New Aero Premier Highwayman = Perfection

tropicalbob said:

Really fine jacket and fit. Having enough wiggle room for a sweater is, imho, a perfect fit. I'd spring it on the wife asap because, first, she's going to smell it in no time and, second, you don't want to slink around in your own house. Now, here's a question: are you finding the CXL as tough to break in as some have said, or are you finding it surprisingly easy?

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Mysteryo said:

Bravissimo! Excellent jacket and excellent report! You're a happy man

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Witchtrip said:

Hello,

I’m very pleased to announce the arrival of my custom Premier Highwayman, purchased with the invaluable help from Carrie & Wade @ Thurston Bros. I feel very fortunate to have discovered their amazing store and fit jacket process. It’s an expensive gamble ordering custom and the fit jacket process took most of the guessing out of the equation. They are true professionals and a pleasure to work with. Thanks Carrie & Wade!

I wanted to break a jacket in from scratch so CXL FQHH was the only real option as far as I was concerned. Carrie warned me about the stiffness of CXL, but I was masochistically determined to have a FQHH jacket (I was concerned Steer would be too heavy). I received a size 40 Vicenza Premier HWM fit jacket and I really liked it (those pics are posted on my other thread). It fit well, but I thought it was a little too large and so I went with a size 38 for my final order and prayed I was making the right decision. (I’ve read over and over about the unpleasantries of a too-small CXL jacket.)

When the jacket came, I took it out of the box and chuckled. It was like a 5-6lb hunk of leather armor. I’ve always wanted a suit of armor, so this was a promising start. It was gorgeous. I struggled to get it on and proceeded to do every Elvis Karate move I know, then some improvisational modern dance and finally a little Yoga (and of course some good old fashioned crumpling & rolling). I never really understood all the posts of people talking about their jackets beating them up until they broke it in enough to get the upper hand. Say no more - I get it. I will say, 1 hour of determined “abuse” worked wonders on making it more flexible. This is going to be a fun process, I can’t wait until Fall.

As this was my first custom order, I went for every option I thought I’d want. And remarkably, they all turned out great. Should I have chosen sateen over drill in the sleeves? Maybe. Should I have chosen a more exciting, busier tartan? Maybe. I definitely would not have gotten the snap on the inner left pocket. That’s going to be my glasses pocket and the button is overkill, that pocket is not opening on it’s own - but it’s all good. It is what it is and it’s perfect. (BTW, the sleeve & back length are excellent, whew

Which brings me to thanking above all, Julie V for her unbelievable artistry. I can’t comprehend how someone can manipulate this hide and sew with such precision, but she (and I'm sure any of the Aero Machinists), like a true artist, did and I'm beyond proud to own one of her pieces. Thanks Julie!

And of course, thanks for all of the advice and input you guys gave me - I’m already dreaming up my Vicenza Board racer which will have all the right choices. The disease has struck…

OK, enough blabbing. Bring on the Dancing Horses! (yeah, just ignore the wonky shirt collar)

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