New forum member brand (Rugged West)

[Herrvallmo]

@zacharge

You need to decide for yourself what does "buying a leather jacket" mean to you:
Do you deeply care about the personal connection to who made the jacket for you? Then really small brands/makers like Thedi or Field leathers might be high on your list. Much more expensive though.
Do you care that the leather used is from a "named tannery"? The getting shinki, badalassi, horween jackets from makers like Aero, SB, etc.. might be high on your list. Again - price goes up.
There are a LOT of such variables, each of them usually driving the price up.
With a used jacket you can get most of those variables check at a MUCH more reasonable price, but much more patience and compromise is necessary going that route.

Before buying RW you should understand what you are getting:
Leilah designs the jackets and the patterns (hard to say based on what, likely trial and error, don't think she uses originals). And she communicates with you and the maker as the middle man. There is a pleasant personal touch / connection in those two aspects.
Then she orders the jacket from (as she described) a small family(?)/team in Pakistan to be constructed and put together. She also spent a lot of time nailing down the best hides available locally in Pakistan.
And you also get more post purchase reassurance / services than you would with (for example) 5*.

Overall buying from Rugged West is similar to buying from 5*, but better in many ways. Only you can decide if that is worth paying around double the price of a 5*. I personally think it definitely is.

There are cheaper ways to get an even better leather jacket (like Jake described), but you're making compromises in various areas (model/design, leather color, personal touch, post purchase process, etc...).

Very well put @TartuWolf , spot on!

 

[zacharge]

At least in the case of RW, I wouldn't worry so much. Just because it was produced in Pakistan doesn't automatically mean it's bad. The choice of leather, the design, the details and the quality control is in this case with RW and that is a big difference
Even though Pakistani producers are usually not designers (see 5*), they can definitely sew.
But $600 isn't nothing either and maybe buying a used jacket might be a better choice if you can wear off the rack.
I have three jackets from RW and am happy with them.

Btw y... the one in the video is @dudewuttheheck .

Thank you so much for the reply and for the clarification about the sourcing and development of RW jackets. That all seems top notch and it is reassuring that Leilah has pretty much everything under her control!

 

[zacharge]

@zacharge

You need to decide for yourself what does "buying a leather jacket" mean to you:
Do you deeply care about the personal connection to who made the jacket for you? Then really small brands/makers like Thedi or Field leathers might be high on your list. Much more expensive though.
Do you care that the leather used is from a "named tannery"? The getting shinki, badalassi, horween jackets from makers like Aero, SB, etc.. might be high on your list. Again - price goes up.
There are a LOT of such variables, each of them usually driving the price up.
With a used jacket you can get most of those variables check at a MUCH more reasonable price, but much more patience and compromise is necessary going that route.

Before buying RW you should understand what you are getting:
Leilah designs the jackets and the patterns (hard to say based on what, likely trial and error, don't think she uses originals). And she communicates with you and the maker as the middle man. There is a pleasant personal touch / connection in those two aspects.
Then she orders the jacket from (as she described) a small family(?)/team in Pakistan to be constructed and put together. She also spent a lot of time nailing down the best hides available locally in Pakistan.
And you also get more post purchase reassurance / services than you would with (for example) 5*.

Overall buying from Rugged West is similar to buying from 5*, but better in many ways. Only you can decide if that is worth paying around double the price of a 5*. I personally think it definitely is.

There are cheaper ways to get an even better leather jacket (like Jake described), but you're making compromises in various areas (model/design, leather color, personal touch, post purchase process, etc...).

Greatly appreciate this well thought out and layered reply!

I have actually been thinking quite a bit about the overall experience of buying a leather jacket (it’s funny to think how niche this is-I am sure 90 percent of people out there would think I am crazy for putting this much thought into an article of clothing, hence why I like this forum!) and am flip flopping between going used or vintage vs. brand new and growing with the jacket over time.

On one hand I love the idea of starting with a new one (buying from RW), especially with someone / a company that has worked with me each step of the way to find the right size, communicate, answer my questions, etc (I would be buying stock, as it seems a 34 is damn near identical to one of my best fitting vintage leathers).

Wow, did I just decide to buy an RW whilst typing? HA!

Flip side, I really do love shopping around used and trying to find a vintage piece or even used “newer” one, as I like the hunt (just saw that a member is selling a Warehouse type 1 that is quite nice… and almost spot on to my size).

Decisions, decisions…but I do think I’m pretty much set on going down to RW route.

Again, thank you for the reply!

 

[zacharge]

“Genuine leather” labels don’t always mean the leather is bad. The label is almost used universally which is why the better stuff *usually* has a more specific label but there’s also what’s called “menu costs” in economics where they might not bother because of the cost of labels. And on a non specialist brand that is likely to be the case.

I had no idea! That’s very good to know, especially the concept of “menu costs”. The leather certainly feels nice, albeit “stiff” in some parts, even after almost 2 decades of wear…which might lend to the possibility of a cheaper leather. But hey; I’m not complaining!

 

[MrProper]

Greatly appreciate this well thought out and layered reply!

I have actually been thinking quite a bit about the overall experience of buying a leather jacket (it’s funny to think how niche this is-I am sure 90 percent of people out there would think I am crazy for putting this much thought into an article of clothing, hence why I like this forum!) and am flip flopping between going used or vintage vs. brand new and growing with the jacket over time.

On one hand I love the idea of starting with a new one (buying from RW), especially with someone / a company that has worked with me each step of the way to find the right size, communicate, answer my questions, etc (I would be buying stock, as it seems a 34 is damn near identical to one of my best fitting vintage leathers).

Wow, did I just decide to buy an RW whilst typing? HA!

Flip side, I really do love shopping around used and trying to find a vintage piece or even used “newer” one, as I like the hunt (just saw that a member is selling a Warehouse type 1 that is quite nice… and almost spot on to my size).

Decisions, decisions…but I do think I’m pretty much set on going down to RW route.

Again, thank you for the reply!

If I could wear off the rack, I would only buy second-hand, I think. You can also make something second-hand "yours". In addition, there are many leather jackets that have hardly been worn and are therefore almost as good as new.
So I wouldn't rule it out.
If money doesn't play a role, things look different again.