Negative comments about your jackets from others

[JacketAddict]

My wife abhors the smell of leather!!! I have to store my jackets out in the "shed!" If we get in the car together I have to wear the least "smelly" jacket (none of my jackets smell of anything but leather) - and then she will still complain.

 

[CBI]

My wife loves NEW jackets..... worn ones with character and grain........"that looks old and beat up, get rid of it"

 

[nick123]

The gals generally don't dig knitted jackets such as the A-2. That has been my experience. The knits seem to be a turn off for whatever reason. I think it's that part of the brain where you're either a car or plane person.

 

[stevepow]

I always figured A-2s and the like to be an asset - I've done some of my best "work" in them.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Hang on, are you saying that women don't find the whole vintage look sexy? Now you tell me...I've been wearing a Mae West and an oxygen mask with all my jackets for the past month...

Are you saying you're not pulling all the time? To be honest, there are some erotic sub-cultures that would be into that look...

Hey, lots of folks here go all out with vintage pretty regularly. Check the other threads. Another example is a place like denimbro which is filled with pictures of people spending incredible sums of money of stuff that frequently looks awful on them.......IMO.

I'm with you on this. Many people think that all old stuff is be definition awesome, except much of it isn't. There's a group out there that have fetishized the so-called Golden Age of men's clothing (helped along by whacknuts like Flusser), but much of the colours and patterns worn during that period were horrible. I mean yellow shirts, weird stripes ties, and brown pinstripe suits... yeah, no thanks.

 

[MeachamLake]

I'm with you on this. Many people think that all old stuff is be definition awesome, except much of it isn't. There's a group out there that have fetishized the so-called Golden Age of men's clothing (helped along by whacknuts like Flusser), but much of the colours and patterns worn during that period were horrible. I mean yellow shirts, weird stripes ties, and brown pinstripe suits... yeah, no thanks.

I think a lot of Flusser's advice when it comes to proportion and cut is pretty much bang on, although strangely he himself never seems to look good - like he gave up following his own rules decades ago. Or he just got fat, I'm not sure.

This reminds me a lot of all the groupthink over at StyleForum - a place I no longer visit because it just descended into a willy waving contest about who had the most expensive suit - where the populous has decided that everything Neapolitan and "sprezzatura" is absolutely awesome and nothing can top it. Fetishized to the max. Sadly, trying to tell them that they look like buffoons with one button on their collar undone and tying their ties with one end longer than the other is met with instant dismissal. "You're not sophisticated enough to understand how I dress" is the general attitude.

 

[galvestonokie]

Great discussion here. i traveled internationally for a number of years, mostly to the middle east. i kept a very broken in G-1 Edwards B model that fit well. it was very easily wadded up and wedged into the overhead baggage compartment. got a lot of smiles from flight crews while boarding or exiting the plane, got a "nice jacket" once from an agent at US Immigration in Houston, and a few quick looks from people. a german guy in the UAE once told me that I "looked like an American bomber" (language issue :}). Hmmmm.
since i've been wearing them for 30+ years, family ladies don't comment much but prefer something else. i still keep that well-traveled Edwards G-1 in my car for use whenever needed. when wearing, it's usually Levi's, tee shirt, baseball cap and whatever shoes suit my mood. Here's the experienced G-1 Edwards (I know some of you don't like untucked shirts but there are sometimes very good reasons for untucked):

 

[Benny Holiday]

I'm with you on this. Many people think that all old stuff is be definition awesome, except much of it isn't. There's a group out there that have fetishized the so-called Golden Age of men's clothing (helped along by whacknuts like Flusser), but much of the colours and patterns worn during that period were horrible. I mean yellow shirts, weird stripes ties, and brown pinstripe suits... yeah, no thanks.

This is actually what the entire Fedora Lounge was founded on. There were early on some very knowledgeable members posting here about vintage and vintage-styled clothing of the Golden Era, now long missed: Forgotten Man, Marc Chevalier, Baron Kurtz, even Matt Deckard only posts sporadically these days. Strange to think that this place has changed so much over the years that now people posting here put down the very style the place was meant to focus on. Which, no doubt, is why those founding members are no longer here.

 

[ton312]

This is actually what the entire Fedora Lounge was founded on. There were early on some very knowledgeable members posting here about vintage and vintage-styled clothing of the Golden Era, now long missed: Forgotten Man, Marc Chevalier, Baron Kurtz, even Matt Deckard only posts sporadically these days. Strange to think that this place has changed so much over the years that now people posting here put down the very style the place was meant to focus on. Which, no doubt, is why those founding members are no longer here.

Good point Benny. I do think there are areas at the bar that cater a bit more to those folks who are truly committed to vintage gear and even moreover a vintage lifestyle. One thing is for sure, even though I might not even come close to being a full blown vintage chap, I appreciate it. It's not all for me but I love being able to cherry pick the things that are.

 

[CBI]

Yep, I think the Outerwear thread is less vintage crazed as other portions of the site. To be honest, I now rarely look at any other Forums/Topics on FL.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Looking around the forum in general, it's interesting to see the different interests people have. Some folks are into vintage (or custom/vintage-styled) hats, others watches, suits, boots and shoes, movies, movie posters, you name it, the list goes on and on. Me, I have a little interest in every department . . . which probably makes me a jack of all trades, master of none!

I spend most of my time in outerwear though, because I know a lot about hats and jackets and suits etc but there's always some new info to be gleaned about leather jackets. And some of you guys are just fun to 'digitally hang out with'.

 

[Superfluous]

The Outerwear sub-forum is a community in and of itself -- clearly part of the global TFL community, but also to some degree independent. I personally do not read any other sections of TFL, and I suspect that others here also limit themselves to the Outerwear sub-forum. Notwithstanding the independent facets of the Outerwear community and my personal ignorance of the other TFL sub-forums, I respect and honor the Golden Age pillars upon which TFL as a whole was created. We would not have this wonderful Outerwear community but for those the Golden Age principles giving rise to TFL. Moreover, the honorable and courteous attributes of the global TFL community have served to improve and facilitate the Outerwear community. In short, we all should be grateful for the underlying Golden Era philosophies upon when TFL was founded, even if we individually do not patronize the associated clothing styles.

 

[nick123]

I feel I simply cannot compete with the immense knowledge presented on the Observation Bar to bring anything worthwhile to the conversation. Those cats are brilliant. I can conversate around the edges with loose jacket knowledge, but am very un-educated to the nuances of the Golden Era. Perhaps the WWII section, but I don't know the difference between a Crosley and a Bing Crosby.

 

[Seb Lucas]

This is actually what the entire Fedora Lounge was founded on. There were early on some very knowledgeable members posting here about vintage and vintage-styled clothing of the Golden Era, now long missed: Forgotten Man, Marc Chevalier, Baron Kurtz, even Matt Deckard only posts sporadically these days. Strange to think that this place has changed so much over the years that now people posting here put down the very style the place was meant to focus on. Which, no doubt, is why those founding members are no longer here.

Good point. In fact, as I understand it, the Fedora Lounge grew out of an earlier Indiana Jones site. The founder MK, who was a leading Indy buff and Indy Gear member, decided to establish the Lounge to honour the wider interest many Indy people had developed in period leather jackets and hats and suits. This served to gather some very interesting folk who expanded all our minds with their interest in bygone aesthetics. The Indy part of this story only surfaces every now and then although many a leather jacket fan came here via that seminal Wested jacket.

 

[Big J]

Benny Holiday is a real gentleman.
There are many great guys and gals like him all over TFL.
I read loads of other threads just because they are so interesting. Full of peoples huge amounts of personal understanding and experience. I couldn't live long enough to learn all that stuff firsthand myself, so reading the threads is highly informative.
There are also many helpful and kind people who are willing to engage, discuss and offer advice (for which I'm always grateful even if I don't take it).
Some parts of TFL are just plain twee or cliquey, like people are having a private conversation in public.
The outerwear section is dominated by those with an interest in leather and flight jackets. It's great for me, but I'm sure it must make the outerwear section a total bore for many TFL members. I'm pretty sure real fighter pilots never look at themselves in the mirror and wonder if their jacket fits correctly.
The Fedora Lounge is difficult to search, and likely as a result of that, every couple of years newer members ask questions that have been answered many times over (I've done it myself), and this endless looping over a period of months and years might be why some members drift away (after all, how many times have 'we' established that WWII photos of A-2s showing fit 'all over the place' in fact only demonstrate different contracts were cut different by different makers even though tag size was the same, and that whatever chest size WWII pilots were, the fit of their jacket depended on simply what sizes were in stock at the issuing depot?).

 

[Benny Holiday]

Thank you Big J, most kind of you to say that and the feeling is very mutual. As you say, lots of interesting, informative and often fun people here. Back before I joined the Lounge, when I was a new lurker back in 2005, I first learned two names thst changed my perception of leather jackets forever: Aero and Lost Worlds. Now I add Johnsons, Thedi, Eastman, Norshor and of course John Chapman to that list, to name a few, but I still fondly remember those early days when I discovered old school leather quality and style still existed. All thanks to guys in this forum.

 

[navetsea]

[youtube]

this is negative comment for all of us, this lady and his fiancee say "cafe racer or moto leather jacket generally look bad on most men, the collar tab is distracting, and looks boxy, a middle age crisis jacket"

 

[ton312]

[youtube]

this is negative comment for all of us, this lady and his fiancee say "cafe racer or moto leather jacket generally look bad on most men, the collar tab is distracting, and looks boxy, a middle age crisis jacket"

The total lack of knowledge those two goofs have could fill a 500,000 page forum of their own. Although I had to laugh when Herb got his panties in a bunch b/c his girl was salivating over David Beckham
They did screen grab a forum member or two here tho. Which is awesome because both looked better than metro man is his plastic jacket.
What a couple puffs.

 

[navetsea]

she also wants her hardware painted black because a shiny stainless metal hardware looks gaudy...

there should be law against these fake gurus for guiding gullible young people to waste their money on crappy sponsor products.

 

[Edward]

I also have an original Lewis Leathers jacket that is so bad I am taking all the good bits off and selling them singly for other jackets restoration. An avid collector said to me "I would be destroying a piece of history" I knew he wanted it to do exactly what I was doing so asked for an offer and he would not give me one so I just stuffed it back in the car.

Certinly the case that sometimes you're better recognising when something is just dead and letting bits of it live on in another form. I have a couple of vintage jackets the carpet beetles got to; the plan is to have caps made from the good cloth remaining...

Back in the early 1980s when the Hep Cat look took off here in the UK, it was either 100% genuine American or nobody would talk to you and girlfriends were really fussy about what the fella's wore which is why shops such as American Classics and Flip did so well. From around 1982 to the mid 80s about the only thing British you could get away with was an original Irvin. So me in my original A2, I was a bit of a nobody with my jacket and modern Chino's

Was that back in the days when American Classics carried items affordable to the mere mortal, or were they never so? I remember Flip in Dublin in the mid-late 90s, but I think the London one was gone before ever I got here.

There is footage of Paul walking into George Harrison's house with a leather jacket on. George quips, "Is that a vegetarian leather jacket?" LOL I think Paul showed him some sort of label inside of the jacket that certified it was all right.

- Ian

There are photos of him on the Lewis site in a twin-track Lewis Bronx. He only got into the faux leather after he met Linda; don't think he was veggie til then? Of course, a lot of the veggies I know still wear leather because it is, by and large (not when you deal with the high end as much, but...) a by-product of the meat industry, and would otherwise be wasted.

Well, she's still not a massive fan of the A2, but she loved the Eastman Rough Wear B6 ("nice colour of leather and it looks old and beaten up in a good way") and various MA-1 style jackets. Big fan of the B-15C Mod it seems...(I don't have the heart to tell her it's just a B-15 with the collar removed!). ELMC Californian and Aero Highwayman both got big thumbs up too!

The MA1 and simlar types have been big in the fashion world in recent years, so they probably look less outre to modern eyes. The B15C Mod is a particularly nice option. Get her used to that in Sring and Autumn, and then the B15 will seem less 'odd' when it comes out to help keep your neck warm in Winter....

This is actually what the entire Fedora Lounge was founded on. There were early on some very knowledgeable members posting here about vintage and vintage-styled clothing of the Golden Era, now long missed: Forgotten Man, Marc Chevalier, Baron Kurtz, even Matt Deckard only posts sporadically these days. Strange to think that this place has changed so much over the years that now people posting here put down the very style the place was meant to focus on. Which, no doubt, is why those founding members are no longer here.

Indeed. Outerwear has evolved to be something of a place apart, with the focus being on leather jackets. You can particularly see that with the popularity of the padded / quilted cafe racer types in recent years, which are really very much a seventies thing. TFL is a broad church and the membership reflects a wide range of intersts in the period. There will be, for example, some people who are very much into the cinema of the period but rarely dress it, and so on. It's a little bit sad (and somewhat obnoxious) when, occsionally, we get some leather jacket fans who turn up here and then like to sneer at length at the style of the era from which ther preferred jackets come- whether or not it's their bag. I've never really fully 'got' why anyone would be intersted in one small aspect of the style then so dismissively reject the rest, but that's personal taste for you.

Some older, established members have come and gone from this place over the years for various reasons - some felt they had no more to contribute, others felt they had no more to learn, and so on. It's the nature of the beast with any forum, really.

I feel I simply cannot compete with the immense knowledge presented on the Observation Bar to bring anything worthwhile to the conversation. Those cats are brilliant. I can conversate around the edges with loose jacket knowledge, but am very un-educated to the nuances of the Golden Era. Perhaps the WWII section, but I don't know the difference between a Crosley and a Bing Crosby.

Many of us knew nothing before we arrived. I originally stumbled across the Lounge because I was looking for a pair of - I now realise - old-fashioned, morning-dress trousers for a Joker costume for a burlesque night.... Google "high-waisted trousers" brought me here. Never be afraid to ask a question: this place is hear as a learning resource. Long as people are genuine and respectful, it's all good. WE're all here to learn.

The Fedora Lounge is difficult to search, and likely as a result of that, every couple of years newer members ask questions that have been answered many times over (I've done it myself), and this endless looping over a period of months and years might be why some members drift away (after all, how many times have 'we' established that WWII photos of A-2s showing fit 'all over the place' in fact only demonstrate different contracts were cut different by different makers even though tag size was the same, and that whatever chest size WWII pilots were, the fit of their jacket depended on simply what sizes were in stock at the issuing depot?).

The easiest way to search a thread on here is to go to goolge and insert "THe Fedora Lounge" ahead of your search query. Works fairly well for me, anyhow. The inbuilt search facility has its limits; alas, this is true of most forum software and is beyond the control of the individual forum using the software in question.