Do you want to talk about vintage leather jackets and cafes, have pics...checkit

H

himelator

Active Member
http://vintageleatherjackets.blogspot.com/

I have 20 years experience in the vintage leather world and am an expert on jackets. If you have pics or a cool jacket send me a line, or if you have a question ask it and I can try and answer. I am always looking for more chatting about leather!

Himel
 
Re: Do you want to talk about vintage leather jackets and cafes, have pics...che

Hey Himel, cool site. I'm at work now so I just took a quick glance. Will read it when I get home.

Right now I have a new jacket, but I'm always looking for an inexpensive vintage jacket. However, I know the look I want but the thing I worry about is if the leather is bike worthy or is it just a normal leather jacket. Is there anyway to tell (i.e. based on brand, etc.) if it is thick enough leather for riding? I don't want to buy a jacket only to find out its basically a cafe looking jacket with thin leather.

Thanks
 
There are 2 major requirements to leather for it to be protective. Leather helps you slide, slide means burnthrough. The faster you go, the longer the slide, the thicker the leather to burn through. Because of this, you need a jacket that has thicker top grain (full grain) leather. Meaning the untreated, unsplit top of the animal skin. The toughest leather in the world is horsehide, second is steerhide. The leather should be stiffer than softer, soft leather is treated and will disintegrate. The "hand" of the leather should be stiff. Finally, the stitching configuration has to be reinforced. Several studies showed that cheaper leathers "exploded" at high speed bursting at the seams. Sadly, jackets made in china and pakistan rarely meet these minimum requirements, and nor do many of the synthetic or "kevlar" based jackets. Remember, no jacket will really protect you from impact, you dont want to catch you want to slide and then gently stop!

himel
 
oh i have a question about salt damaged leather.. when it's already penetrated it and has caused the leather to expand or "bump" up.. is there a way to fix that?
great site BTW, i love leather ;)
 
lovehertz said:
oh i have a question about salt damaged leather.. when it's already penetrated it and has caused the leather to expand or "bump" up.. is there a way to fix that?
great site BTW, i love leather ;)
Click to expand...


There are many types of leather, most likely your talking some kind of boot leather, the only thing is use the salt removers to take out the salt, then use water to remove more salt and then oil the crap out of your leather to swell it and even the finish if it is uncoated. Finally keep it oiled because salt cannot penetrate leather that is well oiled

but raised bumps, nah probably not a lot you can do
 
Okay, how about this? I bought it over 20 years ago at a military antique shop. It has USN perforated inside the zipper flap. I thought it may be of Korean War vintage but another leather expert puts it newer than that. Any info?

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3229805050_9e141a2836.jpg
 
DrJ said:
Okay, how about this? I bought it over 20 years ago at a military antique shop. It has USN perforated inside the zipper flap. I thought it may be of Korean War vintage but another leather expert puts it newer than that. Any info?

3229804346_4bfe1c7998_o.jpg


3228954745_31da2fc556_o.jpg


3229804724_f39ebb0f78_o.jpg


3229805050_9e141a2836.jpg
Click to expand...


It is hard to date the jacket without a pic of the specification tag and the zippers on the cuffs and main. Im not an expert on the patches, but they can be easily researched on the web. It is always hard to determine if patches were added after the original owner, or all along his career or whatever. The jacket is a g-1 goatskin navy issue flight jacket. There are online listings of the specification numbers which will tell you exactly when it was issued, also the date is usually contained in the spec tag. The colour of the liner indicates to me it is korean war or before. It could also be an anj or m422a. It is quite beautiful but looks like it is missing original cuffs and zipps? are you selling it or just showing it.
 
Re: Do you want to talk about vintage leather jackets and cafes, have pics...che

himelator said:
There are 2 major requirements to leather for it to be protective. Leather helps you slide, slide means burnthrough. The faster you go, the longer the slide, the thicker the leather to burn through. Because of this, you need a jacket that has thicker top grain (full grain) leather. Meaning the untreated, unsplit top of the animal skin. The toughest leather in the world is horsehide, second is steerhide. The leather should be stiffer than softer, soft leather is treated and will disintegrate. The "hand" of the leather should be stiff. Finally, the stitching configuration has to be reinforced. Several studies showed that cheaper leathers "exploded" at high speed bursting at the seams. Sadly, jackets made in china and pakistan rarely meet these minimum requirements, and nor do many of the synthetic or "kevlar" based jackets. Remember, no jacket will really protect you from impact, you dont want to catch you want to slide and then gently stop!

himel
Click to expand...

Thank you very much himel, great explanation. What about buying over the internet, like ebay? Is there anyway to know if a certain jacket is suitable as a riding jacket? There are no local shops that carry vintage jackets so I can't really see and feel them in person. Just wondering if there are any tips to look out for? Thanks again.
 
Really its by brand, there are fantastic deals on ebay right now because the entire u.s. economy is in the shithouse. You can buy jackets for 50% of their normal value. If you find one you like send me the link at my other email (the personal one) and for you I will consult. Also...Im going to be making jackets this year, serious horsehide jackets so that is another alternative and the early prototypes will be reasonable compared to the line once it is produced. Also...look for weight and grain. If you can see grain, it usually means the leather is heavy, made in America before 1970 and horsehide are two sure ways to make sure your getting a quality jacket. Look for the skin folds...if it looks like skin it is because it is hide, and that in the end is what is going to protect your pointy bits.
 
My collection is pretty much all Schott, with a couple of Brimaco thrown in. I'll have to post some pics.

I think my favorite Schott is an old motorcycle police jacket. My Brimaco's are the ones I wear all the time - one has maple leafs done in leather down the sleeves - they did a series of these.
 
yeah.. Welcome to the site.
Ive been a fan of your fourm for a while...
Ive always been interested in the vintage racing style jackets made by Golden Crown Bristol, Drospo, British Cycles, etc..etc...
Any insight on those jackets?...

A pretty good book to have for people who appreciate vintage jacket is Rin Tanaka's "Motorcycle Jackets: A Century of Leather Design":
http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Jackets-Century-Leather-Design/dp/0764325191

The only problem with this book is that it focuses only on "the usual" american brands...there are so many nice Canadian made jackets of the same era that just dont get the same kind of attention...

anyhow, over the summer I bought the ultimate jacket only to find that it was far to small for me... :(.. I didnt read the ebay description in detail.. just clicked the " buy it now" button automatically..

IMG_0141-1.jpg

IMG_0145.jpg

IMG_0144.jpg

IMG_0143.jpg


oh well...
I saw the exact same jacket for sale at Exile in Kensington Market $800.... :(
 
Re: Do you want to talk about vintage leather jackets and cafes, have pics...che

Thanks again himel, great information.
 
All those guys, Drospo, Brimaco they were all out of Quebec. The two big fashion centers in Canada for production are Winnipeg and Montreal. Brimaco went out of business about 10 years ago. Family run business, I spoke with the owner over the phone. Im going to try calling him again if he is still alive, but he would be in his 80s now. There are many many smaller Canadian companies that made great jackets, most dissappeared in the 1960s. Just up and down Spadina there were 5 shops specialising in Police, School and motorcycle leather. By the way your jacket is Brimaco's copy of the Harley Davidson Cycle Champ. Someone fixed it up nicely with all those spots. I had one back in the 80s they used to sell for 120 bucks! It was my first Punkrock jacket


Himel
 
Hey great stuff here. I love history.
I have a leather jacket that i would like to know more about.
I'll get some pics up later.
Now i have to do my homework.
:(
 
Hey thanks for the info and glad you joined...I have seen your blog in the past (help that its the first thing that pops up on Google).

So as far as quality of leather in regards to safety, can I really go wrong with a vintage Schott, Brooks, Buco, Brimaco or British Cycle jacket?

For reference, here's some I've been considering:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=220338192776 (really wish I had bought this one, haven't seen anything like it since)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=130284071928
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290292276906&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&viewitem=
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=130284072722

Also this one, but perhaps the hide is not as tough since the grain is not as pronounced as some of the others?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEDWX:IT&item=110339964442
 
LL said:
Hey thanks for the info and glad you joined...I have seen your blog in the past (help that its the first thing that pops up on Google).

So as far as quality of leather in regards to safety, can I really go wrong with a vintage Schott, Brooks, Buco, Brimaco or British Cycle jacket?

For reference, here's some I've been considering:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=220338192776 (really wish I had bought this one, haven't seen anything like it since)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=130284071928
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290292276906&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&viewitem=
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=130284072722
Click to expand...

Nice selection...
I like these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=330303390329
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160312181056&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&viewitem=#ebayphotohosting

Or this one: ;D
IMG_1169.jpg


Or this one:
IMG_0628.jpg
 
Lewis is badass...I only own 2 I wish I had more...that brooks is a copy of a buco police jacket, also a classic!
 
Yeah, Lewis is the ultimate Rocker jacket but few have made it over to North America. Has there ever been a US Lewis distributor or retailer?
 
I'm interested in the non-biker styled late 70s-early 80s styled jackets. I see alot of Members Only offered-I'm guessing those are all looks, correct?
 
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