Leather Trucker Levi's / Lee / Type-whatever jackets!

[Marc mndt]

Levi's roughout jacket from the 60's or 70's would compare to a Real Mccoys western jacket.

I haven't handled the RMC one but I did handle four 60 / 70 Levi's Shorthorns. The suède Levi's used back then was very substantial, somehow it feels more solid than Levi's current day offering. Construction quality was good but compared to the RMC the stitch count was lower (one isn't better than the other).

When it comes to character vintage jackets have the edge of course, the rmc has 0 character. But the problem with vintage Levi's is finding one in your size. I owned four and each and every one of them was either too tight or too short or a combination of those.

Oh and by the way, those levis jackets aren't roughout, they're suède.

RMC stitch count

Levi's stitch count

How they fit me

 

[Craig from Craigslist]

I haven't handled the RMC one but I did handle four 60 / 70 Levi's Shorthorns. The suède Levi's used back then was very substantial, somehow it feels more solid than Levi's current day offering. Construction quality was good but compared to the RMC the stitch count was lower (one isn't better than the other).

When it comes to character vintage jackets have the edge of course, the rmc has 0 character. But the problem with vintage Levi's is finding one in your size. I owned four and each and every one of them was either too tight or too short or a combination of those.

Oh and by the way, those levis jackets aren't roughout, they're suède.

RMC stitch count

View attachment 450646


Levi's stitch count

View attachment 450645

How they fit me

View attachment 450647

Thank you, This was the type of advice I was looking for. Feels a bit like a function of patience vs. money then.

 

[Leigh H]

Hi folks, after owning smooth leather and suede trucker jackets for a long time, I think I'd really like to try a roughout trucker. This is perhaps an apples-to-oranges comparison, but I wanted to know if anyone has any insight into how a Levi's roughout jacket from the 60's or 70's would compare to a Real Mccoys western jacket. I obviously think I'd like either, but I'm hoping to get a sense of a price-to-enjoyment ratio. I'm leaning a bit toward RMC if only because Levi's jackets are kind of pain to shop for since lots of people are inflating the price due to the name but if someone has somehow had both I would love to know your thoughts.

I think you've answered your own question. Vintage ones are hard to find in good condition and at the right price and right size, vs brand new and you can choose your size. The Real Mccoys jacket looks like great quality to me, one of the best ones available right now. There's a lot of bad ones around half the price and are not worth buying. I have a vintage Levi's roughout and it took me over a year to find my size (42).

 

[Marc mndt]

Yesterday this 70s Pioneer Wear suède trucker arrived. It looks like it's brand new, never been worn. Construction quality is very good, better than the Levi's truckers I owned from the same era. The suède is nice but it's not as substantial as the Levi's truckers, those were thicker and heavier.

Because it's basically new I felt like it lacked some character so I used a spray bottle to add some sleeve creases.

Most importantly, unlike those Levi's truckers which were either too tight or too short or a combination of both this Pioneer Wear is a perfect fit, 10/10. Perfect sleeve and body length and a lot of taper to the waist.

 

[Will Zach]

Vanson Maverick in octagon.

 

[Al 916]

Vanson Maverick in octagon.

View attachment 477166


View attachment 477167

Awesome! (a word not used lightly)

 

[Al 916]

Maverick in CW (Black)

 

[Al 916]

(Still pondering) The Lee Trevor

 

[Monitor]

Maverick in CW (Black)

View attachment 477170

That Maverick is perfect, though.

 

[robrinay]

I've just bought this Lee trucker jacket from eBay uk but I've never seen the style of tag that's Inside it. A quick Google lens came up with a Cross denim trucker with the similar label supposedly dating to the 1990's. Does anyone here know who Cross were/are and the age of the Lee trucker. The black label on the breast pocket has the usual Lee R MR embroidery.

 

[Al 916]

I've just bought this Lee trucker jacket from eBay uk but I've never seen the style of tag that's Inside it. A quick Google lens came up with a Cross denim trucker with the similar label supposedly dating to the 1990's. Does anyone here know who Cross were/are and the age of the Lee trucker. The black label on the breast pocket has the usual Lee R MR embroidery.


View attachment 481777 View attachment 481781 View attachment 481780 View attachment 481778

Do a google on lee labels. I am sure I have seen this one.

Fit shot?

 

[Aloysius]

I've been wearing the Schott 121 naked cowhide Type III quite a bit recently and I've thought of making a thread inspired by it. Not so much about the jacket itself, but about the approach I took to sizing.

Our advice here is usually against upsizing–and I tend to agree with this. However, when I got the 121, I tried the medium, which fit me well but snugly. I didn't dislike this, but I thought that perhaps a jacket like this doesn't need to fit like a slim cross zip. Instead, I got the large.

My reasoning:

The medium was a nice snug fit already, rendering the button cinch at the waist useless. Meant I could wear it with a t-shirt, but otherwise it was limited.

The boxiness (it's still a slight V shape) of the jacket doesn't look bad by itself, but also ends up meaning I can layer things like sweaters or (on theme) a heavyweight wool Western vest I got from Filson underneath it, using the tabs for size adjustment as needed. It doesn't look as neat as it could, but the tradeoff seems worthwhile.

I suppose I'm treating it as a truer bit of outerwear than I do many of my leather jackets.

How do you tend to size yours?

 

[robrinay]

Do a google on lee labels. I am sure I have seen this one.

Fit shot?

I’ll post one when it arrives as it’s still in the post and may be some time given the Postal strike. I’ve bought it as a replacement for a black Schott trucker that’s a little on the short side.

 

[skybert]

I've been wearing the Schott 121 naked cowhide Type III quite a bit recently and I've thought of making a thread inspired by it. Not so much about the jacket itself, but about the approach I took to sizing.

Our advice here is usually against upsizing–and I tend to agree with this. However, when I got the 121, I tried the medium, which fit me well but snugly. I didn't dislike this, but I thought that perhaps a jacket like this doesn't need to fit like a slim cross zip. Instead, I got the large.

My reasoning:

The medium was a nice snug fit already, rendering the button cinch at the waist useless. Meant I could wear it with a t-shirt, but otherwise it was limited.

The boxiness (it's still a slight V shape) of the jacket doesn't look bad by itself, but also ends up meaning I can layer things like sweaters or (on theme) a heavyweight wool Western vest I got from Filson underneath it, using the tabs for size adjustment as needed. It doesn't look as neat as it could, but the tradeoff seems worthwhile.

View attachment 481803

I suppose I'm treating it as a truer bit of outerwear than I do many of my leather jackets.

How do you tend to size yours?

It depends on the style. IMO, in general, the "consensus great fit" looks a bit tight to me.
Cafe racers, double riders can/should be slim fitting.
Undersized HWM, for instance, looks off (and uncomfortable) to me.

Pattern wise styles that hit at the waist can have a way slimmer hem measurement than styles hitting at the hips. Super slim around the hips = weird bunching in the back (again IMO).

From what I can see you made the right choice!

 

[Aloysius]

It depends on the style. IMO, in general, the "consensus great fit" looks a bit tight to me.
Cafe racers, double riders can/should be slim fitting.
Undersized HWM, for instance, looks off (and uncomfortable) to me.

Yes, I only really hew to it for those riding (and of course the oversized top/tapered waist style of those is also attractive, though ‘athletic’ rather than slim for lack of a better term).

Downsized Highwayman looks terrible. (The actual slim Highwayman model looks great on the other hand.)

I think a leather trucker can be worn both ways, but I thought I’d favour versatility with this one. On the other hand with the pleated styles like a Type II, the pleats will act like a gusset so one might get that same versatility with a snugger fit.

 

[JB1]

FYI - Im not as versed in leathers as most on here. I had a few Schotts in the early to mid 80s and a few
leathers in the 90s, but haven't worn one again until recently.
This week I went to the Schott store to check out the trucker jackets. There were none the store and not much sizes in anything. I tried on a 141 and a 530 for the heck of it.
Almost on my home, stopped in "The Cast NYC" on a whim. I remember hearing good things about them. The owner Chuck is a genuinely

super cool guy. They make everything here in NY. Anyway this is the jacket I ended up getting. It's a lightweight naked cowhide..The leather is nice and grainy and I can't find any flaws in the stitching.
The Iron Heart at Self Edge was a beauty, but the trucker didn't fit my frame. The cafe racer I had to talk myself out of getting (my wife helped with that also)

 

[JB1]

FYI - Im not as versed in leathers as most on here. I had a few Schotts in the early to mid 80s and a few
leathers in the 90s, but haven't worn one again until recently.
This week I went to the Schott store to check out the trucker jackets. There were none the store and not much sizes in anything. I tried on a 141 and a 530 for the heck of it.
Almost on my home, stopped in "The Cast NYC" on a whim. I remember hearing good things about them. The owner Chuck is a genuinely View attachment 481870 View attachment 481871 View attachment 481872 View attachment 481874 View attachment 481875 super cool guy. They make everything here in NY. Anyway this is the jacket I ended up getting. It's a lightweight naked cowhide..The leather is nice and grainy and I can't find any flaws in the stitching.
The Iron Heart at Self Edge was a beauty, but the trucker didn't fit my frame. The cafe racer I had to talk myself out of getting (my wife helped with that also)

FYI - Im not as versed in leathers as most on here. I had a few Schotts in the early to mid 80s and a few
leathers in the 90s, but haven't worn one again until recently.
This week I went to the Schott store to check out the trucker jackets. There were none the store and not much sizes in anything. I tried on a 141 and a 530 for the heck of it.
Almost on my home, stopped in "The Cast NYC" on a whim. I remember hearing good things about them. The owner Chuck is a genuinely View attachment 481870 View attachment 481871 View attachment 481872 View attachment 481874 View attachment 481875 super cool guy. They make everything here in NY. Anyway this is the jacket I ended up getting. It's a lightweight naked cowhide..The leather is nice and grainy and I can't find any flaws in the stitching.
The Iron Heart at Self Edge was a beauty, but the trucker didn't fit my frame. The cafe racer I had to talk myself out of getting (my wife helped with that also)

These are the Iron Hearts from Self Edge

 

[Aloysius]

Wow, that jacket you got is stunning! I need to look this brand up. I no longer live in New York but I’m back often. Nice Asics by the way!

The Iron Heart looks pretty underwhelming to me–rather like the Schott I have and like except the collar is not as nice (in my opinion).

 

[JB1]

Wow, that jacket you got is stunning! I need to look this brand up. I no longer live in New York but I’m back often. Nice Asics by the way!

The Iron Heart looks pretty underwhelming to me–rather like the Schott I have and like except the collar is not as nice (in my opinion).

Thanks so much!

 

[Craig from Craigslist]

I posted about this jacket before in another thread but am now hoping folks here have some information. The only tags are the shorthorn label and the attached photo of the tag I found in the inside pocket. For the past few days I figured this was LVC but when trying to find which season of LVC I found this thread showing a practically identical jacket with slightly different amounts of wear and folks were guessing maybe mid to late 70's? To be clear, I don't mean to imply I think the seller in that classified was trying to mislead anyone, this jacket very convincingly seems old. My main issue is that the wear almost feels too good, as if it's a factory distressing job. the tag on the inside pocket makes me want to say this is 80's, maybe 90's, but I don't think they were doing the shorthorn tag for that long and if this is LVC it would have to be extremely early for it so I don't know if that feels right either. Any info folks have would be great.