Lewis Leathers elbow patch

[greenc]

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had a nice weekend. I've found a vintage Lewis Leathers moto jacket and I have two questions:

1. The tag only says Aviakit, it doesn't note that it's LL - does that seem right? Also, in the enclosed photo of the tag does the stitching upper left look like it has been messed with?

2. The elbow pads don't look right to me. The creases in the middle of each pad at the top and the bottom are something that I know LL does, but look at the irregular quilting and stitching around these areas - surely this couldn't be how it left LL all those years ago. This is a poor attempt at a repair, yes?

The seller wants approximately $360 USD.

Everyone's thoughts are most appreciated, thank you very much. Looking forward to speaking with you all soon. Take care and enjoy the day.

Chris

 

[Tom71]

Only comment I dare to make is re the label which looks authentic to me. Two out of my three current LL have the label attached in a most sloppy fashion, and the design is the same as in my 402. Doesn´t mean it cannot be a legit label in a fake jacket. Theoretically.

 

[MrProper]

This is how it looks on my LL 442.

 

[Edward]

Best might be to drop Lewis a line. Depending on when it was made, quality was not always what it is now. The 70s was not always the best period for Lewis jackets. The Aviakit label alone was used in the sixties. AFAIK, it's pretty normal in periods when both Aviakit and Lewis logos have been used for them to be two separate labels sewn on top of each other, as per above. This could also be a reline. Elbow pads like that are a later 70s feature on a Lewis; I don't know offhand which labelling approach this coincided with. There were, however, a hell of a lot of very similarly styled jackets to the Lewis range in the 60s-80s, so I'd be wary of trusting a lining. The lack of quilting in that lining looks off to me, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not how it came out of the factory - or it could be a reline job. I'd be surprised if that lining ever sported both Aviakit and Lewis labels, as it looks like there's the little size tag at the bottom of it in that photo.


A full shot of the fromt of the jacket would be helpful - both in identifying model, and a clearer idea of time period. If it is a genuine Lewis from the later 70s, it should in theory (though always a possibility of a special order, as their policy on this seems to change over time) have a sewn on, black leather (not fabric) logopatch with a Lewis logo in gold paint on it.

Some good photos of Lewis labels over time in the gallery on Lewisleathers.com - worth a look. They should be able to give you a steer whether it's legit or not too.

 

[greenc]

Thank you everyone, I appreciate the help. The seller just sent additional photos along with a note that she has owned the jacket for 10 years, and that she got it from a friend who purchased it new in 1979 and "hardly wore it at all." The leather tabs on the side adjustments would indicate something different, they're looking a little ratty to me. What do you guys think?

CG

 

[Marc mndt]

It's a women's jacket.

 

[Tom71]

I am not an expert concerning LL‘s 70s/80s offerings, but somehow the jacket seems off to me. At the price quoted, I’d probably stay clear of it.

 

[greenc]

It definitely is a woman's jacket, and as Tom71 mentioned above, it might be worth steering clear of. I'm in the market for a women's moto and I love Lewis Leathers, which is why this one caught my eye. Still, the elbow patches just seem really bad - it was mentioned earlier by Edward that during the 1970s quality wasn't what it is today, but still, it seems hard to believe that those elbow pads would have passed inspection, even back then.

Convince me I'm wrong.

 

[Marc mndt]

Convince me I'm wrong.

I've owned a handful of 70s / 80s LL with elbow patches. Some were nicer than others. Some have elbow patches with edges that were folded over, those are earlier ones from the 70s. The edges of the elbow patches on the one from the 80s were not folded over, similar to yours.

 

[greenc]

Those are great looking, do you still wear them? Are they durable?

 

[Marc mndt]

One of the nicer examples

 

[Marc mndt]

Those are great looking, do you still wear them? Are they durable?

Sold them all due to sizing issues. One is nicer than the other but they're all durable.

 

[greenc]

Wow, that one is gorgeous! What size where they?

 

[Marc mndt]

Wow, that one is gorgeous! What size where they?

38, 40, 42. Most is the vintage LL have really short sleeves.

 

[Edward]

FWIW, from that period there are many, many jackets from the legion British brands that were, in design, 'metoos' , but qualitatively as good as the Lewises much of the time. If you're after a particular style of jacket rather than a Lewis specifically, you can often pick up something in that vein for a fraction of the price if the label is Wolf, TT Leathers, and such rather than Lewis/Aviakit. Zips will often be comically large for those of us more aesthetically attuned to an earlier style, but that is correct for the later 70s and into the eighties stuff.

 

[greenc]

FWIW, from that period there are many, many jackets from the legion British brands that were, in design, 'metoos' , but qualitatively as good as the Lewises much of the time. If you're after a particular style of jacket rather than a Lewis specifically, you can often pick up something in that vein for a fraction of the price if the label is Wolf, TT Leathers, and such rather than Lewis/Aviakit. Zips will often be comically large for those of us more aesthetically attuned to an earlier style, but that is correct for the later 70s and into the eighties stuff.

Thanks Edward, I've just purchased a 1970s vintage Wolf that's really lovely. Was TT Leathers a jacket manufacturer or were they just a retailer that put the TT tag in a piece someone else created?

 

[Edward]

Thanks Edward, I've just purchased a 1970s vintage Wolf that's really lovely. Was TT Leathers a jacket manufacturer or were they just a retailer that put the TT tag in a piece someone else created?

I don't know for certain myself. There were loads of British bands right up until the turn of the 90s, really, when they all started dropping off, following the demise of the British motorcycle industry at a delay of some ten or fifteen years.... mostly replaced by cheaper, overseas manufacture. Pakistan being a significant manufacturing hub - and already by that point big in fashion leathers. There's not a whole lot of information available on those brands that died out before the internet was really a thing.

The best I've found on TT Leathers is here: http://www.ringbell.co.uk/museum/TTL01.htm Given the examples of the custom work they did, I suspect they were indeed a manufacturer themselves rather than a relabeller/ outsourcer.

 

[Edward]

Thanks Edward, I've just purchased a 1970s vintage Wolf that's really lovely.

All the wolf jackets I've handled have been very decent. Decades ago I remember picking one up cheaply in Camden market for an ex-girlfriend to wear. Like a late 70s redux on a Lightning - quilted shoulders, really chunky zips. Very much of that late 70s / early 80s period. Never handled a Wolf I thought was bad. The brand was established in 1969. It's still around, though I don't know whether it has changed hands. It did apparently have a big revamp in 2016; the stuff I've seen now is very modern and not to my tastes at all. Includes both leather and textile. I'm sure the quality is good, though. No idea if it's still UK made.

 

[greenc]

All the wolf jackets I've handled have been very decent. Decades ago I remember picking one up cheaply in Camden market for an ex-girlfriend to wear. Like a late 70s redux on a Lightning - quilted shoulders, really chunky zips. Very much of that late 70s / early 80s period. Never handled a Wolf I thought was bad. The brand was established in 1969. It's still around, though I don't know whether it has changed hands. It did apparently have a big revamp in 2016; the stuff I've seen now is very modern and not to my tastes at all. Includes both leather and textile. I'm sure the quality is good, though. No idea if it's still UK made.

Thank you Edward, that's good information, I'll start looking more at Wolf and TT Leathers as alternatives to Lewis. Good to know. Enjoy the evening. Chris

 

[Corsair42]

Can't speak for the authenticity of that jacket but I've had a genuine Lewis in that blue leather from the same time period and it was lightweight but stiff, I don't think it was sheep, more like a lightweight horse or cow, anyway it was same colour and leather to yours. There are a lot of bespoke Lewis Leather racing suits that are very different from the stock jackets, the racing suits would sometimes come with different or no patches externally. , if I had to hazard a guess, yours is the top half of a woman's suit or a bespoke item but could still be a lewis