Good Wear Leather

[Graeme]

No one seems to have mentioned Good Wear Leather round here, so I thought that they deserved their own thread. They're the leather equivalent of Roy, with John Chapman doing all the cutting and sewing of the jackets.

John's best known for his A2 replicas, and when I was at the Aero factory a few weeks back Will said that if I got the chance to get one. He's got both a Good Wear and an original Doniger, and reckons they're identical.

It's not all flying jackets. There are a couple of half belt variants, and a rather nice Cafe Racer.

Me, I'm really tempted by the M422 replica…

Downsides? There's about a 12 month waiting time, and they're even more expensive than an Aero.

[natehate]

vickie there is a saint

[Qinhan]

@Graeme:

Downsides? There's about a 12 month waiting time, and they're even more expensive than an Aero.

Granted the waiting time is pretty long, but considering that many rate their military repro jackets as the best available anywhere the price still seems pretty fair to me.  Despite the recent price rises, the average Good Wear jacket is still cheaper than most high-end Japanese repros made by companies like the Few or Real McCoy's.

[mclaincausey]

The Few is Real McCoy's of New Zealand, but fair point. I got my RMC Japan for several hundred less than Goodwear and no wait but that was just the magic of eBay. Goodwear should be called Greatwear.
EDIT:  I should add that Goodwear has a proxy service for ordering RMC Japan.

[Graeme]

Actually the Goodwear wait is closer to 18 months these days.

Still waiting for my turn to come up. I'm currently split between the Cafe Racer and M422. Probably in that order of preference.

[tigerpac]

My wallet would break up with me if I pulled on the trigger on one of those beauties

[natehate]

All I bought was a chunk of horse hide

[Arabit]

[Graeme]

@Graeme:

Still waiting for my turn to come up.

Status update: unchanged.

That A2 looks great Arabit.

[seanocono]

^I would love one of their A2s, but I don't think I could handle that kind of wait.

Congrats, Arabit.

[Graeme]

Patience Grasshopper.

Or you could try the sales page…

There's a really nice, original M-444 there. Not made by Good Wear, but some light restoration by Mr Chapman.

[seanocono]

Graeme, you're absolutely right. As a true heirloom piece, the wait is justified. I just need to suck it up.

I think I will skip on the sales page because I want to provide my own measurements. I'll report back when I finally pull the trigger. Thanks for the nudge.

[Arabit]

Yeah it is worth the wait! What are you gonna have JC make Graeme?

[Graeme]

I'm currently thinking Cafe Racer, but an M422 is also tempting. I'm not convinced an A2 will work on my shape so well.

I'll see what JC is doing when I get to the head of the queue…

[Arabit]

John Chapman interview
http://denimbro.com/john-chapman-of-good-wear-leather_topic1101.html

Interesting that he uses Vaseline

[mclaincausey]

He don't use jelly?

[Anesthetist]

@mclaincausey:

He don't use jelly?

He don't use cheese?

[Graeme]

There's a brand-new Good Wear A2 in their sales section. It's a size 44/46 long, and would suit one of the tall, lanky types who seem to populate this forum. It's $1500, if you feel flush.

http://www.goodwearleather.com/pages/sale_rw_0012.html

There's also a used A1 / A2 hybrid in size 40, which is a reasonable $280.

http://www.goodwearleather.com/pages/sale_civvie_0001.html

[Graeme]

If anyone is considering a Good Wear jacket then this gives you a comparison of most of the major styles.

[JDelage]

I just took delivery of my 2nd Good Wear jacket. I'm lucky enough to live 30mn away...