New Highwayman too short. Help me correct this.

[Navin323i]

The jackets are a little differently made thats all.
This plus the stiffness is enough reason that its too short.

Im starting to wonder if this hide is really usable.
This jacket will survive a nuclear blast.
I cant even put my sunglasses in the pocket because
the jacket will crush them.

I wonder if they have this exact color in horse.
And also, is there a thickness inbetween?
Or is it just the 2 - this saddle leather-like thickness
and the midweight thats like a sweater?

I'm sure the hide is usable... it will just take time for it to break in and feel more supple, that's all.

If you're going to put sunglasses in your pocket you might consider putting them in a hard case first then putting them in your jacket pocket, assuming it's big enough of course. I would never put sunglasses even in an ordinary soft leather jacket pocket out of fear of breaking the sunglasses.

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

What annoyes me the most is that the back is actually not that bad.
Its not very far from what I want (to just cover the belt)
And it might even happen when the leather settles after some rain and so.

But the front (that I never gave measurements on) is way way wrong.

If the front would cover the belt as the back does then I would have been happy.
I am sure its because of the fact that the back is flat and a persons front
has pecks and this makes the jacket have to go "around" and it doesnt
drop to the same place. My Harley jacket looks a little longer in front
but this jacket looks a little shorter in the front.

 

[Navin323i]

The main positive thing in this thread is that Aero seem to have produced exactly what was requested. The second positive thing is that Aero will probably make sure that the jacket is fine. And the main lesson for me personally is that when ordering on the web I'm better off trusting Amanda than trying to be the tailor myself. Obviously the best option is to have Aero do the measurements, what better proof is there than Gancho's jacket posted earlier...

Tony, based on your comments which I bolded above, are you implying that GriffDeLaGriff didn't trust Amanda and basically played the role of tailor himself? After reading this thread carefully I don't feel he did that at all. Take me for example... I have an Aero leather jacket on order and have been in touch with both Mark and Amanda in regards to my measurements. It's not a question of not trusting them... bottom line is that they require certain measurements in order to make any jacket... those are the measurements I provided to them, and GriffDeLaGriff did the same thing for his jacket... he provided them his measurements which were based on a jacket in his possession. In fact, with my measurements, Amanda also asked me to try on a jacket that fits me properly and take measurements of that jacket, or to just ship them the jacket I have that fits me properly so that they can get the measurements correct for me.

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

Yeah I know its better to have the glasses in a protective case.
Im just trying to get out how extremely thick this leather is.

I have been in touch with thick leather many times since my dad
made kidneybelts and saddle bags and stuff but I never thought
a jacket could be this thick. Im amazed that they can actually make
a jacket out of the stuff. Great craftmanship!

Using it with the armzippers up will make blisters in notime for sure.
You cant see on the pics just how extreme this thing is.

As I said, best description ever is - it feels like your wearing a saddle.

 

[BellyTank]

I shall wait anxiously. Meanwhile, I shall do as instructed (well, mainly on the orders of my wife, who outranks you), there is some gardening to be done and the evening is beautiful. I will also wear a horsehide thick leather garment to protect me. My broad shoulders hardened by the menial chores can fairly easily bear the extra weight...

Maybe your Wife needs a heavy leather whip, for your back.


The evening here, is decidedly average.

B
T

 

[gyrobroyeur]

GriffDeLaGriff, sorry for you.
You seem honest in your way to find what happened for this wrong result. Aeroleather have a very good reputation. If I were you, I will write a mail to Amanda with an explanation and a link on this thread where there are photos of what you have, and explanation of what you would get...
I'm sure they will understand your point of view about this jacket.
They are the only persons who can find a solution to your problem, you have no choice to contact them...
Regards.

 

[tonypaj]

Tony, based on your comments which I bolded above, are you implying that GriffDeLaGriff didn't trust Amanda and basically played the role of tailor himself? After reading this thread carefully I don't feel he did that at all. Take me for example... I have an Aero leather jacket on order and have been in touch with both Mark and Amanda in regards to my measurements. It's not a question of not trusting them... bottom line is that they require certain measurements in order to make any jacket... those are the measurements I provided to them, and GriffDeLaGriff did the same thing for his jacket... he provided them his measurements which were based on a jacket in his possession. In fact, with my measurements, Amanda also asked me to try on a jacket that fits me properly and take measurements of that jacket, or to just ship them the jacket I have that fits me properly so that they can get the measurements correct for me.

As I know very little about taking measurements, and the effects that different measurements have on different garments (or better yet, garments based on different patterns), I am very reluctant to change the manufacturer's specs much. But, having said that, of course you have to give the manufacturer the basics...

Apart from that, as I said before, I deal with contractual things daily, and do not wish to comment any further here, it serves no purpose. My comments would anyway be based on legalistic stuff, and that's boring enough at the office.

 

[Paden]

I think, the jackt is to short.
I also think, that it is not very nice to make public an mail or whatever conversation with Amanda.
One thing is to ask the public to the jacket, the rest should be between Amanda and you.
She can not defend herself.
So the medal has always to sides.
This is my personal view of it.

 

[Papa M]

If I were you, I will write a mail to Amanda with an explanation and a link on this thread where there are photos of what you have, and explanation of what you would get...

I don't think that Amanda and Aero really need to read all of our opinions on this matter. I think that the fairest solution is to write an E-Mail directly to Amanda explaining the sizing problems and attaching the photos depicting the size errors.

Aero will then make their judgement on what needs adjusting.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

What I noticed immediately was that the Harley jacket used as an example(and measurements) hasn't the squared up shoulders as most Aero jackets..but does slightly overhang the wearers shoulders..which definately effects the shoulder seam to sleeve end measurement concerning measurement comparison between the two. The sleeves on the Hwymn are too short simply because the shoulder seam on the Aero rides higher...or more accurate on the shoulders than the HD jacket with the incorporated bi-swing back. Plus the HD jacket does have the short "cafe" style collar....with no seam across shoulders...and slimmer smooth HalfBelt body style. Trying to measure and adapt to "another style" of jacket "accurately" would be no easy chore...unless a pro had it in their hands to measure every measurement of the example.
In my view..if "body" measurements had been sent...and just where sleeve should end....and where body length should end below belt...everything might have worked out. However...the jacket would still favor the Hwymn shape and fit...without the bi-swing back...cafe collar..or tapered smooth body fit...since,afterall,it is still a Hwyman. Perhaps..in order to get closer to what you wanted..a '30s HalfBelt with zip sleeves might have worked better.
Now with all the custom embelishments and odd fit..Aero seems expected to try and resell a returned jacket that was derived from a completely different style of jacket. In my view...I think that it would be very nice of them if they agree to do that..indeed.
HD

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

All I wanted was the length to be right below the belt.
That is the only thing "taken" from that jacket.
There is nothing else taken or adapted in any way.
I never tried to change the style into something else.
How can you make it sound as if I did.

If the measurement had been on my naked back then the jacket
would have been made into the same length as it is now
and that is the problem, specially since the front is even shorter.

To clarify: I do not expect anyone to do anything for me at all.
Its not that much money and its not the purpose of the thread.
Im trying to show here that something went wrong
and I did not see it coming.

I did remove the "email" since I do not want to make matters worse.
I personally dont see what is wrong with it, it helps to see what
really happened.

 

[PeterO]

After months of lurking here I finally have something to add.Three weeks ago I received my first Aero, a Highwayman. I'd asked for a size 40 as thats my usual size but when I tried the jacket on it was way way too big.I sent some photos of me wearing it to Will at AERO and he advised me to go down two sizes. At first I was apprehensive as I havent worn a 36 since I was a boy,but I wouldnt tell a hatter how to make a hat.Anyway to-day I got a replacement and its a perfect fit. Will nailed it from the photos and three measurements no questions asked.Talk to the folks at Aero I'm sure they will sort it out. Now that I'm finally here I'd also like to say thanks to all the guys who posted on the Aero threads as i found their expertise invaluable when picking my jacket.

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

I do have a dialogue with Aero about this.
There is no problem for me to email them.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Ok..maybe I got the wrong impression. If so...I do sincerely apologise.
However I think that things still seem to be a bit confusing. You do state the body length measurement...and also the sleeve measurement of the HD jacket. Stating that the HD sleeve is at 25 1/2"...and that Aero made the Hwymn at 25" which seems much shorter than the HD jacket(If I remember correctly). I was explaining just why the 25" S length of the Hwyman seems more than a 1/2" shorter difference compared to the HD jacket.
It does seem....however..that if you had measured(while wearing your jeans and belt) a body measurement to the bottom of the belt would surely have offered better accurracy. I'm not trying to say that it's just you at fault...but when customizing anything..accuracy means everything..on both sides of the communication.
HD

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

Ok I see now. The sleeve measure pic is a little complicated.

When I first ordered the cheyenne I wanted the sleeves to be perfect
since I think its very important. I measured the Harley sleeves
and gave that to Amanda. 25.5"
I then said that they are maybe a little long but she said
that the leather will crease so better leave it.
I said smart thinking and left it, and the cheyenne has 25.5"
arms and they are perfect.

This offcourse led me to believe that it actually works to take measurements
off something that you have at home.

When showing that front profile picture it wasnt only for the sleeves but
to show also the jacket front and overall look so they would know where
the length measurement came from more exact and to compare
with the jacket length and just overall to see that I havent screwed up.


This time I once again said that maybe the sleeves is a little long
(i was thinking about bare leather with no alpaca inside) so I said 25"

I could live with the sleeves and the back but the front is hilariously short.

I really think they should have asked me for another measure, and I also
think that I should have thought it more through before finilazing.
I have seen many jackets overlapping the backpockets and when she said
23" and that it was 1" less then normal and also with that harley measure I was so sure of a perfect fit.

Loking at the pic I couldnt see how 1-1.5" more would make it look any better.

 

[Navin323i]

As I know very little about taking measurements, and the effects that different measurements have on different garments (or better yet, garments based on different patterns), I am very reluctant to change the manufacturer's specs much. But, having said that, of course you have to give the manufacturer the basics...

Apart from that, as I said before, I deal with contractual things daily, and do not wish to comment any further here, it serves no purpose. My comments would anyway be based on legalistic stuff, and that's boring enough at the office.

Tony, I too deal with contractual things daily and I'm certainly not asking you to comment on anything that you don't wish to.

My point, which you might have missed, is that perhaps your comments to Griff were a little on the harsh side... he feels bad enough that his jacket didn't turn out as good as he hoped it would size-wise, but then to hear you imply that Griff erroneously took it upon himself to play the role of tailor and further implying that Griff failed to trust Amanda... that just seems like the saying, "kicking someone when they're already down and hurting". Perhaps that was not your intention, but that is how your post negatively came across.

The manufacturer's specs that you say you are reluctant to change... sometimes given the customer's needs, there may very well have to be a change to accomodate the customer. Perfect example... normal sizing measurements that are within manufacturer's specs won't be 100% applicable to me... why? The reason is simply because my body dimensions were impacted by my 5 major open-heart surgeries. So my point here is that though you might not be willing to change manufacturer's specs, others here may not be able to do that for good reason. Cheers.

 

[tonypaj]

Tony, I too deal with contractual things daily and I'm certainly not asking you to comment on anything that you don't wish to.

My point, which you might have missed, is that perhaps your comments to Griff were a little on the harsh side... he feels bad enough that his jacket didn't turn out as good as he hoped it would size-wise, but then to hear you imply that Griff erroneously took it upon himself to play the role of tailor and further implying that Griff failed to trust Amanda... that just seems like the saying, "kicking someone when they're already down and hurting". Perhaps that was not your intention, but that is how your post negatively came across.

The manufacturer's specs that you say you are reluctant to change... sometimes given the customer's needs, there may very well have to be a change to accomodate the customer. Perfect example... normal sizing measurements that are within manufacturer's specs won't be 100% applicable to me... why? The reason is simply because my body dimensions were impacted by my 5 major open-heart surgeries. So my point here is that though you might not be willing to change manufacturer's specs, others here may not be able to do that for good reason. Cheers.

Please refer to my earlier post.

 

[Navin323i]

Please refer to my earlier post.

I already did... please refer to mine as well.

As far as I'm concerned we're all friends here and deserve to be treated with respect by everyone including you... sadly your post didn't come across in a respectful way towards Griff. Your loss.

Griff... I hope you get things worked out, my friend.

 

[Southernwayfare]

Beautiful leather and a good looking jacket. Too bad it doesn't fit. Sorry that it happened. Unfortunately, Aero can only be asked to make a garment to the measurements provided. It seems that the source of the error here was measurements from a very dissimilar jacket rather than body measurements. Because it worked with the Cheyenne sleeves, you made the assumption that this was a valid approach. I think you got lucky with the Cheyenne. It definitely isn't the way to do it. That's why tailors always work from body measurements. Changes in one area often require proportional changes in other areas.

It's really too bad and I hope you can come to a resolution with Aero but if they made the coat to the measurement you requested its difficult to fault them for this. They can't police everyone's requests. Just my opinion and I hope it works out.

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

Thanks.

I am one lesson richer, we learn something everyday and this is why
I post all this here along with my thoughts.


I understand that people think all sort of things about this, and thats why
I have tried to explain how easy this happened.
I actually did trust Aero alot, I sent the chest, tummy and waist
measurements and let them decide the size. I didnt even know
what size the jacket would be untill I saw the shipping invoice.
I thought I could just add my sleeve and back measure to the equation,
to be sure it would fit... lol