Visit to Aero Leathers

[Graemsay]

I'm over in the UK for a few weeks, and since my family lives near the Aero Leathers factory, I figured it'd be rude not to take a look.

This is where the magic happens.

This Board Racer was awesome, but was about one size small for me. It's made from a blue-black Horween hide. I'm thinking of getting something similar, with about an inch added to all the principle measurements. It's not listed on the Aero site yet, but it's a size 44 with a taper added.

An Aeromarine in the natural Vicenza hide. It'd been on display at Goodwood, and already started to darken. It's a size 40, and might be available if anyone's looking.

A Barnstormer that belonged to the lead singer of the Damned.

 

[nick123]

The Barnstormer just got a whole lot neater to me.

 

[Edward]

Dave Vanian is one hell of a sharp dresser (as well as a lovely guy - friends of mine are near neighbours and pals of his). Many's a company would have had that one straight off to Bonhams to make as much as they could out of it! I've seen him wearing Mascot and some other stuff before; didn't know he was also an Aero guy. Makes sense, though, as offstage he's very typically full on thirties in his look.

Cool photos overall - the Aero factory is an incredible place, really interesting. It was very quiet when I went in the height of July 2014, as at that time of year many of them work through the night instead owing to the heat. Great to see the place our jackets are made in and talk to some of the folks who make them. My Dustbowl was the first significant item of clothing I've ever bought for day to day wear (not costume) where I actually got the chance to discuss the cut / fit / hides/ et al with Murray who cut it for me. I hope to go back some time within the next few years!

 

[Fanch]

Looks to be a fantastic place to visit. If the opportunity for me to visit the factory ever arises, I'm sure I'll wear out my welcome way before I leave.

 

[Harris HTM]

The first thing that got me when I visited Aero was the smell. Intoxicating.

 

[rocketeer]

The first thing that got me when I visited Aero was the smell. Intoxicating.

Spoke to Denny about this, basically he said 'What smell'. Very true as I worked in a diesel rail yard. When I went for my job interview all I remember was the smell of diesel, a little later I could not smell it. Now just wait till you open a box containing a nice new jacket

 

[Peter Bowden]

Dave Vanian is one hell of a sharp dresser (as well as a lovely guy - friends of mine are near neighbours and pals of his). Many's a company would have had that one straight off to Bonhams to make as much as they could out of it! I've seen him wearing Mascot and some other stuff before; didn't know he was also an Aero guy. Makes sense, though, as offstage he's very typically full on thirties in his look.

Cool photos overall - the Aero factory is an incredible place, really interesting. It was very quiet when I went in the height of July 2014, as at that time of year many of them work through the night instead owing to the heat. Great to see the place our jackets are made in and talk to some of the folks who make them. My Dustbowl was the first significant item of clothing I've ever bought for day to day wear (not costume) where I actually got the chance to discuss the cut / fit / hides/ et al with Murray who cut it for me. I hope to go back some time within the next few years!

Have you seen his new Aero on their Instagram page?Fabulous

 

[Graemsay]

Dave Vanian must have been at Aero a couple of hours before I arrived. Here's the picture from Aero's Instagram feed.

 

[CBI]

more pics of the Aero factory - very cool!!!!

 

[nick123]

Dave Vanian must have been at Aero a couple of hours before I arrived. Here's the picture from Aero's Instagram feed.

Hero

 

[tropicalbob]

I'm still trying to get over the Damned in brown leather.

 

[GGinMP]

The Barnstormer just got a whole lot neater to me.

Neat, Neat, Neat!

 

[rocketeer]

I'm still trying to get over the Damned in brown leather.

Hmmm! Back in the 70s we were Teds and thought they were shite. Probably in black or brown leather.

 

[rocketeer]

A lot P#nk band members were quite good musicians to be honest, only Sid Vicious wasn't worth the vaseline to put in his hair. He was a crap guitarist, even the Pistols told him that.
I did have a soft spot for 'Happy Talk' by the Captain though. Did he do a cover of Nellie the Elephant as well? A great drinking song

 

[Edward]

I'm still trying to get over the Damned in brown leather.

Well, it "blended in with the weather" (as a different, vastly less stylish, man once said).

A lot P#nk band members were quite good musicians to be honest, only Sid Vicious wasn't worth the vaseline to put in his hair. He was a crap guitarist, even the Pistols told him that.

I did have a soft spot for 'Happy Talk' by the Captain though. Did he do a cover of Nellie the Elephant as well? A great drinking song

A lot of the "punks can't play" nonsense came in part from bitter, prog-rock hasbeens for whom musicianship matterred far more than the music, and who resented that rock and roll had (for all the London's scene's 'Year Zero' bluster) gone back to its loud/fast/fun/dirty basic roots. Or, in the Pistols' case, from their own manager; Talcy Malcy was convinced that was a great way to market them - and, of course, bringing in Sid and building up the Sid Vicious character was all part of that. He became, for all sorts of reasons, probably the most famous Pistol of them all, but in terms of real contribution to the band, Sid was nothing more than, as Rotten put it at the press conference for the 1997 reunion, "a coathanger." Perhaps Sid's artistic peak was My Way - recognised by the man who wrote (the original) lyrics (Sid too some liberties with them!), Paul Anka, as the best of all the versions he'd ever heard recorded in terms of actually capturing the spirit in which it was written. Incidently, the plan was for Sid to sing the song the whole way through in the slower, mocking style that he opens it. Sid refused to sing a song he considered rubbish, so they sold it to him on the basis that he could finish it offl ike his heroes, the Ramones. Thus a legend was born... (Probably a much better one than the alternative: the original plan had been to send Sid through the Jewish district of Paris singing Je ne Regrette Rien, while wearing a swastika. ortunately they thought better of that.) The voice was all put on, though. That was Sid's Rotten impression; his natural singing voice is much more reflected in the cuts of Somethin' Else and C'mon Ev'rybody that were recorded for the soundtrack of The Great Rock and Roll Swindle. Maybe there's another world where old Sid never discovered Spungen and Herion, and instead ended up a big name on the 80s neo-rockabilly circuit...

Happy Talk by Rodgers & Hammerstein was a UK number one hit for the Capitain in 1982. The rendition of Nellie the Elephant you're thinking of, however, was by a different act altogether - the Toy Dolls. They priginally put it out for Christmas 1982 (reaching No 1 in the indie chart); it didn't hit the mainstream, however, until its 1984 rerelease, when it stayed in the charts for fourteen weeks, peaking at number 4. I have a very clear memory of seeing them perform it on Pebble Mill at One around that time.

 

[Edward]

Uhm.... anyone know why my post has appeared 'struck-thru' above?

 

[nick123]

Uhm.... anyone know why my post has appeared 'struck-thru' above?

Blank Generation

 

[rocketeer]

Uhm.... anyone know why my post has appeared 'struck-thru' above?

I wondered that too.
Don't know what the Damned play like now, neither RnR or P#nk, you can't be 'Rebel Teens' when you look like you are 50 something.
Funny thing remembering the Teds V P#nk days, I always caught the last train from Southend to Basildon on a Saturday night and got home just in time to watch So it Goes and all the bands. I was reminiscing about those days when I bought a book about the Pistols in a used book shop to which the owner was quite stunned when I fondly remembered:-
Me "Looking back though, some P#unk bands just sounded crap even though they could really play"
(store owner looking all misty eyed and smiling)
The me again "And funnily enough, I still think they are crap now".
Him "So why buy the book?"
Me "Nostalgia mate"
Days from a time lost in time. How popular was P#nk Rock? Well there has never been a successful revival like the Mods or Teds had. The Ted look was partly smart drape suits with leather jackets for everyday and the Mods still had something similar with their mohair suits. But the P#unks? One of my school mates used to go out in his dads old striped pajama's and a bike jacket in the 70s with Vaseline spiking his hair up. I don't think the P#nk look transfers to an older generation very well.
Oh and Edward, thanks for the info on Nellie the Elephant Got to look that up on YouTube now.
J

 

[GGinMP]

While I no longer listen to bands like GBH or Chron Gen, other bands of that era hold up well IMO. Some bands like the Buzzcocks might seem more New Wave than punk now, but back then we didn't distinguish between the two very much. I still love listening to them, the Jam, the Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, Richard He'll and a few more.

Regarding punk fashion, I liked that there weren't strong rules about what was ok, at least in the first few years. Look at the Clash's performance on "Friday's" TV show. Joe's got a tough punk look going, and Mick is wearing a purple zoot suit!

 

[rocketeer]

Regarding punk fashion, I liked that there weren't strong rules about what was ok, at least in the first few years. Look at the Clash's performance on "Friday's" TV show. Joe's got a tough punk look going, and Mick is wearing a purple zoot suit!

I don't know about comparisons with the UK and US Punk fashions were but yes, here anything went. Granddads stripy pyjamas with Doc Martens(for the fight with the Teds later), bin liners, ripped tights or stockings for the girls, bondage trousers and just about anything to shock so you didn't have to be a Nazi to wear a Swastika.
Teds would get wound up about John Lydon wearing a drape with safety pins, but to be honest he looked a lot better than some of them and leather bike jackets were pretty well covered across the board, though no one favoured Lewis despite what folks say these days.
You still see old Teds and Rockers, a few fat Mods on scooters but not many Punks spitting and pogoing the night away. Personally I just don't think it is a good look on an older person, a 57 year old man in a swastika T shirt with DESTROY on it looks a bit......... Well you can't be a rebellious teenager forever can you.