One reason why I would never buy from LOST WORLDS..

[Hawk_Eye]

..besides the obscene pricing and rock hard leather is his utter contempt for his customer base.

From Lost Worlds:

"BE VERY WARY OF SO-CALLED "NON-COMMERCIAL," "INFORMATION ONLY" WEB SITES AND CHAT GROUPS, RUN BY SELF-APPOINTED "EXPERTS." SUCH ARE USUALLY MANUFACTURER SHILLS OR "BASEMENT BOMBARDIERS" ("Mom, throw down some more soap." ) OF A HILARIOUS, SELF-IMPORTANT SORT. (Think the priceless and hopelessly plump Comic Guy in THE SIMPSONS!) The manufacturer shill is, of course, the "stooge" who stands in the crowd during the shell game and puts up twenty after twenty to entice others into the fraud.

REMEMBER WHAT GOEBBELS SAID: THE BIGGER THE LIE, THE MORE READILY PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE IT. Unfortunately this is true in the esoteric business of flight jackets. Distrust ostensibly objective, here-to-help-you "enthusiasts."

Rampant and almost beyond belief on what we affectionately call "THE FAIRY FORUMS," where "men" like to talk to other "men" about how they look in flight jackets. Cross-dressers. Trainspotters. Eunuchs. The "JACKET QUEEN" phenomenon. Ambassadors of geekdom. Replicants."


Way to instantly alienate over 12 000 potential customers Stu, I wont lose a wink of sleep if your company goes down due to attitude like that.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Um, way to quote Goebbels, idiot. I don't even know who this guy is, but shakeshead

 

[Longshanks]

Yes but...

...Are you going to vote for him?
What criteria do you use when looking for a leather jacket? His website as a sales tool lacks much, including courtesy, but that lack doesn't necessarily warrant a reply. His politics I find to be unlike (very) mine, but to what extent is that a reason to not patronize his business? I live in New York, where our manufacturing base has largely evaporated, so I applaud his survival. And I would hope that the jackets speak more loudly for the company than the owner does.
Just a thought or two late on Sunday night.

 

[bobjones]

I had an email chat with LW, and it would seem they are looking for a quick sale. Once I indicated uncertainty, their responsiveness decreased and were less easy to deal with.

I live/work some 10-15 minutes from the LW factory, and as a hard rule ALWAYS support my local businessman, even if their prices are not the lowest. I do this because I want to support local people, and there is value to being able to just walk into a store and touch (and smell - it is leather we're talking about, right?) product.

The fact I was willing to accept the cost of shipping and duties from Scotland vs. a local dealer here "in my own backyard" so to speak should tell volumes, both about LW but more importantly, the grace and patience with which Aero address their clientele.

I am a commissioned salesman in a business FAR removed from leather jacket manufacturing, BUT even I know that relationship and how you present yourself is key.

Will, Amanda and Mark are the best at what they do - period - as kindly, patient and helpful a group as I've encountered, you just can't go wrong with Aero.

 

[bobjones]

...Are you going to vote for him?
What criteria do you use when looking for a leather jacket? His website as a sales tool lacks much, including courtesy, but that lack doesn't necessarily warrant a reply. His politics I find to be unlike (very) mine, but to what extent is that a reason to not patronize his business? I live in New York, where our manufacturing base has largely evaporated, so I applaud his survival. And I would hope that the jackets speak more loudly for the company than the owner does.
Just a thought or two late on Sunday night.

Hey Longshanks, isn't it way past our bedtimes

Its true, he could be the last manufacturer in NY (don't get me started on Bloomberg - whoopsie, isn't political talk on this forum banned ) but still, great product or not, customer service is important.

What percentage of jackets have you bought that you could just call the maker and tell them EXACTLY the size, hide, etc., in the first call? Being able to go back and forth and challenge the maker - and yourself if you are not buying an OTR product with zero mods, is important IMHO.

 

[J.J. Gittes]

What is this nonsense?
I second that Hawk, way to sway lots of customers away.

Bella, I am also wondering why would someone quote Goebbels?!?

There is really not reason to bag on forums, someone with a brain can surely make a good choice and not go off peoples opinions exclusively. As I think he is pushing at such as someone on a forum going "Oh yeah don't buy lost worlds jackets because .....".

In general, I think LostWorlds owner's rant is unnecessary.

 

[Fletch]

Is anybody on this board "ostensibly objective"? Most of us are pretty upfront about our tastes, and that they are our tastes. Those who insist they are something more (see: stonesfan) tend to get schooled.

Ie: what Stu is talking about is not FL, but a strawman FL of his own imagining. Might have to do with the old Deja News A-2 group of a decade ago - I gather there was some shilling going on there - but not positive.

Someone did once say, "Distrust anyone without a clear agenda." But I don't think that is what Stu is getting at here. More like, "Distrust anyone but me."

Cross-dressers? Trainspotters? Eunuchs? :eusa_clap Priceless. Hey mom, throw down some more vitriol.

 

[Hawk_Eye]

Another gem from Stu:


"On the various flight and vintage jacket forums, where "men" put up digital pictures for their "buddies" of how they look in flight jackets -- children dressing up, no, cross-dressing as adults -- one can read expert instructions on aging, softening, antiquing new jackets to give them that flown-in look, for those whose knowledge of American history and masculine imagery are but flights of the remotest fantasy. There's putting 'em in the washer, sanding, nail polish remover, heat treatments. Avoid these forums, their self-appointed, fatuous "authorities" and instructions like syphilis if you want to know anything -- tanning, history, technical data (Nietzsche might say rulers are only for the small)-- about this important if esoteric niche of Americana. A disgrace that manly pursuits are contaminated by the unmanly. Welcome to the afterbirths of political correctness. Mass eunuchry -- a different kind of gun control."

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Nietzsche and Goebbels, eh? How charming.


So who else is on this guy's love list? Übermensch?

.

 

[yoonie]

The customer will speak for his or herself in the universal language of profit (or lack thereof). Those of us who don't mind being called eunuchs will buy his jacket. That's probably somewhere close to the number of who are eunuchs.

 

[KhalilSheikh]

..besides the obscene pricing and rock hard leather is his utter contempt for his customer base.

From Lost Worlds:

"BE VERY WARY OF SO-CALLED "NON-COMMERCIAL," "INFORMATION ONLY" WEB SITES AND CHAT GROUPS, RUN BY SELF-APPOINTED "EXPERTS." SUCH ARE USUALLY MANUFACTURER SHILLS OR "BASEMENT BOMBARDIERS" ("Mom, throw down some more soap." ) OF A HILARIOUS, SELF-IMPORTANT SORT. (Think the priceless and hopelessly plump Comic Guy in THE SIMPSONS!) The manufacturer shill is, of course, the "stooge" who stands in the crowd during the shell game and puts up twenty after twenty to entice others into the fraud.

REMEMBER WHAT GOEBBELS SAID: THE BIGGER THE LIE, THE MORE READILY PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE IT. Unfortunately this is true in the esoteric business of flight jackets. Distrust ostensibly objective, here-to-help-you "enthusiasts."

Rampant and almost beyond belief on what we affectionately call "THE FAIRY FORUMS," where "men" like to talk to other "men" about how they look in flight jackets. Cross-dressers. Trainspotters. Eunuchs. The "JACKET QUEEN" phenomenon. Ambassadors of geekdom. Replicants."


Way to instantly alienate over 12 000 potential customers Stu, I wont lose a wink of sleep if your company goes down due to attitude like that.

That text in his website is about as old as the Internets itself. It is older than some of the members who visit this forum, so he's not referring to the Fedora Lounge or VLJ or any current forum.
His site is worth visiting just to read his rants; makes for entertaining reading.

 

[johnnyjohnny]

RUSH Limbaugh...

better watch out...he's got competition

...competition who can make stiff and pricey jackets.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

"authenticity and quality that even exceeds originals" nonsensical and sounds like a repro to me[huh]

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

I've moved from horror to glee at this guy. "The people who want a really good repro jackets are man-boys with no balls." "Wait, don't you purport to create really good repro jackets?" "Yeah, so? Additionally, allow me to reference vaguely white-power famous men of history."

Ok.....

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Being a New Yorker I truly enjoy the craziness inherent with the hawkers and barkers, but, this guy takes it to the extreme.

As a matter of course I cannot take him, his web site, his product or his company seriously.

On a lighter note he is funny.lol lol

 

[Marc Chevalier]

"Wait, don't you purport to create really good repro jackets?" "Yeah, so? Additionally, allow me to reference vaguely white-power famous men of history."

lollol:icon_smil lol:fing28:

.

 

[nickn5]

Even this is funny:

"ALL GRAPHICS, DESCRIPTIONS AND CONTENT ON THIS WEBSITE
©2009 LOST WORLDS ANY COPYING, QUOTATION OR USE IN ANY WAY WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION OF LOST WORLDS VIOLATES COPYRIGHT LAW AND WILL BE PROSECUTED VIGOROUSLY."

I have a vision of a quotation "" sat in court awaiting trial and being prosecuted vigorously. At least we're safe, as the persons doing the quoting lol Guess he's not heard of 'fair use'.

N.

 

[Creeping Past]

I'm with Carlisle Blues. This sort of publicity material can't be taken seriously.

Plus the Lost Worlds fellow has a point about jacket queens and geekdom, not that those two things should necessarily be regarded as negatives.

As Miss BH has observed obliquely, he's very defensive about his status as a man with an extraordinarily focused view of leather jacket manufacture and ownership. But as far as we can tell know no one's accusing him of being the head jacket queen and chief geek.

 

[john z]

IMO this thread is a total nonsense & doesn't belong (if it belongs anywhere on TFL) in this section. Surely Outerwear is about the clothes, the type worn over others for outdoor use. It's not about those that made/make them whatever your opinions of those companies & the people behind them.

It's not even new. There's at least one other thread in here where FLers voice their views of LW & its owner without any real evaluation of the product, which is why, I thought, we are all here.

There's many a thread giving objective & valuable reviews of other makers jackets. The fact that the people behind those jackets are praised or otherwise is secondary, although a welcome inclusion to help us decide if we want to give them our custom. But do we ever have a thread extolling the virtues of the person behind the product without assessment of their product being the reason of the thread? Unlikely.

So can I suggest if there is to be a LWs thread let's make it relative to TFL & have some meaningful reviews of the jackets please. After all a LW jacket will stand or fall on its own merits regardless of the personality behind the company that made it. The two should be divorced as, when your LW jacket arrives that's what you get. What you don't get is the ideals, beliefs, politics or any other of the traits of the man behind them. Therefore I don't believe the two should be associated.

As for Stuart's attitude to would be customers; I've dealt with him & never once during the process did I feel unwelcome. Before contacting him I did my homework so knew what to expect & found him more helpful than I could reasonably expect him to be. I could add to & expand upon my experience but to do so would be defeating the object of this post.

I see not point in reviewing the jacket here that I bought either as that was done in a thread I started shortly after it was purchased.

 

[Hawk_Eye]

I respectfully disagree John. Repro vintage clothing and by extension their various makers are a large part of Fedora Lounge. I think a vendors attitude towards their customers is just as valid a discussion topic as the vendors products themselves. Jacket Vendors especially. These are huge puchases, 1000 dollars or more for a jacket is no small change. This guy thinks you are scum simply by frequenting these forums and exchanging information about something we all love, is this really someone you would want to hand your hard earned money to? I would feel the same way if it were Gary Eastman, Mark from Aero or John from Goodwear spouting insulting nonsense the way Stu does. But they don't, they respect their customers, and thats why I will be frequenting their shops, and spending what little discretionary cash I have on their products. Not Lost Worlds.