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Show me your favorite jacket

Joao Encarnado

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,776
Location
Portugal
I don't get that whole order size up business either. I find Schott jackets that are supposed to be super tight to be textbook examples of the size numbers they're tagged as. It's a silly practice, with no discernible benefits and it should be abandoned as it's good only for confusing people. I'm near twice your age, but I've kept my weight at the exact same number since I was 18. Thankfully. :) Anyway, Aero is pretty accurate with their size no. so while I normally wear 42 in Aero, I could go with 40. However, they do not seem to be as forgiving as Schott in the waist area - my size 42 Aero MC jacket is skin snug around the waist - so I would go with their recommendation...

Doesn't Schott recommend to order 1 size up? I do wear 38 and my Schott "number" is 40.
 
Messages
16,843
Doesn't Schott recommend to order 1 size up? I do wear 38 and my Schott "number" is 40.

Yep, they do, and I personally find this recommendation to be untrue. Even though I decided not to listen to their advice on the 618 and instead went with my size number, the jacket that arrived was... very comfortable at best, with enough gut room to near fit my lady inside with me. Good thing about it was that I could layer up like crazy during the winter which meant I could wear it all year... :)
 

mendelboaz

One Too Many
Messages
1,242
Location
The Netherlands
Yep, they do, and I personally find this recommendation to be untrue. Even though I decided not to listen to their advice on the 618 and instead went with my size number, the jacket that arrived was... very comfortable at best, with enough gut room to near fit my lady inside with me. Good thing about it was that I could layer up like crazy during the winter which meant I could wear it all year... :)

There's nothing quite like a supertight Schott 618 :) could you post/send me some pics of you wearing your 618HH? Wonder how it the horsehide looks when aged & how the fit is when going 2 sizes down..
 
Last edited:

Joao Encarnado

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,776
Location
Portugal
Yep, they do, and I personally find this recommendation to be untrue. Even though I decided not to listen to their advice on the 618 and instead went with my size number, the jacket that arrived was... very comfortable at best, with enough gut room to near fit my lady inside with me. Good thing about it was that I could layer up like crazy during the winter which meant I could wear it all year... :)

Because I'm not in the US and Schott is something... rare I cannot experiment different sizes.
My Open Road size 38 is a bit tight and the 618 size 40 is a little bit less tight. My problem is Schott is the short body, long versions are rare (and when they appear they go sky high).
Here a leather jacket is not warm enough in the winter so I cannot wear them all year. For that, I use my Open Road size 42 with another jacket (a feather jacket called refrigiwear) below it.
 

the loco

One of the Regulars
Messages
142
Location
Montreal
I think one should always try or ask Schott's costumer support for the dimensions. The fit is quite different between the jacket types.
 

bluesforchallah

Practically Family
Messages
719
Location
Shakedown Street, Seattle
My favorite jacket would have to be my Vanson Comet PLU-3. I sold it, regretted it and thankfully had the opportunity to buy it back.

90E7B4F1-8E4D-4947-BE55-A6F94947D1E6-19039-00001F621E1179E4_zps666639d7.jpg


IMG_3136.jpg
 

Deacon211

One Too Many
Messages
1,012
Location
Kentucky
No love for the G-1 huh?

Well, if I weren't retired Marine, I would probably admit that the A-2 is more pretty for its simplicity.


But since I am a retired Marine... :D


Marines-Smack'EmDown.jpg


1941 W+G, restored by Aero (a gift from my wife)

P6161118a.JPG


Though I think that my ELC might fit a hair better on me.

P3230628a.JPG


I love 'em both...each for different reasons.

Deacon
 

Yesteryear

One of the Regulars
Messages
240
My Alpha Industries A-2 aviator jacket. This jacket is too big on me (it should be slim fitting in the waste) but I still like it.

 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,081
Location
London, UK
Skimming over this old thread, I'm now, two years on since my last post, the owner of several more jackets. The Bootlegger is still much loved, though my current favourite is my Aero Cropduster / Speedway mix, in Horween Bison with bright red drill cotton lining. Jackets will always be horses for courses with me, though... I *have* managed to identify about five that are going to gto to make way for at least one or two of the last six Aeros I "need".... ;)

White deerskin w/ lilac leather inserts and sidebelt(s).

DeerCafe1.jpg
DeerCafe2.jpg

My lady and I are both working on losing some excess wait at present. Once we're both down to the size we want to be, I've promised her a nice leather. She runs hot so it will have to be light (goatskin, most likely.... she'd be grand in an A2 in the depths of Winter...). Something like this in her beloved red and black would be superb.... I wonder if Ken's been looking to this sort of thing, given the plans at Aero to work up a range of ladies' jackets...

And not quite as atmospheric

Gorgeous jacket - love the new A2 as well. Now you're bound to be considering one of the new aero CC Irvins, no? ;)

eba6ujyj.jpg

Schott 118 Perfecto with removable furry collar. Rarely gets cold enough for it around here, but if something happened to it I'd have to find another. Mainly because Schott is one of the few that makes long sizes anymore in this style. And I dig the way the furry collar looks.

I picked up a 618 myself a few months ago. Cracking jacket. I'm tempted by the collar, though I'd probably want to wait until I could try the collar on my own jacket just to be sure of the fit.

Perfecto looks awesome with a fur collar but the best thing about it is how entirely it shifts the whole look of the jacket. I wish I had one for my Aero MC jacket, but they don't seem to be making these anymore...

Yeah, Ken put the kabosh on the removable mouton collars when he took over management again because he wasn't happy with how they fitted. I can't see them being reintroduced now.

I can't believe Schott advises to size up from your suit size on their 641 & 618/613 jackets... I do have to note I am only 18 years old, so I'm likely to gain a few inches in the chest, shoulder & bi/triceps area over the next couple of years, taking my weightlifting and upcoming career as a marine into account... What size do you wear in the Aero Highwayman & Cafe Racer (if you even have those) for a tight/snug fit?

Makes sense to me, but then you still have the arrival of middle-aged spread to look forward to.... ;) When I was eighteen I was 38Ch/28w; I'm now 44-46 chest and.... well, getting back down to a 38W is looking like a dream, albeit an achievable one if I watch what I eat better..... (enjoy being able to eat what the hell you like and not put on weight while it lasts! ;) ). The 618 I have is cut very much to a "vintage" pattern, and I definitely needed a 46". For comparison, in Aero's sizings I need a 44 in a slim pattern like a 30s HB (modern sizing; same as a modern repro 44 A2 from most makers equating to a 46 in wartime A2s), while my Highwayman and my Johnson D-pocket are both 42. Relative to the 118, the Schott 613 and 618 are definitely much neater in cut. It's actually, in my experience, not far off comparing a Highwayman with a Halfbelt. If you've got a very pronounced chest-waist drop like the 10" I once had, you'll do fine sticking with your 'regular size' for a Joey Ramone fit, but those of us more.... substantial.... would definitely need to go up to have the fit round the waist that works as well as over the shoulders. As ever, the best practice is to ignore the numbers and buy what fits the way you like it.

mendelboaz, I find Schott horse to be infinitely superior to their cow. The leather may appear shiny and sort of vinyl-ish at first, but as it starts gaining character immediately, after only a few months of constant wear the HH gets so beautiful that I don't think there's any comparison to either cow or steer they're using. I've noticed many people selling their Schott HH because they don't like the shininess, without ever giving it a chance.

I think it got a bad rep during the period where they used to back the HH with felt to give it a thicker feel than the hide itself, but they do have some nice hides. I kinda like the shine, tbh. My 618 is the steer, though - which is itself lovely too.

I'd say that advice is mostly directed at the modern market (read fat people); there is no way you could get a snug fit when sizing up in a Schott.

That really depends on individual size/ shape. Relative to the 118, a 618 cut is definitely much tighter; to get the same fit in a 618 as a 118, all other things being equal, you would indeed need to go a size up. Another case of sizing being largely irrelevant, and measurements of the jackets being more important.

You can hate me for this, but I've found that my old reenacting jacket (a German M40) is fairly practical as an autumn/winter jacket once all the markings have been removed.

If a military jacket (re)designed based on experience of the Western Front in the early war years i]wasn't[/i] practical, there'd be something seriously wrong. If anybody gets funny with you, just tell 'em it's 1950s Swedish.... I'm as wary as the next clothes fetishist of anything that's a bit too fascist-chic nowadays, but equally it often seems to me there are a few to many people out there who are just looking out to be offended.
 

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