Cheap eBay Leather Jackets - Do You Get What You Pay For?

[suttykins]

I'm not really much of a cosplayer but I go to a lot of cons and I have been toying with the idea of putting together a few costumes that are basically just casual clothes. One of the most versatile pieces for such an application is the Brando-style leather biker jacket.

I come from a family of bikers who would tell me that good leathers are an investment and skimping on the price is a false economy. However, given that the costumes I have planned will all involve some kind of weathering, I don't really want to plunk down more than, say, £50 - £100 on a jacket that I'm going to attack with sandpaper and realistically wear only a handful of times.

Which got me looking to eBay and a few caught my eye from sellers with good feedback. For reference, this is the kind of thing I've been looking at:

But I am very aware that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is, and it's hard to find actual reviews for specific jackets from eBay.

So can anybody with experience of buying cheap leathers for cosplay purposes weigh in on this? The priorities for me are fit and durability/weight of the leather. I can deal with cruddy zippers and a few loose stitches but thin, spongy leather isn't going to cut the mustard.

I'd love to have something made by one of the many fine tailors here on the board but it's just never going to be in my budget, sadly.

 

[Chaank]

That is a nice jacket. Sorry I can't help with you question but I might have to try one of those out

 

[charades]

Pretty sure anything under £100 is not going to be leather. Not saying you might not be pleasantly surprised, but definitely go in expecting to get vinyl/PU, not leather. Anything you order from China is very likely not leather, because leather processing and production costs so much more than vinyl. A factory that can produce garments in regular fabrics can also produce garments in vinyl, but cannot produce leather garments. Leather requires a lot of specialized equipment that most cheap factories don't have.

 

[Apollo]

You will probably be lucky to get spongy Pleather...

www.filmjackets.com has a review section.....

 

[Delta13]

As someone who works with leather I will point out one more thing. Any kind of fake leather will not wear / wather the same way as real leather. Sand paper may take off the viny (or what ever it would be) off from the material under. So you may not get the final effect you wish for.

 

[PHArchivist]

I've ordered from Flesh & Hide on Amazon with good results

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=flesh+&+hide

 

[laellee]

Something else to consider on the overseas deals (I'm speaking of China specifically), once you get past the actual materials used and quality, is SIZING. I have managed to pick up some great deals on pieces that were surprisingly well made for the cost, but the sizing ended up being based on their measurement standards. If I was a smaller guy (let's say a size medium coat person), I might have been able to get an XL to fit, but I'm not so it's a lost cause. Good luck with your search!

 

[Cameron1138]

They're definitely not going to be great quality, but some of them will be passable especially if you only want them for cosplay. I'd only order from established sellers with lots of reviews, and look at the sizing guide carefully (contrary to the above poster, I find a lot of them tend to be weirdly oversized, so if you're on the skinnier side and you like a slim fit it might be trickier. Also, make sure you're buying real leather, a lot of them sell real and faux leather versions through the same listing and if you sort by price, they show up earlier because of the cheaper price of faux leather. If you're not looking for anything too specific I'd look at used jackets first though, you might be able to find something much better quality in the same price range.