What Jacket Are You Wearing Today?

[G'c]

Black Himel Frobisher

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Seems that superfluous have endless supply of $$$$$$$. Great jacket superfluous. Do you have Bill Kelso jackets also? Curious about their quality as there seemed to be a feud between them and Himel previously.

 

[handymike]

Dont get @Superfluous started....

 

[ton312]

Do you have Bill Kelso jackets

I'm going to hazard a guess...a solid "no".

 

[G'c]

Dont get @Superfluous started....

Oh no.....did I say something wrong.. ?

I'm going to hazard a guess...a solid "no".

haha so it's rare that one can have both himel and bill kelso jacket at the same time i suppose?

 

[ton312]

Oh no.....did I say something wrong.. ?



haha so it's rare that one can have both himel and bill kelso jacket at the same time i suppose?

No not necessarily ( I believe some members do own both makers). But BK did, at one point, take aim at several members here, in an attempt to elevate their own product. It was viewed by most (if not all) as a very weak and nonsensical effort. Frankly, I think it was unnecessary and in utterly poor taste. BK makes a fine jacket, very fine actually...but can't seem to let the product speak for itself. The result is a sour taste. I like BK jackets but find their social media assault campaign tactics to be rather pathetic... totally and completely useless.

 

[Superfluous]

Do you have Bill Kelso jackets also?

Dont get @Superfluous started....

I'm going to hazard a guess...a solid "no".

 

[ton312]

LOL. C'mon SF. You mean you don't have a wingman jacket that's "Facebook only".

 

[Superfluous]

LOL. C'mon SF. You mean you don't have a wingman jacket that's "Facebook only".

 

[Superfluous]

LOL. C'mon SF. You mean you don't have a wingman jacket that's "Facebook only".

 

[G'c]

No not necessarily ( I believe some members do own both makers). But BK did, at one point, take aim at several members here, in an attempt to elevate their own product. It was viewed by most (if not all) as a very weak and nonsensical effort. Frankly, I think it was unnecessary and in utterly poor taste. BK makes a fine jacket, very fine actually...but can't seem to let the product speak for itself. The result is a sour taste. I like BK jackets but find their social media assault campaign tactics to be rather pathetic... totally and completely useless.

Wow didn't know there's issues between BK and Himel on here too.... interesting. Might need to search up on those topics where they had arguments up here, if those threads are not closed. Sorry to derail the topic so much.

Just want to compliment again on Superfluous nice jackets!

 

[Superfluous]

Wow didn't know there's issues between BK and Himel on here too.... interesting. Might need to search up on those topics where they had arguments up here, if those threads are not closed. Sorry to derail the topic so much.

Just want to compliment again on Superfluous nice jackets!

Thanks G'c. There is no dispute between Himel and BK. Rather, in an ill-advised effort to advance their own products, BK relentlessly assailed the Shinki HH used by Himel (and Good Wear, Real McCoys, Freewheelers, etc.). With one or two relatively benign exceptions, Himel ignored BK's holy war (as did Good Wear, etc.). BK's assault on Shinki HH was particularly ironic given BK's prior acknowledgments regarding Shinki HH, including:

“A secret about Shinki, often not told, is that Shinki's leathers best match the leathers used on Vintage jackets. They achieved this because they tried to match the leathers appearance (and the Japanese are very good at that) to serve the local demand. In contrast, Italian and other tanneries never bothered to do that, they just sell whatever they produce and often resist to alter the specs.”

And:

“In reality, Chapman and Himel do have access to other leathers, including those used by BK, but they elect to pay more for Shinki because they believe in the virtues of Shinki leather. They have access to Liberty . . . they believe in the virtues of Shinki because Shinki is still the leader in the market. Everybody likes it. . . . We are now seriously considering stocking some Shinki too. I will let you know when it arrives.”

And:

“If we had no customs issues we’d be using Shinki too from day 1. For the same reasons GW and Himel did.”

In the end, BK's poorly conceived attacks succeeded in revealing its spectacular lack of business acumen and alienated many potential customers in the process. Its a shame because, as Tony noted above, BK has the ability to make a fine jacket. Unfortunately, BK is no longer able to source its "Victory" HH (Italian HH from the Victoria tannery) and BK's Liberty HH is, euphemistically speaking, less desirable.

HM, was that PC enough?

Andy, no need to send me another menacing e-mail (he sent his last missive to me on October 31, 2017).

 

[Superfluous]

Late night errand in my old Relwen:

 

[G'c]

Thanks G'c. There is no dispute between Himel and BK. Rather, in an ill-advised effort to advance their own products, BK relentlessly assailed the Shinki HH used by Himel (and Good Wear, Real McCoys, Freewheelers, etc.). With one or two relatively benign exceptions, Himel ignored BK's holy war (as did Good Wear, etc.). BK's assault on Shinki HH was particularly ironic given BK's prior acknowledgments regarding Shinki HH, including:

“A secret about Shinki, often not told, is that Shinki's leathers best match the leathers used on Vintage jackets. They achieved this because they tried to match the leathers appearance (and the Japanese are very good at that) to serve the local demand. In contrast, Italian and other tanneries never bothered to do that, they just sell whatever they produce and often resist to alter the specs.”

And:

“In reality, Chapman and Himel do have access to other leathers, including those used by BK, but they elect to pay more for Shinki because they believe in the virtues of Shinki leather. They have access to Liberty . . . they believe in the virtues of Shinki because Shinki is still the leader in the market. Everybody likes it. . . . We are now seriously considering stocking some Shinki too. I will let you know when it arrives.”

And:

“If we had no customs issues we’d be using Shinki too from day 1. For the same reasons GW and Himel did.”

In the end, BK's poorly conceived attacks succeeded in revealing its spectacular lack of business acumen and alienated many potential customers in the process. Its a shame because, as Tony noted above, BK has the ability to make a fine jacket. Unfortunately, BK is no longer able to source its "Victory" HH (Italian HH from the Victoria tannery) and BK's Liberty HH is, euphemistically speaking, less desirable.

HM, was that PC enough?

Andy, no need to send me another menacing e-mail (he sent his last missive to me on October 31, 2017).

Some very interesting insights and comments Superfluous. I have no skin in this game as I never bought from both of them, but just know that both produce great jackets but at different pricing. Curious as to why BK had made comments on Shinki HH as an "inferior" leather, if such accusations were made.

I knew about BK when they produced a version of the "Surrogates" jacket i.e. the californian half belt, which looks beautiful from the pictures. I am surprised to find out about the discourse/or comments made by BK as summarized by you.

Anyways, hope all is good now so that the focus will be on the jackets themselves.

On your jacket, I can only dream of ever owning a shinki leather jacket. Prices are way to steep for me. Japanese leather jacket manufacturers are charging crazy prices as well. I wish to have a RMC Buco J 100, but again doesn't seem to justify the price.

Oh well, hope my next purchase will be a thedi leathers one if I am lucky to have the $$.

 

[Superfluous]

On your jacket, I can only dream of ever owning a shinki leather jacket. Prices are way to steep for me. Japanese leather jacket manufacturers are charging crazy prices as well. I wish to have a RMC Buco J 100, but again doesn't seem to justify the price.

You just missed an opportunity to pick-up a RMC Buco J100 at a discount -- I just sold mine.

Most of the jackets we discuss here are priced well beyond the point of diminishing returns. The determination of whether a particular jacket "justifies its price" is entirely subjective.

Oh well, hope my next purchase will be a thedi leathers one if I am lucky to have the $$.

Good choice -- I really like what Thedi is doing.

 

[Dav]

Thought I'd break out the Teamster today, not worn it for a while.

 

[TheGuitarFairy]

killer, nick ^^^

 

[bobm]

Circa late 1940s-early 1950s Woolrich hunt coat. This is my go-to coat for the Christmas season.

[/QUTE]

Gamma68

This is THEE classic American wool hunting jacket and has been that way almost forever. It's up there with the Filson mackinaws/cruisers. My father bought one in the late 60's and when he passed on my mom just gave it to one of his friends. Not that I needed another winter/wool jacket but when I saw it in Orvis, it brought back some memories and liked the functionality and I ended up buying one.

The new ones are made in China unfortunately and I can't do a sided by side comparison, but it appears to be of better than decent quality and of course 2 months after I bought mine @$250.00, they are on sale for $199.00. Oh well, even at $250.00 it's a good price for something that is very warm, functional, timeless, goes well with most anything shy of suits, will look like new 20 years from now, will outlive you and I'm betting will look good /be in "style" if you were to will it to your great. great, grand kids 50 years from now.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Half-long, darkgrey tweedcoat, today.

 

[casechopper]

Schott Car Coat

 

[El Marro]

On your jacket, I can only dream of ever owning a shinki leather jacket. Prices are way to steep for me. Japanese leather jacket manufacturers are charging crazy prices as well. I wish to have a RMC Buco J 100, but again doesn't seem to justify the price.

G'c,
Keep your eyes on eBay and the classifieds here and your dream can become reality. I have a few shinki jackets (two Good Wear A2's and one Diamond Clothing A2) that I picked up far below retail price. All three were in like new condition.
The RMC J100 might be a bit harder to find but they do pop up from time to time, as Superfluous mentioned.
Good luck and happy hunting!