jacketjunkie
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,325
- Location
- Germany
Hello everyone,
after reading along for quite a while and taking advantage of the collected wisdom and experience on this board, I finally managed to sign up with a tolerable e-mail adress and would like to contribute some of my experiences and purchases with all of you in return.
I bought three jackets over the past 18 months. First one was an Aero Teamster in late '13 I think. I could find very little information about it here back then (unlike now, it appears the Teamster is all the rage these days, eh?
) and it was my first high-end leather jacket purchase, but it paid off and besides some minor concerns, I was happy with it. I might write a more detailed comparison or review when I get around to it, but for now short summary will have to do: leather is stunning, cut of armholes is terrible.
Next, I wanted some military-inspired-bomberish-designed jacket. That turned out to be more difficult than you would think, maybe because historical accuracy did not matter to me and frankly, I strongly dislike the patch-on-flap-pockets on the A2s. In the end, I bought the Vanson Stadium, which combined the bomber look with a more civil pocket design even though there was zero information about it on the internet. However it was a real bargain at astonishing 450ish dollars, so how could I resist and what could possibly go wrong? I'll probably write a review on that one because of the very reason there is very little information about it on the Internet and it certainly deserves some, so short story: It's a great jacket for the money, however the cut is (what I suppose historically correct) extremely short while the sleeves are a tad too long for me. Anyone interested into the design, I can recommend the jacket, but would advice to add 1" in body-length and double-check with Vanson about the sleeves as well. Leather feels incredibly strong. Must be something about Vansons tanning. The Aero Teamsters FQHH is crazy-thick and makes the praised Vanson competition leather look thin, however the later has a ruggedness about it, which I would not contribute to the buttery-soft FQHH.
The latest jacket I received was a custom cafe racer / Highwayman mash-up by Johnson Leather. Leather is 3.5 oz naked cow hide. Alan sent me different samples of 3.5 oz naked cow, SFPD one, something called Californian something and the one, I ultimately chose. Of the three, it was the dullest, least shiny one. Business with Alan was a real pleasure. I literally mass-bombed the poor bloke with mails and he replied to every single one of them, in shortest time, kind and helpful and made sure everything on the jacket got just like I wanted it to. I will post fit pictures at the weekend, but I can tell you, the fit is spot on. It's a very snug fit which I wanted as a contrast to my Teamster and Stadium, yet complete freedom of movement. I mean, I can actually raise my arms in that one. Size is a 42 with a strongly tapered waist. (I have a 42" chest and a 37" waist)
You always find some things you would have done differently looking back at it and design-wise that's it with that jacket too, but I still love it as my best fitting jacket. I have already decided to order another custom job at Johnson Leather where I will adress these minor things I noticed wearing this one. Hopefully my exit-jacket then, before this addiction gets completly out of hand.
Now, I registered at photobucket only today to upload the pictures for this thread, so don't be surprised and remain patient if it takes me some edits and tests to properly link them here.
Teamster; don't understand why people are so concerned with stiffness of FQHH. Wore it like a month every day for 1-2h and it's buttery soft already in warm climate. I noticed the leather's condition very much depends on temperature, probably due to the immense amount of wax in it:
Vanson Stadium; it's basicly unworn and not broken in at all, as it's too thin for winter and now in spring I currently wear my Johnson Leather instead which I feel more comfortable in due to the mentioned issues with the Vanson fit. I'll post a fit picture of this too this weekend, so you can judge by yourselves.
Last, the Johnson Leather. All of the pics were taken in a bit of a hurry with the underwhelming camera of my Iphone 4, so I apologize for the poor quality. I will eventually take better ones.
If you have any question about any of the jackets, ask!
Yours,
TD
after reading along for quite a while and taking advantage of the collected wisdom and experience on this board, I finally managed to sign up with a tolerable e-mail adress and would like to contribute some of my experiences and purchases with all of you in return.
I bought three jackets over the past 18 months. First one was an Aero Teamster in late '13 I think. I could find very little information about it here back then (unlike now, it appears the Teamster is all the rage these days, eh?
) and it was my first high-end leather jacket purchase, but it paid off and besides some minor concerns, I was happy with it. I might write a more detailed comparison or review when I get around to it, but for now short summary will have to do: leather is stunning, cut of armholes is terrible.Next, I wanted some military-inspired-bomberish-designed jacket. That turned out to be more difficult than you would think, maybe because historical accuracy did not matter to me and frankly, I strongly dislike the patch-on-flap-pockets on the A2s. In the end, I bought the Vanson Stadium, which combined the bomber look with a more civil pocket design even though there was zero information about it on the internet. However it was a real bargain at astonishing 450ish dollars, so how could I resist and what could possibly go wrong? I'll probably write a review on that one because of the very reason there is very little information about it on the Internet and it certainly deserves some, so short story: It's a great jacket for the money, however the cut is (what I suppose historically correct) extremely short while the sleeves are a tad too long for me. Anyone interested into the design, I can recommend the jacket, but would advice to add 1" in body-length and double-check with Vanson about the sleeves as well. Leather feels incredibly strong. Must be something about Vansons tanning. The Aero Teamsters FQHH is crazy-thick and makes the praised Vanson competition leather look thin, however the later has a ruggedness about it, which I would not contribute to the buttery-soft FQHH.
The latest jacket I received was a custom cafe racer / Highwayman mash-up by Johnson Leather. Leather is 3.5 oz naked cow hide. Alan sent me different samples of 3.5 oz naked cow, SFPD one, something called Californian something and the one, I ultimately chose. Of the three, it was the dullest, least shiny one. Business with Alan was a real pleasure. I literally mass-bombed the poor bloke with mails and he replied to every single one of them, in shortest time, kind and helpful and made sure everything on the jacket got just like I wanted it to. I will post fit pictures at the weekend, but I can tell you, the fit is spot on. It's a very snug fit which I wanted as a contrast to my Teamster and Stadium, yet complete freedom of movement. I mean, I can actually raise my arms in that one. Size is a 42 with a strongly tapered waist. (I have a 42" chest and a 37" waist)
You always find some things you would have done differently looking back at it and design-wise that's it with that jacket too, but I still love it as my best fitting jacket. I have already decided to order another custom job at Johnson Leather where I will adress these minor things I noticed wearing this one. Hopefully my exit-jacket then, before this addiction gets completly out of hand.
Now, I registered at photobucket only today to upload the pictures for this thread, so don't be surprised and remain patient if it takes me some edits and tests to properly link them here.
Teamster; don't understand why people are so concerned with stiffness of FQHH. Wore it like a month every day for 1-2h and it's buttery soft already in warm climate. I noticed the leather's condition very much depends on temperature, probably due to the immense amount of wax in it:
Vanson Stadium; it's basicly unworn and not broken in at all, as it's too thin for winter and now in spring I currently wear my Johnson Leather instead which I feel more comfortable in due to the mentioned issues with the Vanson fit. I'll post a fit picture of this too this weekend, so you can judge by yourselves.
Last, the Johnson Leather. All of the pics were taken in a bit of a hurry with the underwhelming camera of my Iphone 4, so I apologize for the poor quality. I will eventually take better ones.
If you have any question about any of the jackets, ask!
Yours,
TD
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