Club Obi Wan

GQ's (Gentleman's Quarterly) website had an interesting presentation on "How To Buy A Leather Jacket" HERE (and follow the "Find the Right One" link highlighted in red). Whether you agree with the general fashion consensus or not, I thought it was an interesting read, although they contardicted themselves in one part when they say "The Three Styles That Matter: Fatigue, Motocross, and Bomber", but go on to argue to stay away from them Here's an excerpt:

How Not to Buy a Leather Jacket

• You are not Indiana Jones; leave the distressed brown leather bomber jacket to Harrison Ford.

• And on that note, those World War II tobacco-brown replica bombardier jackets? Absolutely not.

• No patches.

• Leather jacket, good; leather blazer, not so good.

• Unless you just climbed off a Ducati, please refrain from padded, striped racing jackets.

• Zippers, yes; buttons, no.

• And remember, you’re not buying a leather coat, you’re buying a leather jacket. It should fit like one.

Enjoy,


;-)

It's a reasonable feature but I have to disagree with arm length (as well as comments on the vintage side). Biker-style / cafe racer jackets should have longer sleeves than normal.

Indiana Neri wrote:GQ's (Gentleman's Quarterly) website had an interesting presentation on "How To Buy A Leather Jacket" HERE (and follow the "Find the Right One" link highlighted in red). Whether you agree with the general fashion consensus or not, I thought it was an interesting read, although they contardicted themselves in one part when they say "The Three Styles That Matter: Fatigue, Motocross, and Bomber", but go on to argue to stay away from them Here's an excerpt:

How Not to Buy a Leather Jacket

• You are not Indiana Jones; leave the distressed brown leather bomber jacket to Harrison Ford.

• And on that note, those World War II tobacco-brown replica bombardier jackets? Absolutely not.

• No patches.

• Leather jacket, good; leather blazer, not so good.

• Unless you just climbed off a Ducati, please refrain from padded, striped racing jackets.

• Zippers, yes; buttons, no.

• And remember, you’re not buying a leather coat, you’re buying a leather jacket. It should fit like one.

Enjoy,


;-)

Actually, I didn't think they were arguing to stay away from them. They're talking about a bomber "style", and recommending against replica bomber jackets, and such. I actually agree with everything they say, except the part about me not being Indiana Jones.

DVD Connoisseur wrote:It's a reasonable feature but I have to disagree with arm length (as well as comments on the vintage side). Biker-style / cafe racer jackets should have longer sleeves than normal.

You're right about longer sleeves on cafe racer jackets. I do agree with the article about people wearing racing jackets when they don't own a motorcycle. I ride and think it's fine to wear a cafe racer style even if you're not a motorcyclist. However you should not wear the colorful racing ones because you'll just look foolish without a bike.

_ wrote:LOL! Yep - written for gents who use "product"...

I thought everyone here uses "product"?

Is it just me but is the article a bit hypocritical to the pics of the jackets they use as examples?

Distressed brown bombers are a “no-no” but washed/distressed black bomber jackets are okay?

I also love that the some of the jackets cost a few grand. A leather jacket is a long-term investment?

Besides the Belstaff and the Perfecto wannabees. the other styles will look dated and out of style in a couple years something the Indiana Jones jacket will not.

they should of just said:

"please constrain your purchase of leather jacketst to designer brand jackets so that the people that we advertise for, keep paying us exorbitant fees to run their ads."

i've handled many....MANY...leather jackets. paying $1100 for a D&G leather jacket that is as light as a todd's standard but with higher end leather just doesn't sit well with me ;-)

I'm with you, G. I worked in Nordstrom for almost a year and one of the Men's sections was for the 'high end" of the "high end" store, called Faconable - a word that not a lot of people can pronounce I remember getting in this black leather jacket that was - I think - $800.00 or $900.00 and I remember putting it on and I felt like the leather was gonna tear just by sneezing too hard. Sure it was soft, but not $900-soft. One day off, I came in the store and I had my distressed Wested and I got a few "nice jacket" (in a good way) comments. It makes you wonder, though, who really wants to pay for something that MIGHT not be as good of quality (some of it isn't) when you get something quite better that will last a lifetime, but just doesn't have a "known" label on it? GOD, do I hate the rich and their American Express BLACK card


;-)

Part of the reason St. Dumas likes wearing a brown leather bomber jacket is precisely because everyone else isn't. Thanks for making my point, GQ article.

SD

I must admit when I was walking through 'House of Fraser' the other month, curiosity too the better of me and I tried on a 'Superdry' 'leather' jacket.

Now, you guys know me, I usually wear a small or at the most a medium I couldn't get an arm in each sleeve of the Superdry 'S' it was that small it must have been a 34 or something! The L was just about wearable but it was a freakishly soft leather, felt like blown latex rubber.

The only saving grace was that it was only about $300, there were Timberland leather jackets in the same store costing $900, plus many far more expensive ones too.

I have a replica seal brown horse hide A-2 jacket,and my wested goat skin are my 2 jackets. GQ is not for me. All the jackets I saw are way over priced and I would bet the quality of the leather is nothing compared to a good wested, Nowak,Eastman or US Authentic. My brother in law is a fashion slave and he loved my A-2 jacket couldn't believe how warm it was or how thick and well made. So that article to me has no credit. Like someone said it's a sales ad,paid for the company that sells those jackets.

_ wrote: LOL! And Nordy's sold licensed Indy jackets after LC was released...

I had NO idea Any recolection of the price at the time?


So fashion cues aside, does GQ's advice hold water, as far as the fit of the jacket and things like that?


;-)

If I recall correctly, there was a whole line of Indy licensed products.

Lucas pretty much allowed the Indiana Jones label to be added onto anything in the mid to late 80's. They basically put the Indiana Jones label on jackets that weren't even remotely close to looking like an Indy jackets.

I remember that - in fact I had one when I was a young boy. It actually looked more of a [@#$% - I forget the name of it ] bomber's jacket....the one with the fur collar and cuffs. If, I can recall, I believe that jacket had the fur as a removable liner and I remember the inside of it had an illustration of Indy on the white horse and his head is tilted JUST so, you can't see his eyes and I remember thinking - and still do - that it was such a bad-as s picture. Of course I threw it away a long time ago, but somethimes you just WISH you held on to something


;-)

psssshhhh GQ, what do THEY know?

NIBS

Bad taste.

In a couple of years the fashion will make a 180 and they'll be endorsing what they've just slammed.

Indiana Jess wrote:In a couple of years the fashion will make a 180 and they'll be endorsing what they've just slammed.

Yes, you're very right! ;-)

Every couple of months they do a Barneys sale in a hangar at a local airport. Occasionally I go in there for a chuckle. I’ve never actually bought anything. I did check out their leather jackets one time. What I saw was that they were of decent quality, but none were as well made as what comes from our regular vendors. They were all pretty much uniformly made in the orient. Even at the half off price, they were all too much money for what you were getting. I hope there’s a Top Gun 2, so GQ will tell me it’s OK to wear my patched jackets again?

whipitgood wrote:

DVD Connoisseur wrote:It's a reasonable feature but I have to disagree with arm length (as well as comments on the vintage side). Biker-style / cafe racer jackets should have longer sleeves than normal.

You're right about longer sleeves on cafe racer jackets. I do agree with the article about people wearing racing jackets when they don't own a motorcycle. I ride and think it's fine to wear a cafe racer style even if you're not a motorcyclist. However you should not wear the colorful racing ones because you'll just look foolish without a bike.

Actually, I think the colorful racing ones look foolish even with a bike.

I always loved the 80's "Knight Rider" look.

That fits tighter than a Raiders shirt!

They misplaced the patch pockets, too, unless it's meant for a wearer with really short arms!

binkmeisterRick wrote:They misplaced the patch pockets, too, unless it's meant for a wearer with really short arms!

It's to support his moobs after he gains a few

Most of those "fashionable" stick-thin jackets pictured look as if they were pulled from Milla Jovovich's Resident Evil wardrobe, or Lara Croft's motorcycle gear. While I am, admittedly, no fashion plate, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a shred of this pretentious bourgeois trash. That first bit of arrogant Indy-bashing condecension was probably written by some uptight L.A. fashion yuppie who has probably never straddled a motorcycle in his life.

Screw you, GQ Magazine!

Ah don't sugar coat it WW tell'em what you really think..........Hatch

binkmeisterRick wrote:They misplaced the patch pockets, too, unless it's meant for a wearer with really short arms!

You would need arms like a T-Rex to use those...

There are fashion jackets - which is fine if that is what you are into, and then there are "real" jackets. It is okay to have a few of the jackets they mention in the article. You can never have too many leather jackets. But I prefer to have a leather jacket or two that has some longevity after 20 years and a lining replacement or two ("character").

Remember Brando as Johnny Strabler in The Wild One? Or Joey Ramone onstage at CBGB? They were cloaked in leather jackets so hard and stiff, you wonder how they lifted their arms past their waists.

I own several of the Schott Perfecto jackets and as nice as they are, they are not overly stiff, nor are they that expensive as they are under $600 brand new. If you have trouble lifting your arms past your waist, it is not the jacket that is the problem.

The article is comparing functional jackets like bombers and biker jackets to fashion jackets made from lamb and calfskin. The article should be titled "How To Buy A Non-Functional, Overpriced, Temporarily-In-Style, Designer Jacket." I do agree with the comments about the fit (unless we are talking about sleeve length and motorcycle jackets, that is).

This article focuses on the same thing many people here are looking for. A jacket that is soft and broken-in right out of the box. Let's see where that jacket is in 20 years. I will compare it to my Schott Perfecto in 2030.

Oh, and brown jackets look cooler broken-in and distressed than black ones, in my opinion and they do not give the motorcycle-heinie look that many wish to avoid with a leather jacket. I have heard so many people try on a leather jacket and say "I look like a biker in this..."

'you are not Indiana Jones'

Okay, granted, but here's my opinion: wearing an IJ jacket with no other IJ apparel (no fedora, special IJ shirt or pants, no shoulder bag, whip or gun) rarely would give rise to the average person thinking 'Indiana Jones'. Most people are simply not attuned to this degree to things 'IJ'. You could wear an IJ jacket on the 'Tonight Show' with no other IJ articles and I don't think it would be noticed - except by us .

I like the IJ jacket on it's own and wear mine most of the time when a light jacket is required. I also use a clone 'A2' for a slightly heavier jacket, and a leather 'M65' field jacket for the worst weather. I believe the article is referring to the 'B3' bomber crew jacket with shearling sheepskin as a 'no-no', not the A2. Many mistakenly refer to the 'A2' as a 'bomber jacket'. While it most certainly was worn by officers on bombers, it is very different from the B3 'bomber jacket'.

I only ever wear my Indy with jeans or my work clothes - not all of us dress up in costume. I wear it because no one has managed to convince me that an A2 jacket looks anything but trashy. Sorry..

;-)

I definitely agree with you 191145. I can't recall one single time since wearing an IJ jacket (many, many years now) that someone has made an Indiana Jones comment. The hat has brought on a few comments, mostly really positive, over the years but the jacket on it's own, the average person does not even realize that I have an Indy jacket on my back. I do wear the two together now and then especially when it's colder out and at those times I might get an Indy comment or question but never, so far, if it's just the jacket and normal everyday wear.

Ah don't sugar coat it WW tell'em what you really think..........

I was trying to restrain myself!

Yeah, that was one of his GENTLER rants on this topic, as I recall.

Regards! Michaelson

I try never to rant, but that article incensed me. Truth be told, I feel as strongly about my jacket as Indy does about his hat. It's my second skin.

whipwarrior wrote:I try never to rant, ....

Ok, 'tirade', YOU choose the word. ;-)

Regards! Michaelson

Tirade it is!!!

I must agree on people not noticing that you're wearing an Indy jacket. I have been wearing Indy jackets for almost half a year on a daily basis and only one person immediately saw what it was. That person is a collegue at the cinema I work at, and therefore a complete movie-nut, so that doesn't realy count ;-)

Regards, Geert