East West Musical Instruments Company

Some girls like jewelry. This girl would happily trade diamonds for a bad ass leather anything...

A little company that sold instruments in San Francisco made a leather jacket one day, put it in the window when Janis Joplin pulled up, got out and bought the jacket. The rest is history. East West Musical Instruments Co. is no longer around but their jackets are collectors' items. Tons of people of musical significance donned their gear.

Can I afford one? No. That doesn't stop me searching the internets to find out who is selling what and thinking about how I can eat Ramen for a month (or 12) so I can actually buy one.

How did I stumble upon this obsession? I was at work one day when this guy came in who was wearing the best looking leather jacket I had ever seen. He told me his friend's company, South Paradiso Leather, made it and I started researching. South Paradiso is a company in California that also makes bad ass leather gear the old fashioned way and has deep ties with East West. Hence my stumbling upon East West Musical Instruments Company. At any rate, if you are into leather, you should do yourself a favor and google both companies.

Below are pictures of a few of my EW faves, particularly the green, blue and peach number.