Tell a story about your first leather jacket...

[Fishbutcher]

Lived in London, in 1995 ,brought a black leather biker style jacket at Camden markets for £50,
Ok quality I quests, for the money.
Was part of my London Uniform, punk band tee shirt, black leather jacket German atmy pants dyed black and a pair of blunstones, good times
Prom memory there were heaps of quirky little clothes shops selling vintage, interesting clothing about!

 

[pgoat]

Ha...STILL the best(vintage)!!
Still knock the walls down and send you back in time! B

Back around the time I was buying my first leather, I was playing in bands a lot and would constantly listen to records for inspiration...I even used to bring a small stack of records with me every time I visited my gf, and couldn't figure out why everything sounded so much better at her place....was it love? Then I realized, she had a full Marantz set up with a really nice phono cartridge and nice speakers (I had an early Samsung tuner, Lafayette Stereo's house brand "Criterion" speakers...no comparison, even with a decent Technics turntable). I've since hunted down a Marantz tuner and phonograph...yeah, that's the stuff. Short of winning lotto and owning a high end tube kit, it's the last music gear I'll ever need.

 

[2jakes]

First time I heard stereo sound was with Marantz system when I was 18.

It was a relevation!

 

[Edward]

Lived in London, in 1995 ,brought a black leather biker style jacket at Camden markets for £50,
Ok quality I quests, for the money.
Was part of my London Uniform, punk band tee shirt, black leather jacket German atmy pants dyed black and a pair of blunstones, good times
Prom memory there were heaps of quirky little clothes shops selling vintage, interesting clothing about!

Camden was great back in the day. Gone corporate now, sadly.

 

[Fishbutcher]

Camden was great back in the day. Gone corporate now, sadly.

Hoping to be over this year,fist time since 2001, was hoping to gave a wondering round Camden,used to gave great pubs for a Sunday afternoon beer!

 

[kowalski]

Hi
My first leather jacket it Polish flight jacket .I got from my father in 1980y ,at that time he was an active military pilot, so getting her for me was not a problem
It looks like this

 

[Peacoat]

Earlier I mentioned my first leather jacket my girlfriend liked to wear around the apartment with nothing underneath. I better not say more than that. I guess I can tell the tamest thing she did was go down to the first floor mailboxes to get my mail wearing just the jacket, unzipped. I had a third floor walkup. She was a lot of fun. OK, no more girlfriend stories. I've never been yelled at by a moderator in the 12 years I have been on the board and don't want to start now.

 

[dubpynchon]

No I’m sure they won’t mind... please continue

 

[Edward]

Hoping to be over this year,fist time since 2001, was hoping to gave a wondering round Camden,used to gave great pubs for a Sunday afternoon beer!

Oh, it still has those. It's a pleasant enough stroll around still, but the market isn't what it was for vintage - mostly now it's just new stuff for the goth kids, tourist tat, and art for people who don't like art. Not the cool vintage, army surplus, and other oddities you used to find there.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

I'd still buy a Marantz 2070 at the right price and condition - alas, they're less common in the UK than the US. For now, I have a Pioneer SX870 (if memory serves). Similar look. A little bass-heavier in the sound, which is great for the speakers (no need for a separate subwoofer or huge bass drivers). The 70s was a golden era for hifi equipment. I'm building a new system slowly around that Pioneer, along with new CD gear and a current version of a turntable not significantly changed since its 70s debut. The PIoneer, as long as I look after it will still be worth what I paid in twenty years; the CD player will probably be worth nothing!

Just saw this. How bout a 4270? B

 

[Flightengineer]

Just found this thread.
My first was a custom-made by one guy leather N2B - brown cowhide. This guy earned his living by sewing at home fake fashion leather jackets ( Gucci and Gian Franco Ferre) for different friends ))) ...Crazy early 90s....I gave him my old and absolutely dead black nylon Alpha N2B and he took it out and sewed leather jacket copied N2B pattern. Only on cuffs he did not use knit, but usual leather cuff with a button and of course there was no fur on the hood. This was pretty cool at that time (I would not wear it now)))) It was about 25 years ago, I wore this jacket about three years, then gave it to my father who wore it for few year, repaired a car in it, worked in a garage and threw it out after all.
Then, with leather jackets, there was a pause of 15 years)))

 

[Edward]

Just saw this. How bout a 4270? B

I've seen them; they're nice, but I don't have the space or the appropriate records to benefit from the quad sound.

Just found this thread.
My first was a custom-made by one guy leather N2B - brown cowhide. This guy earned his living by sewing at home fake fashion leather jackets ( Gucci and Gian Franco Ferre) for different friends ))) ...Crazy early 90s....I gave him my old and absolutely dead black nylon Alpha N2B and he took it out and sewed leather jacket copied N2B pattern. Only on cuffs he did not use knit, but usual leather cuff with a button and of course there was no fur on the hood. This was pretty cool at that time (I would not wear it now)))) It was about 25 years ago, I wore this jacket about three years, then gave it to my father who wore it for few year, repaired a car in it, worked in a garage and threw it out after all.
Then, with leather jackets, there was a pause of 15 years)))

Any photos? Sounds like an interesting creation. Did it have the split-hood with the centre zip?

 

[Flightengineer]

I've seen them; they're nice, but I don't have the space or the appropriate records to benefit from the quad sound.



Any photos? Sounds like an interesting creation. Did it have the split-hood with the centre zip?

I'll try to find, if some photos was preserved, they in my mother's old house. Unfortunately, my father died a long time ago. If I find photos there in old albums, I'll scan it and show it here.
Hood was without zip - it was like on N3B.

 

[red devil]

Don't know how I missed this thread and its revivals...

Similar to quite a few people here, I got into leather jackets because of rock/metal. I found a store selling Harley Davidson and other similar brands and got a harness boot. At 14 years old, I was not ready for something like that (not knowing anything about boot jacks as well ). So these were taken back to the shop the next day. We had credit at the store and there was this cool looking black perfecto. Managed to convince my father to get it, he did actually like how sturdy it looked. I unfortunately don't know which brand it was, but it was heavy, it was cool and it had an eagle painted in the back and "Easy Rider" written as well. Wore it for over 5 years until it was stolen...
After that, I got a Hein Gericke jacket with all the armor for riding but that was a different beast.

I got into high fashion leather jacket after that thinking that thin lambskin was where it was at, also experimented with cheap custom leather jackets from tailors until a friend of mine pointed me back towards the right direction

I still wonder what my first leather jacket was, if anybody has an idea, I would be very grateful.

 

[Edward]

I still wonder what my first leather jacket was, if anybody has an idea, I would be very grateful.

Was it Harley branded? What year did you buy it? Some of the resident folks round here should be able to give you a steer if it was officially Harley merch and you either bought new or have some idea of year of manufacture...

 

[red devil]

Was it Harley branded? What year did you buy it? Some of the resident folks round here should be able to give you a steer if it was officially Harley merch and you either bought new or have some idea of year of manufacture...

Thanks @Edward
I think it was Harley but not 100% sure, bought it new around 1992, so the year of manufacture should be close to that. If anybody can steer me in the right direction, it would be much appreciated!

 

[Gamma68]

Just read through this entire thread and love the stories!

I got my first leather jacket in late 1986 or early 1987. I was a college freshman and only had a cotton windbreaker for outdoor wear. I was freezing and needed something heavier to make it through the winter. One day, I was with my mom at the mall and she suggested buying a leather jacket for me. I was pretty surprised at her suggestion.

Having absolutely no idea what to look for, I think I just accepted what she picked out, probably from JC Penney. I don't recall the brand name (could've just been JCP) but it was a black pseudo-motorcycle style jacket with snap shoulder epaulettes, some studs here and there, decorative leather loops around the mandarin-style collar (God knows why) and a zip-out black lining. It did the trick and became my primary jacket for at least the next couple of winters. I must have outgrown it at some point. No idea what happened to it but sort of wish I could see it again out of curiosity.

I have no photos of the jacket, but know I wore it when I had my passport photo taken in the spring of 1987. The shoulders and collar are visible anyway:

Around this time, I really got into playing guitar and became infatuated with Eric Clapton's music. I listened to a ton of Cream records and came across this photo in a magazine:

I thought the jacket he wore was the coolest thing I'd ever seen and always sort of lusted after one.

Fast forward about 30 years, and I made my first real quality leather jacket purchase (off eBay): a 1968 Martin Lane G-1. Mission accomplished:

Of course, since then I've discovered other styles and my interest in leather jackets has broadened. But I'll never let this G-1 go. What stories it could tell!