Which Flat Head back design looks better?

[Marc mndt]

Here’s how it fits on me. Not perfect by any means but it’s a pretty damn good fit for me.

Weird shape? You tell me.

The front looks good. From the back it looks somewhat odd imo. I think it's a combination of the halfbelt being relatively short, the trapezoid kidney panel and the wide shoulders which all combined together create the optical illusion of an hourglass shape, yet there's actually too much material on the mid/lower back (above the halfbelt).

It clearly shows when you see the jacket next to your Caboose.

What does it look like with the sides cinched?

The neck hole on your jacket looks perfectly fine though, unlike a lot of other TFH jackets which have neck holes that seem to be designed to fit a bull's neck.

 

[jeo]

At the end of the day, a lot of the Japanese jackets are going to get slammed on here because we are westerners trying to fit into jackets that are designed with Japanese body types in mind. Some westerners look great in Japanese jackets though. I think price comes into play as well, but that’s a whole other discussion.

That chart clearly shows a difference in body type, even between Asian body types. I don’t think anyone here needed that chart to understand that.

Japanese happens to work for me because I’m smaller, but I do have a little bit of volume in my chest and I have wider hips and a bit of a bubble butt compared to most Japanese guys, so not all of them are gonna fit me 100%. I’ll have the same shoulder and chest measurements at 5’4” as a lot of Japanese dudes who are like 5’8” to 5’10”. They are a bit narrower without much volume (from a profile view is what I’m talking about) but that’s also a generalization, I’ve seen plenty of shorter stockier Japanese guys.

They fit me better than a lot of the western stuff like Vanson and Lost Worlds but I will never slam those patterns because that’ll give the impression that somehow they are bad when it’s not the truth. They just doesn’t work for me. Despite that I’ve seen plenty of horrible fits from Vanson whether they are baggy or long tubes, I’m not sure if that has something to do with Japanese Vanson. I’ve also seen plenty of horrible Lost Worlds fits, some that fit like contractor bags. To be honest if it wasn’t for LW cutting their jackets with arms to fit the hulk , there’s an argument to be made that they make one of the best jackets on the planet. You just have to pay the ridiculous up charge for zips that won’t fail and it’s almost like CXL where you have to win the lost world lottery and get the nice grainy leather as opposed to the smooth, boring leather that some people complain about. Mine was more smooth, and I didn’t necessarily have an issue with it. There were some panels that were grainy, which was awesome and I did have the classic Lost Worlds “veins”, which I do not particularly like.
LW was the first jacket I bought brand new back in 2010. I ultimately sold it because the big arms ultimately created an unflattering silhouette on me, and I did not like the reverse drop on my model which was the Ryder. As is if you’re a bigger boy and can fill out the LW they can look great.

 

[jeo]

The front looks good. From the back it looks somewhat odd imo. I think it's a combination of the halfbelt being relatively short, the trapezoid kidney panel and the wide shoulders which all combined together create the optical illusion of an hourglass shape, yet there's actually too much material on the mid/lower back (above the halfbelt).

It clearly shows when you see the jacket next to your Caboose.

What does it look like with the sides cinched?

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The neck hole on your jacket looks perfectly fine though, unlike a lot of other TFH jackets which have neck holes that seem to be designed to fit a bull's neck.

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I don’t see it bud. This comparison definitely shows a better fit to the Caboose. It’s funny because the caboose actually has more of a curve at the waist. To me that flare is similar or better than your Thedi where you can clearly see space there that I’m sure in some angles can look unflattering. All good, that’s what you see.

 

[Marc mndt]

I don’t see it bud. To me that flare is similar or better than your Thedi where you can clearly see space there that I’m sure in some angles can look unflattering. All good, that’s what you see.

I didn't say there's something wrong with a flare. And yes I know I don't fill the flare in a lot of my jackets because I don't have curves.

My comment was about the excess material on the lower back while you'd expect an hourglass shaped jacket to be fitted at that point.

 

[cbez]

I also had the absurd 90s sleeves issue with LW but from pics, it looks like they slimmed the pattern down at some point. Felt like this

 

[jeo]

I didn't say there's something wrong with a flare. And yes I know I don't fill the flare in a lot of my jackets because I don't have curves.

My comment was about the excess material on the lower back while you'd expect an hourglass shaped jacket to be fitted at that point.

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Yes, this jacket goes below my natural waist in the back, but so much so that it’s going below the arch in my back and my bubble butt is making the material stick out on that part of my lower back, creating that excess material. Plenty of jackets have that. I’ve made it clear that this is not a perfect fit on me. This is also where I’m standing up very straight so it’s a bit more exaggerated zipped and unzipped.

My Bodie on the other hand sits at my natural waist in the back (very short) so no sticking out and there’s a front drop so it doesn’t happen on that jacket.

 

[Marc mndt]

and my bubble butt is making that part of my lower back stick out, creating that excess material.

It looks the same on this curveless mannequin.

This is why one piece back halfbelts had those tucks.

 

[ton312]

I also had the absurd 90s sleeves issue with LW but from pics, it looks like they slimmed the pattern down at some point. Felt like this

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5 Star?

 

[jeo]

It looks the same on this curveless mannequin.

This is why one piece back halfbelts had those tucks.

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Very minute. That’s what you’re showing me.

What are you talking about?! lol

A lot of jackets have that. It’s actually not that bad on my FH compared to many of your jackets.

 

[ton312]

I own the SRJ-04. Bought it used off of YAJ. Not sure if it’s a different cut than the current version which has a different model number. I love it.

The cut is wide shoulders that are rotated forward, small front chest panels especially at armpit level, under the armpit there’s actually decent space, flare out starting at waist level into the hips coming from the side panel mostly but also a tiny bit from the bottom part of the back panel below the half belt (this will come down past most people’s natural waist so the flare out is needed to be able to zip up the jacket. If it hits someone’s natural waist the flare out would look terrible), v shape in the back and it has a front drop. Here’s what it looks like when I just dropped it on the floor. Looks A shaped 2D, it isn’t. It’s unzipped and that side panel curvature is pushing/flaring out those front panels. See zipped on flat on ground.

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Here’s how it fits on me. Not perfect by any means but it’s a pretty damn good fit for me. Any bigger in the shoulder it’ll start to droop unflatteringly and my armpit is eating into the chest pocket a bit. It’s not that it’s a small chest measurement. It’s a size 36 and it has a 19” chest measurement and I have a 34” chest. It’s the way the armhole is cut that is not allowing much room at the chest pocket level for that front panel. My Field Leather has kind of the same issue.

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I tried to capture the most straight on view both standing up straight and slouching. I also included a different angle with my phone angled downwards which can distort the view a bit. I’m doing this because most people carefully select and stage their pictures, myself included.

Standing up straight.

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Slouching

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Standing straight side view unzipped

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Slouching side view unzipped

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Zipped up

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Standing straight unzipped

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Standing straight zipped
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Unzipped slouched which would be the worst looking.

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I’ll include more pics and angles.

This looks better. Bigger collar and smaller neck hole. The excess material around your kidney area wouldn’t bother me. The current iteration looks nothing like this though. Puny collar, absolutely NFL D-lineman type neck hole…
I don’t see too many fitting like yours does, here or in the web ads. I’d also wonder why you’d even bother with something like this at this point. Frankly compared to the vintage pieces that you have, this just seems a bit irrelevant, boring, unnecessary. Or at least it would to me. But I’m not a collector , so there’s that too.

 

[Marc mndt]

5 Star?

This is from that one time when you asked them to do a bigger collar.

 

[jeo]

This looks better. Bigger collar and smaller neck hole. The excess material around your kidney area wouldn’t bother me. The current iteration looks nothing like this though. Puny collar, absolutely NFL D-lineman type neck hole…
I don’t see too many fitting like yours does, here or in the web ads. I’d also wonder why you’d even bother with something like this at this point. Frankly compared to the vintage pieces that you have, this just seems a bit irrelevant, boring, unnecessary. Or at least it would to me. But I’m not a collector , so there’s that too.

I appreciate that Tony. It isn’t a perfect fit by any means, but I’ve been done trying to achieve perfect for a long time now.

I wear my repro because I tend to wear my shit hard and even a good condition vintage is just not going to hold up. It will eventually tear at the seams and if it’s in like brand new condition, then I would want to keep it that way. But that’s why I also buy my beater vintage jackets, so I can wear them if I want to and not care or have to think twice when out and about.

 

[Marc mndt]

Very minute. That’s what you’re showing me.

What are you talking about?! lol

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A lot of jackets have that. It’s actually not that bad on my FH compared to many of your jackets.

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Lol I'm running out of arguments here. I guess I just don't love the look of plain one piece back halfbelts. I think I own just one, the one which you forgot to include.

 

[cbez]

Begun, the fit wars have.

 

[ton312]

I appreciate that Tony. It isn’t a perfect fit by any means, but I’ve been done trying to achieve perfect for a long time now.

I wear my repro because I tend to wear my shit hard and even a good condition vintage is just not going to hold up. It will eventually tear at the seams and if it’s in like brand new condition, then I would want to keep it that way.

I can help you, step into my office

 

[jeo]

Lol I'm running out of arguments here. I guess I just don't love the look of one piece back halfbelts. I think I own just one, the one which you forgot to include.

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That’s exactly right, you’re trying to win an argument dude, just stop it.

No tucks…

 

[ton312]

Lol I'm running out of arguments here. I guess I just don't love the look of plain one piece back halfbelts. I think I own just one, the one which you forgot to include.

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Yeah but this is the most banging Halfbelt ever made.

 

[ton312]

Begun, the fit wars have.

Dude you need to stop typing and go to the squat rack and start curling. Using the rack as God intended. LW sleeves won’t fill themselves!

 

[jeo]

I can help you, step into my office
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I did buy this one last summer…

 

[ton312]

T

I did buy this one last summer…

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That is how to collar!