Cordovan leather jackets - what do you really think?

[handymike]

Cordovan is the gateway to...Green!

 

[photo2u]

Love cordovan in shoes and boots. In jackets is cool. I have a JL that I think it belong to Randy? LOL. My favorite cordovan is the pegasus.

 

[barnabus]

Cordovan is the gateway to...Green!

I would like a green leather jacket. I saw a custom Goldtop jacket in Olive Green at their shop a month or so back. It was just gorgeous.

 

[El Marro]

It seems that it's close in color to what Aero have called "Cherry" and I'm not confident that I can reliably distinguish between Aero Cordovan and Aero Cherry if I had to - - if indeed they are distinct and different color formulas, and not just two different labels for the same thing.

Oh I bet you could, the jackets I’ve seen in Cherry (admittedly only in photos) have been noticeably brighter and lighter than their Cordovan counterparts. They are very similar though, and I’m sure that there is plenty of overlap between a light batch of Cordovan and a dark batch of Cherry.

 

[red devil]

Very interesting, didn't know there was some kind of connotation with fashion excess with the term burgundy. You could always call it "wine red".

Come to think of it, my only CXL jacket is in that colour:

Speaking of difficulty to take pictures of...

I think the fascination with this colour comes from the fact that is is not black or brown but still "proper" enough. It is probably the easiest shade of red to wear, and that is likely what makes it so captivating.

 

[AeroFan_07]

Very interesting, didn't know there was some kind of connotation with fashion excess with the term burgundy. You could always call it "wine red".

Come to think of it, my only CXL jacket is in that colour:

Speaking of difficulty to take pictures of...

I think the fascination with this colour comes from the fact that is is not black or brown but still "proper" enough. It is probably the easiest shade of red to wear, and that is likely what makes it so captivating.

This captures both my appeal and slight difficulty pretty well. I really like red, especially the "earthy" tones of red and really always have. But most of my coats & jackets growing up were blue, or green (Pioneer corn seed jackets, dad got them free with his yearly seed orders). So maybe I'm secretly wishing I could wear a red leather jacket. Hum...seems like a cool order idea. Maybe a Cherry Aero Ridley next time around?

 

[JMax]

Cordovan v Octagon. Another option.

 

[El Marro]

I really love Cordovan and I’m surprised to say that I only own one jacket in this color, an Aero Bootlegger in fqhh. Out of all the jackets I own this one has not received much wear time but it has definitely received the most compliments by far.

And the legend continues…
I wore the Cordovan Bootlegger today when I took my girlfriend out for some New Years Day shopping at the Outlet Stores a couple towns over. We did not have much luck shopping, but the jacket picked up a couple compliments from strangers, as it always seems to.

 

[El Marro]

 

[Hh121]

Cordovan v Octagon. Another option.

View attachment 392435

Octagon wins, no contest.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

I hate that they used the term "cordovan" for what is actually color 8 because cordovan is so much more than just this color. I do like the color 8 color that Aero uses from Horween. As someone who owns a burgundy leather jacket myself, I think it is a fantastically versatile color and color 8 is one of the darker examples of it which is great in terms of versatility.

I just wish the mistake of calling it cordovan would disappear.

 

[Sloan1874]

I have a pair of Aero cordovan jackets, a Board Racer in tumbled FQHH and a Bootlegger in the standard horse. Both are great, though the BR is a more casual jacket while the Bootlegger can be dressed up easily. I love the claret/burgundy tones, they age beautifully and go with loads of things. The only thing is that you have to make sure you get a couple of pairs of shoes to go with cordovan jackets as the colour doesn't really go well with browns or blacks.

 

[Turnip]

That’s why I got a pair of Jarrows and two pairs (one each, leather and Dainite soled) of Town Boots meanwhile to go with my pony.

 

[red devil]

This captures both my appeal and slight difficulty pretty well. I really like red, especially the "earthy" tones of red and really always have. But most of my coats & jackets growing up were blue, or green (Pioneer corn seed jackets, dad got them free with his yearly seed orders). So maybe I'm secretly wishing I could wear a red leather jacket. Hum...seems like a cool order idea. Maybe a Cherry Aero Ridley next time around?

Why not give Johnson leather a shot? They will have the shade you want

 

[Peacoat]

I have had an Aero Highwayman in cordovan for probably 10 years. It doesn't have as much red in it as some in this thread. While I like it, I prefer the Aero brown. My last two Aeros have been brown. It is such a rich color.

 

[Colin G]

I love cordovan I just do not like Horween's #8 version of cordovan. I had an old jacket in cordovan that was almost purplish and oxblood at the same time. Loved it but I left it with someone for a reline and it was taken apart, never finished, forgotten, looked for, then lost, yadda yadda yadda.

 

[Turnip]

BTW, wouldn’t it be possible / make sense to get a nice pair of shoes done from such a discarded jacket? Anyone tried that yet?

 

[photo2u]

Cordovan is a good name for the color. It was an excellent processed perfected by the Moors. I believe it has long history in the process of the membrane. Horween name to a color is not important to me. In true honesty, I have several Horween #8 Cordovan shades and they all different tones. By far favorite cordovan tone is a Mexican shade created by a made to order shoe master from Leon Guanajuato. My most used cordovan shoes are my Florsheim Imperial 93605 followed by my made in Spain Yankos. After many years of use, I have boycotted Alden due to their terrible customer service.

 

[Guppy]

This article covering the different colors of actual shell cordovan leather was an interesting read. Apparently, according to this article, Horween Color #8 is the darkest of a series of red-browns, with #2 being lighter and more red, and #8 being darkest and most brown, and is "often referred to as" cordovan" (the color) - - which is apparently very close to the color of the shell cordovan leather historically produced in Cordova, Spain. .

The article doesn't mention that these colors may be used to dye different types of hides, though, but as we all know that to be the case. If Heddels is accurate, it makes me wonder whether what some of Aero has used in jackets and sold as "cordovan" (the color) wasn't actually Color #2, #4, or #6, rather than #8. My guess is that the lighter colors just use a different proportion of the colored dyes they mix to create them.

(Color #2, Color #4, Color #6, Color #8. Who do we appreciate?)

https://www.heddels.com/2020/02/colors-shell-cordovan-rainbow/

 

[barnabus]

A jacket in #2 would be something beautiful. And brave.