My First Aero-Half Belt Deluxe

[Peacoat]

It's hard to beat the Aero standard brown. You did well.

 

[Edgar Laurel]

Pretty sure that's the Black Watch modern tartan, Royal Stewart is red green and yellow.

Spot on.

 

[OceanBreeze]

Very nice jacket. I really like the lining you chose it is a great contrast against the leather. Aero is #1 for lining choices.

 

[jonesy86]

Nice looking Half Belt Deluxe! I'm thinking of picking up one in Dark Seal Vicenza. This would be my first leather jacket. Any Advice, or comments would be appreciated.

 

[sweetfights]

stunning!!
congrats
Is there a specific name to that color brown from Aero??
I am taking notes!

 

[dudewuttheheck]

I love the lining. It goes so well with the brown color. Unique take on the halfbelt. I wouldn't get one, but it does look cool.

 

[jonesy86]

Decided to go with a recommendation from carrie at Thurston on a Half Belt Deluxe off the rack.

This what I gave her for my measurements:

I am in my 60s, so not big on trying to pull off a tough guy military/biker look. Looking for someting light weight a little loose and long. would like to wear when it is not cold, and layer underneath when it is a bit colder. Thought about a car coat, or a 3/4 length coat. Currently considering a long half belt, or a half belt deluxe. I like the Dark Seal, or Seal Brown , Vicenza or Goat.
My body measure according to Aero’s site is:
1. Height 6’-1"
2. Chest 42”
3. Waist 42”
4. Stomach 43”
I'm about 195-200 lb.

In addition, for what it is worth I wear a regular cut LL Bean shirt 17-35, and regular fit 36” waist Levi jeans. I also currently mostly wear a 42-L sports coat, Lands End, of LL Bean, though I have a few 44-L for wearing sweaters underneath.

This is what she came back to me with:

Jacket measurements:
Back length--26.75 inches
Sleeve length--27 inches
Pit-to-pit--24.75 inches
Shoulder--20.25 inches
Waist/bottom hem--23.5 inches


https://www.thurston-bros.com/colle...lt-deluxe-size-42-dark-seal-vicenza-horsehide

Been researching custom jackets till I am seeing double. Carie seems to know what she is doing. Plus she said that if i didn't like the fit I could use it as a fit jacket for a truly custom order. What do you think on size? Anyone have experience with the vicenza-horsehide? I like having extra pockets, and not too flashy colors.

I'll post pictures when it arrives.

 

[ProteinNerd]

i would have thought a 24.75 pit to pit for a 42 inch chest was pretty big but carrie knows her stuff...

 

[jonesy86]

Thanks for the response.

Yea, I thought about that too. I am not really into the classic tight look, even though I guess that is how these are designed to be worn. I asked for a loose fit so that I could layer when it gets cold. However having done some research, I noticed that this may be too loose. I read on one of the threads someone wrote:

Generally speaking, a jacket is a tight fit if its actual chest measurement is 3"-4" wider than your real chest measurement. That means, if you have a 40" chest, the jacket should have 43-44" (21.5-22" pit to pit). This will fit reasonably tight. If you go for less than 3" more than your chest, thing may become messy depending on how the styles armholes are cut and how flexible the leather of the jacket is. You occasionally see jackets that have only 2" on top of your real chest measurement (21" pit to pit incase of a size 40) but I would not recommend that in a jacket made of heavy horsehide. Personally, because of wear comfort and the wish to be able to put on a sweatshirt under the jacket, I don't wear jackets with less than 5" on top of my real chest measurement (22.5" in a size 40). There's pics of me in my Vanson America jacket here in the FL, you can look them up to get an idea. If you really want your jacket to fight tighter, you can go for 21.5-22" pit to pit.

So, lets say I take this advice and go with a jacket that is 5 times my actual chest measurement, that would be 23.5 pit to pit. As you noticed this jacket is 24.75. Hmmmm.

Sometimes I develop a pot belly that isn't to big right now. But I have been bigger in the past. Does the pit to pit measurement leave room for this possibly?

 

[Seb Lucas]

Belly? Maybe. A 42 would commonly have a pit to pit of 22 to 23 inches. I am your height but I have a 32 inch waist and a 41 inch chest I generally wear 42 and would think 25 inches is closer to a 46 (forget the .75 bit, it's close enough to a full inch). But if you are a more solid chap you could probably get away with that size, especially if you want it to fit loose. In most cases measurements are a much better way of working out fit than size since a 42 inch jacket may fit very differently depending on pattern and between makers.

 

[Edward]

P2p won't tell you much about the size at the waist; that will be dictated by the pattern itself and how much taper there is - if any. The Deluxe HB is a jacket that has always looked to me designed for layering, not one you'd want to go too neat on like a halfbelt that you'd only really want to wear a shirt under. Be careful about selection of fit like that: the last thing you want to do is sink big money into a jacket that's not warm enough in Winter because you can't layer under it, but too much for much of the rest of the year.

 

[jacketjunkie]

6" on top of your chest measurement is a relaxed fit, just as you asked for. 4" on top is what a Vanson CR such as my America jacket has and it's more on the tight side. You will be good with these measurements imho.

 

[Willybob]

Ive had the standard LHB in cordovan heavy fqhh for a few yaers now. Your'e going to love yours more and more with age. The leather is phenomenal as it gets broken in.

 

[jonesy86]

Hi Folks, thanks for all your input! Just sent off the paypal payment. Since its an off the rack, I'll find out how it goes soon enough. Will post pictures.

Still curious if anyone has any long term experience with the Vicenza Horsehide. I have read so much about the FQHH, and it aging so beautifully. As everyone knows it is pretty heavy and takes a long time to break in, albeit with wonderful results. I'm not getting any younger though, so I decided to go with the Italian lighter hide instead of the time tested Horween even though I was born in Chicago (go Cubbies).
Anybody have experience with the Vincenza they would like to share?