Opinions on course of action.

[Baron Kurtz]

I will preface this thread with the statement that i'm almost decided to do nothing. Anyway …

I picked up a very early 1930s named and dated (in pen on inside, probably by owner) American suede jacket for a laughable price on Saturday. It is too big for me, so will be sold (no collector, I). The jacket has an early grommet Talon zipper with the deco puller so often seen 'round these parts. It is the pin-lock type. There are two front pockets, flapped, saddlebag type. The jacket is lined in a heavy tweed wool - brown with darker brown check. It was sold by R. H. Macy & Co, and bears their very simple white cursive script on black background rectangular label at the neck region of the liner.

But there are two issues with the jacket:

1) It used to have waist adjuster straps/buckles, which are long since gone, but the stitch holes remain.

2) It seems to have had adjuster straps at the wrists also (though i'm not so certain about this. The only evidence is 4 unstitched seams where the straps would have attached at the cuff).

The jacket kinda looks like this one, but with a zipper:

There are, of course, various courses of action. Most simple is to just leave the jacket as is for the buyer to deal with. Next is to try to replace the missing parts, either with a contrasting leather or trying to match the leather. I'm quite handy with the needle, and have fixed up jackets of similar vintage before. I imagine that the missing features - particularly the waist buckles, as the wrist seams can simply be stitched closed and no-one would know there were ever straps there i the first place - have reduced the inherent value of the jacket and replacing them would presumably do so even further

 

[Lignemaginot]

I will preface this thread with the statement that i'm almost decided to do nothing. Anyway …

I picked up a very early 1930s named and dated (in pen on inside, probably by owner) American suede jacket for a laughable price on Saturday. It is too big for me, so will be sold (no collector, I). The jacket has an early grommet Talon zipper with the deco puller so often seen 'round these parts. It is the pin-lock type. There are two front pockets, flapped, saddlebag type. The jacket is lined in a heavy tweed wool - brown with darker brown check. It was sold by R. H. Macy & Co, and bears their very simple white cursive script on black background rectangular label at the neck region of the liner.

But there are two issues with the jacket:

1) It used to have waist adjuster straps/buckles, which are long since gone, but the stitch holes remain.

2) It seems to have had adjuster straps at the wrists also (though i'm not so certain about this. The only evidence is 4 unstitched seams where the straps would have attached at the cuff).

The jacket kinda looks like this one, but with a zipper:

There are, of course, various courses of action. Most simple is to just leave the jacket as is for the buyer to deal with. Next is to try to replace the missing parts, either with a contrasting leather or trying to match the leather. I'm quite handy with the needle, and have fixed up jackets of similar vintage before. I imagine that the missing features - particularly the waist buckles, as the wrist seams can simply be stitched closed and no-one would know there were ever straps there i the first place - have reduced the inherent value of the jacket and replacing them would presumably do so even further

If you enjoy fixing these things up and think you can do a good job, I don't see any reaosn not to do it. However, if I'm going to sell something, I invariably do nothing to it, regardless of what it needs (well, I might put some Lexol on it) - making the repairs, in my opinion, does not raise the value of the jacket at all, and may in fact decrease it. Collectors will want it as is, and non-collectors may want to do the repairs themselves. So, in summary - if you're going to keep it and wear it, do the repairs if it makes you happy; if you're going to sell it, don't do anything. My two cents.