Ladies Perfecto style jackets? Anyone?

[Leilah Wilde]

Hello all,

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well. I am after some advice. I'm a 27 year old woman with a serious obsession for leather jackets. I love all the biggies - Aero, Lewis Leathers, Vanson, Langlitz and so on. Here's my issue - I cannot afford one and when I find any second hand/vintage ones I can afford, they're usually sizes much too large for me. I'm fairly petite - 34" chest at most. I own a Schott 536w which is gorgeous, however too long in the body for me at 23". I'd need a cropped jacket with a 20" back length.

Question is - Where the heck can I find a sweet Perfecto style style jacket that 1. isn't made out of cheap lambskin (I'm after cowhide/steerhide) 2. Won't set me back $500+?

Any info would be much appreciated! Also - selling the Schott incase anyone's interested

Best,
Leilah

 

[Carlos840]

Hello all,

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well. I am after some advice. I'm a 27 year old woman with a serious obsession for leather jackets. I love all the biggies - Aero, Lewis Leathers, Vanson, Langlitz and so on. Here's my issue - I cannot afford one and when I find any second hand/vintage ones I can afford, they're usually sizes much too large for me. I'm fairly petite - 34" chest at most. I own a Schott 536w which is gorgeous, however too long in the body for me at 23". I'd need a cropped jacket with a 20" back length.

Question is - Where the heck can I find a sweet Perfecto style style jacket that 1. isn't made out of cheap lambskin (I'm after cowhide/steerhide) 2. Won't set me back $500+?

Any info would be much appreciated! Also - selling the Schott incase anyone's interested

Best,
Leilah

Hi Welcome,

Short answer is i don't think that jacket exists.
The shortest vintage perfectos were made with 23-24" backs back in the days, today the standard is 25-26"

If you look at this 90s sizing chart for a Schott 613SH, even the size 32 has a 24" back:

It seems ladies version have a standard 23" back, or they do a croped version with a 20" back, but that is lambskin...
It seems what you want isn't being made right now.

 

[Leilah Wilde]

Sad... So sad. I tried on the Schott 218w in their NYC store. Great fit but again - lambskin. Grr.

 

[Carlos840]

I know it's not really within budget, but IMO your best bets are probably Lewis Leathers and Vanson.
They both have experience fitting ladies, whcih is not something that can be said about most makers we usually discuss on this forum.

My GF has a Lewis Leathers and an Aero, she never wears the Aero as she finds it uncomfortable, but she loves her LL, they really did a great job with the fit:

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/lewis-leathers-super-monza-no-445l-ladies-review.83257/

I also think Vanson Really nailed this one:

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/vanson-z150-vs-x150.99519/

 

[Monitor]

Welcome,

Question is - Where the heck can I find a sweet Perfecto style style jacket that 1. isn't made out of cheap lambskin (I'm after cowhide/steerhide) 2. Won't set me back $500+?

...unfortunately, eBay. Or Etsy.

Sadly, there aren't many premium makers that offer a reasonably priced ladies jacket these days and I doubt it you can find anything truly nice for under $500 - BUT - on the other hand, used womens jackets are really, really under-valued and you should be able to score something very high-end (Lewis Leathers, Langlitz, etc. maybe even Supreme, FoG, ToJ...) for a great price.

But yeah, I'm afraid you're condemned to the 2nd hand market as it stands.

 

[ton312]

Welcome!
So I bought my wife this perfecto style jacket. She’s not all that into leather but she wanted a biker jacket. It’s a Bermans (later Wilson’s) which is a brand that doesn’t receive much fanfare here. To my surprise the jacket is actually quite nice. It’s a sturdy cowhide and it’s put together surprisingly well. It was $49 on eBay.

 

[ton312]

Shot of the back:

 

[Leilah Wilde]

Welcome!
So I bought my wife this perfecto style jacket. She’s not all that into leather but she wanted a biker jacket. It’s a Bermans (later Wilson’s) which is a brand that doesn’t receive much fanfare here. To my surprise the jacket is actually quite nice. It’s a sturdy cowhide and it’s put together surprisingly well. It was $49 on eBay.
View attachment 233689 View attachment 233691 View attachment 233692

I bought a Berman's a few months back for about $40 but when it arrived it was just too bulky up top so I had to resell. Agree though - quality was pretty decent.
Might have to sell a kidney on the black market and buy myself a Lewis Leathers Memphis. Drool. Aero have a pretty nice ladies jacket right now in soft steerhide. Curious as to how that would look and feel. My vintage steerhide jackets are robust as heck and stand to attention!

 

[Kuro]

Welcome!
So I bought my wife this perfecto style jacket. She’s not all that into leather but she wanted a biker jacket. It’s a Bermans (later Wilson’s) which is a brand that doesn’t receive much fanfare here. To my surprise the jacket is actually quite nice. It’s a sturdy cowhide and it’s put together surprisingly well. It was $49 on eBay.
View attachment 233689 View attachment 233691 View attachment 233692

Woah! I love that it has an inner roughout kidney panel and hem.

 

[ton312]

I bought a Berman's a few months back for about $40 but when it arrived it was just too bulky up top so I had to resell. Agree though - quality was pretty decent.
Might have to sell a kidney on the black market and buy myself a Lewis Leathers Memphis. Drool. Aero have a pretty nice ladies jacket right now in soft steerhide. Curious as to how that would look and feel. My vintage steerhide jackets are robust as heck and stand to attention!

That’s about how my wife feels about it too and it’s been hanging in the closet ever since. LOL. The Aero soft steer I’ve seen looks nice. There have been a couple jackets posted here in it. One CR if I recall.

 

[ton312]

Woah! I love that it has an inner roughout kidney panel and hem.

If it were 10 sizes bigger I’d wear it!

 

[red devil]

If you're planning to splurge, I would highly recommend Thedi

 

[Kuro]

I bought a Berman's a few months back for about $40 but when it arrived it was just too bulky up top so I had to resell. Agree though - quality was pretty decent.
Might have to sell a kidney on the black market and buy myself a Lewis Leathers Memphis. Drool. Aero have a pretty nice ladies jacket right now in soft steerhide. Curious as to how that would look and feel. My vintage steerhide jackets are robust as heck and stand to attention!

I had a J-100 made by Aero in the Soft Steerhide. I really like it. It is very easy to wear, has give where you need it, requires no break in, looks great, has 3oz+ leather so weight and substance etc. I did a review of that jacket here:

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/my-aero-board-racer-in-soft-black-steerhide-review.93754/

It is great if you want a form fitting jacket that you also don't want to fight every time you put it on.

 

[ton312]

I had a J-100 made by Aero in the Soft Steerhide. I really like it. It is very easy to wear, has give where you need it, requires no break in, looks great, has 3oz+ leather so weight and substance etc. I did a review of that jacket here:

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/my-aero-board-racer-in-soft-black-steerhide-review.93754/

It is great if you want a form fitting jacket that you also don't want to fight every time you put it on.

There it is! I like this hide. Almost looks like naked cow from the pics.

 

[jacketjunkie]

Hello all,

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well. I am after some advice. I'm a 27 year old woman with a serious obsession for leather jackets. I love all the biggies - Aero, Lewis Leathers, Vanson, Langlitz and so on. Here's my issue - I cannot afford one and when I find any second hand/vintage ones I can afford, they're usually sizes much too large for me. I'm fairly petite - 34" chest at most. I own a Schott 536w which is gorgeous, however too long in the body for me at 23". I'd need a cropped jacket with a 20" back length.

Question is - Where the heck can I find a sweet Perfecto style style jacket that 1. isn't made out of cheap lambskin (I'm after cowhide/steerhide) 2. Won't set me back $500+?

Any info would be much appreciated! Also - selling the Schott incase anyone's interested

Best,
Leilah

Hello Leilah,

If I were you, I'd keep looking for a used Langlitz in your size. Womens langitz sell vrey cheap as there isnt much of a market for them and they do pop up in small sizes every now and then. Was watching a 19" ptp brand new unworn Cascade that would surely have fit you like 6 months back. Got another one for a friend who asked me to as she knew I was into leather jackets. Other than that, rather keep saving than spending on supposed bargains and you'll have the money of any of the brands you mentioned in a short while. Nothing as annoying as noticing after six months that instead of the cheap bad compromises you bought, you could have bought the real deal by then.

Keep us updated about your hunt and see you around!

 

[Will Zach]

Set up a search with alerts on eBay with keywords such as: ladies langlitz, women's langlitz, womans, womens (ebay search is sensitive to misspellings), and something is bound to pop up eventually. Good news is you won't get much competition from this crowd, lol.... There are some on eBay right now in your price range, even in 20-in length, but pit-to-pit may be too big. But something should pop up eventually.

How far off is this size-wise?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Langlitz-L...546289?hash=item522820a4f1:g:1RsAAOSwCRNd1LQK

If your measurement is 34" in chest, then divide by half (17") and add 2" of give, which gives 19" pit-to-pit measured on a jacket.

 

[Angel]

Hi,
I was lucky to find this Gap jacket for my wife. Good quality and not expensive.
Leather is thick and soft cowhide, not too heavy, easy to wear. The only thing I don't like is the artificial aging. She gets a lot of compliments when wearing that jacket! Good luck for the hunt!

 

[Harris HTM]

A couple of years ago I got an Aero for my gf in italian soft horsehide:
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/aero-black-soft-steerhide.90965/page-2#post-2274392
Expensive yes, but you can customize the fit - and choose the hide you prefer.

 

[oneterrifichog]

Hello all,

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well. I am after some advice. I'm a 27 year old woman with a serious obsession for leather jackets. I love all the biggies - Aero, Lewis Leathers, Vanson, Langlitz and so on. Here's my issue - I cannot afford one and when I find any second hand/vintage ones I can afford, they're usually sizes much too large for me. I'm fairly petite - 34" chest at most. I own a Schott 536w which is gorgeous, however too long in the body for me at 23". I'd need a cropped jacket with a 20" back length.

Question is - Where the heck can I find a sweet Perfecto style style jacket that 1. isn't made out of cheap lambskin (I'm after cowhide/steerhide) 2. Won't set me back $500+?

Any info would be much appreciated! Also - selling the Schott incase anyone's interested

Best,
Leilah

You might check out ebay for Womens Harley Jackets Made in the U.S. ( the imported ones are crap) My daughter has one she wears that has some similarities to Schott and other brands that is a decent Steerhide. Here's a shot I made of her wearing it before she went underway on the cutter she was assigned to a few years ago. I have seen these go for reasonable prices around $250.00 or less.

 

[Monitor]

Hi,
I was lucky to find this Gap jacket for my wife. Good quality and not expensive.
Leather is thick and soft cowhide, not too heavy, easy to wear. The only thing I don't like is the artificial aging. She gets a lot of compliments when wearing that jacket! Good luck for the hunt! View attachment 233716

I wanted to recommend Gap too, but I only saw women's trucker jacket of theirs. Still, it was a really good quality jacket, heavy-ish, sturdy, seemed like full grain cowhide. Definitely recommended.