Life with ONE great Leather Jacket vs. Life with MANY Leather Jackets

[nick123]

Not to put too fine a point on it, Nick, but have you by chance noticed that your avatar is just ever so slightly........crooked.....

I was hoping that public admission would stay buried in the thread...oh well, I try to make light of it. Jackets don't help, but it could be a much worse obsession I guess.

 

[ykurtz]

1 short leather jacket, 1 3/4 leather jacket, 1 spring/summer motorcycle jacket, 1 fall/winter motorcycle jacket, 1 city leather jacket, 1 country leather jacket. Up to 6, so 4-6 is probably ideal.

 

[IXL]

I was hoping that public admission would stay buried in the thread...oh well, I try to make light of it. Jackets don't help, but it could be a much worse obsession I guess.

You are a member of our very large club, but we get cookies. Unfortunately, sometimes we don't get to eat them for awhile: some of the members have to count all the chocolate chips in each one first.

 

[ykurtz]

You are a member of our very large club, but we get cookies. Unfortunately, sometimes we don't get to eat them for awhile: some of the members have to count all the chocolate chips in each one first.

Per quantum physics, the act of counting chocolate chips in the cookie breaks the cookie into crumbly pieces...so you're left eating cookie crumbs, not cookies.

 

[IXL]

So, you guys get the thick cookies, then? That would make them waaay harder to count. Breaking the cookies isn't an option: it just causes additional angst for some of the other OCD types and was outlawed in the bylaws some time back.

 

[Justhandguns]

After reading 5 pages of discussion..........

I think the question should be: how many jackets is "the optimum"?

I do see some 'single jacket men' around, namely, one of my school teachers, who wore the same leather jacket and the same leather belt over my years in the school. But that was the old time in the 80s'. I also know that there are many who own one cool jacket just to transform their images during the weekends (well, at least in winters). While I must admit that I own multiple A-2s and bikers, I always go back to only two.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

After reading 5 pages of discussion..........

I think the question should be: how many jackets is "the optimum"?

I do see some 'single jacket men' around, namely, one of my school teachers, who wore the same leather jacket and the same leather belt over my years in the school. But that was the old time in the 80s'. I also know that there are many who own one cool jacket just to transform their images during the weekends (well, at least in winters). While I must admit that I own multiple A-2s and bikers, I always go back to only two.

"The optimum" is an interesting concept for me as I only have one leather jacket right now, but do plan on owning more. I figure that somewhere between 3-5 is optimum if you allow for black/brown/biker/flight/civlian combinations of some sort.

However, I have seen some people suggest that they need heavy/lightweight of each style or each color etc which brings the optimum number to something like 8-15 depending on how you count it. Add in the location a person lives and it makes the numbers far more subjective. Living in socal, I do not in any way need more than one weight of jacket, but perhaps someone in Michigan or Sweden could easily use a medium for spring/summer, a heavy for fall/spring, and a super heavy (sheepskin B3 or the like) for winter.

Either way, I think anything above 4 or 5 is pretty excess (heck, with what we spend on jackets here, 1 is excess by some peoples' standards). This is fine, I would love to own 15 leather jackets if one day my funds allow...

 

[Edward]

You are a member of our very large club, but we get cookies. Unfortunately, sometimes we don't get to eat them for awhile: some of the members have to count all the chocolate chips in each one first.

Since I started frquenting this place, I've come to a realisation that while I've been fortunate never to suffer from OCD*, I can certainly see how easily it could develop if I let it!

(*Surely that should be CDO? You know, with the letters in the right order, like they should be?)

After reading 5 pages of discussion..........

I think the question should be: how many jackets is "the optimum"?

I do see some 'single jacket men' around, namely, one of my school teachers, who wore the same leather jacket and the same leather belt over my years in the school. But that was the old time in the 80s'. I also know that there are many who own one cool jacket just to transform their images during the weekends (well, at least in winters). While I must admit that I own multiple A-2s and bikers, I always go back to only two.

"Optimum" number of jackets could only be calculated on an agreed set of parameters, though. Is it necessary to have "one in each colour"? Do zips / buttons matter? Bike jackets only, or flight jackets too? et cetera. I don't think it's so much "optimum" versus the collecting impulse as "economic reality" versus "MOAR JacketZ!" for many of us. :lol:

 

[Plumbline]

For me there is no such thing as one leather jacket ..... I seem to lurch from 10 to high teens fairly regularly ... I'm currently at 14 ( having just sold two Schott's and an Aero ...... but also having just purchased an Aero B-3 and an AL Dakota in Black Goat ) ... my oldest Repro is 25 years old and my youngest less than 2 weeks old

I think the optimum is around 6-9

2 x M/C (winter / summer) e.g. Cafe Racer & Perfecto with liner
2 x 3/4 Black and Brown e.g. VDR/Lavant & Barnstormer
2 x Waist Length Black and Brown ( Highwayman / Roadster / Halfbelt / Drifter )
1 x non - black or brown e.g . Cordovan / Burgundy
1 x style with knits e.g. A2 / G-1, AN6552, M422a etc.
1 x Shearling e.g. ANJ-4, B-3, Irvin

.. maybe I just like leather jackets .....

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Similar to what I stated in a previous post...after reading this thread...I'm coming more so to the conclusion that my brown FQHH Bootlegger with sometimes a sweater underneath for colder weather...and my black Enfield being civi enough for bike & casual wear as well,just might cover all bases even here in Indiana. Brown/black ..cold/cool..chilly nights on the bike. The heavy HH Aero would certainly gain much more character quicker for 'the look'. Especially since I do prefer the style of both. Thanks folks..I may have a few more up for sale in the near future...
HD

 

[handymike]

I'm steering towards the HD approach: 1 brown, 1 black.

 

[Tommer45]

Forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere in this thread, I only read a few pages of it, but the more we hang around the Fedora Lounge and the VLJ forum, the more we see new jackets and want to add more to the stable. I was in the same boat for years... I was always on the hunt for THE perfect jacket... the ONE I could have forever and not need anything else..but the more you visit the forums the more you will never find perfection. I stopped visiting the forums for quite a few years, and in that time I didn't buy any new jackets. I had a few in my closet and wore them without feeling the need to keep searching for perfection.

My brother came over the other day with a brand new G-1 on, and that got me checking in with the forums and seeing what's been going on while I was gone. Now that I'm back I want a new jacket.. and I keep searching for what might be the perfect jacket to get.... and all along for the past 4 years I've had the perfect one or two that I've been wearing exclusively.

I don't know... I feel like the more you stay on the forums you will never be able to wear just one jacket. That being said.. it sure is fun scouring the countless jacket threads seeing what I want to buy next.

Tommer

 

[nick123]

Forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere in this thread, I only read a few pages of it, but the more we hang around the Fedora Lounge and the VLJ forum, the more we see new jackets and want to add more to the stable. I was in the same boat for years... I was always on the hunt for THE perfect jacket... the ONE I could have forever and not need anything else..but the more you visit the forums the more you will never find perfection. I stopped visiting the forums for quite a few years, and in that time I didn't buy any new jackets. I had a few in my closet and wore them without feeling the need to keep searching for perfection.

My brother came over the other day with a brand new G-1 on, and that got me checking in with the forums and seeing what's been going on while I was gone. Now that I'm back I want a new jacket.. and I keep searching for what might be the perfect jacket to get.... and all along for the past 4 years I've had the perfect one or two that I've been wearing exclusively.

I don't know... I feel like the more you stay on the forums you will never be able to wear just one jacket. That being said.. it sure is fun scouring the countless jacket threads seeing what I want to buy next.

Tommer

Also, the forums are a mixed blessing when you receive critique on fit. If you hadn't posted, you were free to believe it fit well! I'm sure that had most of us been oblivious to others' input, some of us would still be happily wearing the jackets we sold today.

 

[Smithy]

I can see both sides of the argument. I'm down to 4 at the mo, having got rid of a couple with moving country. The problem is that the bug still bites and I always think "right, I just need that and I'm done" but then you get the next one and think, "well maybe one of those would be nice or perhaps I can get a better version of that one I have".

It's fun but at the same time a seemingly endless bloody quest. Perhaps HD's philosophy of two blindingly good jackets, one in black and one in brown is the only hope for ultimately saving one's sanity

 

[pak]

The problem with asking for an opinion on fit on this forum or any other is you will get the spectrum of opinion. It will vary from 'perfect' to your shoes are ugly.

 

[morrison2951]

Hmmmm....variety is the spice of life- for me:

Vanson HH reddish tan Enfield
Cooper goat A-2
G&B deer A-2
Fishmeok one off HH cossack collar tester

 

[oneterrifichog]

Screw it, I'm keeping all 6...All Lost Worlds. 4 Bike Jackets, a B-2 for Cold and a Suburban for Casual. Can't help it just happily addicted!

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I'll put it this way. The well worn black Aero leather jacket with a lighter base color showing through allowing somewhat burnished all over even characteristics (which has been often searched for and re-posted from time to time here) has an appearance that only wearing 'often' can produce. Remember? It was nicely relined..but then decided by the owner that it was too small so sold on.. However..whomever bought it with the fit being 'right' obtained a jacket that IMO would even look good with dressier slacks as well as scruffier denim work wear. It had 'that look' that seems a rarity especially among us who are caught up in always becoming mesmerized by new design or even thread color..:eeek:
I propose that once sizing is personally correct with perhaps two different designs chosen and opposing colors decided..many/all of the other embellishments should become actually less important. A simple well fitting leather jacket with honest wear (only obtained by wearing often) can outshine the 'new cadet' look of a fancier pleated and flashy threaded creation always subjected to constant 'new kid on the block' updating.
I do realize that there are those that prefer leather jackets that always retain the new look..but there are many who value the much more 'lived in' look..but never seem to get there. Reason being..'easy turnover' on a quest for ..........(blank space here)...:eusa_doh:

HD

 

[Seb Lucas]

I hear you HD. Sometimes I think we are as promiscuous and callous with our jackets as some rock stars are with their women. No wonder true love isn't found. But commitment and effort with a jacket will pay off with time. The whole point of a leather jacket is surely the evolution of a relationship over decades and the wonderful look and memories that ensue.

 

[IXL]

You guys have me convinced. I'm drawing the line at my 17-18 jackets.....maybe.......