Show and tell: modified (shortened) Vanson Octagon B

[TartuWolf]

Got this Vanson Octagon B from JP for a very nice price.
I'd prefer a size 36, but a 34 also works for me in this case, but not layering.
As with most B's that I've handled (3 so far) this one was too long for my taste when it came.
The length combined with the tight hem made this jacket sit on my hips and bend weirdly at the waist.
As I liked the leather and the rest of the fit well enough I decided to challenge my local leather tailor to see if she would agree to make some (rather serious) modifications to this jacket.
As she already did a great job making a mouton collar for my Vanson E and tapering my Vanson leather pants at the knees I felt like I could trust her with this as well.
She agreed.

The modifications I asked for:
- Remove side adjusters as they are too low to be useful anyway and the waist is slim enough to skip raising them up. Cleaner look and lighter jacket as a result as well.
- Remove the lining vest zipper - again, simpler and cleaner.
- Fix internal pocket connecting to the facing - it had an ugly bump that was sticking out, but it made sense why it was done this way considering the zipper. Now it's much cleaner and no bump.
- Shorten the jacket by 4-5cm. Originally it was 61-61.5cm long, now it i's 57cm long. In reality it still wears a bit longer than my 59cm long Aero hooch hauler - wild how much the pattern effects length.
- Replace the zipper with a #10 Universal "old time" that I got custom ordered from Japan (more about this in a separate thread I made about zippers). And raise the zipper up from the bottom hem to give even more bottom hem clearance.
- Remove wind flap, I don't need it, reduce bulk again.
- Cut and dd Zipper hangers from the same leather.

Took her quite a while to finish the project, around 3 months I'd say. But part of that was winter holidays.
Overall she said that she had never struggled with anything as much as she did with putting this jacket back together.
The leather is so stiff and thick than none of the sewing machines would go through and she broke multiple needles. Eventually two people had to work on it with a hammer and awl haha.
Obviously she is not specialized in thick biker jackets, but she was still self-confident as she had many many years of experience dealing with leather. But in this case she almost bit off more than she could chew.
At the end of the day she had to make some compromises but managed to finish it up and I'm satisfied with her work.
The total cost was around 120eur, which seems very reasonable to me. Although I'm not too happy about how long it took.

Overall a successful alteration story in my opinion.
I would not be able to wear the jacket before the length reduction and now It's a solid keeper - feels great!
The Octagon leather is absolutely gorgeous and a total BEAST - very thick and stiff, not too far off from comp weight in my opinion.
Thinking about finally ordering a custom Vanson in Brandy/Whiskey Roma this year..

Here are some before and after fit pics, I tried my best to match the rest of the clothing, location lighting, etc.. Only the angle got messed up and the before shots are flipped horizontaly for some reason.

Before:

After:

Some detail shots:

 

[twistdh]

After the alterations is very beautiful! Great result to me.

That Leather also seems very nice.

I also like the style more with the modifications. Don’t like so much the original Wind flap or those side adjusters…so now is better to me, good job! And good price also.

Keep it!

 

[TartuWolf]

Any tips on securing the leather zipper hangers in place so that they don't slide off? Just some glue?

 

[twistdh]

Any tips on securing the leather zipper hangers in place so that they don't slide off? Just some glue?

They come off in all the zippers? The glue works, but i don’t like it too much.
If it was mine I would make a stitch (just one, like saddle stitch) to keep it in place and make also some sort of “decoration”….if the Leather is wide enough.

I don’t know if there are other better options

 

[Guppy]

Octagon leather is absolutely gorgeous and a total BEAST - very thick and stiff, not too far off from comp weight in my opinion.

I believe that Octagon *is* comp weight, in terms of the hides and tanning process, but just dyed a different color. I could be wrong, Vanson wasn't very forthcoming about their trade secrets.

 

[TartuWolf]

I believe that Octagon *is* comp weight, in terms of the hides and tanning process, but just dyed a different color. I could be wrong, Vanson wasn't very forthcoming about their trade secrets.

Here's a quote I found somewhere on Octagon leather:

To get a bit more technical, Octagon is part of a series of leathers that we call 1920's style leathers. The reason is that the hides are selected, waxed and finished by hand. The whole process does not rely on heavy chemical finishes like most leather nowadays. The color of your jacket is developed from the combination of waxes and oils and it is not a paint-job. So essentially the '20s family of leathers is selected, waxed and finished following the same procedures used back in the day!"

Don't remember the source. But overall it does feel very much like comp weight just dyed differently and finished differently (aniline).

 

[BrendaDiaz]

They come off in all the zippers? The glue works, but i don’t like it too much.
If it was mine I would make a stitch (just one, like saddle msn games stitch) to keep it in place and make also some sort of “decoration”….if the Leather is wide enough.

I don’t know if there are other better options

Turning that stitch into a decorative element is a nice touch if the leather is wide enough. Readly?

 

[01flhr]

That octagon leather is absolutely epic and the alterations turned out very well. As a rider, i would have left the windflap alone, but thats just me. Did the leather zipper pulls come from vanson like that? My b came with metal pulls on the zips but my langlitz does have leather pulls that are different than those. The langlitz ones are a strip of leather with a slit cut in the end to loop it through the zipper itself. Im not really a fan of whats on this jacket, they look great but left unsecured those are going to disappear at some point.

 

[TartuWolf]

That octagon leather is absolutely epic and the alterations turned out very well. As a rider, i would have left the windflap alone, but thats just me. Did the leather zipper pulls come from vanson like that? My b came with metal pulls on the zips but my langlitz does have leather pulls that are different than those. The langlitz ones are a strip of leather with a slit cut in the end to loop it through the zipper itself. Im not really a fan of whats on this jacket, they look great but left unsecured those are going to disappear at some point.

I could not be happier with the leather and how the jacket turned out after the alterations.
I wear it at home daily just to enjoy it.
Initially the jacket had no leather pulls, my tailor added them by my request, but I still need to figure out how to secure them properly as they are rather loose and fall off sometimes.

 

[01flhr]

I could not be happier with the leather and how the jacket turned out after the alterations.
I wear it at home daily just to enjoy it.
Initially the jacket had no leather pulls, my tailor added them by my request, but I still need to figure out how to secure them properly as they are rather loose and fall off sometimes.

If theyre not original just swap them out for the same leather. They look nice, but if theyre not functional, forget it. The ones on my ll are maybe 1/2"×2" with a slit cut in the one end big enough to get the zipper eye through. The slit end goes through the eye, is folded back on itself and the tail tucks through the leather eye. Super simple, completely functional. If im explaining that poorly i can get you a picture if you want. If you really wanted to you could split the tail so it looks similar to what you have.

 

[TartuWolf]

If theyre not original just swap them out for the same leather. They look nice, but if theyre not functional, forget it. The ones on my ll are maybe 1/2"×2" with a slit cut in the one end big enough to get the zipper eye through. The slit end goes through the eye, is folded back on itself and the tail tucks through the leather eye. Super simple, completely functional. If im explaining that poorly i can get you a picture if you want. If you really wanted to you could split the tail so it looks similar to what you have.

She made them from the same octagon leather (scraps/leftovers after the "operation").
Made them a bit too thin I guess.
But I still have a not of that left over leather left, might make some better ones myself in the future.
But thank you for giving a detailed explanation.
Might even just rivet the leather onto itself after looping through the zipper for extra security as I have leatherworking tools.
But feel free to add a photo of yours for reference.

 

[01flhr]

I was a little off on my description. The pull is actually looped through itself twice and is split in the middle. Its not going anywhere.

 

[JonS1967]

She made them from the same octagon leather (scraps/leftovers after the "operation").
Made them a bit too thin I guess.
But I still have a not of that left over leather left, might make some better ones myself in the future.
But thank you for giving a detailed explanation.
Might even just rivet the leather onto itself after looping through the zipper for extra security as I have leatherworking tools.
But feel free to add a photo of yours for reference.

I’m a little late to the party, but the jacket looks great! Congratulations! As far as the leather zipper pulls go, it’s easy to make your own. I’ve made several from scraps of leather and samples I had laying around. Just use an X-Acto knife and a straight edge. I used one from my Langlitz jacket as a template, but there are a few different styles so you can make it however you like.

 

[MadCat]

Looks fantastic!