Fivestar Half-Belt Customizing (Help Needed)

[MDz]

Firstly, good day to whoever reads it. Glad to be able to partake in the community, even if my first step into it might be or at least seem foolish to the more experienced folks out here.

Currently I'm looking into getting a first proper leather jacket, and by that I mean "affordable and not of terrible quality, hopefully sturdy". The end goal is to have a jacket light enough to wear in mild spring-summer, but capable of adopting layering with knitwear like turtlenecks and sweaters (the wool keeps me warm, the jacket keeps away the wind). For reference, I live in Eastern Europe, where summers are on average about 15-25 degrees Celsius and winters stay at around 0 to -10 Celsius.
Originally my aim was on AVI ANJ-3 or Bronco A-2, but unfortunately they don't ship to my country, so that's a pass. So, instead I looked towards Fivestar, or specifically their 1930s Half-Belt Sports Jacket.

I've tried looking up whatever knowledge people have gathered here regarding the company in general and their products specifically, but reading through 450+ pages of discussions is a bit much for a newbie (I'm honestly sorry).
So far I've gained a couple of points to my notice:
1. Their higher-regarded hide seems to be goatskin, specifically when it's seal brown. A perfect hit with my personal preferences.
2. The custom aspect is tricky, as it's very easy to mess up the jacket by putting in unfit measurements.
3. Other aspects like lining, threading and so on seem to be much less "dangerous" to play with.
4. Length (both the back and the sleeves) can be tweaked rather easily by 5*.

So, I've ended up with the next setup for the aforementioned jacket:
Leather: same as listing
Lining: tan cotton (to play off the monochromatic contrast with seal brown's shades)
Zippers: No.8 Talon
Thread: khaaki

What I'm curious about is:
1. Does the list above sound alright or is it going to end up being a whack?
2. How would a 1930s HB sports jacket even fit my frame in general, considering I'm on the shorter side, standing at 169-170cm and having an average slim build with slightly wider chest and shoulders compared to my waist. My best bet are the side buckles to make the jacket a bit more trimmed. Also those would give some potential for my further "growing bigger", because noone should ignore the factor of aging.
3. With point 2 in mind, is it a viable option for mid-cold season layering with stuff like turtlenecks, sweaters (thin to medium) and/or scarves? Or would it affect choosing the size so much that I'd have the jacket sag without layers during spring-summer?
4. What advice would you give me on choosing a proper size, considering slight changes can be made even to shoulders and chest? My measurements for shoulders is 45cm (my best-fitting jacket is such), chest is 95cm, waist is ~78cm. Sleeve and body length can be adjusted easily, but just in case my jacket measured at 62cm sleeves and ~59cm back length to reach where my belts typically are.

I'm a guy really new into the whole topic of vintage clothing, especially leather jackets, so any piece of advice or opinion will be greatly appreciated! I'd only ask you keep offering more expensive jackets to a minimum, since my budget is quite limited.

 

[Zoro]

First of all: Welcome!

I haven't read 400 pages, but I have surely read more than 100, perhaps 200 of the 5 Star thread. It is actually entertaining! My personal conclusion is that getting anything that is remotely fine from them is the exception rather than the rule and thus I refrain from even considering them as an option.

I find they are so random that you may order a jacket in a leather that's considered to be alright and be unsure of it actually being alright until you get it as you might get a batch different than the one people considered fine in the past.

Having said this, if you budget is around 200€, I don't see many more options suitable for you. Perhaps a Chinese jacket in Taobao to avoid the middleman tax, but that might be a bit convoluted. Or some very cheap one from a middleman, such as this one from Tailor Brando.

On the explicit question list, I can't give much about them except that I do think a half belt can look good on anyone and on point 3 we would need more information on what is "mid cold season". If it is 10-15ºC, then I do think you can go around with it along turtlenecks, sweaters and scarves, but if we're talking 0-5ºC I don't think so. This is all highly personal and relative to your cold resistance too, I know that at 0-5ºC I'm going with a down parka and not a leather jacket.

 

[l0fielectronic]

You say reading through the whole five star thread is 'a bit much' but its really the best thing you could do to help guide you on your purchase.

 

[MDz]

I haven't read 400 pages, but I have surely read more than 100, perhaps 200 of the 5 Star thread. It is actually entertaining! My personal conclusion is that getting anything that is remotely fine from them is the exception rather than the rule and thus I refrain from even considering them as an option.

I find they are so random that you may order a jacket in a leather that's considered to be alright and be unsure of it actually being alright until you get it as you might get a batch different than the one people considered fine in the past.

Oh, well can't say that was surprising, but still not a pleasant thing to find out... Thanks a lot for the warning!

Having said this, if you budget is around 200€, I don't see many more options suitable for you. Perhaps a Chinese jacket in Taobao to avoid the middleman tax, but that might be a bit convoluted. Or some very cheap one from a middleman, such as this one from Tailor Brando.

First time I've heard of Tailor Brando, will surely check out what they offer since it's likely I don't have many other options. European brands don't ship, and American ones either don't as well, or do with a hefty price increase of ~$100 (considering it's spiking the price by some 30-50%).

On the explicit question list, I can't give much about them except that I do think a half belt can look good on anyone and on point 3 we would need more information on what is "mid cold season". If it is 10-15ºC, then I do think you can go around with it along turtlenecks, sweaters and scarves, but if we're talking 0-5ºC I don't think so. This is all highly personal and relative to your cold resistance too, I know that at 0-5ºC I'm going with a down parka and not a leather jacket.

A mid-cold season is exactly around 5-15 degrees, maybe even 0-15. As of my personal cold resistance, I can say I've gotten used to "running hot" thanks to various points in my genetics and upbringing. For example, a simple woolen coat (similar to the one in the picture) with a sweater and a light scarf was enough for me for up to minus 10 or 15 Celsius. And due to the coat's nature the sweater was quite thin, because otherwise I risked ripping the poor thing.

You say reading through the whole five star thread is 'a bit much' but its really the best thing you could do to help guide you on your purchase.

That I more than believe, but unfortunately my work schedule right now is a bit soul-*******, so more often than not I simply don't have the time or energy to engage with a topic like that requiring my full attention to read through, translate, analyze and then summarize.
Besides that, I have absolutely zero doubt that topic is a gold mine of information, which I'm currently ignoring even if unwittingly so.

 

[MDz]

@Zoro thanks again for the suggestion, it might seem that Tailor Brando will actually fit most my needs even without much tailoring!

I'm currently checking their size charts on aliexpress, which would you say is the best option for me considering layering opportunities?

I'm thinking of L, since it will have 1 spare cm in the shoulders for possible future growth/layering, ideal sleeve length of 62 and a bust of 108, which correlates nicely with the commonly seen (by me so far at least) rule of going +10-15cm from my chest circumference.

The length, while 61, is only 2cm past my natural belt/waist line, so that's also a nice fit, especially considering I'll have a lesser chance of the wind blowing under it then.



The only question I'm left with then is whether to go with a waxed or unwaxed goatskin.
They offer both options, and both models look quite nice and have similar sizing.

Edit: After some checking and comparing, I think I'll go with the unwaxed model, since I prefer the 1930s look and the matte look of it. Plus if we use aforementioned (in the original post) AVI ANJ-3, it seems to be unwaxed as well, so this is closer to the original "reference" in terms of feeling.