A new Aero overcoat?

Hi all,

The addiction is real. I've just fallen in love with my first aero jacket and am already thinking about putting in an order for my second. But like all the other junkies who populate this site, I've got a knock down argument for why the next purchase is totally necessary.

The main argument is that the new leather jacket I bought is too short to fit over a blazer so would make me look like a dope if I wore it during the week. So that means I need a jacket that fits over a blazer.

So I've got a lot of questions but basically I'll start by just posting a picture of a custom mariner in brown Vicenza that's got me in a state of serious lust. In fact, I like the look of this more than any other Barn Stormer or Hudson or Stockman that I've seen.


So now that that's there I'll pose my questions.

1) How many inches would I need to add to the shoulder and pit to pit to comfortably fit a blazer under a jacket? My current jacket fits very snug in either a shirt or thin sweater. So I'm trying to size up from that, which I know fits great.

2) Should I go for warm alpaca lining and make it a winter coat or keep it more something I can wear as a rain coat throughout the year and layer in the winter?

3) I'm thinking about going Vicenza because I don't want a giant and super heavy jacket and also because I love the feel of the current jacket I have in Vicenza. But the real question is what color? I tend to be a brown vibe kind of guy. My style archetype is something in between the Oxford professor and Indiana Jones, with a bit of euro shic thrown in (read: slim cuts). Current jacket is russet.

4) Do you have good arguments for why I should pick a cut other than the Mariner Vicenza?

For your info, here's a picture of me in my current jacket.

Probably just go up a size, and you'll be able to wear it like an overcoat. But different styles are cut differently, and this may be already taken into account with the Mariner. Ask Aero.

I have owned three different overcoat styles by Aero; Barnstormer, Cheyenne and Veste de Rallye and will try to give advice from that perspective.

First, all these overcoats are cut very generously, in all 3 of them you could go down a size and still fit a blazer under it. In fact, my Veste de Rallye is two sizes down (36 instead of my usual 40) and fits great yet still with plenty of room to layer.

Regarding liner; my Teamster and the Barnstormer had alpaca lining and it was comfortably warm down to temperatures of around 3-5°C and I did not wear a blazer and shirt under it. I think alpaca is too warm to wear over a blazer, simply because you'd sweat uncomfortably in your shirt and blazer. You could only wear that in the deepest of winter thus the time to wear it would be very limited. Besides, in these temperatures, leather isn't too comfortable, as not breathing very well and clx gets very stiff. I'd get a wool coat for real cold and go with a mid-weight lining such as tartan or maybe moleskin for the leather coat to war it through atumn, early winter and spring. Great fan of moleskin lining. Very cozy, fairly warm, not as heavy as alpaca.

Personally I feel these longer coats look better in darker leather. If I wanted it to be in Vicenca and was a bit scared of straight up black, I'd probably go for the blackened brown, which starts out black and then starts showing through brown with wear.

As for question number four, I like the Veste de Rallye best out of my Aero coats. It is the only one that is noticably tapered from the chest down to the bottom hem. If you like slim fit, I'd recommend that style (go down at very least one size though). Much easier to wear than a double-breasted coat, too.

edit: Whatever style you go for, leave off the handwarmer pockets, they are positioned awkwardly, you can't really use them for your hands nor to store stuff. Also, if you go double-breasted, i'd consider the Barnstormer over the Mariner because double breasted only looks good when buttoned up anyway and then you might as well make use of the belt for a bit of a waisted and more casual look.

The pictured Mariner is really nice looking!
I have a similar coat from the 1930s:


I think this style would work well for what you're going for. I'm not sure how water-resistant Vicenza is. You might want to go over it with hard wax. You can also find many of these styles on the auction sites for reasonable prices. You might want to try for a vintage one to see if it suits your look and needs first.

Bigbenbs said:

Hi all,

The addiction is real. I've just fallen in love with my first aero jacket and am already thinking about putting in an order for my second. But like all the other junkies who populate this site, I've got a knock down argument for why the next purchase is totally necessary.

The main argument is that the new leather jacket I bought is too short to fit over a blazer so would make me look like a dope if I wore it during the week. So that means I need a jacket that fits over a blazer.

So I've got a lot of questions but basically I'll start by just posting a picture of a custom mariner in brown Vicenza that's got me in a state of serious lust. In fact, I like the look of this more than any other Barn Stormer or Hudson or Stockman that I've seen.
View attachment 133678

So now that that's there I'll pose my questions.

1) How many inches would I need to add to the shoulder and pit to pit to comfortably fit a blazer under a jacket? My current jacket fits very snug in either a shirt or thin sweater. So I'm trying to size up from that, which I know fits great.

2) Should I go for warm alpaca lining and make it a winter coat or keep it more something I can wear as a rain coat throughout the year and layer in the winter?

3) I'm thinking about going Vicenza because I don't want a giant and super heavy jacket and also because I love the feel of the current jacket I have in Vicenza. But the real question is what color? I tend to be a brown vibe kind of guy. My style archetype is something in between the Oxford professor and Indiana Jones, with a bit of euro shic thrown in (read: slim cuts). Current jacket is russet.

4) Do you have good arguments for why I should pick a cut other than the Mariner Vicenza?

For your info, here's a picture of me in my current jacket. View attachment 133679

Click to expand...

I do own a Mariner (www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-aero-mariner.85245/) and it is one of my favourite jackets.
My advice regarding your questions:
1) ask Holly about the sleeve length. They know what they're doing. I had to size down as I didn't want to wear it as overcoat.
2) there is no big difference in warmth between alpaca and wool. If you wanna wear it over a blazer then go for a cotton lining, also wears out less quick.
3) mine is fqhh and is indeed heavy. I would go for a dark seal vicenza or a mid weight battered tan.
4) no. It is really practical, handwarmers, big buttoned pockets, double breasted.

handymike said:

The pictured Mariner is really nice looking!
I have a similar coat from the 1930s:
View attachment 133707

I think this style would work well for what you're going for. I'm not sure how water-resistant Vicenza is. You might want to go over it with hard wax. You can also find many of these styles on the auction sites for reasonable prices. You might want to try for a vintage one to see if it suits your look and needs first.

Click to expand...

That's a teriffic coat. Exactly the kind of cut I'm looking for. Who made that?

I have a 3/4 length wool trench that I love, and also a wool peacoat I love, so am fairly confident that the style generally suits me. It's just a matter of whether or not it comes off in leather, which your pic suggests that it does.

Hello sir, I really like your photos, and your little one is awesome! I'm grateful to be an uncle, wish I was a father. But I digress...

So how long have you owned the Bootlegger? That's a really sharp jacket and honestly, I might encourage you to wear it in a little more , evaluate several other styles, then pick from there. While I do have a 30's half-belt that I enjoy, I find (for myself at least) I have a strong preference toward zipped-jackets instead of button up. I also have found that leather gets a little bulky, even thinner and more flexible styles and hides, in a 3/4 length. While the styles mentioned above can look decent in leather, I think overall when the weather turns deeply cold and the wind kicks up, a good wool parka can't be beat.

Or try something pre-loved, and see how that goes. But your BL is excellent! Enjoy and may your wallet survive your newfound love!

The Stockman is a good overcoat, and you can easily go a size down. I have a double-breasted Aero, and rarely wear it (certainly never buttoned up); there's just too much of it. Wool overcoats are my go to- Magee do fantastic tweed coats that are robust and will keep you warm.

Classic TFL effect...

Bigbenbs said:

Hi all,

The addiction is real. I've just fallen in love with my first aero jacket and am already thinking about putting in an order for my second. But like all the other junkies who populate this site, I've got a knock down argument for why the next purchase is totally necessary.

The main argument is that the new leather jacket I bought is too short to fit over a blazer so would make me look like a dope if I wore it during the week. So that means I need a jacket that fits over a blazer.

So I've got a lot of questions but basically I'll start by just posting a picture of a custom mariner in brown Vicenza that's got me in a state of serious lust. In fact, I like the look of this more than any other Barn Stormer or Hudson or Stockman that I've seen.
View attachment 133678

So now that that's there I'll pose my questions.

1) How many inches would I need to add to the shoulder and pit to pit to comfortably fit a blazer under a jacket? My current jacket fits very snug in either a shirt or thin sweater. So I'm trying to size up from that, which I know fits great.

2) Should I go for warm alpaca lining and make it a winter coat or keep it more something I can wear as a rain coat throughout the year and layer in the winter?

3) I'm thinking about going Vicenza because I don't want a giant and super heavy jacket and also because I love the feel of the current jacket I have in Vicenza. But the real question is what color? I tend to be a brown vibe kind of guy. My style archetype is something in between the Oxford professor and Indiana Jones, with a bit of euro shic thrown in (read: slim cuts). Current jacket is russet.

4) Do you have good arguments for why I should pick a cut other than the Mariner Vicenza?

For your info, here's a picture of me in my current jacket. View attachment 133679

Click to expand...

Where was the photo taken? Half my head is saying Bath, the other Amsterdam. I suspect thy're both wrong!

Alls I can add - aside from 'DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!' and 'ask Aero', is that it's well worth visiting the factory if you possibly can, as you can't beat getting to check out the options in person. A surprisingly high number of folks in these parts that have visited have ended up ordering a jacket quite different than the one they might have originally planned because something else caught their eye!

I'll be interested to see how you get on here. I have a vintage leather overcoat myself which is lined in moleskin that always proved to be effective over a suit in Winter. I have my eye on the Barnstormer for much the same function as yourself; when comes the time I'll ask Aero about adding a little extra length to be sure it fits over my suits. I've had peacoats in the past that were just about identical in length to a blazer, which was a bit of a discomfort in the posterior in terms of the blazer regularly peeking out below.

Thanks very much. It's Brussels. So you were sort of right by cutting the difference.

That's not a bad idea about visiting the factory. I do find myseof in the UK from time to time.

Bigbenbs said:

Thanks very much. It's Brussels. So you were sort of right by cutting the difference.

That's not a bad idea about visiting the factory. I do find myseof in the UK from time to time.

Click to expand...

I literally spent 5 minutes looking at this picture thinking "This is the Grand Place, is it? Yes it is, no, it can't be... Yes it has to be!" I knew it!

I had a feeling i had seen you before when i saw your first pic, and now you are from Belgium too! weird!

Ha, Brussels... yeah, I should have guessed that. The Grand Place there is about the only tourist site I've seen in Brussels. First four or five years as an academic I was there a lot working on EU funded projects, but all I ever seemed to see was airports and Commission buildings....

I went through basically the same dilemma about 4 months ago ... I had bought an Aero Board Racer, realized it was too slim fitting to layer, and decided I needed a leather jacket that was more relaxed to accomodate some layering. So, here are my 2 cents on your questions...

1.) TALK TO AERO ABOUT THE FIT YOU WANT. I measure a size 38 in most jackets. But on Aero's recommendation, I sized up to a 40 on my Board Racer, which is a much better fit (I wouldn't want it to be any slimmer). I deliberated a long time over the Teamster, Long Half Belt, and Work Coat. I exchanged a ton of emails with Holly about the fit of each of these coats, and what I wanted to wear under them. She had recommended a 40 in the Teamster and a 42 in the Work Coat. The moral of the story is that each of these coats fits differently, and you're much better off talking to the people who deal with them every day! And certainly, use your Bootlegger as a fit jacket and take loads of pics and send them to Aero.

2.) I wrote kind of a scathing review on Aero alpaca a while back ... I found it to be really itchy and not very warm at all. I also find Lochcarron wool to be a bit itchy, so I apparently have some sort of sensitivity to it all. I vote for something more versatile like the cotton drill ... if you're going to drop that kind of cash on a jacket, best to be able to wear it as many seasons as possible.

3.) Do you really want 2 brown jackets in Vicenza? That's kind of like having 2 pairs of shoes that are almost the same. I'd personally diversify. I'm of the mind that you should have at least 1 brown and 1 black coat. But there are guys on this site that have 6 brown leather jackets (or more), so it's all up to personal preference.

4.) Mariner looks like a good choice for an overcoat. The Teamster and Long Half Belt also seem to be popular choice for a "go-to" coat that you can layer. Recently, I've been picking up second-hand or cheaper coats in the style that I'm thinking about ... wearing them for a while ... and then deciding if I want to drop a grand and wait months for the custom job. Just a suggestion

The Mariner is an excellent choice. If you like the brown, go for it. There is enough difference in the jacket and the coat so they don't look anything alike. I am a big fan of the Aero brown. I have two jackets in it and wish I had three, but the other Aero is a cordovan.

The lighter weight the hide, the easier it will be to wear. There is a lot of leather in that coat, and it might feel heavy to you if you are sensitive to that type of thing.

I haven't found the alpaca to be that warm. As someone said above, there isn't much difference between the wool and the alpaca. I prefer the wool over the alpaca, and have both.

Good luck, and let us see the finished product.

So I was able to purchase a very lightly used Alexander Leathers Montana in heavy steeehide. Fit is pretty accurate. Glad I bought this before going all in on the Aero. Mariner or Barnstormer.

Don't get me wrong, I like the jacket, and I plan to keep wearing it. But it definitely seems to me like a more functional than an everyday jacket. And the function I have in mind is being outside in nasty weather.

Here's a picture of me with the bad boy before going on a walk in the rain tonight. With a fleece underneath, wool scarf, and tweed cap, it looks okay. Also, I find that really pulling in the belt helps give it a bit of shape and I imagine that with time the fit will improve.

Still, I don't find that it has the same wow factor as my Aero Hooch Hauler. So neither a barnstormer nor a mariner will likely be my next big purchase.

For $150 you scored a great jacket!

^this! That jacket should've sold for around $450-$600 second hand. You scored a massive victory there!

Nothing wrong with having a beater that you don't really love for a functional foul-weather jacket! I've got 2 of those hanging in my closet at the moment.

I think you made a wise choice going for the second-hand jacket before investing in the real deal. Cheers!

And yeah, nice score on $150 for that Alexander Leathers ... I just got a cotton M65 over the weekend for the same price!

Bigbenbs said:

So I was able to purchase a very lightly used Alexander Leathers Montana in heavy steeehide off Ebay for around $150. Fit is pretty accurate. Glad I bought this before going all in on the Aero. Mariner or Barnstormer.

Don't get me wrong, I like the jacket, and I plan to keep wearing it. But it definitely seems to me like a more functional than an everyday jacket. And the function I have in mind is being outside in nasty weather.

Here's a picture of me with the bad boy before going on a walk in the rain tonight. With a fleece underneath, wool scarf, and tweed cap, it looks okay. Also, I find that really pulling in the belt helps give it a bit of shape and I imagine that with time the fit will improve.

Still, I don't find that it has the same wow factor as my Aero Hooch Hauler. So neither a barnstormer nor a mariner will likely be my next big purchase.

View attachment 136891

Click to expand...

That’s a great deal for $150 well done


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