Jacket Porn

[Anonymous]

Check out the grain on this Dubow 20960. Courtesy of Good Wear Leather.

It does have to be said - albeit it with a bit of tongue in cheek - that this looks a lot like the old steerhide jackets that Steve Silburn made under the 'Sefton' brand.

But it does look sweet. :mrgreen:

Dave

 

[Andrew]

What it reminds me of.

 

[Cobblers161]

Here you go Grant, a few shots of the old stuff. Very nice but not a patch on this latest hide it's definately flatter and lacks the pebbling found on the Dubow. The back panel displays little character but still a damn fine jacket however and there is no way this baby will ever be sold:

Shots are a little on the dark side but you get the idea. The only issue I have is that it wears really easily, looking at original images there are many A-2's that despite having seen some use do not display aggresive wear marks. I'd prefer it if the hide were a little more resistant to wear, just a smidgin.

 

[Falcon_52]

What it reminds me of.

Right on! I almost forgot about that photo. Spectacular stuff.

Noel

 

[Grant]

Steve,
I see what you mean about the much lighter color of the base wearing through. Not sure if that's correct for a Bronco but I've seen that on original Aero's, Perry's and United's. Overall the jacket looks kick ass and will just keep looking better the more you beat the shit out of it. I asked John about the light base color and he told me if you rub the areas with your fingers the oils in your skin darken them slightly to a more russet color. Noticed the original Crown - nice touch! Those puppies are going for over $300 these days!

Living in NYC I gotta get a good Bronco repro, it's only right since the old Bronco factory used to be here. There I go again talking myself into another repro A-2. The sickness never ends!

 

[Cliff]

Your a very naughty man Grant, I for one like the wrinkles and the folds and what that would lead to after a few years wear !

 

[airfrogusmc]

WOW that looks beautiful. Thanks Grant for posting that. I think

 

[buzzthetower]

Here are some photos of the original United that was copied. The finish looks identical in how it ages...

http://www.goodwearleather.com/originals/united/

And a Dubow 23379 with similar leather:

http://www.goodwearleather.com/originals/dubow_23379/

The second shipment definitely had more grain, but was the same finish color. It's true that using skin oil will darken the base leather color.

J

 

[better duck]

That is one of the nicest renderings of an A-2 that I have ever seen. In truth I have been getting a little jaded to the stitch counting attitude that we all have, you know like dimples on the nipples, loose over tight knits, this zip with that contract, conmar on the puller and the slider etc etc. It is all very necessary at the level we operate at but I was getting to a point where I was that close to the elephant all I could see was grey. Because what we are talking about is a leather jacket and the whole should be greater than the sum of all those parts.
Take a step back and that thing says ww2 quality (for better or worse) from a distance never mind close up. Keep zooming in and it loses none of its initial appeal.

Thats my thoughts on this one.

Well said, sir!

 

[Tim P]

deze jasje is erg mooi.

 

[Andrew]

Occasionally walking along i'll scrape past a rough wall just to add a few more scars to my old GW Dubow, but I don't think i'd be doing that with this leather. Now that the leather has reached such heights of beauty I wonder how many aside from CBI ( )would be tempted to fiddle with it.

 

[Cobblers161]

Andrew, it ages fine without (I'm talking about the first batch here but it's the same finish). I'm a bit ruffty tuffty with my jackets and this has come on leaps and bounds, It certainly won't need babying but normal daily wear will bring forth a lovely character. The reason mine looks so worn after a only a few months is down to me taking two tumbles(don't ask but booze was involved), fixing my scooter whilst wearing said jacket hence a few scrapes on metal surfaces/edges and exactly as you say doing the obligatory wall scraping. It doesn't need it and will age perfectly in a normal fashion.

 

[pipvh]

Leather jackets are made for mishaps... My next-to-last one ended up with quite a lot of the red, red kroovy (mine) all over it after a mishap outside CBGBs. You can't buy that sort of character (but you can ask someone to kick you in the face)!

Great jacket, Cobblers - is that a Zippo in the pocket, by any chance?

 

[delta102uk]

Here you go Grant, a few shots of the old stuff. Very nice but not a patch on this latest hide it's definately flatter and lacks the pebbling found on the Dubow. The back panel displays little character but still a damn fine jacket however and there is no way this baby will ever be sold:

Shots are a little on the dark side but you get the idea. The only issue I have is that it wears really easily, looking at original images there are many A-2's that despite having seen some use do not display aggresive wear marks. I'd prefer it if the hide were a little more resistant to wear, just a smidgin.

Here's a few shots of my Aero "Jerky horsehide" A-2, the leather is very thick and has quite a bit of grain....I bought this from Aero a few years back, but always regret not going for the seal... ....so I guess at some point this jacket might be up for sale?

Sean K

 

[Anonymous]

It looks GREAT Sean. Enjoy it. Personally I think russett ages better than seal. The contradt between the seal outer and much paler sub-surface makes the contrast as it gets scraped a bit too much and makes the jacket look scruffier rather than cooler.

However, if you ever do decide to sell, please PM me !

Dave

 

[delta102uk]

It looks GREAT Sean. Enjoy it. Personally I think russett ages better than seal. The contradt between the seal outer and much paler sub-surface makes the contrast as it gets scraped a bit too much and makes the jacket look scruffier rather than cooler.

However, if you ever do decide to sell, please PM me !

Dave

.....yeah it's a nice jacket and attracts compliments when ever I wear it, but I much prefer the darker shades and tend to grab this one on the way out the door (see pic below)...it's an Aero budget horsehide that cost half the price of the russett A-2....I'm still searching for the perfect repro A-2 so my next purchase will be either ELC or GW??!! (I'll keep you in mind if I decide to sell the russett A-2).

Sean K

 

[Marv]

I with you on the seal shades Sean, l like the look of the budget Aero wouldn't be able to tell it was....I also have one of the Aero budget goatskin A2's with the berry knits in seal and for the price it's brilliant.
I keep looking at more A2's but can't really justify another unless I sell some my currently owned to fund the process, I do like the look of the new ELC Roughwear but also like the Goodwear version as well but with shipping from the US and UK custom charges and the crap pound/dollar rate the ELC looks more in my price range.
With the ELC I would probably need to handle and try one on for size etc. (probably at Duxford) before I make any decsions then I will have to sell my other A2s first so I'll just keep drooling for the time being and reading the reviews as they come in.

 

[wop54]

Serious question, ' can there be too much grain ? '

Sure there can .... heavy graining probably works best in contrast with relatively smooth panels.

I tried to capture heavily grainy areas in contarst with smooth panels, in my GW Rough Wear 1401-p.

 

[Swing]

This is one of the better grainy reproductions I've ever seen. Only thing I'd liked to have seen done differently with it would have been having that grain at the chest down on the belly, and the smoother areas up on the chest. IMO, areas of heavy grain seem to look best then they're either at the belly or upper arm.

Very nice jacket Grant!

~Swing

 

[Grant]

Swing, it is a sweet jacket but sorry to say it's not mine. John had sent me a couple photos showing me a jacket he'd just made from the new pigment hide. Here's a photo of my year old GW goatskin Dubow. I know too may people don't care for goat but the skins John's using are about as close as you can get to WWII issue.