What are the makers that DO NOT 'skiv their leather or use glue'?

[torfjord]

Torfjord, it is quite simple. Wear as thick of an unskived jacket as possible, wear the thickest denim possible, wear only nail-down not stitch-down boots with triple thick sole, eat cold gravel for breakfast and walk to to school backwards up the mountain in -30 weather. You have to earn this shit, man. It is not a costume, its a way of life. Lol.

Yeah absolutely. Wearing comfortable clothes are a sure sign of being a weak sellout.

 

[handymike]

Pain is the gain!

 

[Mcu]

You snowflakes are still wearing jackets that are sewn? Real men only wear jackets that are made by nail and hammer

 

[Monitor]

rUgGeD

 

[Aloysius]

Tbh I’ve never understood Aero’s position on glue or skiving. They are perfectly normal techniques used by everyone else (to my knowledge at least) that does leather tailoring or leather crafting.

It's honestly quite simple. (I am neither an AERO UBER ALLES cultist nor the new TFL trend of AERO IS SATAN; I have one Aero but many jackets from other American, British, European, and Japanese makes.)

Aero doesn't skive and glue their jacket seams because this was not part of the American 'Golden Age' techniques that Ken aims to replicate.

However, during the 'Golden Age', customers didn't have the utterly bizarre fixation on "It must be the heaviest, thickest material imaginable!" that is so common in the modern workwear subculture. (Overcompensating for something, I must assume.)

I think that is the crux of the difference, given it can pair poorly with the extremely chunky hides that so many here demand. But if you're wearing a midweight to lower weight hide, you don't really feel chunky seams at all.

 

[BloodEagle]

I will say that I've had (presumably also unskived/glued etc) Aeros not made from the CXL which have been supremely comfortable, its just the CXL Ive found not suited to me - or I'm wimp, or both.

 

[Aloysius]

I will say that I've had Aeros not made from the CXL which have been supremely comfortable, its just the CXL Ive found not suited to me at least - or I'm wimp, or both.

IMO Aero didn't intend for it to become the go-to leather in all of their jackets, certainly not the more repro ones. Even their bigger 50s patterns, which probably pair best with CXL due to their fit, like the Highwayman weren't originally made of CXL.

Perhaps this was one of the things pushed in the Lauder years, that unfortunately coupled very well with the burgeoning online workwear culture (on TFL and elsewhere) to always demand 30oz jeans and 5oz leathers.

I think this is why they now no longer allow you to order several patterns in CXL, because it ruins the fit and pattern, and are trying to push Jerky, Kelpie and other midweight options that have the desirable aspects of CXL but are much better suited to a trim jacket.

[I just wish Jerky had a different name; even though I know it's a nice midweight leather with a bit of pullup to it, and @Monitor has testified that it's one of the best leathers he's handled, I can't read the name and not think of a completely dried up bit of muscle.]

 

[Rich22]

I figured the lack of skivving had something to do with the pocket show-through you get from internal pockets and around external pockets on Aero's. I don't mind the show through, but I presume they're linked.

 

[Rgcards]

I have multiple jackets by thedi, lost worlds, freewheeler, realmccoy, schott,eastman,y'2 goodwear, the flat head, and of course areo. I havent noticed that my aero or mor less comfortable than any other jackets I own. I think the style,size and leather make a difference, but I have other than a jacket being the wrong fit, ihavent felt that aeros are uncomfortable. It can be difficult to figure out the right size though

 

[dudewuttheheck]

Edit*

I do not agree with Aero's position on skiving at all. My original post here was too harsh so I'm editing it down. I maintain that skiving for jackets is a net positive, but I think Aero makes a solid jacket and are a good option for the price so I changedcmy original post.

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

I've had 3 or 4 Aero CXL jackets. The texture and fit of each them was the proverbial mixed bag with pros and cons to each.

Most of the issues I've seen from photos posted here and my own experience is with the Sheene and Cafe Racer pattern. But at the same time I've seen really nice fitting examples of those. There's something definitely off with my Sheene neck hole and how it connects with the rest of the body. There's just too much tension coming off the neck. I got those classic // \\ creases coming off the neck towards the arm pits. They tend to mostly go away once the CXL is warm and/or I have the jacket zipped. I'm no expert, but there's something off with how the jacket hangs and the weight is distributed. Many have speculated it could be a body type thing (broad shoulder, v shape, slouching/posture, etc.)

My Cafe Racer which in theory is the same pattern with different collar (and pretty much same measurements) fits completely different and much more comfortable. It does have shoulder gussets whereas the Sheene is a one piece yoke back. And the overlap from back to front (the seam that run along your trapezius basically) has the front side tucked over the backside vs. the opposite on the Sheene. Is that the secret sauce? I don't think so. Again, I've seen good fits posted here. So is it an occasional "sewing error" from jacket to jacket, maybe too much tension or being slightly off when assembling the pieces. Again, I'm no expert, so I don't know.

My Ridley CXL was a pure joy comfort wise and pattern wise. It was just a half to almost full size too big for my preferred fit, so I got rid of it. But I would have no hesitation buying another Ridley. A Sheene or Cafe Racer, I probably would only buy used going forward because if it didn't fit right, you could flip and not get the 30-40% crush for the luck of the draw.

 

[red devil]

I have multiple jackets by thedi, lost worlds, freewheeler, realmccoy, schott,eastman,y'2 goodwear, the flat head, and of course areo. I havent noticed that my aero or mor less comfortable than any other jackets I own. I think the style,size and leather make a difference, but I have other than a jacket being the wrong fit, ihavent felt that aeros are uncomfortable. It can be difficult to figure out the right size though

You must have what I like to call a "universal" body type then as in you will be confortable in almost any ready to wear or made to order pattern. I can't say I have been as lucky, RMC doesn't work for me, Freewheeler is hit and miss, let's not even talk about Flat head lol

And the Aeros I have tried don't look good on me either, feel restrictive and look off.

Good patterns work on a variety of body types. and I have seen it. A friend would say "I could never pull this off", try the jacket and start rethinking his opinion when he sees how good hereally looks in that said jacket.

That is what @Carlos840 is alluding to when talking about the pattern maker understanding the human body.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

Let me give some examples:

Here is me in my Aero jacket, about 30 pounds heavier than I am now. It not only makes me look even fatter than I was at the time, but also was horribly tight and uncomfortable feeling in the chest and shoulders, despite not being small in those areas measurements-wise. This to me seemed like a poor pattern. It definitely was a poor pattern for me. Maybe one of their other jackets would work, but this one did not at all.

On the other hand, here is me in my old Mulholland. This is an off the rack jacket and the measurements were actually less ideal than the Aero, but look how nicely it fits me here.

It flatters me, makes me look slimmer, and was far more comfortable and easy to wear than the Aero. What's more is that I was actually 10 pounds fatter here than in the pics with the Aero jacket. Is this a fair comparison? Well, maybe not. The Mulholland has a ridiculously good pattern and flatters a large amount of people that fit into it. Take a look at @Jin431 's pics for proof of that. He is far slimmer than I was here and he looks amazing in his Mulholland(s).

This is not a 1 to 1 comparison, just a visual representation of how I felt about the jackets.

I'm not saying Aero makes objectively bad jackets. This pattern just didn't work for me.

 

[Marc mndt]

@Carlos840 how is your Aero Grizzly, does it also hang by the neck? Mine feels really comfortable tbh. It's Vicenza though, not CXL.

Edit: this dustbowl, different story. //\\

 

[born113]

I just think their patterns need work

I don't know anything about the technology of making jackets. And I am not a connoisseur or supporter of Aero. But I can see your figure. Your physique is far from average. I'm not surprised you might have a hard time finding jackets.
*I also do not have an average figure and I understand what I am talking about.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

I don't know anything about the technology of making jackets. And I am not a connoisseur or supporter of Aero. But I can see your figure. Your physique is far from average. I'm not surprised you might have a hard time finding jackets.
*I also do not have an average figure and I understand what I am talking about.

I have always had to be very specific with my jacket choices. It's arguably more difficult for me now. With that said, usually the issue would be length. With the Aero, it was much worse than simply being an off the rack jacket that was too long for me.

 

[Monitor]

@dudewuttheheck

But objectively speaking, this is one really major card that absolutely needs to be pulled. It's an A-2. They both fit you like potato sacks, just that one is intended for lighter load. Honestly don't see how's one better - Or worse - than the other. But that's what the A-2 is. It's not meant to fit well, it's meant to fit - We just romanticize it.

Regardless of how uncomfortable Aero jackets can be and are, there's no debate that the right Aero jacket can and will look so insanely fantastic on a person that I honestly cant think of another maker off hand that can easily compete. Aero's Highwayman on a young guy & in the correct size... Just no comparison.

Point is, Aero will look much better on a person than jackets by many other makers and by most Japanese makers.

The LW test also doesn't do the company any justice at all. Terry sent you something form the lousy Flamingo line or something, I can't recall, but that's not how contemporary LW ought to look.

 

[Grayland]

This Aero A-1 looks pretty damn good IMO.Pattern looks alright to me.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

This Aero A-1 looks pretty damn good IMO.Pattern looks alright to me.

I can't deny that it looks fantastic on you.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

But objectively speaking, this is one really major card that absolutely needs to be pulled. It's an A-2. They both fit you like potato sacks, just that one is intended for lighter load. Honestly don't see how's one better - Or worse - than the other. But that's what the A-2 is. It's not meant to fit well, it's meant to fit - We just romanticize it.

Regardless of how uncomfortable Aero jackets can be and are, there's no debate that the right Aero jacket can and will look so insanely fantastic on a person that I honestly cant think of another maker off hand that can easily compete. Aero's Highwayman on a young guy & in the correct size... Just no comparison.

Point is, Aero will look much better on a person than jackets by many other makers and by most Japanese makers.

The LW test also doesn't do the company any justice at all. Terry sent you something form the lousy Flamingo line or something, I can't recall, but that's not how contemporary LW ought to look.

Looks like we'll have to agree to disagree on several points.