New Aerial Star A2, Incredible Steerhide, Great Cut, I Love It!

[Fanch]

Russet Jerky mid-weight HH?

Yes it is Russet Jerky mid-weight HH and is my go to jacket when the weather is not too cool and I grab something from my closet on the fly.


And so would I if I could get a 44 regular with 44 tall arms.

Dave, I cannot imagine you would have any issue with a tall body as well as arms given your height. I would order a 44 Tall Aerial Star without hesitation and never look back. Furthermore, I am just under 6'2" which is, I recall, 2" shorter than you. You are continuing to overthink the situation.

 

[Dagenham Dave]

Dave, I cannot imagine you would have any issue with a tall body as well as arms given your height. I would order a 44 Tall Aerial Star without hesitation and never look back. Furthermore, I am just under 6'2" which is, I recall, 2" shorter than you. You are continuing to overthink the situation.

Overthink - yeah that's me!!!

I just know my other 50s jackets are 27" from shoulder seam to bottom, and they're a perfect length. I just don't want longer.

 

[Fanch]

Dave, both of my A-2's have a 27" back length. The back length for an Aerial Star size 44 is 26.5" and only one more inch for the tall size. Remember that the knits tend to ride up in the back anyhow. At your height I would not anticipate 1/2" over 27" would be a deal breaker.

 

[thor]

Dave, both of my A-2's have a 27" back length. The back length for an Aerial Star size 44 is 26.5" and only one more inch for the tall size. Remember that the knits tend to ride up in the back anyhow. At your height I would not anticipate 1/2" over 27" would be a deal breaker.

+1
Fanch is right; with a knit waistband (not a straight leather hem) the extra half inch should feel/look negligible. Plus Aerial Star has a money-back guarantee with free return shipping. Can't beat that!

 

[Dagenham Dave]

Dave, both of my A-2's have a 27" back length. The back length for an Aerial Star size 44 is 26.5" and only one more inch for the tall size. Remember that the knits tend to ride up in the back anyhow. At your height I would not anticipate 1/2" over 27" would be a deal breaker.

Cheers Fanch. I'm waiting to hear from Charles if his maker can mix a 44 tall arms with a 44 regular body first. I'll see what he says.

I'm also considering buying the 44 tall and a spare 44 regular zipper, and getting my dressmaker to shorten the jacket with the 44 regular zip.

 

[Fanch]

Dave, what did you say your chest and waist measurements are? What shirt size do you normally wear? I think it would be utter nonsense to even consider having a machinist alter the body length of an A-2 for the infinitesimal reduction you have in mind.

 

[Dagenham Dave]

+1
Fanch is right; with a knit waistband (not a straight leather hem) the extra half inch should feel/look negligible. Plus Aerial Star has a money-back guarantee with free return shipping. Can't beat that!

It's actually an extra inch, not half. A 44 tall will give a 27.5" centre-back length (or 28" length from shoulder seam to bottom). That's 1" longer than my ideal.

Plus I'd feel really bad sending a jacket back. I'd rather get it right and keep it.

 

[Azog]

Dave, both of my A-2's have a 27" back length. The back length for an Aerial Star size 44 is 26.5" and only one more inch for the tall size. Remember that the knits tend to ride up in the back anyhow. At your height I would not anticipate 1/2" over 27" would be a deal breaker.

+2

The leather may shrink a bit with time and creases too. If the long (tall size) arms prove to be slightly too long you may be able shrink them with hot water treatment and heat drying on the arms only. Leave the body dry. But you run the risk of them shrinking too much or not at all.

You must be a shirt tucked in guy as an extra inch of back length wouldn't bother a lot of shirt untucked guys.

I think the free shipping and return policy is for USA only though.

It seems like this no custom work policy change started a month or so ago as people were reporting getting custom lengths as recently as that.

Eastman actually agreed to mix arms and body sizes for my A2 from them and it was a success. It was a few years ago though and the way anything besides regular is ordered from them now has changed.

 

[Fanch]

Aerial Star states the back length is measured from the bottom of the collar (seam) down to the bottom edge of the wool knit waistband. For a size 44 tall that would be 27.5 inches. I still think you are trying to pole vault over a mouse turd. lol All kidding aside, you probably shouldn't proceed given your reservations.

 

[Sloan1874]

+2

The leather may shrink a bit with time and creases too. If the long (tall size) arms prove to be slightly too long you may be able shrink them with hot water treatment and heat drying on the arms only. Leave the body dry. But you run the risk of them shrinking too much or not at all.

.

I would not buy a jacket if I thought it would require hot water treatment to shrink the arms, especially if it was my first jacket. If we're talking about MWHH, I don't think there will be much in the way of shrinkage through wrinkling either, certainly not from my experience of it.

 

[Azog]

I would not buy a jacket if I thought it would require hot water treatment to shrink the arms, especially if it was my first jacket. If we're talking about MWHH, I don't think there will be much in the way of shrinkage through wrinkling either, certainly not from my experience of it.

I haven't done HWT on any top end maker jackets. Although have got good results on cheapo jackets. I have read stories of people doing it with very expensive jackets though.

 

[Dagenham Dave]

Dave, what did you say your chest and waist measurements are? What shirt size do you normally wear? I think it would be utter nonsense to even consider having a machinist alter the body length of an A-2 for the infinitesimal reduction you have in mind.

I have a 44" chest and I wear 38" Levi's Shrink-to-Fit (my waist is around 38-39").

And I don't think I agree that 1" is an infinitesimal amount. Plus the Aerial Star is such good value that it would not worry me to spend an extra $100 to have it altered to my ideal body length.

 

[Sloan1874]

You're absolutely right, I've done HWT on FQHH and MWHH (Shinki and Horween) and got not bad results, especially in re-shaping collars, but my experience is that it won't give really dramatic results. Here are the arms on a MWHH jacket that I HWT-ed:

 

[Azog]

Was that fully soaking it or spray bottle? I got quite marked shortening by fully soaking the sleeves only, one at a time, and then drying them one at a time in front of a radiant heater. I put a broomstick through the sleeve to support it. Being very careful not to cause any heat damage to the leather. The right distance needs to be found. Admittedly it wasn't any kind of premium leather and probably should only be a last resort for correcting top end jackets that can't be returned for whatever reason. The whole idea should probably be avoided on veg tanned leather.

 

[Dagenham Dave]

I still think you are trying to pole vault over a mouse turd. lol.

I love it Fanch!

 

[Fanch]

Dave, maybe a couple of my comments were over the top. As far as I can determine, you are a couple of inches bigger than I am in all directions. Normally I wear a 44 long sports or suit coat and 37 pants. Based on my anatomy and then extrapolating what yours might be, I was attempting to opine what might work for you. Invariably though our perception of someone else is almost always incorrect. Perhaps your best course of action would be to have careful measurements taken, maybe including a picture and send it all to Aerial Star. Ordering an expensive jacket over the Internet is problematic at best. Best of luck with your endeavor.

 

[handymike]

Dave, I know you are putting a lot of research into this jacket, but until you see samples of the leather, I feel you won't be able to make an "informed" decision.
Once you have your samples in hand, and know which color/ hide is the one you want to wear, then the sizing should be able to get worked out. Get Aero swatches and Aerial Star swatches!
Then pick up this discussion again.
Cheers!

 

[Dagenham Dave]

Dave, maybe a couple of my comments were over the top. As far as I can determine, you are a couple of inches bigger than I am in all directions. Normally I wear a 44 long sports or suit coat and 37 pants. Based on my anatomy and then extrapolating what yours might be, I was attempting to opine what might work for you. Invariably though our perception of someone else is almost always incorrect. Perhaps your best course of action would be to have careful measurements taken, maybe including a picture and send it all to Aerial Star. Ordering an expensive jacket over the Internet is problematic at best. Best of luck with your endeavor.

Fanch, your comments weren't over the top. I took them as intended - helpful advice.

 

[Dagenham Dave]

Dave, I know you are putting a lot of research into this jacket, but until you see samples of the leather, I feel you won't be able to make an "informed" decision.
Once you have your samples in hand, and know which color/ hide is the one you want to wear, then the sizing should be able to get worked out. Get Aero swatches and Aerial Star swatches!
Then pick up this discussion again.
Cheers!

Will do. Thanks handymike.

 

[Brettafett]

What about just ordering the jacket. Chris is a good bloke and I am sure if it didn't please, you could return it. Plus you probably would n't have to fork out any cash for it at the outset, just the postage. The only way to really know is to try it on.
If it fits great, it may be worth spending to have the arms shortened, perhaps they are fine...
I have also vacillated for ages over one of these, but went for it based on Chris' no-quibble guarantees. I am in NZ and should receive mine in hours or days... Will let you know.