My BK Westfall in badalassi cowhide

[Swoosed]

Dont fu$k with it, wear the hell out of it and it will break in naturally

 

[ProteinNerd]

Caution: do not use hot water on vegetable tanned leathers.

Andy, how do the vegetable tanned leathere handle normal cold/rain water?

 

[andyfalzon]

Andy, how do the vegetable tanned leathere handle normal cold/rain water?

The vegetable tanned leather has no problem with water, provided that it is not HOT.
All aniline finish leathers will absorb water, rain drops etc, but after they dry no problem.

"Vegetable-tanned leather is not stable in water; it tends to discolor, so if left to soak and then dry it will shrink and become less supple, and harder.

The above is not 100% correct. It is a general statement that applies to veg. tanned leather of the kind shown below which is undyed and untreated.

The Badalassi cowhide IS treated, dyed, processed and finished in ways that make it suitable to wear without fear of rain, elements etc.

We have tried water on a small piece of Badalassi cowhide and the result is a very much aged leather. A bit less supple when it dries but regains its suppleness after a bit of use/wear.

The Badalassi cowhide is an excellent leather, looking and feeling much better than many of the horsehide leathers found out there.
In fact it is overall a better quality hide than many horsehides we have seen in terms of yield. The job that Carlo Badalassi does with this leather is absolutely marvelous. Unfortunately, demand for it isn't what it should be for various reasons. For example,
People don't like cowhide judging mainly from the cowhide they have seen before. Well Badalassi has nothing to do with any of the average cowhides most of us have seen. It is of much higher quality. One can't realize that difference from looking at photos or seeing a 4"x 4" sample. One has got to see/handle a jacket to feel the difference.
Another reason is that some other vendor has disqualified it, blaming it for being heavy, stiff, etc. Well sorry to say but the other vendor did not get the right article and did not ask for the right specs.
Thirdly, most vintage jackets were made with horsehide and collectors and fans seem to have preference in it.

 

[schitzo]

looks like a splendid jacket. Hard for me to judge the lengths from here, but looking at the pics you have posted I might have liked the body 1 inch shorter and the sleeves an inch longer. That said, if the body was shorter then actually I might not need a full extra inch on the sleeves. FTR I've done a 180 on long sleeves and now tend to agree with Aero Ken that short sleeves (on short jackets like this) are cool

 

[handymike]

Badalassi is beautiful stuff! I've seen the swatches and felt the leather.
It also can change color over time- depending on which color you have. I find it a truly unique leather in that sense.

 

[Dr.Seuss]

looks like a splendid jacket. Hard for me to judge the lengths from here, but looking at the pics you have posted I might have liked the body 1 inch shorter and the sleeves an inch longer. That said, if the body was shorter then actually I might not need a full extra inch on the sleeves. FTR I've done a 180 on long sleeves and now tend to agree with Aero Ken that short sleeves (on short jackets like this) are cool

Long sleeves on short jackets = waiter's jacket? If only I could feel comfort in sleeves that length. The critical question zhz, "do you like to wear it?" If yes, there is little more to say.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Dont fu$k with it, wear the hell out of it and it will break in naturally

Actually, looking back over the photo, the collar looks pretty good as is. If you really want to shape it, wet it and do what you need.

 

[zhz]

After 2 days wear, I can say the badalassi is very nice hide, its not as heavy and stiff as HH, feels comfort even without break in. But I have a feeling that it not as easy to break in as HH. And take a long time to show some characters.

 

[handymike]

I think you'll find that 6months wear will do wonders.

 

[morrison2951]

Yep- wear it and enjoy it!

 

[Seb Lucas]

Is the Badalassi 3 oz or heavier?

 

[zhz]

It is 3oz leather. But feels very comfortable.

Is the Badalassi 3 oz or heavier?

 

[Brettafett]

Beautiful. What Badalassi colour was that? Dark Seal? And is that Tan thread? Thanks

 

[zhz]

This is Seal brown, but I think it is more reddish than the Seal brown we see on most A2s. The thread is tan.

Beautiful. What Badalassi colour was that? Dark Seal? And is that Tan thread? Thanks

 

[andyfalzon]

This is Seal brown, but I think it is more reddish than the Seal brown we see on most A2s. The thread is tan.

The color of the hide is seal brown and the thread is our medium brown

 

[zhz]

Thanks for clarify the thread color, Andy.

The color of the hide is seal brown and the thread is our medium brown

 

[schitzo]

About the length of these.

Obviously it's not a long length halfbelt. But whether it's supposed to be short (like an aero 30s HB) or standard length (eg an aero 50s HB) I am not sure. Or might it fall in between these two stalls?

I have heard it's slim fitting, which makes me think maybe it's supposed to be short.. but looking at the limited fit pics available, eg these https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.683697854993842.1073741977.540638042633158&type=3
it doesn't look so short here, or slim either.

What seems clear as day though is that if you get it right this is a class halfbelt Thoughts anyone?

EDIT: the guy in the photos is wearing a size 40 and he is 5,10" tall. I think I'm right in saying, he added half an inch to the length. Which would make it 24.5" long

 

[schitzo]

^^ I would ask BK direct, but they's not so fast on emails at the minute. I guess they're probably busy dealing with black Friday orders

 

[zhz]

Well, schitzo, the fact is, I added 1 more inch to the jackt, and so did Silver's westfall.(The one in your fb link)

 

[zhz]

I justed check my conversion with Silver, his Westfall is 25 inch long.