ELC new sky high release!

[écrivain]

Welcome aboard, @écrivain!

Thank you. I've been around for some time even before joining properly, I just never had anything to say as I'm the quiet type. I'm old enough to have bought an A2 from the fledgling Aero Leathers in the 80s, when it was the Thrift Shop in Falcon Road, Clapham Junction. My friend had a light brown A2 and he told me to go to the Thrift Shop where I could find one of my own. The leather was very thin and I always wanted something with a bit more substance to it. I bought a second jacket that was a little bit like a G1. I don't remember where they went in the following years. Probably got put in a box of old clothes and thrown out during a house move or when I went to work abroad.

 

[Smithy]

When I kicked off this thread it certainly wasn’t intended as anti ELC - far from it I really like their gear, always went to and often bought from their marquee at Duxford airshow but just cannot understand how, no matter how good they are, paying that much for boots. A good leather jacket looked after will last a lifetime and beyond as originals prove but boots wear out and repairing them don’t come cheap either - £300 Redwings are £100+ to re-sole!!! All that aside, even if money was no object I just wouldn’t pay that sort of money. But, you pay your money you take your choice, as the saying goes. No disrespect to ELC.

I think Wayne has conveyed eloquently and better than me at least, what some of us were trying to say in this thread.

I'll always have a soft spot for ELC, their 2 panel Irvin was my Grail jacket when I first got bit by the jacket bug, and when I finally got one I was (and still am) completely stoked with it. I must've spent hours drooling over their website and their jackets as well.

I have nothing against them and I still think most of their stuff looks awesome but Like Wayne, I'm just not willing to pay that kind of money for what they are and what they're offering. There's obviously a lot of people who are and fair play to them. Me personally, if I'm going to spend north of a grand for a jacket, I'll be putting my money John's way but that's just me. Heaps of people want to send it ELC's way and that's all good too.

Neither is right or wrong, it's up to the person paying the money and what they want to spend it on.

Once again, nicely articulated Wayne.

 

[Chandler]

Eastman do seem to be hated here. Shame imo.

I'm beginning to believe this observation a little more.

 

[Micawber]

i have owned three ELC jackets. One is the Werber A-2 that Micawber now owns with an incorrectly installed zipper that's fraying. One is an Irvin that John L said he wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole (or something along those lines). I have to say that I would never buy another jacket from ELC. I do own an A-!. It is pretty nice, but the leather lacks a certain amount of character--perhaps that will come with more wear. But I have had lots of dealings with John Lofgren when he owned Speedway Shop and sold directly from Japan. I bought several shirts from him. He was always great to deal with and the quality was stellar. I have tried on his engineer boots at Self Edge in NYC. The quality was excellent, but the price was too high for me. But for the quality, I think the price was probably justified. I could just not justify the price for myself.

Did you buy that jacket from ELC then?

 

[entertainment]

Did you buy that jacket from ELC then?

Bought from Nickb123. (Also the ELC A-1 that I still have. Thanks, Nick! I do like the A-1 despite my comments. I also got a nice GW Doniger from him that I love.)

https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/eastman-werber-44.27081/post-328356

 

[ausreenactor]

Couldn't agree more Jeff. Nice jackets but all their clobber is overpriced for what they are now and what you get.

I'd much rather throw that kind of money John's way - simply lovely guy, ultimate attention to detail, and made to measure.

Each to their own but that's why I'm spending well over a grand on a GW and not an ELC.

And if I ever want another US flight jacket it'll always be GW over ELC.

Life's too short to wait for a jacket!

 

[Mr. Mike]

No hate discussion at all! – just astonishment.

We’re a fine group of aficionados and experts addicted to an object which can be well considered off mainstream-interest.
Now, if a sensed majority of that group is left behind affordability to acquire (new) ELC products one could deduce that we’re probably no longer the target market.

To me this remains the actual sober finding of this news and thread.

 

[bn1966]

Have probably (hopefully) scratched my itch where ELC Jackets are concerned & have the seasons covered. Can’t justify that kind of spend any more & will need to keep it to smaller items. Was down in their Ivybridge showroom a few months back but managed to keep a cool head..some lovely stuff there & those Tanker boots….

 

[Micawber]

Bought from Nickb123. (Also the ELC A-1 that I still have. Thanks, Nick! I do like the A-1 despite my comments. I also got a nice GW Doniger from him that I love.)

https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/eastman-werber-44.27081/post-328356

As I remember

QC shouldn't have let that one pass but few things in life are infallible. In the end ten minutes, thirty at most had that zip sorted and functioning normally.