Tan/natural leather jacket

[dakmary]

I'm interested in buying a tan or natural color leather jacket. Initially I was interested in the tan color, but then I became intrigued by the natural color and how it darkens and becomes tan! Then I saw the Kakishibu color (by Y2 leather), which is somewhere in between natural and Tan.

My only issue with Natural color (and potentially Kakishibu) is that I won't like the color for the first few months (until it darkness), and my fear is I won't wear it enough to make it dark!!

Please share your thought on the natural color and Kakishibu, and how was your darkening process.

 

[handymike]

Try looking at the natural Horween horsehide!
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...-affiliate-thread.70770/page-286#post-3009549

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/natural-horween-cxl-fqhh.100071/

 

[Aloysius]

The “natural” leathers eventually go well beyond tan colour and end up looking a meat red. Not to my tastes but more importantly it will not result in the tan you want.

For what you’re looking for, I would suggest going for a light tan leather that is dyed but unfinished. It will darken but not beyond the tan you want.

 

[TartuWolf]

@Aloysius Can you give some examples of this "meat red" result? Never seen it before myself.

A few thread by one LT guy where you can see some great development of natural unfinished and natural cxl leather:
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/aero-unfinished-horse-hide-557xx-type-iii-break-in.110685/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...-hh-j-106-kotr-indian-mix-biker-jacket.97528/

If my current SB order goes well then a natural unfinished HH modified Tailgunner is going to be my next order. So hopefully I'll also get to experience this type of leather jacket.

 

[zebedee]

Ask if they have any mahogany or torf in stock. They're both tan colours-ish and wouldn't change much apart from usual patina.

 

[navetsea]

It will be hard to wear the first few weeks because you dont want to stain it, the surface is like paper and easy to show any stain but its matte bone white color is surprisingly easy to wear with faded jeans or olive or tan pants.

Then it will darken a bit picking up some sheen and look like a dead person skin, this is saver to wear as it doesn't collect dirt and stain as easily still easy to pair with previous colors

Then it develops some pink flesh tone and similar sheen, this is very hard stage to pair with anything

Then it develops yellowness mixed with that pink into nude skin tone, this is also hard to pair with since it resembles your own skin tone.

Then it develops some more orange tone
This is quite stable that stays for sometime unless you oil the leather. Impossible to match with anything, so i oiled mine to develops further into caramel tone.

Then it turns into light caramel that will get darker overtime, and the surface looks shinier, this is where it gets good and only get better.

That is 3 years from natural vegtan, my wristband there is from 2018

this was brand new 1st time being worn



Exactly the same leather left over of the jacket, one i wear frequently and exposed to many hand washing protocol during covid and the thin one I just made today to start wearing

So the promise of rich earthy tone is there, one day the jacket would be this dark and perhaps unless you use another dose of heavy oil like obenauf or the likes it will stay in this brown color for a long time, as i have 2 other bracelets and belt i own for more years and stay pretty similar in tone.

 

[TartuWolf]

Yup, that's a good example of why I think @navetsea is one of the masters of natural leather on TFL. Thank you for the descriptions and photos!

Maybe you could also talk a bit about how treating the leather with different things and on different intervals affects the color and other properties of it? For example oiling it with mink oil / neatsfoot oil right when you get it new vs not doing anything with it. Or applying something like dubbin or obenauf or something like fiebings aussie along the way. Often / every few months vs rarely / once a year.
I feel like there should be ways to greatly speed up the awkward stages.
I think @Feliksas also has a lot of experience in this regard. Mainly using beeswax and neatsfoot. Will need to read through those 2 threads if his again.

What sold me on natural leather are these photos of the "Vanishing Point" by Simmons Bilt : https://standardandstrange.com/products/s-s-x-simmons-bilt-vanishing-point-horsehide-leather-jacket

 

[navetsea]

I think if you wear it outside alot and get a rain here and there, scuffed from branches, and then you buff it to somewhat heal the scuff, and also stuff things on the pockets, wear backpack, etc. it would look nice a lot sooner, just wear it like Feliksas wears his.

 

[MrProper]

What sold me on natural leather are these photos of the "Vanishing Point" by Simmons Bilt : https://standardandstrange.com/products/s-s-x-simmons-bilt-vanishing-point-horsehide-leather-jacket

I would also say just wear it and not worry about anything else.
This will be the same leather that Aero uses. The tannery should be Comipel.
I also like the color when it's brand new, by the way.

 

[navetsea]

they always say raw denim and natural veg tan leather go well with each other, that is the biggest lie, when both brand new they look horrible paired with each other, eventually they will look good together perhaps 4 years later. in raw denim forum you always see new dark indigo jeans and new natural belt, but everytime the wearer will wear his shirt or shirt untucked over the belt I totally understand why. Natural vegtan real pair is earthy and dirt tone pants, olive, sand, camel, caramel, charcoal basically corduroy pants, I guess it's the same with jacket, I still have a long way to get my natural jacket looks good paired with dark navy jeans.

 

[dakmary]

What companies have natural color leather other than Aero and Y2 leather (I'm still counting Kakishibu as natural)? Would Himel and Thedi offer natural color leather?

 

[Jasonissm]

If you want to, kakishibu dye is very cheap, you can just put an additional layer on it as well. I have a few bottles planning on dyeing a bunch of clothes in the near future.

You can get Kakishibu to very dark if you don't dilute it, like a dark orangey brown type of colour.

 

[handymike]

What companies have natural color leather other than Aero and Y2 leather (I'm still counting Kakishibu as natural)? Would Himel and Thedi offer natural color leather?

Thedi does Cuoio that he rubs with darker wax, and Cognac
https://www.thurston-bros.com/produ...hawl-collar-jacket-size-large-cuoio-buffalo-1
Simmons Bilt did a raw jacket for Standard & Strange.
https://standardandstrange.com/coll...bilt-vanishing-point-horsehide-leather-jacket
Mister Freedom began the trend with their Campus jacket,
https://misterfreedom.com/products/campus-jacket-natural-leather
and Tenjin Works Japan does a version with Japanese Tochigi leather.
https://tenjinworks.com/en/collections/leather-wear-1

 

[Canuck Panda]

Thanks to @navetsea about the color change info. I’m still at pink stage for one and yellow stage for the other. Looking forward to the cognac stage a few years down the road. No oiling or waxes this time around, just time. Not a lot of sun either and color still changes. I think the veg tannins is reacting with the air and even though it takes a long time, color is changing, in the order Navetsea said, paper bone, pink, yellow… and looking forward to cognac…

 

[attack_decay]

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What oil did you use for this jacket? Obenauf? That's a great color you've achieved!

I own the Mister Freedom Campus jacket in natural and the jacket was hard to wear out during the initial stages. I felt like I was peacocking a bit too much for my liking wearing a seemingly white leather jacket. I would leave my jacket outside and allow it to tan in the sun and it pretty quickly progressed to a darker shade. I just kept that going and started wearing it to help progress the patina. If you are patient and enjoy breaking things in to create a unique patina, natural veg tanned leather can be very rewarding. I like knowing that all the unique marks, creases, color, and patina were developed by me.

 

[Aloysius]

What companies have natural color leather other than Aero and Y2 leather (I'm still counting Kakishibu as natural)? Would Himel and Thedi offer natural color leather?

Why would kakishibu count as natural (in the sense of undyed)?

Kakishibu is a dye. Kakishibu-dyed leathers are full aniline dyed with kakishibu.

 

[navetsea]

What oil did you use for this jacket? Obenauf? That's a great color you've achieved!

I own the Mister Freedom Campus jacket in natural and the jacket was hard to wear out during the initial stages. I felt like I was peacocking a bit too much for my liking wearing a seemingly white leather jacket. I would leave my jacket outside and allow it to tan in the sun and it pretty quickly progressed to a darker shade. I just kept that going and started wearing it to help progress the patina. If you are patient and enjoy breaking things in to create a unique patina, natural veg tanned leather can be very rewarding. I like knowing that all the unique marks, creases, color, and patina were developed by me.

View attachment 526145
View attachment 526146

i used mink oil in solid balm format applied with a sponge buffer pad, they say somewhere online mink oil will age the leather into red tones, and also obenauff oil 2x but with fingers instead of its wool dabber applicator, so I used spparingly. until today those 3x conditioning still make the leather feel moist in 2 years. I think oil based conditioner like these are very long lasting compared to modern waterbased conditioner sold at car interior care products shelf. But oil conditioner comes with higher risk of over application and hard to undo the effect, while water based conditioner has more immediate effect and quick drying but you hardly can over doing it because the effect is instant but it won't last nearly as long.

great idea to bridge the nat hide jacket color with untucked olive tshirt to the blue denim, the olive neutralized the polarizing colors

 

[jadub]

What oil did you use for this jacket? Obenauf? That's a great color you've achieved!

I own the Mister Freedom Campus jacket in natural and the jacket was hard to wear out during the initial stages. I felt like I was peacocking a bit too much for my liking wearing a seemingly white leather jacket. I would leave my jacket outside and allow it to tan in the sun and it pretty quickly progressed to a darker shade. I just kept that going and started wearing it to help progress the patina. If you are patient and enjoy breaking things in to create a unique patina, natural veg tanned leather can be very rewarding. I like knowing that all the unique marks, creases, color, and patina were developed by me.

View attachment 526145
View attachment 526146

I’m a bit amazed by the difference in the fit of your sleeve. I don’t know if it’s just the pic but originally it looked too big. In the evolved pic it looks great. Great looking all around!

 

[attack_decay]

I’m a bit amazed by the difference in the fit of your sleeve. I don’t know if it’s just the pic but originally it looked too big. In the evolved pic it looks great. Great looking all around!

Yeah, that's just from the sleeve creases and breaking in the jacket. Probably shortened the sleeves by 1-2 inches!

 

[dakmary]

Why would kakishibu count as natural (in the sense of undyed)?

Kakishibu is a dye. Kakishibu-dyed leathers are full aniline dyed with kakishibu.

Because it looks like natural color to me, no?