How many new jackets do you have coming (and how many potential ones)?

[Marc mndt]

Remember that time I said I’d never buy another repro…
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Vanson model E, Aero halfbelt?

 

[handymike]

I’m not a fan of the leather Cidu uses, but the patterns are fine if you get the sizing right.

 

[torfjord]

I’m not a fan of the leather Cidu uses, but the patterns are fine if you get the sizing right.

Your dye job looked excellent though!

So i have this jacket, in a darker leather. I bought it from Taobao (The chinese online shopping platform) out of curiosity because it looked great and it was so cheap. Overal the jacket is not bad, you get what you pay for. Fit its a little tight in the arms and the leather is stiff as hell and has a cheap leather smell (which it is). But you can't complain for the price.

Don't buy anything from reb_bel he just orders the jackets from Taobao and then doubles the price.

I haven't shared any pics wearing it yet.

Thanks for sharing, this makes me a lot less worried that I won’t like the jacket. Please post some fit pics

 

[Leigh H]

Your dye job looked excellent though!




Thanks for sharing, this makes me a lot less worried that I won’t like the jacket. Please post some fit pics

Awful quality pictures sorry. But gives you an idea of the fit. The cheap leather smell has faded away now. i bought the 2XL size, im 6ft 180lbs.

 

[navetsea]

arghh, I went to my jacket maker today to drop eyelets for my belt... they are busy making beach tents all hands on deck doing beach tents... well maybe if I'm lucky my jacket would be ready right for my birthday in November or Xmas.

 

[ton312]

Vanson model E, Aero halfbelt?

No something different. After kicking the dirt for ages on the ELMC Californian, I finally caved. Snagged out of the classifieds!

 

[torfjord]

Awful quality pictures sorry. But gives you an idea of the fit. The cheap leather smell has faded away now. i bought the 2XL size, im 6ft 180lbs.

Thanks a lot buddy! That doesn’t look bad at all. Hem from the back looks a bit too wide and stands at an angle from the body, but otherwise it looks alright. Now I’m even more looking forward to my jacket arriving!

 

[Marc mndt]

No something different. After kicking the dirt for ages on the ELMC Californian, I finally caved. Snagged out of the classifieds!

I knew that jacket had your name on it.

 

[ton312]

Thanks a lot buddy! That doesn’t look bad at all. Hem from the back looks a bit too wide and stands at an angle from the body, but otherwise it looks alright. Now I’m even more looking forward to my jacket arriving!

I agree. Looks damn good to me!

 

[TheBigEraser]

After seeing this account repeatedly on Instagram, I pulled the trigger. The cost was 580 shipped. There is a brown one in calfskin on Aliexpress for half that. But this is suppose to be naked hand dyed horsehide. I don't know. I'm a sucker for green leather. And I have a very similar scorpion helmet like the one in the photo. I took it as my sign from above. Hope I don't get scammed.

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Very interesting! I am from China so happy to see that more and more TFL members has started their adventure in Chinese made leather jackets!

About this exact jacket I also have a small story to share. As you might know Freewheelers Mulholland is a grail jacket for many Chinese amekaji fans but unfortunately the price is still quite high for many people. Thus a lot of Chinese leather jacket makers make the similar jackets. They even all name the jacket as Mulholland instead something like " repro 1930s straight zip rider jacket". This particular jacket showed by Canuck Panda is made by one Chinese leather maker/factory called "品出东山" （in pinyin: Dongshan). To make this jacket Dongshan actually borrowed my friend's FW Mulholland to study the pattern and asked the pattern makers in Korea to develop this jacket. They put quite some energy on this and personally I think Dongshan makes one of the most similar pattern compared to a real FW, just looking at the shape and angle of the collar.

As for the price, I have to say this Reb_bel guy charged a HUGE premium on the transaction. I personally dislike this Reb_bel guy because they charge quite a premium and make mistakes. You might see a post from him about a tea-core FW San Mateo (actually the jacket is still made in Bootleggers period) sized 42. That is my friend's jacket and I know it is a size 38.

Overall, I think Chinese leather jackets are still quite in the start-up period compared to other mature markets such as Japan. Most people buy them because of cheaper price. But some jacket makers have already started to use good leathers (such as Shinki, CFS Kudu and some Italian veg-tan horsehide), good hardwares (Waldes) and offer quite flexible tailor service. I don't know how many of you are interested in more Chinese leather jackets. If this topic is welcome, I can open up a thread to introduce these brands.

 

[torfjord]

Very interesting! I am from China so happy to see that more and more TFL members has started their adventure in Chinese made leather jackets!

About this exact jacket I also have a small story to share. As you might know Freewheelers Mulholland is a grail jacket for many Chinese amekaji fans but unfortunately the price is still quite high for many people. Thus a lot of Chinese leather jacket makers make the similar jackets. They even all name the jacket as Mulholland instead something like " repro 1930s straight zip rider jacket". This particular jacket showed by Canuck Panda is made by one Chinese leather maker/factory called "品出东山" （in pinyin: Dongshan). To make this jacket Dongshan actually borrowed my friend's FW Mulholland to study the pattern and asked the pattern makers in Korea to develop this jacket. They put quite some energy on this and personally I think Dongshan makes one of the most similar pattern compared to a real FW, just looking at the shape and angle of the collar.

As for the price, I have to say this Reb_bel guy charged a HUGE premium on the transaction. I personally dislike this Reb_bel guy because they charge quite a premium and make mistakes. You might see a post from him about a tea-core FW San Mateo (actually the jacket is still made in Bootleggers period) sized 42. That is my friend's jacket and I know it is a size 38.

Overall, I think Chinese leather jackets are still quite in the start-up period compared to other mature markets such as Japan. Most people buy them because of cheaper price. But some jacket makers have already started to use good leathers (such as Shinki, CFS Kudu and some Italian veg-tan horsehide), good hardwares (Waldes) and offer quite flexible tailor service. I don't know how many of you are interested in more Chinese leather jackets. If this topic is welcome, I can open up a thread to introduce these brands.

Having a thread to introduce some of the Chinese brands would be great imo!

 

[Will Zach]

Very interesting! I am from China so happy to see that more and more TFL members has started their adventure in Chinese made leather jackets!

About this exact jacket I also have a small story to share. As you might know Freewheelers Mulholland is a grail jacket for many Chinese amekaji fans but unfortunately the price is still quite high for many people. Thus a lot of Chinese leather jacket makers make the similar jackets. They even all name the jacket as Mulholland instead something like " repro 1930s straight zip rider jacket". This particular jacket showed by Canuck Panda is made by one Chinese leather maker/factory called "品出东山" （in pinyin: Dongshan). To make this jacket Dongshan actually borrowed my friend's FW Mulholland to study the pattern and asked the pattern makers in Korea to develop this jacket. They put quite some energy on this and personally I think Dongshan makes one of the most similar pattern compared to a real FW, just looking at the shape and angle of the collar.

As for the price, I have to say this Reb_bel guy charged a HUGE premium on the transaction. I personally dislike this Reb_bel guy because they charge quite a premium and make mistakes. You might see a post from him about a tea-core FW San Mateo (actually the jacket is still made in Bootleggers period) sized 42. That is my friend's jacket and I know it is a size 38.

Overall, I think Chinese leather jackets are still quite in the start-up period compared to other mature markets such as Japan. Most people buy them because of cheaper price. But some jacket makers have already started to use good leathers (such as Shinki, CFS Kudu and some Italian veg-tan horsehide), good hardwares (Waldes) and offer quite flexible tailor service. I don't know how many of you are interested in more Chinese leather jackets. If this topic is welcome, I can open up a thread to introduce these brands.

Great input and idea for a dedicated thread. I have no doubt Chinese jacket makers will be making very high quality jackets. They do it already with boots. Leather will be key.

 

[Rich22]

I visited the leather district in Guangzhou a few years ago while I was living there, and was impressed by the quality of (the higher end) goods, including perfect replicas of high end handbags. Because so much of the industry centres around high end fakes intended to be passed off as the real thing, I was a bit concerned about spending my money there...

One my friends commissioned a Cafe Racer style jacket in Vietnam and chose the leather, but when he went to collect they'd made it from an inferior leather and made the P2P far too small. He lost his 50% deposit and had a cracking argument as they wanted the rest. I worried I'd be running the risk of something similar.

 

[El Marro]

No something different. After kicking the dirt for ages on the ELMC Californian, I finally caved. Snagged out of the classifieds!

Well done! Eastman makes a great jacket and I find their horsehide to be just about the perfect weight for actually wearing.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Very interesting! I am from China so happy to see that more and more TFL members has started their adventure in Chinese made leather jackets!

About this exact jacket I also have a small story to share. As you might know Freewheelers Mulholland is a grail jacket for many Chinese amekaji fans but unfortunately the price is still quite high for many people. Thus a lot of Chinese leather jacket makers make the similar jackets. They even all name the jacket as Mulholland instead something like " repro 1930s straight zip rider jacket". This particular jacket showed by Canuck Panda is made by one Chinese leather maker/factory called "品出东山" （in pinyin: Dongshan). To make this jacket Dongshan actually borrowed my friend's FW Mulholland to study the pattern and asked the pattern makers in Korea to develop this jacket. They put quite some energy on this and personally I think Dongshan makes one of the most similar pattern compared to a real FW, just looking at the shape and angle of the collar.

As for the price, I have to say this Reb_bel guy charged a HUGE premium on the transaction. I personally dislike this Reb_bel guy because they charge quite a premium and make mistakes. You might see a post from him about a tea-core FW San Mateo (actually the jacket is still made in Bootleggers period) sized 42. That is my friend's jacket and I know it is a size 38.

Overall, I think Chinese leather jackets are still quite in the start-up period compared to other mature markets such as Japan. Most people buy them because of cheaper price. But some jacket makers have already started to use good leathers (such as Shinki, CFS Kudu and some Italian veg-tan horsehide), good hardwares (Waldes) and offer quite flexible tailor service. I don't know how many of you are interested in more Chinese leather jackets. If this topic is welcome, I can open up a thread to introduce these brands.

Please do a thread!

Unfortunately I already ordered with Rebel before I found out about Taobao. I was too disappointed with overpaying but I will wait to get the jacket first to see if Rebel offers anything in terms of service to justify the premium. But so far it seems like he is just reselling $260 jacket @ $580 because he has better Taobao skills than me. Lol.

I've also got a few other things from Cidu, both from his Aliexpress resellers (RedTornado and YR Leather), and directly from his Taobao store. I am eager to find out how all of these things works.

 

[TheBigEraser]

Please do a thread!

Unfortunately I already ordered with Rebel before I found out about Taobao. I was too disappointed with overpaying but I will wait to get the jacket first to see if Rebel offers anything in terms of service to justify the premium. But so far it seems like he is just reselling $260 jacket @ $580 because he has better Taobao skills than me. Lol.

I've also got a few other things from Cidu, both from his Aliexpress resellers (RedTornado and YR Leather), and directly from his Taobao store. I am eager to find out how all of these things works.

Hi Canuck Panda, sorry to hear this, that’s what we call information assymetry… I hope rest of your shopping process to be smooth. I have opened up a thread and shared some thoughts and information. Hope those help!

 

[Leigh H]

Please do a thread!

Unfortunately I already ordered with Rebel before I found out about Taobao. I was too disappointed with overpaying but I will wait to get the jacket first to see if Rebel offers anything in terms of service to justify the premium. But so far it seems like he is just reselling $260 jacket @ $580 because he has better Taobao skills than me. Lol.

I've also got a few other things from Cidu, both from his Aliexpress resellers (RedTornado and YR Leather), and directly from his Taobao store. I am eager to find out how all of these things works.

You can't buy directly from Taobao if you're not based in china, you're best going through agents who take a small fee. I've used Superbuy (https://www.superbuy.com), you purchase the item through them and they have the item sent to their warehouse, they then can even remove all the packaging and labels and lower the value to avoid the import tax. You pay their delivery fees depending on which delivery service you use.

 

[Rich22]

You can't buy directly from Taobao if you're not based in china

What makes you think that? I can and I'm not in China. So long as you have a Chinese bank card it's not a problem (I've never tried with a non-Chinese card, so can't confirm that either way).

Edit: I'd ask if they ship abroad before purchasing, of course, and at what cost.

 

[Tom71]

No something different. After kicking the dirt for ages on the ELMC Californian, I finally caved. Snagged out of the classifieds!

Really interested in your thoughts. That model keeps talking to me big time.
Your more than fit to handle the heavy stuff, so this will be interesting: first time I handled ELC horse I was mighty surprised (disappointed??) how lightweight it is. After A while I couldn’t get it off my back as it’s so very versatile and ages gloriously. Need one back at the stable eventually.

 

[ton312]

Really interested in your thoughts. That model keeps talking to me big time.
Your more than fit to handle the heavy stuff, so this will be interesting: first time I handled ELC horse I was mighty surprised (disappointed??) how lightweight it is. After A while I couldn’t get it off my back as it’s so very versatile and ages gloriously. Need one back at the stable eventually.

Yeah everything else I have is really more winter weight and quilted nylon lined. Need something like this for Fall! I'm super excited for it. I've been after one for ages and I'm much, much less hung up on heavy weight leather these days.