cloudylemonade
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We've noticed some confusion about how Aero's fit, and people questioning why they wouldn't always be the same size in each style, why a size 42" for example will vary so much depending on the style.
We've put together a little guide to help with this, hopefully this will be of help to some folks here!
“Fit” falls into two categories; Fashion or traditional tailored.
Traditional bespoke tailoring, as seen in Savile Row style, has altered very little in the past 100 years. A suit made for a gentleman with (for example) a 42” chest will have an external pit to pit measurement of 23” giving approx. 4” of internal movement room minus the thickness of the lining, wadding etc (See the red line on rough graph below). While in fashion the perceived correct fit of utility clothing has varied considerably over the past century, probably more so in leather garments than in any other clothing. The size on the ticket has always represents how a jacket was “supposed to fit” during the particular era it was designed and/or constructed.
Aero’s designs have always been true to the era, consequently a 1930s replica or design marked 42” will have a smaller pit to pit than a 1950s replica/design also sized 42”. The size on the ticket would remain the same and would represent the way that specific design would have been cut and sized during the era it was originally made for.
Briefly, again taking a size 42” as a reference.
During the 1920s and into the latter half of the 1930s movement room was very skimpy, 22 ½” to 23” being typical. As the era came to a close jackets began to be cut slightly more generously, 23” being typical pit to pit for a 42”. Following the end of WW2 fit became looser, pit to pit for a 42” was often in the region of 24” maybe more, check the fit of the Biker Jackets in The Wild One. While a man knew what size he was, a 42”, he also wanted to look “right”, this did not mean buying a bigger jacket, it meant buying a bigger cut jacket.
This trend for a bigger looser cut continued right through the 1950s where it would not be unusual for a 42” to have a pit to pit 25” or even more. Into the 1960s and year by year this trend was reversed, by the late 1960s it would be typical for a 42” to have a pit to pit of 22” or even less!
Through the 1970s this ‘spray on’ fit gradually returned to a fit more typical of the 1940s, this continued into the early 1980s when movement room was gradually increased to almost comic dimensions a look that peaked in the early 1990s, since when the period fit has continued to drop until, today, the correct fit is perceived by many to be much as it was in the late 1930, with a 4” movement room, or 23” pit to pit on a 42”.
Aero jackets fit the way they were cut in period we are replication, a 1950s Highwayman is how such a jacket would have been made to fit had it been made in the 1950s, while our 1930s Highwayman isn’t a ‘retagged’ 1950s jacket, it’s a complete recut to the style and manner of the 1930s.
So to sum up again, an Aero will always fit as it would have been made and worn during the era the design dates from.
We've put together a little guide to help with this, hopefully this will be of help to some folks here!
“Fit” falls into two categories; Fashion or traditional tailored.
Traditional bespoke tailoring, as seen in Savile Row style, has altered very little in the past 100 years. A suit made for a gentleman with (for example) a 42” chest will have an external pit to pit measurement of 23” giving approx. 4” of internal movement room minus the thickness of the lining, wadding etc (See the red line on rough graph below). While in fashion the perceived correct fit of utility clothing has varied considerably over the past century, probably more so in leather garments than in any other clothing. The size on the ticket has always represents how a jacket was “supposed to fit” during the particular era it was designed and/or constructed.
Aero’s designs have always been true to the era, consequently a 1930s replica or design marked 42” will have a smaller pit to pit than a 1950s replica/design also sized 42”. The size on the ticket would remain the same and would represent the way that specific design would have been cut and sized during the era it was originally made for.
Briefly, again taking a size 42” as a reference.
During the 1920s and into the latter half of the 1930s movement room was very skimpy, 22 ½” to 23” being typical. As the era came to a close jackets began to be cut slightly more generously, 23” being typical pit to pit for a 42”. Following the end of WW2 fit became looser, pit to pit for a 42” was often in the region of 24” maybe more, check the fit of the Biker Jackets in The Wild One. While a man knew what size he was, a 42”, he also wanted to look “right”, this did not mean buying a bigger jacket, it meant buying a bigger cut jacket.
This trend for a bigger looser cut continued right through the 1950s where it would not be unusual for a 42” to have a pit to pit 25” or even more. Into the 1960s and year by year this trend was reversed, by the late 1960s it would be typical for a 42” to have a pit to pit of 22” or even less!
Through the 1970s this ‘spray on’ fit gradually returned to a fit more typical of the 1940s, this continued into the early 1980s when movement room was gradually increased to almost comic dimensions a look that peaked in the early 1990s, since when the period fit has continued to drop until, today, the correct fit is perceived by many to be much as it was in the late 1930, with a 4” movement room, or 23” pit to pit on a 42”.
Aero jackets fit the way they were cut in period we are replication, a 1950s Highwayman is how such a jacket would have been made to fit had it been made in the 1950s, while our 1930s Highwayman isn’t a ‘retagged’ 1950s jacket, it’s a complete recut to the style and manner of the 1930s.
So to sum up again, an Aero will always fit as it would have been made and worn during the era the design dates from.
