Tips for Buying Vintage Motorcycle Leathers
Caution on eBay
The majority of sellers on EBay are honest and straight forward but a few are unscrupulous. Look out for private individuals selling their own secondhand garments as they are often more reliable. Some 'Top Rated Sellers' and EBay shops have proved to be less than honest in their description of items especially when describing the gender of the garment. Here are a few tips for buyers.
Top Tips - Especially for Lewis Garments
These tips apply to all garments featured in the museum but we focus on Lewis as they are the most abused name on eBay U.K.
- Always make sure you can see the labels in the pictures. If the advertiser hasn't shown the label do not buy the item.
- Check the garment is advertised as the correct gender. Women's clothing is more abundant but attracts a lower price. Be careful as it is not unusual to see Women's clothing advertised as Men's. Often 'Top Rated Sellers' do this, as they are running a business we have to assume they know the difference but are just unscrupulous. A man won't want to turn up at the motorcycle club wearing a woman's jacket.
- Beware of 'Keyword Spamming' which happens far too frequently. This is where the seller use the word 'Lewis' in a manner unrelated to the article being sold. Use of many manufacturers names (Belstaff, Lewis, Highwayman, Mascot) in a single description is indicative of this type of seller. Avoid these people.
- Caution especially to non native English speaking people. The words 'Lewis Style' means nothing, many manufacturers produced garments of a similar design but they were not copying Lewis so don't be fooled by the description. Who knows, Lewis may have been copying them? Do not buy anything called 'Lewis Style'
Another common ploy is to say 'Maybe a Lewis Leathers' garment. If there is no label then it cannot be Lewis leathers. The same applies to 'Lewis Quality' in a description. It may be good quality, there were a number of good quality leather manufacturers in the Seventies and Eighties but these would be branded with their own name. 
Do not rely on sew on patches of the type below. Anyone can buy one of these and attach it to a jacket of a different manufacturer. Not all garments had an external oval or square leather 'Lewis Leathers' label, so it is important to check the internal label too. This type of label was designed to sew onto a bag, a denim or leather waistcoat worn over the leather jacket. On its own it is no proof of validity.
Distinguishing Gender
On a Man's item of clothing the part of the garment on the wearers left wraps over the top of the right hand side and presses down (on press-studs) or zips up. This applies to the front, collar or flies on trousers.
It is easy to distinguish the gender of a jacket if it has a 'Lancer' style crossover main zip. If the top of the zip is on the wearer's right hand side, its Men's. If the top is on the wearer's left hand side is a women's jacket.
Vintage leathers jackets were made at a time before 'Unisex' clothing made an appearance. Modern bikers gear in Unisex style fasten the same side as men's. If they fasten the women's side they are always women's not men's or unisex.
If the jacket has a centre zip, then inspect the way the collar fastens. Men's flap crosses to the right hand side of the wearer.
Don't forget that the wearer's right side is on the left in a photograph. Beware of Selfies taken in a mirror which contradict the previous comment.