Of mouton collars...

[herringbonekid]

does anyone know of a UK supplier of good mouton collar fabric ?

 

[AmericanIron]

Sorry for poor quality of the photo here but I had owned a Schott 118 with a faux mouton collar for about a year, it was an incredible jacket and personally I don't see why someone wouldn't opt to purchase the collar attachment. That said I ride a motorcycle as often as weather will permit and living in Boston the winters can be extremely cold (9 feet of snow has fallen so far this year) so perhaps that sways my opinion. I prefer the black though, never was a fan of the contrast collar...at least not on a motorcycle jacket.

 

[simonc]

Mouton collar fabric? What is that, fake shearling? Do you mean mouton fur?

 

[AmericanIron]

Mouton collar fabric? What is that, fake shearling? Do you mean mouton fur?

Link to product here for more detail on materials used

http://www.legendaryusa.com/Schott-NYC-618M-Perfecto-Synthetic-Mouton-Fur-Collar_p_136.html

 

[Edward]

Sorry for poor quality of the photo here but I had owned a Schott 118 with a faux mouton collar for about a year, it was an incredible jacket and personally I don't see why someone wouldn't opt to purchase the collar attachment. That said I ride a motorcycle as often as weather will permit and living in Boston the winters can be extremely cold (9 feet of snow has fallen so far this year) so perhaps that sways my opinion. I prefer the black though, never was a fan of the contrast collar...at least not on a motorcycle jacket.

View attachment 25332

I'm still toying with the idea of one for my 618. Thing is, they're relatively expensive, and I don't5 know how much use I'd get out of it. I'd want to try one on my jacket first, too, to see if it would be worth it. Aero offered them briefly, but Ken put the kabosh on it because he wasn'tg happy they sat right without riding up.... I'd want to be sure it stayed in place on my Schott first. Other thing is while I do like the look, I tend to wear the jacket when it's a bit warmer, so not sure it wouldn't be too warm a lot of the time. But then I think of Johnny Thunders wearing one, how cool he looked, and want it all over again....

 

[herringbonekid]

Mouton collar fabric? What is that, fake shearling? Do you mean mouton fur?

sorry, the word 'fabric' shouldn't have been in there. yes, mouton fur.

 

[IXL]

Edward, the collar on my Schott #118 is very secure. What has always kind of rankled me about it is how the collar features kind of a "sleeve" that covers part of the jacket's smaller upper lapel "point." Maybe I'm the only one bothered by this and no one else seems to notice: when mentioned to my wife, she called me a "girl," so I went out and yelled at some neighborhood kids in order to regain my sense of masculinity......
It does function well and I do use it in the winter. The link above, posted by AmericanIron, shows the part of the lapel I'm concerned with.

 

[AmericanIron]

I'm still toying with the idea of one for my 618. Thing is, they're relatively expensive, and I don't5 know how much use I'd get out of it. I'd want to try one on my jacket first, too, to see if it would be worth it. Aero offered them briefly, but Ken put the kabosh on it because he wasn'tg happy they sat right without riding up.... I'd want to be sure it stayed in place on my Schott first. Other thing is while I do like the look, I tend to wear the jacket when it's a bit warmer, so not sure it wouldn't be too warm a lot of the time. But then I think of Johnny Thunders wearing one, how cool he looked, and want it all over again....

If you're considering getting one I would recommend doing it and doing it now. Both LegendaryUSA and SchottNYC are currently offering 15% off coupons so this is really the best time to pick one up. I can tell you with certainty that once you use it in cold weather, you will never want to take it off the jacket. I too ride in the summer and having worn the collar all winter it saddened me deeply to have to remove it in the summer...the jacket just feels incomplete without it honestly. But to your point yes, it would not be well suited for summer riding.

As for it staying in place and Ken over at Aero, I'm not certain if by "in place" you mean laying down on the shoulders or actually staying attached to the jacket and not being lost on the freeway etc. If the former, I can assure you that when it's cold you will want the collar turned up so as to comfort your exposed neck, it does create a large mass behind the head which some could consider undesirable but at the same time creates the euphoric equivalent of napping on a chinchilla. You need this feeling in your life, trust me.

If it's the latter that concerns you, fear not as I've taken many a cross state trip at 70-80mph with the collar up and never once had even one single snap detach.

@IXL (sorry I don't know how to double quote within the same post)

Totally understand your frustration, and in fact I had a buddy who used a knife to cut slits in the leather "sleeve" of the collar to allow the upper lapel snaps to button down through the sleeve. This wasn't necessary for me (see "chinchilla nap" above) so I've made no modifications to my collar but just in case someone was interested it took only a few minutes and you'd probably not even notice if you weren't looking for it.

 

[simonc]

I've never used these people but you'll want the fur to be about 1" long for a collar
http://www.fursource.com/sheepskin-m-20.html

 

[garzo]

For about a $100 you can get a real sheepskin mouton collar for the 118. I got one as I prefer it a lot more than the synthetic stuff. And you can probably get it for less with the sale going on (although not sure if it's a special order and therefore possibly excluded from the sale).

 

[garzo]

Oops, just checked. The synthetic fur collar is selling for $89 at Legendary -- looks like they've gone up quite a bit in recent years. Last time I looked they were like $50. I imagine the sheepskin mouton collars are also much pricier now.

 

[leafandarrow]

Oops, just checked. The synthetic fur collar is selling for $89 at Legendary -- looks like they've gone up quite a bit in recent years. Last time I looked they were like $50. I imagine the sheepskin mouton collars are also much pricier now.

I just had Schott make me a custom mouton collar and zip-in liner made for my 80s Schott 125,

Custom black Mouton collar - $125.00
Custom black Mouton liner - $225.00

Worth it, as I hate the "fun fur" that the zip-ins are made of these days.

S

 

[Raul]

I resurrect this old tread for a question about mouton collars discolorations, I saw pics of G1 collars that started dark brown and faded to a wonderful rusty and blond color (like this 1968 Brill Bros).
Is there a way to artificially accelerate this change? Maybe a lot of sun exposure? Or the direct sunlight can damage the leather?

 

[Marc mndt]

I resurrect this old tread for a question about mouton collars discolorations, I saw pics of G1 collars that started dark brown and faded to a wonderful rusty and blond color (like this 1968 Brill Bros).
Is there a way to artificially accelerate this change? Maybe a lot of sun exposure? Or the direct sunlight can damage the leather?

I don't think they fade that evenly.

This jacket is about 5 years old, worn a lot. This is what it looked like when new.

You can still see some of that original dark brown at the backside of the collar, but the area that has been exposed to the sunlight the most almost faded to ginger. Doesn't look all that good imo.

 

[El Marro]

The easiest way to get that look would be to buy an Eastman G-1 that comes with a perfectly aged ginger colored mouton collar. I have bought a couple vintage G-1 jackets that had the nicely faded mouton but that usually indicates the jacket was worn a lot and will probably need some work to make it wearable.

 

[Marc mndt]

I have bought a couple vintage G-1 jackets that had the nicely faded mouton

Were they faded evenly, or like mine?

 

[El Marro]

Were they faded evenly, or like mine?

Marc,
The one that really looked like the example posted by Raul was on a 1969 Star Sportswear D series G-1. It had faded to a pretty uniform blonde-orange shade with a little bit of variation. Unfortunately at some point during its life it had been chewed on by moths or something of the kind so it had some bald patches. In the end I decided to replace it with mouton from a vintage jacket I scored cheap on eBay. So now it has a dark brown collar probably much like the one it had when new.

 

[Chevalier]

I just had Schott make me a custom mouton collar and zip-in liner made for my 80s Schott 125,

Custom black Mouton collar - $125.00
Custom black Mouton liner - $225.00

Worth it, as I hate the "fun fur" that the zip-ins are made of these days.

S

Just saw this post and you inspired me! I have been on the fence about a mouton for a Star Glove from Cal Leathers. I also have a Schott 125 from the 90s, I think. A mouton collar might be just what it needs to get it back into the rotation. Also, a liner might help with the fact that it is a little big on me. Maybe good to turn it into a winter jacket? Do you still have the jacket with the custom add ons? How have they worn in since 2015?

 

[Marc mndt]

I don't think they fade that evenly.

This jacket is about 5 years old, worn a lot. This is what it looked like when new.

View attachment 317722

You can still see some of that original dark brown at the backside of the collar, but the area that has been exposed to the sunlight the most almost faded to ginger. Doesn't look all that good imo.
View attachment 317720 View attachment 317721

Update :

I didn't like the half ginger / half chocolate brown look of the mouton on my trenchcoat so I decided to have it replaced.

I contacted a couple of sheepskin dealers but they didn't have what I was looking for. Either wrong color or wrong pile (too long)

Therefore I bought a couple of old ladies fur coats to be used as donors.

My tailor used one sleeve of the chocolate brown to make a collar for this trenchcoat. I think I'm going to use the chestnut brown for one of my next FL projects. It would look great on a black d pocket.

 

[El Marro]

Update :

I didn't like the half ginger / half chocolate brown look of the mouton on my trenchcoat so I decided to have it replaced.

I contacted a couple of sheepskin dealers but they didn't have what I was looking for. Either wrong color or wrong pile (too long)

Therefore I bought a couple of old ladies fur coats to be used as donors.

View attachment 328587 View attachment 328589 View attachment 328588

My tailor used one sleeve of the chocolate brown to make a collar for this trenchcoat. I think I'm going to use the chestnut brown for one of my next FL projects. It would look great on a black d pocket.

View attachment 328590 View attachment 328592 View attachment 328593 View attachment 328591

That looks great Marc!
I found that you can get a really good deal on those old mouton jackets because they may have bald spots or some funky holes from moths yet there is still plenty of good material to make several new collars for a jacket.