Thedi Direct Order vs. Thurston Bros. (Seeking Advice)

[BoringTies]

Hey, all. I'm new to the Fedora Lounge, but very glad to have found you all as I've been researching leather jacket options.

I'm trying to understand the difference (and benefits / trade-offs) of ordering direct from Thedi versus ordering a "custom Thedi" from Thurston Bros. Is the main difference, in terms of the process of making the jacket, that a direct order from Thedi is built from scratch, specifically based on my measurements, jacket model, type and color of leather requested, etc., whereas Thurston Bros. are making custom alterations to a jacket from their Thedi allotment (i.e., "We've got the style of Thedi jacket you're interested in, and we're going to help make it fit you well")? Or if Thurston Bros. are building a jacket from scratch, how is that then a Thedi?

I like the idea of Thurston's "fit jacket" as a part of their process, but I'm really trying to get clarity on what a "custom Thedi" from them means.

I do plan on emailing Thurston Bros. directly, but hearing perspectives and experiences from those who have gone one route or the other (or both!) would be very helpful.

Sorry if that's a basic question, and if I am somehow missing something obvious.

If helpful for context: this is my first leather jacket. I'm not in a rush to make a purchase, though I'd generally like to place an order before the end of 2026. And I am definitely trying to make an educated decision.

Thanks in advance for any insights you're willing to offer.

~BT

 

[codex]

Thurston Bros is just a middle man. The difference is that you get better customer support and a fit jacket before committing to an order. In the end you're getting the same product, a jacket made by Thedi that has been made to your measurements and requested design.
You're getting a piece made to order just for you in both cases.

 

[Guppy]

I ordered my thedi jackets directly from theodoros, and my experience was good. He responds to emails in a timely manner, though if he's traveling that can vary. He answered my questions took my measurements, and added my customizations. And gave me a great price. It was years ago so things could have changed, but I have no regrets about ordering direct.

 

[Tom71]

You will get the same product, but TB will work with you on finding the right measurements based on your preferences.

Thedi won‘t make a pattern for you from scratch as a bespoke tailor would. He will take an existing pattern, fit for your basic measurements and tweak it to meet your demands.
Going via TB won’t change that but may facilitate discussion depending on where you are based and how confident your are in communicatino your personal preferences to a maker that has a notoriou bias towards slim fits.

In your shoes, I would also look at the stock selection of Thedi jackets at TB. Unless your body requires special attention, I would prefer stock sizes in 4 out of 5 cases.

 

[BoringTies]

Codex, Guppy and Tom71: thanks much for these replies. The clarification on TB operating as a middle-man (with a value-added service to help with fitting) is really helpful.

Tom71: I will look into TB stock, though part of the reason I have not purchased a leather jacket previously is a combo of finding the right style and the right fit, hence leaning towards custom.

Thanks again!

 

[marker2037]

I’ve done both, direct and through Thurston. I believe with the market currently as is and his queue currently as is, you are better off dealing with Thurston as they will deal with any headaches and they will do all the communication to Thedi. It’s a bit less stressful, especially if you are trying to get answers on your turn in line or make any changes last minute, etc.

Set it and forget it with TB.

 

[BoringTies]

I’ve done both, direct and through Thurston. I believe with the market currently as is and his queue currently as is, you are better off dealing with Thurston as they will deal with any headaches and they will do all the communication to Thedi. It’s a bit less stressful, especially if you are trying to get answers on your turn in line or make any changes last minute, etc.

Set it and forget it with TB.

Peace of mind is big (for this purchase and in general). Thanks much, marker2037.

 

[TheWickerMan]

I ordered twice, directly from Theodoros and had no issues. For any customization requests I just took screenshots of certain details of other jackets and asked him to use those as reference i.e.: leather color, lining pattern, cuff or pocket shape. This way he can also let you know if something's not practical or if he recommends another change.

 

[Rm759]

Have realistic expectations. Custom made clothing in the $2,000 range usually requires 3+ in person fittings with the tailor. Online you are taking you own measurements one time and then your jacket is made. If you can at least manage one initial in person fitting it’s well worth it. The leather quality is certainly high. There is definitely a learning curve until you find what works best for you. Read & learn from others. Enjoy the ride!

 

[Trouser Bark]

Thedi can occasionally have some lead time issues. In known instances like that the question to ask yourself is 'in what way might I make my transaction more important to him'? When any manufacturer gets behind they're going to treat customers in a hierarchal importance. Might not sound ideal from a customer's standpoint but in business the business' needs come first. They might blow you and your once-in-a-lifetime order off... but they won't blow off somebody that's bought 50 jackets from them in the past and likely another 50 around the corner. I'd suggest going through TB. Definitely.

 

[Zoltan]

And gave me a great price.

^^^^^ Take in account any extra taxes to the price. Contacted him last year. Middle man takes his cut as well.

 

[Trouser Bark]

Middle man takes his cut as well.

This is not always as clear as it may seem. Yes, there's no such thing as pro bono business effort however, from your note a reader would infer that it may cost more to buy from that "middle man" and that's often not the case. I haven't looked specifically at Thedi vs TB cost but I do know other mfg / distributor cost relationships well and can provide an explanation.

Manufacturers have two primary business segments; one segment builds stuff and the other segment sells stuff. They're completely unrelated skillsets and a manufacturer can either hire in-house staff to take on the sales end or they can pay a discounted price to a third party something like a commission (an example would be TB). The third and worst option would be that the manufacturer ignore the sales process aspect and every time a potential customer calls they're handled by someone from the mfg staff which effectually stops business in its tracks.

The cost of sales is a constant whether addressed in house or by a third party.

Now to use Wesco Boots as an example.

If you look at the Wesco Boot site or go by Wesco Boots location you'll be treated well and all that but you'll also pay more than if you bought the same Wesco Boots at a dealer. It is Wesco's way of tacitly stating that they don't want a bunch of nose pickers showing up at their shop slowing progress on an already significant backlog.

Examples:

11" high Wesco Harness boots bought as a retail (or online) customer at Wesco... roughly $732

11" high Wesco Harness boots bought from a Stompers Boots via eBay Store... roughly $656

The cost of the sales process is almost never a cost in addition to what the mfg sells at. Were that the case there would be no incentive to be a distributor or a customer of one. There's also often a manufacturer's rep that makes sure the distributors have what they need in order to be healthy stocking distributors of the factory (edit: product). Reps are usually assigned territories and as an example for a company as small as Wesco there might be a Rep for the US another for Asia and perhaps a third for Europe (at most). Often those are independently owned business agents of the factory that represent multiple complimentary product lines that overlap minimally.

It is easily possible and often normal for cost of product though an authorized reseller to be less than that you'd get from the factory directly.

 

[heehaw3]

I have experience ordering direct from Thedi, not through Thurston. With that said, if I were to redo it I’d go with Thurston.

Ordering from Thedi was custom in the sense that the jacket was made based on my measurements, with my choice of leather, lining, hardware, etc., and I was able to make some pattern tweaks. The difficulty was communication, which was very frustrating at times.

I haven’t gone through Thurston, but my understanding is they guide you through the process and help dial in sizing. I get the sense I could’ve ended up with essentially the same jacket while avoiding a lot of the hassle. You may pay a bit more, but that would have been worth the tradeoff for me.

I also think the “fit jacket” is a huge benefit — especially for a first leather jacket, and removes a lot of the guesswork.

 

[BoringTies]

Have realistic expectations. Custom made clothing in the $2,000 range usually requires 3+ in person fittings with the tailor. Online you are taking you own measurements one time and then your jacket is made. If you can at least manage one initial in person fitting it’s well worth it. The leather quality is certainly high. There is definitely a learning curve until you find what works best for you. Read & learn from others. Enjoy the ride!

@Rm759 : I really appreciate this reply, as when I started to research this purchase, my hope / expectation was to find an actual bespoke option. The majority of reviews and information I found led me to Thedi, Thurston Bros. and Aero as options that seemed like fits from a quality of product and styles that interest me (ultimately landing on Thedi from a product standpoint). But...

Is there an actual bespoke provider that I am missing and should be considering? It looks like you are on the East Coast as well (DC area for me, though frequently in NYC), so if there's a provider you'd recommend investigating, I am all ears.

I did find one bespoke tailor here in DC who offers leather jackets. My concern is that this is not their specialty (I found them while researching bespoke suit options... perhaps a separate thread coming for that), so I want the leather jacket investment to be something that lasts.

Direct message is welcome if preferred for a reply. Thanks again.

 

[Zoltan]

I haven't looked specifically at Thedi vs TB cost but I do know other mfg / distributor cost relationships well and can provide an explanation.

I understand where you are coming from. Recently purchased a BMW Helmet from my dealer at a 60% discount, BMW direct still sell the same item at full retail.
However Thedi deals directly with the customer, he doesn't have sell staff. The price he came up was well bellow what some retailers sell the same jacket.
High end item can have 80% to 300% mark up. When I had a jacket made bespoke I was measured at the workshop and after the cut I had an additional visit to make sure everything fitted and than the handover. This was a motorbike jacket, so the position of the armor the length etc were crucial. Especially that jacket was build entire kangaroo leather. Additional custom features were added which were difficult to incorporate without ruining the safety of the jacket. Now off the peg a high end jacket from two famous brands were almost identical in price to the bespoke. That was 11 years ago at £1100, back than Aero was selling jacket in the £400/500 price bracket. Jacket still fits me and because is a conservative cut will be still in "fashion" for years to come. Also the tailor made some small adjustments so the air bag will fit now.

 

[Edward]

Have realistic expectations. Custom made clothing in the $2,000 range usually requires 3+ in person fittings with the tailor. Online you are taking you own measurements one time and then your jacket is made. If you can at least manage one initial in person fitting it’s well worth it. The leather quality is certainly high. There is definitely a learning curve until you find what works best for you. Read & learn from others. Enjoy the ride!

Agreed.

I'd also add don't obsess over minutiae. I'd say about 80% of the fit problems I've seen with people ordering made to measure clothes online are caused by the provision by the buyer of inaccurate measurements. The other 20% are largely imagined, and mainly cause by people obsessing over a fraction of an inch deviation from the measurements they specified. Honestly, the older I get the more I prefer just to find an OTR / standard size that fits me rather than trying to dial in "perfect" measurements (especially when my middle-aged body fluctuates somewhat itself across one year, let alone many years). Once it's on you, all that matters is it feels and looks good. Obsessing over idealised measurements or having it look a certain way from every possible angle/ pose is always gonig to be counter-productive.

 

[Cyber Lip]

Thurston is great IF everything goes smoothly with the order, however...in the event you receive a jacket that's out of spec from what you ordered, Thurston won't cover you. They won't send the jacket back to the maker and say hey you made a mistake please fix or re-do this jacket, they'll tell you you are SOL.

For example, if you receive the jacket and it's 1 full inch shorter in the back length than what you ordered, Carrie will tell you that they measured the jacket before they shipped it to you it was only half an inch shorter than spec'd, and since their policy is half an inch is still within spec that they're not going to help you. Forget about the fact that you're not an idiot and know how to measure the back length of a jacket, and that you confirmed with them how they measure VS how you measured it and they admitted that yes you did it correctly, and you even sent them pictures of your tape measure measuring the jacket as proof it's not a half inch short but a full inch. After all that they'll get salty with you and go full gaslighting mode and still say no. Don't ask me how I know this LOL. Not sure how Thedi would handle this situation, but it can't be any worse than Thurston.

 

[BoringTies]

Thurston is great IF everything goes smoothly with the order, however...in the event you receive a jacket that's out of spec from what you ordered, Thurston won't cover you. They won't send the jacket back to the maker and say hey you made a mistake please fix or re-do this jacket, they'll tell you you are SOL.

For example, if you receive the jacket and it's 1 full inch shorter in the back length than what you ordered, Carrie will tell you that they measured the jacket before they shipped it to you it was only half an inch shorter than spec'd, and since their policy is half an inch is still within spec that they're not going to help you. Forget about the fact that you're not an idiot and know how to measure the back length of a jacket, and that you confirmed with them how they measure VS how you measured it and they admitted that yes you did it correctly, and you even sent them pictures of your tape measure measuring the jacket as proof it's not a half inch short but a full inch. After all that they'll get salty with you and go full gaslighting mode and still say no. Don't ask me how I know this LOL. Not sure how Thedi would handle this situation, but it can't be any worse than Thurston.

Cyber Lip,

Just gonna say "Thanks!" (hearing the bad and the good together is really helpful).

And... "Yikes!"

~BT

 

[Carrie @ Thurston Bros.]

Thurston is great IF everything goes smoothly with the order, however...in the event you receive a jacket that's out of spec from what you ordered, Thurston won't cover you. They won't send the jacket back to the maker and say hey you made a mistake please fix or re-do this jacket, they'll tell you you are SOL.

For example, if you receive the jacket and it's 1 full inch shorter in the back length than what you ordered, Carrie will tell you that they measured the jacket before they shipped it to you it was only half an inch shorter than spec'd, and since their policy is half an inch is still within spec that they're not going to help you. Forget about the fact that you're not an idiot and know how to measure the back length of a jacket, and that you confirmed with them how they measure VS how you measured it and they admitted that yes you did it correctly, and you even sent them pictures of your tape measure measuring the jacket as proof it's not a half inch short but a full inch. After all that they'll get salty with you and go full gaslighting mode and still say no. Don't ask me how I know this LOL. Not sure how Thedi would handle this situation, but it can't be any worse than Thurston.

Hi Cyber Lip,

We looked at our last correspondence with you, which was our last email sent on February 20, 2025. We did not receive a response from you. We asked you to take the back length measurement again, using the same technique that we and Aero use to measure in QC (two hands on the tape measure, leather pulled flat/taut with either an assistant taking the photo or a timer on the camera; see photo below).

It doesn't work to take the measurement with the tape laying out on the jacket, when neither the tape measure nor the leather are being held taut. The leather is relaxed and the tape measure isn't covering full distance on the back length, resulting in an inaccurate and inconsistent back length measurement. Below is the photo that you sent to us. Again, this type of measuring technique will usually result in an inaccurate measurement. Additionally, the number will vary with each measurement attempt.

We also requested fit photos in our last email. There was no response.

 

[Cyber Lip]

Hi Cyber Lip,

We looked at our last correspondence with you, which was our last email sent on February 20, 2025. We did not receive a response from you. We asked you to take the back length measurement again, using the same technique that we and Aero use to measure in QC (two hands on the tape measure, leather pulled flat/taut with either an assistant taking the photo or a timer on the camera; see photo below).

View attachment 782868

It doesn't work to take the measurement with the tape laying out on the jacket, when neither the tape measure nor the leather are being held taut. The leather is relaxed and the tape measure isn't covering full distance on the back length, resulting in an inaccurate and inconsistent back length measurement. Below is the photo that you sent to us. Again, this type of measuring technique will usually result in an inaccurate measurement. Additionally, the number will vary with each measurement attempt.

View attachment 782867

We also requested fit photos in our last email. There was no response.

This is so silly. You can see from my photo that it's being measured correctly, correctly as in according to you at the time - from neck seam to hem, and is clearly at 25.5" (the jacket was spec'd and ordered at 26.5"). I had measured it several times before contacting you and it came out at 25.5" every single time. It wasn't "relaxed" there, it had been pulled taught immediately before I snapped that photo. Leather doesn't stretch and spring back like fabric when pulled and released, it stays put. C'mon you know this LOL. And if there were a 2nd person pulling it hard, you'd maybe get another 16th, or 8th of an inch more out of it at best. And pulling the tape measure tight like you are in your example photo would result in a shorter measurement, not longer. Yes, I dropped out of the email conversation at the time because I was being BS'd, not being offered options or a solution.