Aero Zipper Wavyness

[Benj]

Hey guys,

Got a question I haven't seen asked. Is it just me, or recently have some aero jackets shown some strange wavyness around the front zipper? It looks a bit off to me. Considered normal?

Compared to these jackets on the aero website, which look very neat around the zippers:

 

[repo]

I'd say it was entirely normal. I notice some variation in my jackets and think it's just because each hide is going to handle differently. The light can exaggerate this as well.

 

[zebedee]

I had waviness aplenty. I feel your pain. See also 'stuck-ness' and 'track-buster'. Aero zippers are tricky little things, but they are period-accurate and seem sturdy enough, if a pain in the a.. to start with. Others will disagree, and there will be counter-testimonies extolling the seamlessly-gliding, noiseless, maglev-like qualities of Aero's zippers, but I still reckon having a choice would be better.

 

[nick123]

My Johnson motorcycle jacket made from a similar hide had the same waviness around the zipper. I think it's the heavy leather but that's my guess. Could it possibly be eliminated from every production jacket? Possibly. I'll admit, the first pic looks very good, but the second has some waviness to it when zoomed in, so it probably just happens. I used to rub my finger down that wavy part of my JL, it was my little dose of grain!

 

[Sloan1874]

I have a shinki jacket that has similar rippling but never really bothered me.

 

[Carlos840]

If you think about it, at this spot you are stitching through4 layers of leather, you have the leather folded on itself at the top, then the zipper, then the leather folded on itself at the bottom.
I remember reading in a J Chapman interview that a sewing machine was usually pulling at a slight angle and that the machinist will often have to pull things at a slight angle to make up for it.
Now imagine having to keep 4 layers of thick leather and a zipper perfectly parallel and straight while fighting a sewing machine... I'm sure it's not easy!

I might be wrong though, but i'm sure we'll hear from someone who knows soon.

 

[AdeeC]

Maybe something do with leather shrinkage?

 

[Edward]

Wouldn't bother me as long as it didn't affect the zip working, but obviously it's subjective aesthetics. Might be different hides, could also be natural variation cause by how the hide breaks in as it's worn? I've encountered it on other jackets in the past, though tbh I couldn't honestly tell you off hand whether this is on any of my Aeros, I'd have to go and look.

Just had another thought.... the bit that is 'wavy' in that photo.... that's the bit at the edge that 'flaps' over the zipper pull a bit... could well be that it ripples where the zipper puller pushes it up as it passes. I don't think I'm articulating that as well as could be, but you get my drift?

 

[navetsea]

when my mom sew a dress, and the sewing machine setting is too tight or something, then it happens along the seam, different setting depending the thickness or stretchiness of the fabric and thread, then she would cut open the stitches, tweak the machine, and resew, because it is fabric, and because she is perfectionist somewhat.

on leather it is a one way/ one try event, either you get it right at first try or not,
with mine, I asked the guy who make my jacket to install small piping inside the fold along the seam, at least it will buffer the shape even if some pull happened on my thick cow, or sew close to the edges, resulting in exposed zipper tape.

 

[Benj]

I definitely doubt that there would be any functional problem, just an aesthetic problem in my opinion. Personally, I think it'd drive me crazy. It wouldn't surprise me if it was harder to prevent with thicker leathers, but i think that vicenza is a normal-weight leather, like Shinki.

Looking at flat Head jackets, it seems like this phenomena is non-existent.

Himel often talks about things that make his jackets "perfect", etc etc. Maybe this is one of those things? Of course it'll cost you...

 

[kronos77]

That FlatHead cafe racer doesn't have the leather overlapping the zipper like the Aero does, so the creasing could hardly happen. It also exposes the zipper which may or may not be a problem for some people. Doesn't bother me either way.

 

[Steve S.]

Guys, I'll try to explain what causes this. First, as posted above, you have many layers in this spot besides the "folded over" flap that isnt sewn on edge so the zipper pull has room to travel. The machine is going to grab & pull with each stitch. The trick is, while guiding the piece through the machine, to not push on one side or pull on the other at a different speed of pressure. you have to just guide the piece thru & for the most part, let the machine do the pulling. pushing causes the material to bunch, while pulling causes it to stretch. stretching the piece while sewing, usually causes the zipper itself to be very wavy after the piece is finished & the leather shrinks back to normal size. usually pushing the piece to hard into the machine causes the puckers in the flap. The lighter, stretchier hides like goat cause the most problems. Through trial & error, I've found that if you glue a small 1" wide strip of cotton material that doesn't stretch (like bed sheet material) along the area where the stitching will be, it helps keep the leather from stretching & creates a much nicer looking seam when its done.

 

[ButteMT61]

I have/had jackets that exhibit this and some not. Didn't/doesn't bother me as it all seems to work out with time.
It's leather, so I like things that make it not feel like it came off of a machine.
I have/had many brands, and it's not unique to Aero, but since Aero seems to have the forum target on it's back, I just thought I'd say that...

 

[ProteinNerd]

I think obsessing over tiny details like this in hand made thick leather goods just leads to never being happy with anything.

 

[Benj]

I'd definitely believe that it may have to do with how much zipper is in contact with the leather when using it, and thank you for that explanation Steve! Only problem with the first theory is that the jackets posted are brand new, so I don't *think* that the zipper would have a chance to mess things up yet.

Gotta say I strongly prefer the flat look though.

I have nothing against Aero, it just happens that they're the most popular brand in this forum so I see the most examples, and therefore have more opportunity to notice inconsistencies.

If flat head, for instance, displayed the same quality, you better believe they'd be in my examples of what I didn't like. I'm a fanboy of things BECAUSE of their quality, not in spite of it.

 

[ProteinNerd]

@Benj, didn't you end up selling your Buco J100 because of some slight imperfection?

 

[ProteinNerd]

A quick glance at the Flat Head jacket pictures shows they aren't perfect either. Take this one for example, the zipper was obviously no sown in perfectly symmetrically on both sides so when zipped up the two sides of the jacket aren't even or perfectly aligned.



Thats a more glaring issue than zipper wavyness to me. They use this picture to represent their work and quality. They obviously don't have an issue with such a minor "imperfection" or they never would have used this jacket in their main marketing and promotional stock images. Do you really think that in a company that prides its self on its attention to detail and high quality that nobody saw it? Yet the image still got approved to represent their work.

So RMC aren't perfect, shown by your first jacket you returned and then the second which you sold.
Flat Head obviously aren't perfect either from this example.

I just don't think the perfection you are looking for exists in ANY brand that makes jackets by hand, no matter how much they charge or promote high quality and attention to detail.

 

[Superfluous]

I was curious and took a look. None of my three zippered RMC jackets have wavy leather adjacent to the zipper. Likewise, my GW Imperial does not have it. On the other hand, my Aero Premium HB has major waviness adjacent to the zipper. No judgment here -- just the facts.

I agree with PN -- no such thing as a perfect jacket. Upon close scrutiny, defects can be found in ALL jackets.

 

[feltfan]

Why would anyone want a perfect leather jacket? The whole point is that it is a natural material and therefore irregular,
and that it changes in a variety of unpredictable ways when it wears.

That said, the zipper on my ~5 year old Aero Hercules is beginning to fail. Disappointing.

 

[Harris HTM]

I remember sometime ago there was a jacket on the aero sales page that, according to the description, was "wobbly" along the zipper, maybe I don't remember well or it referred to something else.
A couple of weeks ago I received my brand new 30's HB (FQHH) and though the leather along the zipper is not perfectly level, the "waviness" is much less than the first photo.