Car coats - are they out of fashion now?!

[NamoAmituofo]

I once owned an aero stockman and an veste de rallye as well. I then ordered a barnstormer with beautiful honey colour shearling. Sadly I decided to sell all three due to not wearing them much.

I’ve been wearing a mohair over coat to work for a decade and due to wearing a heavy backpack with laptop, even the hard wearing mohair fabric are showing thin patches.

This made me wonder if I can buy another car coat and wear it to commute to work as an overcoat. I’d prefer a suede or Roughout version as think this would blend in with a suit better.

What do you guys think? How many of you still own and wear a car coat regularly? Which brand/model? Pics would be amazing!

 

[Worf]

I've more'n a few Car Coats, mostly Aero's and one or two no names. I wear them in place of rain coats on occasion. Also in the the Fall and Spring when I need more protection than a short jacket can give I'll put one on. I definitely think that the lighter leathers are best unless you don't tend to do much sitting. But I'm in my late 60's so a car coat might not suit your youthful or more active life style.

Worf

 

[El Marro]

I’m looking to get a leather car coat because all my hip length jackets are too short when I’m carrying a pistol in an inside the waistband holster.

 

[zebedee]

SB's Car Coat is really nice and very well-weighted (doesn't hang on the neck). Get it without the inner pocket, though, as it's fabric and will tear if you stick too much in it. I reinforced mine with overstitching.

 

[Dortreo]

I’m finding that the look just doesn’t work well on me, so I’ll soon be putting two up for sale on the classifieds.

 

[Harris HTM]

Although they don't - strictly speaking - all fall under the category car coat, I own a couple of longer coats. Please excuse the shitty mobile photo's

Simmons Bilt Gatsby in heavy deerskin

Aero Barnstormer in Vicenza

Aero Mariner in CXL FQHH

Thedi car coat in deerskin

Aero Teamster in badalassi

Aero shearling lined Barnstormer in CXL FQHH

five star u-boat in goatskin

 

[NamoAmituofo]

Although they don't - strictly speaking - all fall under the category car coat, I own a couple of longer coats. Please excuse the shitty mobile photo's

Simmons Bilt Gatsby in heavy deerskin
View attachment 699606

Aero Barnstormer in Vicenza
View attachment 699613

Aero Mariner in CXL FQHH
View attachment 699614

Thedi car coat in deerskin
View attachment 699616

Aero Teamster in badalassi
View attachment 699617

Aero shearling lined Barnstormer in CXL FQHH
View attachment 699618

five star u-boat in goatskin
View attachment 699619

Wow these are a wonderful collection!! Wish I bought the aero mariner before it was out of production - it’s such a rare model now! And the shearling lined barnstormer looks just like the one I ordered and sold (with much regret)!!

 

[Harris HTM]

Wow these are a wonderful collection!! Wish I bought the aero mariner before it was out of production - it’s such a rare model now! And the shearling lined barnstormer looks just like the one I ordered and sold (with much regret)!!

The Mariner was my first Aero, ordered it around Christmas 2013. It is probably my favourite jacket.

 

[zebedee]

The Mariner isn't still being produced?

 

[Harris HTM]

The Mariner isn't still being produced?

No, I think they no longer offer it.

 

[RDS]

I had an Aero Veste des Rallye but ended up selling it after acquiring a Teamster.
While there there was nothing wrong at all with the VDR, and although I’m not sure if a Teamster would qualify as a ‘car coat’, I found I was always preferring to wear it over the VDR.

Also, although they don’t appear for re-sale as often and so could be regarded as ‘rarer’, Aero car coats such as the Stockman, VDR and Barnstormer seem to take longer to sell and generally achieve lower prices than the more plentiful Highwayman’s and Half Belts.

 

[NamoAmituofo]

I had an Aero Veste des Rallye but ended up selling it after acquiring a Teamster.
While there there was nothing wrong at all with the VDR, and although I’m not sure if a Teamster would qualify as a ‘car coat’, I found I was always preferring to wear it over the VDR.

Also, although they don’t appear for re-sale as often and so could be regarded as ‘rarer’, Aero car coats such as the Stockman, VDR and Barnstormer seem to take longer to sell and generally achieve lower prices than the more plentiful Highwayman’s and Half Belts.

Yes I think it’s a shame. I just bought off eBay a roughout version ‘thunder bay’ which is the earlier model that looks more like a stockman but with trimmer fit. I don’t know if it will fit me well but I’ll post pics when it arrives next week.

I think car coats in the UK can be very functional in cooler months - can layer a thick jumper or a suit jacket under it.

I do misss the mariner - I had an eBay search saved for like a year only it never came up for sale so I gave up.

 

[Mickiemac]

I’m finding that the look just doesn’t work well on me, so I’ll soon be putting two up for sale on the classifieds.

View attachment 699586
View attachment 699587

Wow - the black one with the contrast stitching is really special. I love that subdued collar and the overall look is restrained/tasteful in a purposeful way. What style/maker is it?

 

[Mickiemac]

Although they don't - strictly speaking - all fall under the category car coat, I own a couple of longer coats. Please excuse the shitty mobile photo's

Simmons Bilt Gatsby in heavy deerskin
View attachment 699606

Aero Barnstormer in Vicenza
View attachment 699613

Aero Mariner in CXL FQHH
View attachment 699614

Thedi car coat in deerskin
View attachment 699616

Aero Teamster in badalassi
View attachment 699617

Aero shearling lined Barnstormer in CXL FQHH
View attachment 699618

five star u-boat in goatskin
View attachment 699619

What a wonderful selection of Car Coats - I am rather tall and a longer length coat is more flattering than a shorter style. The Barnstormer is truly premo - lucky you to be able to wear such substantial outerwear on a regular basis.

 

[Dortreo]

Wow - the black one with the contrast stitching is really special. I love that subdued collar and the overall look is restrained/tasteful in a purposeful way. What style/maker is it?

It’s actually this really supple indigo horsehide from Y’2.

 

[Pandemic]

I think they are out of style with most consumers - either the younger hipsters of StyleForum or the older gents shopping at Men’s Warehouse. And that just means more opportunities to find good deals on the used market, because they leather car coats can look really cool. Case in point:

 

[Mickiemac]

It’s actually this really supple indigo horsehide from Y’2.

View attachment 699822

Thank you - this view does show the blue hue whereas the other image appeared black. Really smart looking coat/jacket. It appears the Y'2 site doesn't have this particular style listed at this time.

 

[zebedee]

I had a Stockman that was really nice but it was just too big - it was on the Aero sale page for a long time. The black fqhh was the lightest hide they could find and had worn down to a great deep brown in places. My SB car coat is Prairie Black from SB - it seems to be struck through black and is a very nice fit. It's also smart enough to be worn formally (so was the Stockman). Car coats are only difficult because of length (mine is 29" and I'm about 175 cm tall): a good alternative is a Maxwell or an SB Klondike - they're shorter (mine are 26") and still formal-looking (I removed the zip pocket from the Klondike). The first one's the Klondike and the last one's the Mariner. I don't own the VDR/Stockman in brown, but I think it's fantastic. I also really like the Work Coat in russet, but it's almost too much detail with the contrast stitching. It's definitely the warmest due to the Troy Mills blanket lining.