket-n-1htroy.html

That thing is a work of art IMO. And although it's not made out of leather, I think you'd be hard pressed to argue its worth less than the approx $900 sticker price.

I'd have found it easier to make such a case when the dollar was at 2.2 to the pound.... Certainly true, though, that the material from which the jacket is made, assuming an equivalent levle of quality, being different is not the be all and end all of the market price. Maybe part of the differencei s that it's much easier to find a great textile jacket at a much lower price than it is to find a low-priced, high quality leather jacket. (Generalising here, but still...). It's the law of diminishing returns: we all know that the more expensive jackets in our niche tend to be better than the much cheaper ones, but the higher the price rises, the less difference you will see for that upcharge relevant to price. An ELC or Aero house A2 will be better than a mall jacket by a country mile; going the next level up to a contract repro will mean a significant jump in price again, but is it really worth it? For all those of us who can perceive the difference, there still have to be a value judgement as to whether that difference in jacket is worth the difference in price. Doubly so when it comes to putting values on intangibles like country of manufacture. It's all subjective... if you ask any two given jacket fans, you'll likely get three different answers....

 

[cordwangler]

Funny how, psychologically, there's a price point we're all prepared to pay for leather, but change that one variable (I don't think the difference in material costs is huge?), and it seems too much.... Not poking at anyone here, so much as myself....

Comes down to in and around GBP500.... TBH, I don't think it's too bad for what it is. Can't find one of the Aero wool/leather halfbelts on their site atm for a comparison, price-wise; I think they, too, were about half the price of the same jacket in leather? Easier to work, the tweed, though I imagine there's not a huge amount of difference in man-hours? Be interesting to feel the heft of the cloth.

I wish I had your sanguine nature and patience, Edward. I can't even begin to engage with most opinions expressed here on price of certain handmade garments constructed from painstakingly developed patterns, made from high-quality materials.

I'm just about to make a leather jacket for myself based on an A2 pattern generously posted here a while back. I'm at 160 GBP already in cheap fixings plus 1x okay cheapish cow side. This is before thread, electricity, and time taken - and hoping I make no errors. So with no budget for time, utilities and highest quality stuff I'm already 260 USD.

People really oughta use their noggins

 

[handymike]

The Canuck also comes in tweed and plaid for the same price. Since more fabric is used for these longer styles, it's a bargain! Buy now before David realizes ;-)

 

[wdw]

To be fair to Himel, that's not that much more than you'd pay for a good tweed jacket in Scotland, and the Aero Wool HB which I have was £475 or about $760. By Himel's standards it's maybe even underpriced.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I'd be reluctant to pay that much for leather let alone tweed. Handcrafted jackets by Johnson Leathers have rarely cost me more that $700.

 

[jon11]

Himel fantastic jacket'S but way to expensive for my budget

 

[Edward]

I wish I had your sanguine nature and patience, Edward. I can't even begin to engage with most opinions expressed here on price of certain handmade garments constructed from painstakingly developed patterns, made from high-quality materials.

lol

Middle age has found me..... no less angry, but better able to be selective about that which I get angry about...

I'm just about to make a leather jacket for myself based on an A2 pattern generously posted here a while back. I'm at 160 GBP already in cheap fixings plus 1x okay cheapish cow side. This is before thread, electricity, and time taken - and hoping I make no errors. So with no budget for time, utilities and highest quality stuff I'm already 260 USD.

People really oughta use their noggins

It's interesting seeing just how it all breaks down. I think sometimes folks (in general, this is not a TFL-specific thing. If anything, we're much better on that front round here than out there) get a bit excitable thinking only of material costs or whatever, or simply don't realise just how much it can cost to put some stuff together. Or maybe about the cost to someone else with regards to cheaper garments. But hey... there's always going to be a range of stuff, so you pays your money, and....

The Canuck also comes in tweed and plaid for the same price. Since more fabric is used for these longer styles, it's a bargain! Buy now before David realizes ;-)

lol

To be fair to Himel, that's not that much more than you'd pay for a good tweed jacket in Scotland, and the Aero Wool HB which I have was £475 or about $760. By Himel's standards it's maybe even underpriced.

Particularly if he makes to measure; mind you, some of the bigger brands thesed days you can very quickly spend £500 on a tweed blazer OTR.

I'd be reluctant to pay that much for leather let alone tweed. Handcrafted jackets by Johnson Leathers have rarely cost me more that $700.

Johnson certainly can produce some very nice stuff at a surprising price-point. I'm impressed they can make money doing that... maybe it's offset by the high volume orderes (don't they do a lot of police jackets?). I've only ever handled the one Johnson jacket, my D-pocket. Very happy with it. I'd rate it as coming close to as good as my Aeros, and a bit better than the Schott.

Never really thought of leather or tweed in temrs of one being inherently "better" or "worht more" than the other, though to be fair I can see the argument that leather might wear less quickly, given a decent hide and quality construction.

Himel fantastic jacket'S but way to expensive for my budget

They're like Goodwear for me. Or Savile Row. I think it's great they're out there, even if I might never be able to buy one. Price-wise, they did used to be very much more expensive than everyone else, but the market has slowly almost caught up with them. The killer blow, money-wise, for me is that at this distance the additional +/-25% upcharge (import tax on the item cost + shipping cost, then 20% VAT on top of that again) just makes it a gouge too far when Aero is on my (relative) doorstep. Not Himel's fault by any means and I don't hold it against them, but it's a big disincentive when I have something as good as Aero so readily available. That's how economic protectionism works, of course. (No dig at Aero either, let's be clear!)