Leather on Vintage Jackets question

[jos198]

Hi All,

I bought a Leather jacket on ebay made by Fidelity that was from the 70's. The fit was nice but the leather felt like...i don't know what the word is, it wasn't dried out, just had a plastic feel to it. Is this normal for vintage jackets? Or is it just the type of leather used. The seller said it was horsehide, but i had an Aero Highwayman in FQHH and the feel wasn't even close.

Thanks

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Post a photo of your 70's jacket. Aero's CXL FQHH is infused with fats and oils making it quite unique compared to many FQHHs. Many other horsehide jackets are thinner as well. Some very smooth while others can be grainy.

 

[jos198]

This is the vanson jacket i'm thinking about buying

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-70...rentrq:72f6295816b0aad98ed1808fffc27d85|iid:1

 

[jos198]

Here's the fidelity

 

[El Marro]

It is very possible that your jacket was made from horsehide, just not particularly nice horsehide. Some of the brands that had been known for putting out quality product throughout the 50s and 60s fell into a slump in the 1970s and made some really subpar jackets when compared to their earlier work.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Jackets feel all sorts of things, depending on how they were stored and used, how warm it is, what surface treatment, dye used, age of hide, presence of conditioner, type of hide, etc. What is normal?

 

[robrinay]

There are leather products used as a ‘final coat’ out there that consist of an acrylic (plastic), based solution. It’s possible that this sort of product was used either during production or maybe by a later owner of the jacket. If you look up Fiebings bag kote you’ll see what I mean. It should wear off with time and use.

 

[navetsea]

throw it in the washing machine with little soft detergent, wear it from damp to dry to set in your own natural creases, and then if you think the leather feel crispy use a little conditioner as needed

 

[Carlos840]

Hi All,

I bought a Leather jacket on ebay made by Fidelity that was from the 70's. The fit was nice but the leather felt like...i don't know what the word is, it wasn't dried out, just had a plastic feel to it. Is this normal for vintage jackets? Or is it just the type of leather used. The seller said it was horsehide, but i had an Aero Highwayman in FQHH and the feel wasn't even close.

Thanks

What do you mean by "made by fidelity"? i thought the "vanson associates" was the regular Vanson label used in 78-79.

Leathers a different.
They can go from a pretty thin waxy topcoat like CXL to a thick almost latex coating like some old Schott or modern Lost worlds.
It doesn't tell you much about the quality of the leather just different tanning and different styles of leathers.

I have two Vansons, both are competition weight, the one on the left is from 2008, it has a super thick shiny black top coat, almsot like plastic...
The one on the right is from 2016, it has a thinner almost matte grey topcoat, technically both are great leather, both were sold as the same grade of leather, but they are very different!

Full review of both:
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/vanson-chp-2.95458/

 

[ton312]

Neither the Fidelity nor the Vanson posted are HH. Fidelity did make HH jackets but not during the era the posted brown cafe racer hails from. That’s cowhide. Vanson made HH jackets as well but that isn’t an HH jacket. That’s comp weight cow. Much higher quality than the Fidelity jacket, but a bit lighter and thinner than modern comp weight equivalents.

 

[Monitor]

Hi All,

I bought a Leather jacket on ebay made by Fidelity that was from the 70's. The fit was nice but the leather felt like...i don't know what the word is, it wasn't dried out, just had a plastic feel to it. Is this normal for vintage jackets? Or is it just the type of leather used. The seller said it was horsehide, but i had an Aero Highwayman in FQHH and the feel wasn't even close.

Thanks

It is perfectly normal, yeah. It's not an easy job to find two older jackets from the same maker that look and feel exactly the same - They often don't feel even remotely similar. What @Seb Lucas said, leather can be all sorts of ways. Some jackets are made from leather that you couldn't be convinced isn't vinly, the others feel almost alive.

This has nothing to do with the animal the hide belonged to.The fact that it doesn't feels or looks nothing like another horshide jacket is also completely normal. Thing is, nobody can really even tell the two hides apart.

 

[jos198]

It is perfectly normal, yeah. It's not an easy job to find two older jackets from the same maker that look and feel exactly the same - They often don't feel even remotely similar. What @Seb Lucas said, leather can be all sorts of ways. Some jackets are made from leather that you couldn't be convinced isn't vinly, the others feel almost alive.

This has nothing to do with the animal the hide belonged to.The fact that it doesn't feels or looks nothing like another horshide jacket is also completely normal. Thing is, nobody can really even tell the two hides apart.

Thanks. I just want to avoid purchasing another jacket that has the vinyl feel. Was just worried that older jackets normally take on that feel.

Sent from my E5506 using Tapatalk

 

[jos198]

What do you mean by "made by fidelity"? i thought the "vanson associates" was the regular Vanson label used in 78-79.

Leathers a different.
They can go from a pretty thin waxy topcoat like CXL to a thick almost latex coating like some old Schott or modern Lost worlds.
It doesn't tell you much about the quality of the leather just different tanning and different styles of leathers.

I have two Vansons, both are competition weight, the one on the left is from 2008, it has a super thick shiny black top coat, almsot like plastic...
The one on the right is from 2016, it has a thinner almost matte grey topcoat, technically both are great leather, both were sold as the same grade of leather, but they are very different!

Full review of both:
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/vanson-chp-2.95458/

Thanks for the reply. I bought the fidelity jacket, I'm thinking of buying the Vanson one. Do you have any experience with the Vanson and associates jacket?

Sent from my E5506 using Tapatalk

 

[Carlos840]

Thanks for the reply. I bought the fidelity jacket, I'm thinking of buying the Vanson one. Do you have any experience with the Vanson and associates jacket?

Sent from my E5506 using Tapatalk

Ohh, sorry, misread and thought you were talking about one jacket, not two.
Never handled an early Vanson i have heard the leather is thinner than modern equivalent and shinier, but i can't confirm that from experience.

 

[Monitor]

Thanks. I just want to avoid purchasing another jacket that has the vinyl feel. Was just worried that older jackets normally take on that feel.

Sent from my E5506 using Tapatalk

Sadly, no guarantees when you're buying online. Some will be like that, others won't.