The price of leather jackets

[ButteMT61]

programmed obsolescence policies

I believe that's a more recent trend (as in the last 40 years). They used to make things to last. Hence, we buy expensive leather jackets that are made like the good ol' days.

 

[Aerojoe]

I believe that's a more recent trend (as in the last 40 years). They used to make things to last. Hence, we buy expensive leather jackets that are made like the good ol' days.

That's what I mean Right now, fashion trends are supposed to last one or two years, therefore, there is no need to make durable cloths since you have to change your whole wardrobe next year.

Then, we come us, that purchase high end reps of +60 years ago jackets and do not follow any modern fashion trend [huh]

 

[dinomartino1]

Vinyl motorcycle jackets where pretty common in the UK in the 60s as many people could not afford to buy leather jackets.

 

[Aerojoe]

rep

 

[Hammer Down]

My latest Aero jacket cost $1,200. In 1913, $1,200 was worth $27, 906.28 in today's dollars. Engineers tend to use 1913 as the date to calculate the price of materials. I can only assume that this year is used because it is the last time that the dollar was free of the control of the so-called "federal" reserve, which formed in 1913.

 

[oldcrow82]

^ I agree with a lot of what you say, but even I don't want to hear about it here. Try and stay on topic please.

 

[Hammer Down]

Interesting, OC. I think I know why you don't want to hear it enough to comment, but you would never admit the complete reason why.

 

[oldcrow82]

My bonafides are well documented here. If I were to be stereotyped as a crop duster from northern California farm country you'd probably be accurate.
With that said I come here for the eye candy, not the political debate. As you can see your ramblinga have been deleted by the admin.
Even adjusted for 1940's prices Inflation (or devalued dollar) higher labor costs and higher material costs, from higher taxes and scarcity respectively, all conspire to drive prices of our jackets up, would suffice as an answer here.

 

[ButteMT61]

I see the good behavior has started to wane...not shocked one bit. I still have some posts from last year archived for posterity...

 

[Sillyrib]

I think it is false to say all things were better made in in the past. I have a number of deadstock and used items I've bought from the 40's and on that were of very poor quality. Its no different than today, some items were made for quality and some for price. However, the better made items tend to last 50 years on(although there are tons of warehouse and basements full of junk). Branding is essential to protect the known quality of a maker. I think its also false to say there is no way to compare valuations from the past to the present. You take a number of factors and take the average. Gold is one of the most historically tracked commodities. Look at the historical chart and draw a straight line marking the average. Same with housing, oil, wages ect. A number of sites track and do the averages for you based on a number of factors. $160 today for $10 in 1940 is just an average. Add or subtract $40 depending on the item. For a leather jacket, find the commodity price for horse leather and the manufacturing index. I think the OP was just trying to make a simple point that a leather jacket today is priced close to what it was in 1940. Others would argue that its overpriced. I think people on this forum are a little jaded since we easily spend $1200 on a new Aero. But comparing that to a person buying a sears leather jacket in 1940 is a bit off in my opinion. An Aero, goodwear ect jacket is a high end luxury item quite different from a 1940s Sears jacket. Ask any average working man if they would spend $1200 on a jacket and they will look at you funny. $300-$400 dollars is a good price for the average person I think. I have had a number of Sears hercules jackets in the past and I have to say that the quality is not on par with any of the 10 or so aeros I have had. But it is hard to match the patina on a 50 plus year old jacket and the quality is quite good for a mass produced item. I think for 1940 a comparable jacket would be a custom tailored leather jacket which is what an Aero is.

 

[Hammer Down]

Good points all, Sillyrib. Your logic is impeccable. Can't say the same for OC. This is not an "eye candy" thread, bub.

 

[Seb Lucas]

What was 1940's two dollars, though - twenty cents in today's money? It's all relative.

Yes Edward that's my point. But as I wrote there are so many scales to consider when comparing prices over years: what you get for the price, how much other goods cost in comparison, how much people earn, what currency is worth. The comparisons are kind of not worth doing. As my grandfather (who was born in 1908) said to me of consumer goods; "The used to make an awful lot of shit in the old days too." We don;t talk about that stuff here because it hasn't survived.

 

[ButteMT61]

Yes Edward that's my point. But as I wrote there are so many scales to consider when comparing prices over years: what you get for the price, how much other goods cost in comparison, how much people earn, what currency is worth. The comparisons are kind of not worth doing. As my grandfather (who was born in 1908) said to me of consumer goods; "The used to make an awful lot of shit in the old days too." We don;t talk about that stuff here because it hasn't survived.

Couple of differences. Some made shit because it was all they could do with what they had. Also, people probably bought jackets for a purpose, and likely only one. Today, we buy jackets like ties. And at least the shit was made here at home, not overseas. Homemade shit employs homespun slackers . They in turn buy things and so it goes...Good quality sells well in bad times. None of the premium makers of anything seems to be struggling. I guess we're all 1%'rs here lol

 

[Seb Lucas]

Couple of differences. Some made shit because it was all they could do with what they had. Also, people probably bought jackets for a purpose, and likely only one. Today, we buy jackets like ties. And at least the shit was made here at home, not overseas. Homemade shit employs homespun slackers . They in turn buy things and so it goes...Good quality sells well in bad times. None of the premium makers of anything seems to be struggling. I guess we're all 1%'rs here lol

I hear ya. That part of the debate I'm not referring to particularly. But disposable foreign made shit made not to last is nothing new. Remember "Jap Crap" from the 1950's? And on the flip side, I buy a lot of clothes from Target (our version) and the stuff costs nothing but lasts forever. I have t-shirts from them which are 15 years old and still going strong.

 

[dinomartino1]

The difference today is most things are made in China, nothing wrong with that, the quality control in the factory where the item is made is the issue if the item is substandard.
The thing was in the old days you had a choice when you buying clothing between expensive and cheap and you could see the difference the only difference for a lot of things nowdays is the label.
I was recently in a dept. store and was looking at winter jackets, in no way was anything worth the expensive prices, everything was made in China and the materials and the build quality where no better the anything in K-mart or target. you where just paying for the label.
I think if you look at at what a factory worker earned in the 1940s a good suit, overcoat or leather jacket was expensive in relation to their wages.
I think you need to look at a specific occupation and what they where earning back then to work out what things where worth.
I remember when I was younger and whenever the average wage for that year was announced thinking who they hell earns that much money.

I remember when aero motorcycle jackets came out and a few shops in London had them, I thought they where the best jackets I had ever seen, I kept going back just to look at them, but they where too expensive for
what I was earning at the time, I already had a bike jacket and two was a luxury I could not afford.

 

[Seb Lucas]

One more thing. People like replacing things every year or two. And I'm not just talking about fashion victims. Most economies have been predicated on ever increasing consumption, so that fits right in with this view. A friend of mine believes that if he gets 2 years out of a winter coat that cost him $35, that's perfect. I know many others of this mindset. Do I care? Not really. There's nothing less meritorious in that. It's just that most here prefer to buy things that last. It's primarily an aesthetic choice, not a moral one.

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

I think comparing prices is tricky. A top-of-the-line computer cost the same today as it did 20 years ago, but much is different inside, it is better components, but we demand (and use more complex OS´es) better aswell.

That amount of money was worth more 20 years ago, but we also make more now.

One thing I usually compare is the standard of living. My father had a leather factory and mum worked fulltime. Dad still didnt have a nice leather jacket for himself. I didnt have half of the toys that my daughter has. We didnt even have a VCR even tho it was fairly common. Grown up - I have had all the video games since the Super nintendo and I have a home theater at home. I also have 4 Aeros and I still make less then the mentioned average income and we even have higher taxes here then you do. (We have about 32-38%)

As a kid, it was very uncommon for me to see people buy custom stuff, or even nice stuff. My standard of living is alot higher then my parents. We have more stuff, we eat better and we go to "better" vacations. We still work less then my parents did. I remember dad always working late, every day. I do that too sometimes, but not as much, and as I said I have more clothes then him and Im almost half his age.

None of my parents would buy a leather jacket for $1200 today, they cant aford it. I cant afford it either, but I buy them anyway. I dont know the point of this post, but somehow we work less and have more stuff.

 

[Deleted member 16736]

Real wages in America haven't increased since the 1970's. I don't know about Norway. But you could be right that the Western world's standard of living is higher anyway (we also borrow a lot more money than our parents did). I am not an economist. Leather jackets are good to compare because unlike computers, they haven't changed since the 1940's. You really can compare them apples-to-apples. And according to my theory, gold is undervalued (unless you think the price of leather jackets is going back to $800!). I won't be surprised to see gold trading at or above $2200 by winter time. I'm a trader and I like using simple anecdotal evidence like the relative price of leather jackets to figure out where gold should be priced. We'll see...

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

Someone said that the average US wage is now $63000. If the average is calculated between all from junkie on the corner to bill gates then its not an accurate number, but since noone complained I took it as a genuine number. In the "north" a normal working mans wage is about $52000. Almost everything a bit beyond that requires university school and if often means jobs like loyer, pilot, doctor, dentist and so on. Since we pay about 33% on that number we get $2900 in the hand each month (and even this is really above average for the people I know). In the US the tax is about 16? That leaves $4400 in the hand each month. Thats 1 leather jacket you can buy every month and still have left what we have. This cant be right *looks for jobs anywhere in the US*

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

One more thing. People like replacing things every year or two.

I'm not sure if that's entirely by choice anymore. A lot of things are so shoddily made these days that you have to replace them at least every other year.