New to leather jackets — fit/style questions

[leathden]

Hi all. I’ve lurked on here for a while and love to see everyone’s jackets. Gradually joining the dark side and recently picked up a Park V cafe racer which fits like a glove and looks good from all angles. I then found a used Aero half-belt on ebay which seemed to have the same shoulder (18”), chest (21”) and length (24”) measurements but ended up looking and feeling loose, and with the buckles tightened up a bit I just looked a little puffy/bulky in the mid-section. And this is the most flattering pic of the Aero‘s fit. Is this just a function of half belt V.S. cafe racer style, or did I need a smaller version of the Aero in shoulders/chest? Thanks

 

[cbez]

to my eye the shoulders look substantially different widths.

aero looks roomy in the belly but some guys on here swear by that fit. its subjective.

 

[leathden]

to my eye the shoulders look substantially different widths.

aero looks roomy in the belly but some guys on here swear by that fit. its subjective.

They do look substantially different, right?? But came up nearly identical when measured flat. I’m puzzled.

You make a good point that it’s going to be subjective. I really liked the look of Corky Corcovado’s in this thread. He has a 40ish chest like me but ordered 36 and it looks fantastic for a warmer weather jacket without much layering room. https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/aero-half-belt-advice-needed.93465/page-3#post-2398763

 

[bigmanbigtruck]

They do look substantially different, right?? But came up nearly identical when measured flat. I’m puzzled.

You make a good point that it’s going to be subjective. I really liked the look of Corky Corcovado’s in this thread. He has a 40ish chest like me but ordered 36 and it looks fantastic for a warmer weather jacket without much layering room. https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/aero-half-belt-advice-needed.93465/page-3#post-2398763

While measurements play an important role to understand if the jacket lands in your general fit "area", they don't tell the whole story. For instance, how cafe racers are typically meant to fit like a racing shirt vs half-belts which are relatively more relaxed. Especially an Aero 50's which would have minimal taper to achieve a relaxed fit. It also depends on the makers pattern.

To get the fit you linked to, you definitely need to size down as the other poster did, but I'm not sure how comfortable that may be as your chest may feel squeezed if you were to go 2 sizes down, at least to me. Also from most of the pics I've seen of these HB's (without singling anyone out), there is a bit of a puffy/bulky thing going on to various extents. I would definitely not cinch the jacket all the way, it only makes that look worse - for instance as pictured on the Ryder below, I only cinched upto 2 out of 4 notches. It definitely looks worse if I cinced it all the way through. Experiment with that.

I also dropped an e.g. of measurements of couple of my jackets from the same styles you have. In general there's about 1" of difference in couple of areas, but ultimately they both fit well on the torso imo - with the J100 slightly narrower as intended. What surprised me was the additional 1" on the hem of the Ryder, yet it still lands well on me.

Your cafe racer fit is bang-on and definitely has more taper going - which is why you find it more flattering given the same measurements.

	RMC J100	Lost Worlds Ryder
Chest	22"	22.5"
Hem	21"	22"
Shoulder	19.5"	18.5"

J100	Ryder

 

[Bennarion]

leathden, the Aero jacket fits you well, maybe only the sleeve is a little long. If you take it a size smaller, it will be small in the chest. Perhaps it would be better if you put a sweatshirt under your jacket.​

 

[Carlos840]

Don't forget that different jackets have different functions and that affects the fit and measurements.
I would want a cafe racer to be quit tight in the body with roomy biceps area as to not impeed forward reach on a bike, expecting to mostly wear it with a T shirt.
On the other hand i would want a jacket like the Aero to have room to layer, a thick jumper can sometime mean wearing a size up from a T shirt fit.

Really measurements don't tell you everything, I remember when i started i was convinced ALL my jackets HAD to have the same measurements regardless of their design/function, that was a mistake.

Look at the shoulders on the OP's photo, you can clearly see the design is completely different.
The Aero is designed so the shoulder width doesn't carry on into the sleeve. The stitch line is the widest point.
On the other hand you can see the shoulder seam to shoulder seam of the cafe racer is maybe similar, but the upper shoulder width is continued within the sleeve.
The means that even though they might have the same seam to seam measurement, the cafe racer is actually much wider in the upper shoulder.

To me the Cafe Racer is V shaped, the Aero is more A shaped, that's what you are noticing there.
I don't think sizing down on the Aero would work, it would be too tight in the shoulders and chest.

Let a jacket fit the way it was designed to fit rather than trying to make it be what it isn't...
Case in point, my Swedish Vanson, no measurements make sens (32" pit to pit on a size 42!), the sleeves are wide enough to fit my thighs, it is what it is, it fits how it fits:

 

[Aloysius]

Really measurements don't tell you everything, I remember when i started i was convinced ALL my jackets HAD to have the same measurements regardless of their design/function, that was a mistake.

Yeah I think we all go through this phase and it's one of the best example of how knowing a little bit can blind you. Also led to some custom jackets that are really well made but don't serve the purpose they should because I specced measurements that suit a different sort of jacket.

Let a jacket fit the way it was designed to fit rather than trying to make it be what it isn't...
Case in point, my Swedish Vanson, no measurements make sens (32" pit to pit on a size 42!), the sleeves are wide enough to fit my thighs, it is what it is, it fits how it fits

Which is why when I see forum members (or worse, dealers of leather jackets) say "this runs big so size down", I tune it out now. Things are sized for their particular pattern, which will have a different purpose. (When I say this I am leaving aside the bad Japanese patterns whose numbers mean nothing; speaking strictly of established Western patterns.)

When I was at Vanson HQ, I saw a size 36 of the Swedish jacket; given the measurements I thought I would try it on– despite measuring big, the thing felt like a straitjacket! It's just not meant to fit that way.

 

[leathden]

Thanks for the replies, all. Starting to wonder if the Aero I tried was 1950s (boxier, less taper?). Do these pics answer that question? To my eye, it flares out rather than tapers in. I see other people wearing Aeros that look more tapered.

 

[Marc mndt]

Thanks for the replies, all. Starting to wonder if the Aero I tried was 1950s (boxier, less taper?). Do these pics answer that question? To my eye, it flares out rather than tapers in. I see other people wearing Aeros that look more tapered. View attachment 613749

I like a halfbelt or aviator jacket to somewhat flare out. With the sides cinched it'll give a nice hourglass shape.

 

[leathden]

I like a halfbelt or aviator jacket to somewhat flare out. With the sides cinched it'll give a nice hourglass shape.

That’s how I was hoping it would look but there was a ton of extra space around the waist/hips so I had to tighten the belt and it just had a bloated look on me.

 

[bigmanbigtruck]

Thanks for the replies, all. Starting to wonder if the Aero I tried was 1950s (boxier, less taper?). Do these pics answer that question? To my eye, it flares out rather than tapers in. I see other people wearing Aeros that look more tapered. View attachment 613749

This is looking more like their 50’s HB. No yoke, no buttons on cuffs, less darts on back and side adjuster straps just go straight thru rather than loop back