How much do you spent ...

[ties70]

When the addiction first started, back in the early 2000s, I bought quite a lot of jackets, sometimes 2 per month, new and off E-Bay.
Those were the days before marriage, before the kid, before the house, and most importantly: before the shared family bank account...

Guess I spent the equivalent of a nice car...which, by the way, I had as well: a Mazda Miata, then a first series BMW Z3 (which I crashed) and then another later model Z3.

Do I miss it?
Keeping in mind that most of the jackets are long sold, not because of money issues, but because of their fit or a change of my personal preferences...no!
Now it's a FIAT 500 instead of a nice convertible...no regrets as well.

There was a time for that an now it's just different, but still cool.
Sure, I can't act on impulse any longer when I see nice jackets round here. At least not without raising some eyebrows from my wife, who is very good in keeping the money together....this might be a absolutely no-go for other guys but it works for me, as it ensures a quite financially-comfortable family life with the possibilities of going on vacation three times a year or even take a year off from work if we want to...

The last jacket purchase was from GW back in 2010...

Ties

 

[Smithy]

Well said Ties.

Now that I'm married and have kids I wouldn't even entertain the idea of spending vast amounts on jackets now. The problem for me is that prices have shot up over the last few years at an astronomical rate and in most cases (at least with the big names) are now stupidly overpriced. I can afford them but just can't justify spending what amounts to highway robbery in some instances, and especially now with a wife and two kids.

My last was an ATF B-10 from January last year which I'm very happy with and proves that you can still buy good jackets for reasonable prices. I've got a couple more left that I want to pick up but they'll either be secondhand or from one of the more reasonable priced crowds like ATF, AVI LTHR, etc.

 

[ties70]

Smithy,

I can still see the reason for spending good money on stuff.
I wear selvedge denim and have footwear from Redwing, Thorogood, even a pair of White boots...these things last a lifetime, just like the leather jackets we all so admire.

But on the other hand I know that I am really privileged to be able to buy these things and say "I can't afford to buy cheap!"
There is definitely a market for the AVIs, ATFs, Bronsons and so on...and style should not be a question of money but a state of mind!

When it came to leather jackets, the premium jackets I had might have been sewn politically correct, made of organic cotton thread and leather from cows and horses which died of old age....they were still partly s**tty jackets, because they were ill-fitting, uncomfortable or had other issues...

Best regards,

Ties

 

[Smithy]

I can still see the reason for spending good money on stuff.

Me too Ties. I splashed out quite a bit just recently on a new hacking jacket and some cap toe suede Oxfords. The problem is that I think a lot of the premier jackets are now ludicrously overpriced for what they are. I don't mind paying top dollar for something but I'm not prepared to be fleeced either.

 

[Brettafett]

Waaaayyyy too much.... It terrifies me to think. I never intended to do so, but the bug caught and the quest to find 'the one' took hold...
I have a couple of 'top tier' jackets on the way or in the pipe so too speak, but will then be clamping down... way down.
That said, those mid range jackets, like the AVI Bronco are pretty good, I have no issue trying them out... If they come out with a darker russet I'd go for another one, and I'm sure theres more jackets on the horizon... But I can live with the compromise... I can feed a middle of the road goat, but am struggling to justify feeding a top-tier standing horse

 

[ties70]

Guys,

Yesterdays discussion made me curious to find out where the money actually went...

And I have to admit that there are a couple of jackets I vaguely know about but simply can not remember correctly, so I left them out of the list:
This includes at least another "silver on black" label G-1, and 3 "White label" G-1s, plus jackets that are only slightly considered to be flight / military jackets, like a G-1 from ORVIS...

If you want to see a pattern:

- I have tried them all...
- I have kept a few of the many premium maker jackets when it comes to USAAF
- For everything else it's more fit and fun than authenticity

Best regards,

Ties

 

[Smithy]

There's a hell of a lot of money in that chart Ties

 

[ties70]

...and it is getting even scarier...

I just noticed that I forgot an ELC RW 1401, the ELC Werber and the ELC Pearl Harbor A-2....all long sold.

If these jackets were women, I could by right be called a "male slut"...pardon my French, guys!

Ties

 

[Smithy]

Jacket sluts wouldn't be a very inaccurate description of us lot!

 

[Pilot]

Jacket sluts wouldn't be a very inaccurate description of us lot!

Well said!

 

[Pilot]

Guys,

Yesterdays discussion made me curious to find out where the money actually went...

And I have to admit that there are a couple of jackets I vaguely know about but simply can not remember correctly, so I left them out of the list:
This includes at least another "silver on black" label G-1, and 3 "White label" G-1s, plus jackets that are only slightly considered to be flight / military jackets, like a G-1 from ORVIS...

If you want to see a pattern:

- I have tried them all...
- I have kept a few of the many premium maker jackets when it comes to USAAF
- For everything else it's more fit and fun than authenticity

Best regards,

Ties

Impressive, wow!

 

[Stony]

Buy low, sell high. Funny how that rarely works. Flight jackets are a passion just as any other hobby and your dedication to your hobby is reflected by how much money you're willing to spend or how many you're willing to buy. As we all know, we are just caretakers for most of our items and they will eventually pass onto other caretakers (hopefully) so they can enjoy them. The one thing military that I've had the longest is a now faded and aging A-3 mechanics cap I've had for about 25 years. I've worn it playing softball, working in the yard and fishing. It has lots of sweat stains and blood spots from fish I've caught, and most importantly, lots of memories literally stamped into it.

 

[silvio76]

I actually don't spend much now. Last one I bought was an ATF B-10 which I got in January. But I've had periods where by my standards I've gone a bit nuts, I went through a phase for B-15s in 2013 and bought 6 which looking back on it was silly.

Now all I've got my sights on is a new A-2, and a tanker from ATF.

Another factor for me is that I think that the prices for repro jackets from all the high end makers now are downright bloody ridiculous. I've spoken about this before but the way prices have risen over the last decade are frankly crazy. I bought an ELC 1940 Pattern Irvin in August 2007. The price increase from then to today is around 83%. An ELC house HH A-2 has in that period has gone from 387 quid to 750 which is a 94% increase. And not to pick on ELC but show this is across the board, an Aero Real Deal A-2 has gone from 300 quid to 580 so a 93% increase. Now it might just be me but I'd put good money on most peoples salaries not increasing by 83 to 94% over the last decade. I'm lucky and could actually afford to buy a new ELC, Aero or even a GW but being especially interested in repro jackets over the last decade and seeing these sorts of price hikes during this period they just demonstrate how over the top they have climbed in price. Added to that, for me at least, is a very large discrepancy between what you pay and what you get/what it's intrinsically worth. The new crop of repros now have reached the point for me at least where they're not worth the price, and I can't justify the outlay even though I can afford it.

I'm one of those who have shifted onto the secondhand market now and that's where my next A-2 will be coming from. A good jacket at a fair price is all I ask for.

agree with you.

 

[Rutger]

Must be less then 50 euro per month nowadays. Never bothered to count but an ELC, two GW, a BK, an ELC A1, somewhere like 15 BR, many versions of the CWU type, and a fair number of US Army flightjackets, and a few original MA1 and L2B will likely add up to a nice second hand family car. Given the price increases for A2's I'm glad I either bought them new years and years ago, or through VLJ second hand in great condition.

 

[Pilot]

I stopped counting approx. 10 years ago...oewas it 15...20...stopped counting.