Your position on patina

[Chris7273]

(...) Takes years, but you get to the point where, if you're lucky, you can throw on a jacket and it's you.

You know you have reach the "patina" level when the girlfriend tells you :"I will buy you a new jacket. then you can throw your old stinky, scrappy, dirty, discolored, out of shape, jacket"

 

[Sloan1874]

You know you have reach the "patina" level when the girlfriend tells you :"I will buy you a new jacket. then you can throw your old stinky, scrappy, dirty, discolored, out of shape, jacket"

Ha! Yes, though I very much doubt my other half will ever utter those words. In fact, it's more likely to be "Finally, one of them has bitten the dust. Now, how many are there left in the closet?"
The thing about scratches and marks, though, is that, when they are fresh, they can look pretty livid but they dull down very quickly and disappear under general wear and tear.

 

[Peacoat]

Patina to me is that smooth burnished faded look on the surface and folds of the jacket and along some edges. Scrapes and scratches fall into a separate mileage category to me. Sometimes the more extreme is just
damage. Two quite different appearances to me.
HD

Exactly. Patina is surface wear. Graining, creases and scratches are in a different category. Some here have a tendency to lump it all together under the broad heading of patina.

 

[navetsea]

patina is too big of a word for most leathers, just say "characters"
when a black jacket developing other hue like showing some blue or green tint after few years would you call it patina or just oxidation and fade?

 

[Milesdeathescape]

patina is too big of a word for most leathers, just say "characters"
when a black jacket developing other hue like showing some blue or green tint after few years would you call it patina or just oxidation and fade?

Patina characters


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[El Marro]

Patina is tricky. Initially, it's the moment where you get a massive scratch on your jacket and you're left feeling slightly/massively appalled at this. But over time, you gather marks, scratches, creases, scrapes that gradually merge to create character. Takes years, but you get to the point where, if you're lucky, you can throw on a jacket and it's you.

These were my thoughts exactly when I put on my Aero Bootlegger this morning. I remember very clearly exactly where I was and what I was doing when the jacket picked up it's first real scratch. That was a couple years ago, and now the jacket has a whole host of scratches and dings that I have no memory of and it is really starting to show some character.

 

[nick123]

Having been a bit naive to age-old lexicon, I think what ruddered me in the wrong direction was the over-use of the word “patina” on the tv show Pawn Stars. I think that show led me to over-use it with everything. Thankful for the Lounge for the enlightenment. I still voluntarily use the word loosely, but that is just fun and games for jacketing.

 

[Milesdeathescape]

Having been a bit naive to age-old lexicon, I think what ruddered me in the wrong direction was the over-use of the word “patina” on the tv show Pawn Stars. I think that show led me to over-use it with everything. Thankful for the Lounge for the enlightenment. I still voluntarily use the word loosely, but that is just fun and games for jacketing.

Totally ruddered. He said ruddered heheh


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[breezer]

I'm a one leather jacket guy ( many, many cloth jackets ) - so its going to take a while for patina to develop on a jacket thats worn infrequently. But there are plenty of fellas here with multiple leather jackets - so won't it take a lifetime for patina to develop on jackets that live the majority of their time in closets?

 

[Xopher]

I am a huge fan of patina, but like others have mentioned, the early stages of patina are very unsightly in my opinion. My A-2 is just now coming out of the early stages but still retains some large scuffs that draw attention and its been over 5 years now, I suspect in another 5 years it will look good. My problem is, by the time I finally got my jackets and pants the way I wanted them, my weight fluctuated so now they are all too big on me. Seriously been thinking about selling them all and getting one leather jacket to wear the heck out of but I just hate starting over on an new canvas.

 

[bn1966]

Hopefully starting soon on a new canvas: ELC size 48 Monarch contract A-2.

Sold my old faithful ELC Size 46 RW A-2 just before Xmas..100 Mission..looked like 1000 to me! 10 years of very regular wear took it beyond an appearance I liked..too much patina IMHO (and a bit too snug)!

Considering a B-3 ELC '50 Cal' for next Fall, which will come with patina Which is just fine & dandy with me. I have tried one on 3 weeks ago, & the '50 Cal' version just felt so comfortable & 'broken in' & over in the South of the UK the heavier shearlings have a relatively short season.

 

[willyto]

I wish more prople here in the forum would wear their jackets more often so they could truly develop patina. Too many jackets makes it impossible.

 

[ProteinNerd]

I wish more prople here in the forum would wear their jackets more often so they could truly develop patina. Too many jackets makes it impossible.

I'm sure a lot of us would too....the weather just doesn't want to co-operate though.

 

[Dickie Teenie]

For the very generous offer of $0 I would be willing to help a fellow lounger out by helping develop the patina your jacket so richly deserves.
DM for the exact specs I would require.
Signed, your friend.

 

[ProteinNerd]

Don't joke, someone tried offering that as a paid service a while ago lol

 

[A-1]

Don't joke, someone tried offering that as a paid service a while ago lol

I know. So good! I mean some people pay a lot of money for a pair of faded jeans. And the richer people used to get their Brooks saddles broken in by servants. Hehe.

 

[Edward]

'Good patina' for me simply means it's obviously not new, but looks cool. Broken in, not worn out. Some of the more extreme looks many of the denim crowd in particular prefer would have me rethinking my decision to throw some old clothes in the bin, where they belong, in the hope that some looney would pay money for 'em on eBay.

A lot of this, though, comes back to something I've said many times before: the difference between those who want a vintage look, and those who want to look like they're wearing vintage pieces. Same with Fender guitars.... you go to Fender and order one of their vintage model guitars, you can have it in one of three different finishes:

1] NOS - a total repop of a vintage guitar, as if you'd bought it new in '54
2] Closet Classic - a guitar that was bought new in 54, loved and looked after, and then stored under a bed for many years. The odd ding here and there, but in vg used condition.
3] Relic (and Heavy Relic) - basically the look of a guitar that has been taken out and thrashed hard every night for fifty years.

I like my jackets like I like my guitars - buy 'em NOS style, look after them so they wear like a Closer Classic. Once they get to the 'Relic' stage, they either need to be restored, binned, or sold to somebody who actually likes the look. I like the whole package of a vintage look. My ideal is, depending on outfit, to look like it's anywhere between 1920 - 1959 on a given day. Looking like a guy in 1954 wearing a leather jacket that was new in 1945 and is nicely broken in now appeals; looking like a guy in 2018 wearing a jacket that was new in 1954 and has been worn hard ever since does not. I don't care for the 'accelerated wear' look that some labels are building in to their jackets either.

Interestingly, I've noticed over the years that what is acceptable to me can also vary with purpose and jacket colour. A black jacket I want to remain *black* - I'll re-dye it probably at the point where a lot of folks round here would think it was just looking cool, ha. Brown jackets, I'm more tolerant of areas wearing to different shades. I think part of it too is I'll as often as denim wear a leather jacket with a collar and tie, so I like 'em a bit tidier than many do.

All I know is that I don't want my jacket to look like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-La...50-1956-Only-Columbia-Rin-Tanaka/142496056656

That's damage, not patina...

Yeah, that's nasty. I always find when it comes to that sort of extreme wear, there's only two groups of people will wear it - those who have genuinely no other option (homeless, typically), and those who have so far disappeared into the consumerist trap that they'll wear it in the name of fashion - or because they think it's hilarious to pay money to look homeless (that type do exist, distasteful as it is).

Would the "tea core" process be considered artificial patina?

I'd say yes it is. Rational or no, one of the reasons I dislike it is that I associate it with people who look down on others who will buy a pre-broken-in look jacket as fakers who didn't "earn" it, then go out and buy jackets that will age artificially quickly, just to get the look of a jacket that is decades older than it really is. I find that hypocritical, frankly.

Loosely I would define patina as "worn in, not worn out". Good patina is acquired through years of use without abuse.

Exactly - without abuse. So many of the pre-aged and faster-aging finishes I've seen seem to ape worn out rather than broken in....

It generally appears like you really haven't earned the look and you are a suit on your day off trying to look cool.

I probably qualify as a suit. I'll deny the idea of not having 'earned' my jacket, though; I paid for them in full myself. Cool, Schmool. When I want somebody else's opinion of my jackets, I'll give it to them.

I don't care for Aero's battered leathers, the Vanson Octogon or similar types, they look like they're trying to be something they're not. Aged.

Interstingly, I rather like the battered finishes purely aesthetically, as a look - but I'm not interested in a jacket that looks old. Certainly, artificially aginga hide before it's sewn into a jacket won't make the jacket look realistically aged.

'50 Cal' ELC B-3

ELC do the aging thing very, very well - they actually make them look like jackets that were broken in, without succumbing to the temptation some makers do, of making their stuff look like it's been dragged behind a car for a month. TBH, though, I'd be loathe to pay the significant premium they attach to this, rather than wait a year or two to et them to that point myself!

I would call this patina on my riding gloves. Never been conditioned, never cleaned and this is an old pic. They look even better now! The use of the clutch, checking tire pressure, changing tire, rain, sun... you name it.

Only achieved with real use and abuse.

Nice gloves. They look familiar - what brand are they?

As far as artificial patina goes, I think the biggest problem is that there is so much bad work done that people don't think it's possible to have actual good looking artificially distressed clothes. But when it works, like it does with this pair of distressed Pure Blue Japan jeans they put out, it works amazingly:

I would be tempted to buy them because they look exactly like what I want a pair of jeans to wear, better even than if I actually wore them in myself.

I never liked the whole 'fades' look in denim - I much prefer jeans before they get to this stage, keep 'em dark.... That said, to make it look this 'natural' takes a lot of skill and is an art in itself.

Ha! Yes, though I very much doubt my other half will ever utter those words. In fact, it's more likely to be "Finally, one of them has bitten the dust. Now, how many are there left in the closet?"

Our house:

"Which one?"

"The Dustbowl - it's a black half belt".

"But why can't you wear that other one?"

"It's not the same."

"It's a black leather jacket - they're all the same!"

"No they aren't.... gah. OK. Now where are my black boots?"

"Can't you just wear those ones?"

"They're BROWN!"

"So?"

<<head explodes>>

I'm sure a lot of us would too....the weather just doesn't want to co-operate though.

Ha, yeah. I remember HATING 2013.... stayed so cold through April that I went right from Winter coats to May being too warm for a leather jacket. Vile. If I was ever fabulously wealthy, I'd travel more, and never have to live through Summer again. Just follow the Autumn/ Winter round the globe....

 

[El Marro]

ELC do the aging thing very, very well - they actually make them look like jackets that were broken in, without succumbing to the temptation some makers do, of making their stuff look like it's been dragged behind a car for a month.

I couldn't agree more with this. My ELMC horsehide G-1 was aged so subtly that I didn't even notice that this had been done until I'd owned the jacket for a few days. What I did notice right off the bat was how comfortable the jacket felt when it arrived and that I didn't get that self conscious "I'm wearing a brand new jacket" feeling that I often get.
I am not a fan of artificial aging in general, but I now know that it can be done artfully by outfits like Eastman.

 

[Sloan1874]

'Good patina' for me simply means it's obviously not new, but looks cool. Broken in, not worn out. Some of the more extreme looks many of the denim crowd in particular prefer would have me rethinking my decision to throw some old clothes in the bin, where they belong, in the hope that some looney would pay money for 'em on eBay.

A lot of this, though, comes back to something I've said many times before: the difference between those who want a vintage look, and those who want to look like they're wearing vintage pieces. Same with Fender guitars.... you go to Fender and order one of their vintage model guitars, you can have it in one of three different finishes:

1] NOS - a total repop of a vintage guitar, as if you'd bought it new in '54
2] Closet Classic - a guitar that was bought new in 54, loved and looked after, and then stored under a bed for many years. The odd ding here and there, but in vg used condition.
3] Relic (and Heavy Relic) - basically the look of a guitar that has been taken out and thrashed hard every night for fifty years.

I like my jackets like I like my guitars - buy 'em NOS style, look after them so they wear like a Closer Classic. Once they get to the 'Relic' stage, they either need to be restored, binned, or sold to somebody who actually likes the look. I like the whole package of a vintage look. My ideal is, depending on outfit, to look like it's anywhere between 1920 - 1959 on a given day. Looking like a guy in 1954 wearing a leather jacket that was new in 1945 and is nicely broken in now appeals; looking like a guy in 2018 wearing a jacket that was new in 1954 and has been worn hard ever since does not. I don't care for the 'accelerated wear' look that some labels are building in to their jackets either.

Interestingly, I've noticed over the years that what is acceptable to me can also vary with purpose and jacket colour. A black jacket I want to remain *black* - I'll re-dye it probably at the point where a lot of folks round here would think it was just looking cool, ha. Brown jackets, I'm more tolerant of areas wearing to different shades. I think part of it too is I'll as often as denim wear a leather jacket with a collar and tie, so I like 'em a bit tidier than many do.



Yeah, that's nasty. I always find when it comes to that sort of extreme wear, there's only two groups of people will wear it - those who have genuinely no other option (homeless, typically), and those who have so far disappeared into the consumerist trap that they'll wear it in the name of fashion - or because they think it's hilarious to pay money to look homeless (that type do exist, distasteful as it is).



I'd say yes it is. Rational or no, one of the reasons I dislike it is that I associate it with people who look down on others who will buy a pre-broken-in look jacket as fakers who didn't "earn" it, then go out and buy jackets that will age artificially quickly, just to get the look of a jacket that is decades older than it really is. I find that hypocritical, frankly.



Exactly - without abuse. So many of the pre-aged and faster-aging finishes I've seen seem to ape worn out rather than broken in....



I probably qualify as a suit. I'll deny the idea of not having 'earned' my jacket, though; I paid for them in full myself. Cool, Schmool. When I want somebody else's opinion of my jackets, I'll give it to them.



Interstingly, I rather like the battered finishes purely aesthetically, as a look - but I'm not interested in a jacket that looks old. Certainly, artificially aginga hide before it's sewn into a jacket won't make the jacket look realistically aged.



ELC do the aging thing very, very well - they actually make them look like jackets that were broken in, without succumbing to the temptation some makers do, of making their stuff look like it's been dragged behind a car for a month. TBH, though, I'd be loathe to pay the significant premium they attach to this, rather than wait a year or two to et them to that point myself!



Nice gloves. They look familiar - what brand are they?



I never liked the whole 'fades' look in denim - I much prefer jeans before they get to this stage, keep 'em dark.... That said, to make it look this 'natural' takes a lot of skill and is an art in itself.



Our house:

"Which one?"

"The Dustbowl - it's a lack half belt".

"But why can't you wear that other one?"

"It's not the same."

"It's a lack leather jacket - they're all the same!"

"No they aren't.... gah. OK. Now where are my black boots?"

"Can't you just wear those ones?"

"They're BROWN!"

"So?"

<<head explodes>>





Ha, yeah. I remember HATING 2013.... stayed so cold through April that I went right from Winter coats to May being too warm for a leather jacket. Vile. If I was ever fabulously wealthy, I'd travel more, and never have to live through Summer again. Just follow the Autumn/ Winter round the globe....

I like a deep blue denim, but the sweet spot for me is when they've had enough washes to take on a bright indigo colour. Tbh, I own so many pairs it's hard to see them ever reaching the fabled white fades look.

There is probably a point where a jacket goes from broken-in to broken-down but I do think that takes an extra level of abuse and multiple owners for it reach that. I *inherited* a cheap, black half-belt type thing that my brother used to wear all the time. It was very cool, mostly because he'd come a cropper while out on his mountain bike (don't ask me why he was a wearing a leather jacket while out cycling). He went skating across the road, which was old unfinished tarmac, giving it an amazing instant-patina that he hated but I loved. It was very thin leather though, and after a few years at university and a lot of lived-in abuse, it just passed into what I felt was the 'worn out' phase before vanishing one day (suspect my brother took it back, but I'm not sure).

 

[tropicalbob]

We've had quite a cool winter down here in the Interzone, so I've gotten a lot of wear out of the old brown CXL HH LHB. I got the jacket in 2011 and have worn it on every possible occasion since then, especially when travelling. So it's funny that this thread popped up just now, as for the first time I've noticed that it might just be at the point where I have to wonder if I can get away with wearing it with a shirt, vest and tie: it's beyond "broken-in" and is now showing lighter strips on the outer edges of the arm creases. I figure I can wear it with, say, a Fair Isle vest, corduroys, denim shirt, and knitted tie, but I'm avoiding white shirts and dress trousers. I'm also keeping an eye out for a lighter-weight, black, non-motorcycle jacket at a ridiculously low price.