Two premier highwaymen

[Mattofumi]

Hey there, been lurking around the forum, commenting here and there for a while and thought it was time to post my Aero’s and comment on my experience ordering them through Thurston Bros.

Have been into the denim thing for a while but finally made a jump up in my career and finally had some money to buy a leather jacket. After much study right here on FL I settled on the premier highwayman from Aero. Just has the casual, not overly dramatic look I wanted. Loved the button cuffs and thought the slimmer fit would work for me.

Live in Australia so wasn’t able to try an Aero on anywhere close by so decided buying through Thurston Bros with their fit process made the most sense. As many of you have mentioned before Carrie was so helpful and helped me get it right.

I had decided I wanted a russet coloured jacket and thought maybe goatskin.

My fit jacket was a blackened brown Vicenza premier highwayman. After trying it on I didn’t want to take it off. Was agonizing over whether to keep the fit jacket or send it back to order a custom one in russet Vicenza when my wife nicely suggested having a black and a brown jacket was a reasonable thing to do .

So in the end kept the fit jacket and ordered another in russet with the “less pointy” collar option. Also the black jacket has tartan body lining with cotton sateen in the sleeves. Went with red cotton drill in the sleeve of the russet jacket. Both were sewn by the talented Julie Leitch.

So on to what I think of the jackets. Basically I love them. Although the measurements are the same the black jacket feels a bit less restrictive. Might be that there is just a tiny bit of extra room from the sewing, might be the leather is a little thicker or thinner on one, might be the sateen vs. the cotton drill sleeves, not sure. I like the less pointy collar of the russet jacket but had I not been reading this forum I wouldn’t have thought the standard premier highwayman collar was too long or pointy, so I’m happy with both jackets. I like both the sleeve lining materials for different reasons. The sateen is more comfortable against bare skin but the cotton drill feels a little warmer and more substantial.

The only thing I would change is I’d make both jackets 1cm or so longer in the body but this is very subjective and it’s so small a change that I wouldn’t order another jacket to try to change it, really a non-issue.

Time for some pics. Tried to get one to show the difference in the collars for anyone thinking of ordering one of these.

 

[Mattofumi]

Ha. First time trying to put images in. Not sure why they all posted at the top but anyway. That’ll do.

 

[Carlos840]

They both look great, well done!

 

[Mandarin]

Welcome and congrats for the great choice. Size and fit are perfect. And it's great to have the same in two colors, although my personal preference goes to the black one.

 

[Mattofumi]

Thank Carlos. Sometimes wonder if I should have gone for a different style for the second jacket but guess I found a style I like.

 

[Mattofumi]

Thanks Mandarin. The black is nice. The russet looks a lot nicer colour than these photos show. A really rich red brown. Nicer than I was expecting.

 

[Carlos840]

Thank Carlos. Sometimes wonder if I should have gone for a different style for the second jacket but guess I found a style I like.

I did the same thing you did, i got a brown Bootlegger first, liked it and ordered the exact same jacket in black...

 

[Fonzie]

Congrats, you’ve done really well, perfect fit, beautiful jackets and a very nice combo.
Now, you should really leave this place for good right now unless you want to be sucked into the vortex of a black hole of leather jacket obsession...

 

[Mattofumi]

Ha. Thanks Fonzie. Been eyeing all the nice crosszips and shawl collars on here lately. Must resist ....

 

[Fonzie]

Ha. Thanks Fonzie. Been eyeing all the nice crosszips and shawl collars on here lately. Must resist ....

If you need some help, remember that Australia has a very mild climate and a very limited number of weeks to actually break in and use more than two premium leather jackets, otherwise you’ll end up like me with 15 of them in your closet...

Ps: I should have left this place too ages ago after my first custom one.

 

[Mattofumi]

Yeah was actually thinking today that even with 2 jackets it will be a while before either one shows much wear. No plans to buy more anytime soon.

 

[nick123]

Very nice!

 

[dan_t]

Welcome!
Wow, a home run straight out of the gates!
They look stellar!
You have pretty much all bases covered, brown AND black.
Now, pack up your things and go away. Go FAR away from this place. It’ll cost you significant amounts of money if you do not heed my advice.
That “1cm” discrepancy really isn’t a thing. But hang around here & you’ll disappear down the rabbit hole of forever chasing a never-ending pursuit of perfection. Only issue is that it’s an illusion that can never actually be achieved.

Wear those jackets hard, now that it’s finally cold enough for them!

 

[Mattofumi]

Ha thanks. Totally agree that 1cm isn’t a thing. Was just trying to nitpick to have something to balance up the gush about the great jackets Aero makes. Be interesting to see how the blackened brown Vicenza ages. The black coat doesn’t seem to wear off easily but suspect that after some years it will really look great.

 

[Lebowski]

Welcome!
Wow, a home run straight out of the gates!
They look stellar!
You have pretty much all bases covered, brown AND black.
Now, pack up your things and go away. Go FAR away from this place. It’ll cost you significant amounts of money if you do not heed my advice.
That “1cm” discrepancy really isn’t a thing. But hang around here & you’ll disappear down the rabbit hole of forever chasing a never-ending pursuit of perfection. Only issue is that it’s an illusion that can never actually be achieved.

Wear those jackets hard, now that it’s finally cold enough for them!

This advice costs a fortune, it’s hard to advise any smarter indeed!
Dan is absolutely right. Take it and will safe time and money!

 

[Fonzie]

Ha thanks. Totally agree that 1cm isn’t a thing. Was just trying to nitpick to have something to balance up the gush about the great jackets Aero makes. Be interesting to see how the blackened brown Vicenza ages. The black coat doesn’t seem to wear off easily but suspect that after some years it will really look great.

That tiny 1cm will start growing the more you feed it with visits to the Fedora lounge until it becomes huge and unbearable. Mark my words.

On a more positive note, the blackened brown Vincenza is awesome and ages very nice with a beautiful deep brown shade slowly showing in high wear areas, mine one in two years old (Aero board racer jacket) and only now it’s starting to show a little so be patient and you’ll be rewarded.

 

[Downunder G Man]

Where in Australia are you located mate ?

I am in Perth WA and wear leather jackets most days ( I do ride a Harley to work often )

Where you live may be cooler temp' wise than Perth of course. We had 5.7 at 6AM and 23C by 1PM.

So jacket on on the way to work and redundant on the way home ( in the car).

I have an Aero Highwayman Blue label myself , bought from Alex Lutov of the forum from the classifieds

 

[ton312]

Both jackets look spot on to me. I made the mistake of going too long with the back length on my PHWM and never got over it. That jacket has a considerable front drop and despite Denny warning me about it, I over spec’d the length. I think these both look perfect. Personally I like the more generous collar on the black jacket (that’s what initially attracted me to this pattern) but they both look great. Brown for business, black for rock and roll. Congrats!

 

[navetsea]

great fit on both congrats!

 

[Monitor]

That's pretty much what I would only hope this style of leather jacket would look on me. As good as it gets in every way I can think of.

Also, don't worry about the length. I'd often also think that just half an inch'd make a certain jacket perfect but after going thru so many, I've realized that the measurements have to be really dramatic to make any kind of difference. You will either be happy as how it turned out or you won't, in which case 1 cm will make ZERO difference. So don't worry about it, really.