New Aero Highwayman; The 4th Time's the Charm

OK I won't go thru the entire history, but this is my 4th Aero Highwayman.
The first 3 all had fit problems of one sort or another, mostly too short or tight in the shoulders.
The first 3 were also FQHH and ordered from Mark Moye (the 1st) and directly from Aero (2 and 3).
This time, I switched it up and ordered from Insurrection based on all the sage advice from those here who obtained the jacket of their dreams going that way.
I gotta say, this was the right choice; thank you so much Carrie and Wade.
I also switched it up by going with Aero's Heavy CXL Steerhide instead of FQHH.
For me, this was a better choice and here's why.
The FQHH was nice, but it always felt a bit plasticy and cardboardy.
It never broke in the way I felt leather should be.
Already, after 1 day, the CXL Steerhide is nicer.
By nicer I mean, it feels more leather like, has much nicer and heavier graining, and just feels more supple.
Plus, it just has a warm feel to it (and I don't mean temperature wise.)
Fit is spot on. Carrie recommend those small shoulder gussets to aleviate the tightness in the back feeling.
That was a brilliant call Carrie. The shoulder measurement is the same size as my other jackets, but the jacket no longer feels tight
along the shoulder blades.
One thing that surprised me is the arms.
They are at least 1" larger diameter than my previous 3 jackets. It's a little noticeable , visually, but it makes a world of difference in comfort during wearing and ease of putting on and removing. Plus, Aero now uses some sort of greenish cotton/poly mix that slides much nicer.
The leather is much more of a true brown color. The previous FQHH jackets all had more of a russety reddish hue to them.
Lining is Farquharson Weathered medium weight Lochcarron tartan with the Brown Corduroy strip at the bottom.
Finally, of all 4 jackets, this one is virtually perfect. Every stitch is straight and evenly spaced. When the jacket is zippered, you can't even see the zipper. And, the zipper actually works very nicely with a minimum of fidgeting. All panels are symetrical and so far, all panels are the same color brown and have very similar graining. We'll see how that shakes out throughout time.
A big shout out to Paula at Aero; nice job!
Thanks for reading all,
Lenny

Let me be the first to congratulate you. I looove the way you didn't settle for less than perfect perfect. Who wants a job half done? It's hard to tell from the pic, but you look fairly young so you'll have a lifetime to enjoy it (assuming you're not struck by lightening or some similar unpleasantry). Also thanks for the tip on Wade and Carrie. I'm a big JL fan, as everyone knows, but you can't hang around here without wanting and Aero. If I ever go for it, that's who I'll contact

I'm glad you got there in the end, Lenny. Your HWM looks great on you. I live almost next door to Aero and still don't get it right each time, even after many jackets, so don't feel too bad about your long journey.

Hey, Vespizzare, I see you're in Santa Monica. We've just started planning our next year's holiday tonight and most of it will be spent there. It sounds like a great place to be.

Congrats on finally finding "the one" - looks terrific, thanks for sharing your success.

Simply beautiful and inspiring. Great color.

One of the best fit I've seen on this forum!

The FQHH mafia/inquisition might get on my back for saying so but that steer looks so nice, lively, rich and natural. I can easily understand your choice. I also think this hide fits that style jacket (highwayman) better than the HH.

Edit. Whenever I order an Aero Steer will be ahead of HH.

Definitely a winner!

Looks just about perfect!

Looks great..!!..and the shoulder gussets still keep that neat look without overwhelming the jacket back like some full action backs seem to do.
Congrats
HD

4 tries at the same jacket....thats dedication. Glad to see you finished with such a great outcome, it looks great.

xOUTLAWx said:

One of the best fit I've seen on this forum!

The FQHH mafia/inquisition might get on my back for saying so but that steer looks so nice, lively, rich and natural. I can easily understand your choice. I also think this hide fits that style jacket (highwayman) better than the HH.

Edit. Whenever I order an Aero Steer will be ahead of HH.

Click to expand...

Haha, the FQHH mafia has just voted and we've decided to spare you a tongue lashing. Steer is a very different product and looks great in its own right, especially (IMO) in brown. It's wonderful that we all have so many choices in leathers, as we've seen recently with the all the new goat, kangaroo, HH, steer, and hopefully soon, Bunyip's Koala lined Langlitz.

Nice, Lenny; a job well done. I too have a Highwayman in the steer, and it is a nice hide.

I am a fan of the tenacity involved in getting 4 of the same jacket to figure out which one is a 'keeper.'

Made me think of this:

OneEyeMan:

Excellent jacket! I appreciate the shoulder gussets. The action back on my Teamster was a very welcome "mobility" feature. From your photos, you have me thinking of steer for a Barnstormer.

Great jacket!

Lenny, you have a great Highwayman jacket that fits and looks perfect. Congrats; you are one persistent guy. The hide has a nice variation in rich color and looks very comfortable. Thurstons recently sent me a fit jacket in steer and I really liked the hide. Seeing your jacket has made me rethink a Highwayman and steer as possibilities.

pawineguy said:

Haha, the FQHH mafia has just voted and we've decided to spare you a tongue lashing. Steer is a very different product and looks great in its own right, especially (IMO) in brown. It's wonderful that we all have so many choices in leathers, as we've seen recently with the all the new goat, kangaroo, HH, steer, and hopefully soon, Bunyip's Koala lined Langlitz.

Click to expand...

I agree with pawineguy on this one. One of the things that puzzled me when I started reading the posts on FL was 'the hide wars." About 40 years ago, the last time I was into leather jackets, I had mostly steer or cowhide. As I remember, I really didn't care about the difference. All I cared about was that it looked good and felt good on me. About 5 years ago I picked up an LL Beans pigskin suede jacket that looks a bit like the new Aero suede jacket. Look and feel were my main concerns. Now I have a new cxl fqhh aero Hercules. I think it looked great out of the box and it's feeling better every day. Like pawineguy, I feel lucky to have so many choices.

pawineguy said:

Haha, the FQHH mafia has just voted and we've decided to spare you a tongue lashing. Steer is a very different product and looks great in its own right, especially (IMO) in brown. It's wonderful that we all have so many choices in leathers, as we've seen recently with the all the new goat, kangaroo, HH, steer, and hopefully soon, Bunyip's Koala lined Langlitz.

Click to expand...

I shure like the looks of it. It seems to ''drape'' a bit better too. How cruel man? koala lining? Bunyip deserve to have PETA on his back..... :whistlingWhile I get a koala lined cascade. :whistling J/K

Nice one Lenny, glad you got sorted eventually. Hide looks like like it's going to break in very nicely. Enjoy!