which one of these is most SA please?

Comments

  • Arbogast 777Arbogast 777 Minneapolis Posts: 595MI6 Agent
    jon_1uk wrote:

    Both are very similar, neither being terribly screen accurate. Personally I'd go for Wested just for their quality. The other one also has two silver buttons at the bottom that shouldn't be there...
  • jon_1ukjon_1uk Posts: 672MI6 Agent
    jon_1uk wrote:

    Both are very similar, neither being terribly screen accurate. Personally I'd go for Wested just for their quality. The other one also has two silver buttons at the bottom that shouldn't be there...


    The 2 silver buttons are holes and the origional Levi one DOES have them..

    http://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/product/levis-vintage-clothing-1930s-leather-jacket
    "some men are coming to kill us, we're going to kill them first"
  • jon_1ukjon_1uk Posts: 672MI6 Agent
    I am looking for people who has each of these, if i am lucky someone who has both so they can compare as it looks like it is a choice between these 2 for me ..
    there is a 3rd option ..maybe .. . http://www.leathercult.com/celebrity-jackets/daniel-craig-skyfall-leather-jacket
    I know people have said" stay away from the indian ones" but hell it looks really good .. i am not being swayed just on price
    i will pay the £175 for the Wested IF it is better then the others ..not just quality but looks as well.
    "some men are coming to kill us, we're going to kill them first"
  • jon_1ukjon_1uk Posts: 672MI6 Agent
    Anybody? please?
    "some men are coming to kill us, we're going to kill them first"
  • canoe2canoe2 Posts: 2,007MI6 Agent
    I know how you feel. I struggled with finding the "right" jacket as well. I don't have any of jackets you're looking at, but I can share my experience.

    The first thing I can tell you is that almost any "bargain" leather jacket is going to be very thin leather and probably poor quality stitching, zippers, etc. Seriously, it will feel like stiff paper. There are exceptions, but you need to really look for them. But in general, I've found that it's just not worth it. And that's not even talking about the cut and fit of the cheaper ones.

    What I did is look for a vintage leather jacket on ebay. The key features for me were the action back, the side adjusters and the collar. I was willing to be flexible on the pockets. There are some amazing deals on high quality, used leather jackets with those features. $60 to $100 is going to get you really close to the mark. The only thing is the sizing and the cut. You definitely need to size down to get a fitted look. And you need to be patient until the right one in your size shows up.

    You won't get an SA jacket. But you will get a good quality one that has the same vintage "feel" as the Menlo for a great price. For example, here's a Gap one for $100 and a Banana Republic one for $75

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-GAP-Dark-Brown-Distressed-LEATHER-Jacket-size-Small-/152256271174?

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mens-BANANA-REPUBLIC-Brown-Leather-DISTRESSED-ZIPPED-Motorcycle-Jacket-Sz-XS-/222239151360?

    If you do want to spend up, the best match I could find was the Eddie Bauer Journeyman, on sale for $300

    http://www.eddiebauer.com/product/men-s-leather-journeyman-bomber-reg--jacket/10112983/_/A-ebSku_0015363220000070__10112983_catalog10002_en__US

    0015362_220B1?$xlarge$

    I hope that helps!
  • James BrosnanJames Brosnan Posts: 865MI6 Agent
    I agree. It's better to go for quality and sacrifice SA features. I use to be SA obsessed, but was never happy with poor quality. Once I switched to quality products that were not as SA, I felt better wearing the clothes/shoes/watches etc. At the same time, I know that feeling of seeing yourself in SA details, so it's really a matter of personal taste. I don't own the replicas you speak of, but I do own the newer season Menlo, and I can tell you that those replicas might have the SA features, but they do not carry the SA vibe. The vibe primarily comes through texture, distressing, and quality. The Menlo is extremely soft and not a glossy hard leather. I would try and find a high quality, vintage sheep skin or distressed jacket on eBay that is in the ball park in terms of SA features. Hope that's helpful. -{
    "Whoever she was, I must have scared the living daylights out of her." & "Tell mother I died game."
    CR/QoS, TLD, DN, GE, TSWLM, LTK, TND, TWiNE, TMWTGG, TB
    http://www.iconicalternatives.com/author/james-brosnan/
    https://www.instagram.com/shawn.michael.bongiorno/
  • AlbiebackAlbieback Posts: 3MI6 Agent
    Just to add to what the others have already said, I would always go with quality over screen accuracy, especially if this is a piece which you want to get real use out of.

    I've never had the original Levi's Menlo, but last week I received my Wested Skyfall Style Jacket, which I'm super happy with! The quality of the leather and stitching is bang-on, and at ~£200 a Made in UK jacket is a bargain.

    My advice would be to go for the Wested jacket, but if you go to their Custom Filmwear page on their site, you can order a custom version of the jacket for £199 if you can stomach the extra cash. My understanding is that the original Levi's jacket was very fitting in the chest, with an unusually short body section as per 1930s style. The problem with the off-the-rack jacket from Wested and most other suppliers (including the LeatherCult one), is that they will not necessarily be close fitting enough and most likely won't have a short body.

    If you order the custom from Wested, you can specify the sleeve length, chest measurement and back length, which means you can nail the sleeve length right down to your knuckles if you want and have the back length ending where your trousers start, just like the original. This is what I did, and I'm so happy with the result! You can also specify the leather you want, most people seem to like the Pre-Distressed Lambskin or Shrunken Lambskin but I fancied goatskin which is slightly heavier but with an awesome grain and darker in colour. Also, the off-the-rack version has standard buckles on the back but when I ordered my custom Wested were happy to put D-rings on instead for free! So all I can find about my Wested that isn't SA is the lack of silly holes in the front at the bottom of the zip, the lack of distressing in the leather and the collar is a bit bigger than the Levi's. I'm not bothered by the collar or the holes and the jacket will get distressed as I wear it :D

    In summary, I think the Wested is an absolute bargain for £200, it's got all the right details, the right fit, choice of leather, nice weight, custom fit, and the customer service is excellent. Highly recommended :D
  • James BrosnanJames Brosnan Posts: 865MI6 Agent
    Albieback makes some fantastic points. I was unaware that it came in a customizable option and lamb or goat skin distressed options! That's is very awesome because then you can get the quality with the SA details. The jacket length is particularly short, and is one of the defining features, so I agree that a short length is hard to find in OTS jackets.
    "Whoever she was, I must have scared the living daylights out of her." & "Tell mother I died game."
    CR/QoS, TLD, DN, GE, TSWLM, LTK, TND, TWiNE, TMWTGG, TB
    http://www.iconicalternatives.com/author/james-brosnan/
    https://www.instagram.com/shawn.michael.bongiorno/
  • AlbiebackAlbieback Posts: 3MI6 Agent
    Thanks James! They do a fair few of them with custom options for £20 extra for an exact fit. It's shorter than anything I've ever owned and I thought it was too short until I put it on and it all made sense :))
    The Wested ones haven't got the greenish brown tones of the original but the dark brown goatskin looks dark enough and will lighten up with some distressing.

    I'm putting mine away for my birthday in a couple of weeks :(
  • jon_1ukjon_1uk Posts: 672MI6 Agent
    Thanks guys...glad you said this as yesterday i "pulled the trigger" on a second hand Wested for £85.00 ... its the skyfall one in Shrunken Lambskin ...
    "some men are coming to kill us, we're going to kill them first"
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