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Apologies in advance for a somewhat self-indulgent and rambling post talking about my new jacket.
Backstory: About five years ago I bought a stock CXL Steer jacket. I wore it a lot and was happy with it. It was a little large in the chest (21"), the top pocket opening design (like a sport coat) wasn't great, the collar was a tad stingy, and the back was just a little too plain. These were my minor criticisms, but nothing I was losing sleep over.
Fast-forward to 2020. I'm working feverish hours responding to the pandemic and my one weird little stress relieving outlet is learning about leather jackets with plans to add a second jacket (cross-zip) to my wardrobe. Eventually I land on Fedora Lounge and the more I learn, the more conscious I am of those little 'faults' with my heavy CXL steer jacket. When I see a new post from @Jin431 reviewing his jacket from Johnson Leather I am triggered to action! I decide to 'upgrade' my jacket.
ORDERING: The idea of a custom-made jacket to replace the existing one has taken hold. This time it will fit perfectly - here in Texas, I can confidently say I will never wear more than a t-shirt underneath and it will remain unzipped 99% of the time. I have a slim/athletic build for a 50 year old, so I like the idea of something fairly fitted. I also liked the quirky vertical pocket on Jin's otherwise classic jacket. As a left-hander, it appeals to me to have the jacket set-up for me - a little indulgence marking it as something truly custom. Ordering the same brown HH CXL as Jin made sense, as it was close to but the the same as the jacket it replaced. I checked with Jin to get his blessing to use his design as a base to work from and he was kind enough to tell me to go for it.
I exchanged some emails with Alan and then Damon in late December. I sent them my desire measurements and the little tweaks to the original design I wanted. They were always very friendly and helpful with advice, responding quickly to anything I sent.
After around two weeks I received a fit jacket. A quick email to Damon to follow-up and then it went into production. Two weeks after that, final photos and then it arrived here yesterday.
REVIEW: I quickly threw the jacket on this morning to take some pics and get a feel for it before heading back to work. Overall, I am really happy with it. The CXL horsehide is lovely - a little lighter and more pliable than the heavier CXL steer. I can tell that it will age beautifully. Construction, to my untrained eye, looks perfect. I really can't fault a thing. I will let the picture below speak to the overall design.
LESSONS LEARNT/CHANGES:
I had asked for a shallow western yoke. I definitely didn't want deep curved scallops - more of a subtle HWYM shallow V. When the fit jacket arrived with a near flat yoke I decided not to mention it. I figured it might just be an issue of doing the mock jacket and of the too extremes I would rather too flat than too deep. This one is on me and no big deal.
Somewhere in the many emails we exchanged, I had asked that the little line of stitching bisecting the waistband be omitted. This must have been lost in the back and forth communications. Not a big deal at all though. Likewise I has said several times that I wanted a single pull zipper but the photos showed it with a double - something Damon fixed without drama when I mentioned it.
The fit isn't quite what I'd hoped for, but again I have only worn it for a few minutes and any mistakes are as much on me as JL. The 20" chest that I ordered became 21" and is a little more roomier than ideal. Certainly not bad, but for a custom jacket I was hoping for a closer fit. Going back to the fit jacket, I seethis is partly on me. I went back and measured the fit jacket that I OK'ed and it is 21". I'm not sure how I didn't catch this at the time. I guess I was in a rush and didn't spend enough time with the fit jacket to double-check the specs against what I had ordered. I will try to wear it a little more over the weekend before deciding, but I may talk to Alan about having the chest taken in, in the future.
TL;DR: I have a new jacket and I really really like it
Anyway, enough of my rambling! Let me show you some pics of the jacket (and me smiling like a dufus) and get your collective thoughts and feedback on how it all turned-out.
Backstory: About five years ago I bought a stock CXL Steer jacket. I wore it a lot and was happy with it. It was a little large in the chest (21"), the top pocket opening design (like a sport coat) wasn't great, the collar was a tad stingy, and the back was just a little too plain. These were my minor criticisms, but nothing I was losing sleep over.
Fast-forward to 2020. I'm working feverish hours responding to the pandemic and my one weird little stress relieving outlet is learning about leather jackets with plans to add a second jacket (cross-zip) to my wardrobe. Eventually I land on Fedora Lounge and the more I learn, the more conscious I am of those little 'faults' with my heavy CXL steer jacket. When I see a new post from @Jin431 reviewing his jacket from Johnson Leather I am triggered to action! I decide to 'upgrade' my jacket.
ORDERING: The idea of a custom-made jacket to replace the existing one has taken hold. This time it will fit perfectly - here in Texas, I can confidently say I will never wear more than a t-shirt underneath and it will remain unzipped 99% of the time. I have a slim/athletic build for a 50 year old, so I like the idea of something fairly fitted. I also liked the quirky vertical pocket on Jin's otherwise classic jacket. As a left-hander, it appeals to me to have the jacket set-up for me - a little indulgence marking it as something truly custom. Ordering the same brown HH CXL as Jin made sense, as it was close to but the the same as the jacket it replaced. I checked with Jin to get his blessing to use his design as a base to work from and he was kind enough to tell me to go for it.
I exchanged some emails with Alan and then Damon in late December. I sent them my desire measurements and the little tweaks to the original design I wanted. They were always very friendly and helpful with advice, responding quickly to anything I sent.
After around two weeks I received a fit jacket. A quick email to Damon to follow-up and then it went into production. Two weeks after that, final photos and then it arrived here yesterday.
REVIEW: I quickly threw the jacket on this morning to take some pics and get a feel for it before heading back to work. Overall, I am really happy with it. The CXL horsehide is lovely - a little lighter and more pliable than the heavier CXL steer. I can tell that it will age beautifully. Construction, to my untrained eye, looks perfect. I really can't fault a thing. I will let the picture below speak to the overall design.
LESSONS LEARNT/CHANGES:
I had asked for a shallow western yoke. I definitely didn't want deep curved scallops - more of a subtle HWYM shallow V. When the fit jacket arrived with a near flat yoke I decided not to mention it. I figured it might just be an issue of doing the mock jacket and of the too extremes I would rather too flat than too deep. This one is on me and no big deal.
Somewhere in the many emails we exchanged, I had asked that the little line of stitching bisecting the waistband be omitted. This must have been lost in the back and forth communications. Not a big deal at all though. Likewise I has said several times that I wanted a single pull zipper but the photos showed it with a double - something Damon fixed without drama when I mentioned it.
The fit isn't quite what I'd hoped for, but again I have only worn it for a few minutes and any mistakes are as much on me as JL. The 20" chest that I ordered became 21" and is a little more roomier than ideal. Certainly not bad, but for a custom jacket I was hoping for a closer fit. Going back to the fit jacket, I seethis is partly on me. I went back and measured the fit jacket that I OK'ed and it is 21". I'm not sure how I didn't catch this at the time. I guess I was in a rush and didn't spend enough time with the fit jacket to double-check the specs against what I had ordered. I will try to wear it a little more over the weekend before deciding, but I may talk to Alan about having the chest taken in, in the future.
TL;DR: I have a new jacket and I really really like it
Anyway, enough of my rambling! Let me show you some pics of the jacket (and me smiling like a dufus) and get your collective thoughts and feedback on how it all turned-out.
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