New Aero Premier Highwayman = Perfection

[Witchtrip]

Really fine jacket and fit. Having enough wiggle room for a sweater is, imho, a perfect fit. I'd spring it on the wife asap because, first, she's going to smell it in no time and, second, you don't want to slink around in your own house. Now, here's a question: are you finding the CXL as tough to break in as some have said, or are you finding it surprisingly easy?

Here's the funny part - the jacket arrived ahead of schedule and showed up the day my mother-in-law came to visit for 2 weeks, so I definitely have to wait until I'm not out-numbered. She'll be fine with it, especially when I tell her I got it on eBay for $350... Oh boy.

I literally had trouble getting it on the first time - but it's warm here in NJ now and I wore it until I was breaking a sweat, doing all sorts of stretches and then crumpling & rolling it. I'm pleasantly surprised how much more flexible it is after 1 hour of wear, so it's not as intimidating as I thought it would be.

I actually find the cotton drill adding stiffness to the sleeves that probably would be less with sateen - I'm still on the fence about that choice. But, I will absolutely get sateen and light wool in the Vicenza I hope to order next year (I got medium weight wool on this jacket, which is great).

 

[tropicalbob]

I'm a Jersey boy myself (Elizabeth) and, yeah, it's no place for leather this time of year. I also have a mother-in-law: last time she came here the faucets ran blood for a week. Enjoy the jacket.

 

[Dugafola]

Excellent!! Congrats on first aero. I'm enjoying he break in as well!

 

[Seb Lucas]

It doesn't get any better than that. Superb jacket and fit. Never really liked the HWM but the Premier version is terrific. It took me about 8 jackets before I had a fit that good. Of course that was in the pre Internet days, it was harder back then. Information on fit and styling was hard to get.

 

[ton312]

Absolutely top notch. The premier pattern for this jacket takes it to the next level. Perfect fit and perfect hide choice. Congrats!

 

[handymike]

Really really nice!
The zip-sleeves are a great looking mod, and the brass and black is a winner.
Enjoy!

 

[Peacoat]

Nice jacket, good fit. It won't be as stiff as you think it will be. A few weeks of wearing it will do the trick. And I believe the Vicenza is not as stiff as the standard CXL FQHH, but not positive.

Now you need to start thinking about a ThunderBay for those days in NJ, and there are a lot of them, when the temps are too low for this jacket. With a sweater, I think your jacket will be good down to a little below freezing. Much below that and you may need an industrial grade liner. Congratulations on a good hit.

 

[Witchtrip]

Thanks all - yes, this forum with all of the excellent photos of your jackets, combined with the Thurston process took so much guesswork out. And my timing is great it seems, as the premier line is relatively new. I'd be swimming in a standard HWM.

@Peacoat: my fit jacket was Vicenza and I can't believe the difference between the 2 hides. Vicenza felt broken in right out of the box. It was a beautiful jacket, plenty of drape and a wonderful weight, but I'll be riding in mine and wanted something more robust. Of course, now that I've tried both on, I definitely want a Board Racer in Vicenza. They are such different hides, I can see having one of each. And those ThunderBays are indeed amazing! I can also see how someone can find themselves with 5-10 leather jackets in the closet one day...

 

[nick123]

Beautiful jacket that really goes well with the rest of your ensemble. I knew it was a winner when I saw it posted in the Thurston thread. You must be elated! Perfect fit.

 

[mendelboaz]

Yessir! Perfection is exactly what it is! World-class

 

[Mysteryo]

Bravissimo! Excellent jacket and excellent report! You're a happy man

 

[tmitchell59]

Great looking, Great Fitting. Nice.

 

[Witchtrip]

Bravissimo! Excellent jacket and excellent report! You're a happy man

I sure am & happy to join the ranks of you fellows. Better late than never!

 

[sweetfights]

Nice
very well done
ENJOY!!!

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Very nice.
Congrats
HD

 

[Smithy]

Absolutely bang on. Now go and wear the @$€£ out of it

 

[Peter Bowden]

You could always inadvertently leave your screen open on the Aero Ladies jackets page....

 

[A-1]

Oh man! Biggest congrats from Germany! If I were you I’d never buy another jacket in my life! As you said it’s perfect. And every day when you can wear a jacket, I’d definitely wear this one. This is just WOW!!!

 

[Superfluous]

Real nice! Cingrats.

 

[Lucas4922]

Hello,

I’m very pleased to announce the arrival of my custom Premier Highwayman, purchased with the invaluable help from Carrie & Wade @ Thurston Bros. I feel very fortunate to have discovered their amazing store and fit jacket process. It’s an expensive gamble ordering custom and the fit jacket process took most of the guessing out of the equation. They are true professionals and a pleasure to work with. Thanks Carrie & Wade!

I wanted to break a jacket in from scratch so CXL FQHH was the only real option as far as I was concerned. Carrie warned me about the stiffness of CXL, but I was masochistically determined to have a FQHH jacket (I was concerned Steer would be too heavy). I received a size 40 Vicenza Premier HWM fit jacket and I really liked it (those pics are posted on my other thread). It fit well, but I thought it was a little too large and so I went with a size 38 for my final order and prayed I was making the right decision. (I’ve read over and over about the unpleasantries of a too-small CXL jacket.)

When the jacket came, I took it out of the box and chuckled. It was like a 5-6lb hunk of leather armor. I’ve always wanted a suit of armor, so this was a promising start. It was gorgeous. I struggled to get it on and proceeded to do every Elvis Karate move I know, then some improvisational modern dance and finally a little Yoga (and of course some good old fashioned crumpling & rolling). I never really understood all the posts of people talking about their jackets beating them up until they broke it in enough to get the upper hand. Say no more - I get it. I will say, 1 hour of determined “abuse” worked wonders on making it more flexible. This is going to be a fun process, I can’t wait until Fall.

As this was my first custom order, I went for every option I thought I’d want. And remarkably, they all turned out great. Should I have chosen sateen over drill in the sleeves? Maybe. Should I have chosen a more exciting, busier tartan? Maybe. I definitely would not have gotten the snap on the inner left pocket. That’s going to be my glasses pocket and the button is overkill, that pocket is not opening on it’s own - but it’s all good. It is what it is and it’s perfect. (BTW, the sleeve & back length are excellent, whew

Which brings me to thanking above all, Julie V for her unbelievable artistry. I can’t comprehend how someone can manipulate this hide and sew with such precision, but she (and I'm sure any of the Aero Machinists), like a true artist, did and I'm beyond proud to own one of her pieces. Thanks Julie!

And of course, thanks for all of the advice and input you guys gave me - I’m already dreaming up my Vicenza Board racer which will have all the right choices. The disease has struck…

OK, enough blabbing. Bring on the Dancing Horses! (yeah, just ignore the wonky shirt collar)

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I'm also buying a Premier HWM from Thurston Bros but I'm struggling between a FQHH and a Vincenza . However, I noticed you own both of them. How do you like FQHH vs Vincenza?