Newbie Help Finding "the" leather Jacket

[kbuzz]

Hello All: After lurking for a while I have decided to join this forum b/c it seems to echo a lot of my similar respect for quality and heritage. Anyway as you can tell from the title, i seek a new jacket. By the way of background im 41 and live in NYC. Here are some details and I appreciate any opinions suggestions or comments.

I am seeking a simple but high quality motorcycle type jacket. My first choice would be similar to the one in the directly pic here. I know its not traditional authentic jacket but I think it is nice.

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What i like about it is: (1) its simple; (2) its tailored fitting b/c im skinny; (3) it does NOT have raglan shoulders; (4) it has narrow sleeves w/o zippers and (5) it leans away from the traditional protective moto jacket towards a bit more casual meaning (6) it does not have front pockets; (7)comfort- I have a 20 year old horse cafe racer that put in storage because it almost never broke in.

I have been unable to find a similar jacket, so any suggestions for sources or custom would be appreciated. Note the goal here is to find that jacket that DOES NOT LOOK LIKE:

-a bomber-no offense to anyone on this forum- my father in law has a few
-raiders of the lost ark- no offense to anyone on this forum-just not me
-the fonz
-tom cruise circa mi3 wannabe
-40 something with a mid life crisis

My research here and on other boards seems to indicate that the best quality traditional moto jackets are the areo and LW. I have looked at these and while they do not have anything like the one above they do have something similar. They are awesome and the price does not scare me but they do seem to be a bit of heavy "overkill" for my casual needs. For example the LW:

And the aero:

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Similarly, there are Schott cafe with collar and the vansons. I think they may be too heavy as well. The Schott:

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The Vason:

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I am leaning towards Aero based on their apparent stellar reputation and ability to make a lighter weight horse and do brown. Maybe I can get them make a slightly customized version of the halfbelt/highwayman b/c they make mid weight horse while LW's site seems to imply they wont do anything for comfort. The aero HG5 also looks like a possibility- but again I dont want it too look to "bomberish". What do you all feel about an HG5 but maybe with with a trad type zipper???? (http://cgi.ebay.com/Aero-Leather-HG...119088958QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160119088958)
I have emailed US rep Mark in this regard but have not heard back...

FYI I am 6 foot 175lb and skinny, thus i also dont want a squarish fit. Im thinking antique brown or similar dark. I guess what im trying to say is there a high quality maker out there that will help adapt a trad moto jacket toward what im looking for. Thank you all for the long winded posts and I appreciate opinions from the experts

 

[Rufus]

Welome KBuzz..

Aero are very accomadating, and will certainly custom/simplify a jacket to your specifications.

I'm currently awaiting delivery of a customised 'Bootlegger'from Aero, which I've asked to be more like their slim fit jacket, as like you, girth is not an issue!

Amanda at Aero is very helpful, and they do lighter weight jackets... maybe consider goathide, it's light and exceptionally durable, it also breaks in nicely. (Horse, even 'mid-weight' is HEAVY).

Good luck!
Rufus

 

[greyhound68]

I really like the HG5 and Mark is a great guy to work with. Good luck you have some tough choices but Aero is a good one to go with.

 

[Edward]

I like the look of the Aeros - someday farther down the track I might be tempted into one of those myself. Definitely the Aero Highwayman would be an option I'd consider. As you're aware, it seems that your options are more limited when you want brown, most traditional bike leathers being black, while more modern ones by and large appear to double as Power Rangers costumes.

There's a couple of other possibilities I might also consider in your position. One is Indy Magnoli's business - I haven't seen any of his jackets in person, but they (and the rest of his lines) have a great reputation round these parts. The photos look great. No problem there with a variation on the regular designs (The Open Road jacket looks to me very much like what you're after as a general style, if you had it made without the sleeve zips), or there's a complete custom option too. Prices look very reasonable to me. www.magnoliclothiers.com

I did think immediately of Lewis Leather too when I saw the basic style of jacket you're after. I'm familiar with their stuff via the hardcore costume people in the Rocky Horror community (Frank'n'Furter wears an old Lewis Dominator or Corsair in a number of scenes in that film). I know they are reasonably open to custom options - friends in the rocky community have ordered their jackets without epaulettes and with fringing on the sleeves, neither of which are generic model features in the present range. I don't know about sleeve zips, though, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen a Lewis in brown. Lewsi jackets are comparable to Aero in quality I believe, and around the same price so Aero would be a better bet.


As to the "mid life crisis image" concern.... I know exactly what you mean about this - I'm closing in on 33 over the next few weeks, would be balding if I didn't opt for the full head shave, and still wearing a Brando style mc.... I like to think I can get away with it by carrying it right! IMO, the styles that put you in danger of the MLC look are more what fashion mags and police line-ups call a "blouson" anyhow.... It's really all about how you carry yourself - if your body language says "look at me! I'm wearing leather!!" then it can kinda look that way, whereas if you wear it like it could be just any old jacket and it's completely natural to you.... JMO, YMMV! If you're going for a brown, you're unlikely to get comparisons to the Fonz (those remarks tend to get drawn by any black leather jacket), though by mid 2008 I'd imagine any brown leather jacket is going to draw out "Indiana Jones" remarks, if that bothers you!

 

[HDRnR]

I would suggest getting a custom made Langlitz, you cant go wrong and you know it will fit you right. The wait is less than two months now. I would also recommend an Aero, maybe a Halfbelt. One problem for me with jackets that are not custom or dont have an adjustable waist is that they are too big in the waist. My Aero 50's Halfbelt fits me perfectly and the horsehide is amazing, I'd also suggest ordering it with the G-1 deep pistol pocket for storing stuff. Its magnificent !!!

 

[kbuzz]

Thanks for the replies

Thanks all for the replies. I appreciate the info. I have contacted Mark at aero and await further advise from him re modification/simplification.

The langlitz suggestion is also much appreicated. I have heard about them for years-but strictly as a rider apparel. I was not aware they would even consider a more casual jacket. I will contact them as well.....who knows if langlitz is accommodating mabye the future is for both a black langlitz and brown HH from aero . The half belt and hiwayman both look good. The pics from hosier daddy way back in this forum are awesome....

I also just found out that vanson has a custom dept.....and my shirtmaker just provided a reccomendation for a custom leather tailor right here in nyc. might not be bad as back up ...

Again thanks all....the quest continues.....

 

[Sonoma Jack]

I would suggest getting a custom made Langlitz, you cant go wrong and you know it will fit you right.

I agree with HDRnR. My wife and I bought custom made Langlitz jackets in 1994--mine a Columbia and hers a Cascade. We love em. The fit is...well...like a glove. For awhile the wait time stretched out to nearly two years, but the dot com craze has blown over so now I think Langlitz can do a custom jacket in a couple months.

I say go with a Langlitz custom. It'll fit perfectly and you'll have exactly what you want, and the jacket will have surprisingly good resale value if you ever decide to move on. Plus, Langlitz stencils your name and year of purchase into the inner pocket.

Erik