Allow me to indulge myself... the leather jacket collection is complete.

[whitebananafarmer]

After many years and of course many failures, re-sells, etc., my collection is complete! I'm pretty sure I'm done now, and please indulge me by allowing me to show it off here. This forum has been a great source of help and knowledge and even sales. Very much appreciate it. Happy to take any questions on any of the jackets, fit advice, etc. and pass on what I can. For context, I'm 5'10", 180 lbs, relatively fit build from working out, extremely sloped shoulders genetically so not the easiest to fit. Cromford Leathers in Marylebone, London has been an incredible help with spot-on alterations to some of these.

The jackets (left to right then bottom):

Cromford Leathers Duvall Flight Jacket
Aero Leather 1930's Halfbelt Tumbled Cordovan HH
Aero Leather Vincent Cordovan Steerhide
Aero Leather 1930's Halfbelt Cordovan Steerhide
Aero Leather Shawl Barnstormer Cordovan HH
Aero Leather Vincent Two-Tone Badalassi
Himel Brothers Imperial Medium Brown Shinki HH
Himel Brothers Imperial Medium Brown Goatskin
Himel Brothers Imperial Oxblood HH
The Real McCoy's A-1 Brown Shinki HH - WW2 American aviators in China decals (display jacket, won't wear)
The Real McCoy's A-1 Brown Black Shinki HH - Japan decals and map in back (display jacket, won't wear)
Buzz Rickson G-1 Black / Brown Goatskin
Rainbow Country A-1 Light Brown Shinki Thick HH
Rainbow Country Ponyboy Shinki Thin HH
Lewis Leathers Western Green Lambskin
Lewis Leathers Western Blue HH
Himel Brothers Imperial Blue Shinki Suede
Vintage Flight Jacket - WW2-era American aviators in China decals (display jacket, won't wear)
Aero Leather B-3 Two-Tone Redskin and Seal
Vintage Long Aviator Trench Coat - likely 1940's to 1970's
Vintage Flight Jacket - WW2-era American aviators in China decals (display jacket, won't wear)

 

[cbez]

Sure it is pal, sure it is.

 

[bigmanbigtruck]

Nice, whatever happened to that Mulholland that was tossed aside in the corner?

 

[jchance]

Well, time to get started on a hat collection

 

[whitebananafarmer]

Nice, whatever to that Mulholland that was tossed aside in the corner?

View attachment 726424

It eventually got sold - hope the new owner has a perfect fit. The Japanese stuff just doesn't fit well on me, bit too tubular (in the words of Dave Himel) and too tight in the arms hence why the McCoys are display jackets. Rainbow Country works well however for a more standard / Western build, at least in my experience.

 

[whitebananafarmer]

Well, time to get started on a hat collection

I don't wear hats, those are my wife's!

 

[ProteinNerd]

 

[AeroFan_07]

Nice collection, but where's the crosszips?

 

[aaronharri]

Nice collection you got there!

 

[Brmn]

That’s an incredible lineup. I’m curious about the Cromford Duvall you mentioned at the top. How does it compare in wear and feel to the Aero halfbelts? I’ve always wondered if the tailoring-focused makers like Cromford give a noticeably different experience from the more repro-driven brands.

 

[whitebananafarmer]

Nice collection, but where's the crosszips?

The two Aero Vincents! But I generally wear leather jackets with formal high-waisted trousers, not jeans, so generally tend to wear half-belt style leather.

 

[whitebananafarmer]

That’s an incredible lineup. I’m curious about the Cromford Duvall you mentioned at the top. How does it compare in wear and feel to the Aero halfbelts? I’ve always wondered if the tailoring-focused makers like Cromford give a noticeably different experience from the more repro-driven brands.

Cromford Leathers (small boutique leather jacket producer and alterations provider in Marylebone, London) is extremely different than Aero. Cromford is much more modern. I'm not sure how they got their patterns or whether they developed them in-house, but they are way better fitting in general than I think anything in the repro world. They also don't use stiffer leathers like HH unless you want something bespoke; all their stock jackets are much softer leathers. My Duvall, for example, is shearling on the inside with a harder exterior shell of still soft leather... I forget what it is, presumably sheep or lamb. All that is to say, their jackets are much more comfortable than say Aero's and fit much better off the bat. And that's who Cromford is selling to really, people who aren't ******** jacket enthusiasts who want to take years to break-in a super stiff HH but rather want something they can wear comfortably off the rack. I heard this straight from the owner's mouth. Lovely people by the way, super friendly and helpful.

Aero and repros in general... let me be the first to say that I LOVE Aero and have owned like 15 of their jackets over time; obviously had to sell most because they didn't always fit well (and some of that is just on me, my body has changed over time as have my preferences). I've been to the workshop and met the people and they are fantastic. Total leather jacket nerds, I loved the environment. I'm always going to wear Aero.

The issue for me with Aero and other repros like the Japanese brands is that everything else is great - the leather, the construction, the repro accuracy, etc. BUT the fit is generally not that great. Unless you happen to be an EXACT body type for whatever pattern they are using for that jacket, it's not going to fit great. The patterns are truly reflective of the times. And in general, my instinct is that over time clothing patterns have evolved and gotten better and fit a greater variety of people and builds better. So repro patterns automatically lose on fit, if they are not modernizing or evolving their patterns.

So that's why Himel's patterns, which are then adjusted to you, fit way better than my Aero or Japanese stuff. Not only are they tailored to you (I hesitate to use the word bespoke, because it's not really bespoke) but the patterns just make way more sense for the majority of human bodies in general. Japanese stuff, I'm not sure if it's them being super strict to repro standards or if they are making the jackets for Japanese body types which Himel says are very tubular and not v-shaped which I completely agree with... but they don't fit that well. That's why the McCoy's jackets are just display pieces for their super awesome and unique art / decals - I won't wear them because they don't look good, the fit feels tight and awkward.

So all that is to say, Cromford is very likely to fit better and feel much more comfortable right off the bat. That's not at all to say that a well-broken in Aero HH can't reach that level of comfort, but it's going to take a long time. And the other issue with Aero is the customization is quite limited. For example the Vincent pattern fits my sloped shoulders perfectly, but they can't make a 1930's Half-Belt style jacket based on that pattern. And they can't account for shoulder slope or posture or whatever in the build process. My two Aero Half Belts look great now but only because I had Cromford put in shoulder pads into both which makes the silhouette better by like 10x (cheap and easy alteration, just 100 GBP per jacket). I love those jackets though and can't wait to beat the hell out of them.

 

[aaronharri]

Cromford Leathers (small boutique leather jacket producer and alterations provider in Marylebone, London) is extremely different than Aero. Cromford is much more modern. I'm not sure how they got their patterns or whether they developed them in-house, but they are way better fitting in general than I think anything in the repro world. They also don't use stiffer leathers like HH unless you want something bespoke; all their stock jackets are much softer leathers. My Duvall, for example, is shearling on the inside with a harder exterior shell of still soft leather... I forget what it is, presumably sheep or lamb. All that is to say, their jackets are much more comfortable than say Aero's and fit much better off the bat. And that's who Cromford is selling to really, people who aren't ******** jacket enthusiasts who want to take years to break-in a super stiff HH but rather want something they can wear comfortably off the rack. I heard this straight from the owner's mouth. Lovely people by the way, super friendly and helpful.

Aero and repros in general... let me be the first to say that I LOVE Aero and have owned like 15 of their jackets over time; obviously had to sell most because they didn't always fit well (and some of that is just on me, my body has changed over time as have my preferences). I've been to the workshop and met the people and they are fantastic. Total leather jacket nerds, I loved the environment. I'm always going to wear Aero.

The issue for me with Aero and other repros like the Japanese brands is that everything else is great - the leather, the construction, the repro accuracy, etc. BUT the fit is generally not that great. Unless you happen to be an EXACT body type for whatever pattern they are using for that jacket, it's not going to fit great. The patterns are truly reflective of the times. And in general, my instinct is that over time clothing patterns have evolved and gotten better and fit a greater variety of people and builds better. So repro patterns automatically lose on fit, if they are not modernizing or evolving their patterns.

So that's why Himel's patterns, which are then adjusted to you, fit way better than my Aero or Japanese stuff. Not only are they tailored to you (I hesitate to use the word bespoke, because it's not really bespoke) but the patterns just make way more sense for the majority of human bodies in general. Japanese stuff, I'm not sure if it's them being super strict to repro standards or if they are making the jackets for Japanese body types which Himel says are very tubular and not v-shaped which I completely agree with... but they don't fit that well. That's why the McCoy's jackets are just display pieces for their super awesome and unique art / decals - I won't wear them because they don't look good, the fit feels tight and awkward.

So all that is to say, Cromford is very likely to fit better and feel much more comfortable right off the bat. That's not at all to say that a well-broken in Aero HH can't reach that level of comfort, but it's going to take a long time. And the other issue with Aero is the customization is quite limited. For example the Vincent pattern fits my sloped shoulders perfectly, but they can't make a 1930's Half-Belt style jacket based on that pattern. And they can't account for shoulder slope or posture or whatever in the build process. My two Aero Half Belts look great now but only because I had Cromford put in shoulder pads into both which makes the silhouette better by like 10x (cheap and easy alteration, just 100 GBP per jacket). I love those jackets though and can't wait to beat the hell out of them.

Thanks for the comparison! Def makes me want to check out Cromford now. Do they have a website?

 

[Brandrea33]

Fantastic collection

 

[whitebananafarmer]

Thanks for the comparison! Def makes me want to check out Cromford now. Do they have a website?

Yeah, it's a well-done site. Just Google and it will pop up.

 

[whitebananafarmer]

Nice collection, but where's the crosszips?

Btw, I'm also from Iowa although now live in London. Crazy. Small world.

 

[JohannesClimacus]

got a budding Squarzi over here.