You seriously don't have to worry about the quality. My 2 x AL jackets (Detroit and Roadster) are easily comparable in quality and craftsmanship to my 2 x Aeros.
Yep, as I wrote, this AL is equal in quality to the Aero I had. The cotton drill is robust, the pockets lined with thick moleskin. One advantage of the AL is that the cuffs of this half-belt are lined with leather. On an Aero, I think the standard is still cotton faced cuffs.
Wow, and i thought i had a leather coat issue. My Alexander Roadster came in and I just need to take pictures. Still deciding on the fit. Shoulders and neck a hair tight. Beautiful otherwise.I now have the following AL's ... ( all delivery dates from order date on invoice)
Detroit ..... delivery wait was 11 days
Long Rider ..... delivery wait was 10 days
Drifter ...... delivery was 11 days
Indiana ....... delivery was 22 days
Roadster ....... delivery was 37 days ( this was pre-ordered and I think they waited for the Horween steer to arrive)
Lavant ....... delivery was 16 days
service has been awesome and the quality exeptional ... there have been two reworks / alterations done ... I had the sleeves on the Detroit converted to zip sleeves after seeing Schitzo's sleeves ( turn around 10 days) they're currently shortening the Indiana sleeve by 1"
They've also relined my Aero Longshoreman, trimmed the Muton collar on my Aero Long Halfbelt, Shortened the sleeves 1" on my Bill Kelso M-422 and repaired my Aero Horsehide M/C jeans.
I'm loving the quick turn around and service, quaality of jackets is stylistically different to "New Aero" and much more like "Old Aero" ( if you know what I mean) ....... The new Horween hides are INCREDIBLE with two new different colours to the Aero colours ( Havana Brown and Burgundy )
It's been a good month as I also picked up Bassman's Aero Halfbelt Deluxe in Brown FQHH ( It's still in Houston ... wil pick it up later in the year) and also sold a few Aero's, Schott's and an Eastman.
They come lined in leather standard with AL, but I requested my Arkansas cuffs to be lined with the cotton drill instead. Too stiff for my preference with leather lined cuffs. You can get them either way, but come standard with the leather lining!
I now have the following AL's ... ( all delivery dates from order date on invoice)
Detroit ..... delivery wait was 11 days
Long Rider ..... delivery wait was 10 days
Drifter ...... delivery was 11 days
Indiana ....... delivery was 22 days
Roadster ....... delivery was 37 days ( this was pre-ordered and I think they waited for the Horween steer to arrive)
Lavant ....... delivery was 16 days
I now have the following AL's ... ( all delivery dates from order date on invoice)
Detroit ..... delivery wait was 11 days
Long Rider ..... delivery wait was 10 days
Drifter ...... delivery was 11 days
Indiana ....... delivery was 22 days
Roadster ....... delivery was 37 days ( this was pre-ordered and I think they waited for the Horween steer to arrive)
Lavant ....... delivery was 16 days
Interesting point of view, pauleway. I've never owned unlined cuffs except by Aero and I hated them. The cotton goes shiny, dirty and smelly very quickly and surely wears out way before the rest of the jacket. I've had dozens of leather jackets over they years, all were solid leather cuffs and never were they too stiff.
Just my preference. Have one jacket with lined leather cuffs and much prefer the cotton drill lining. You must be a lot harder on your jackets than me, never had problem with wearing out or getting dirty/smelly. Maybe it has a lot to do with a New York climate compared to Australian one!
I think your climate is a lot harsher than Melbourne's. We never have snow. I found the cotton drill getting smelly after just weeks of wear. If you're washing things water runs down your sleeve a little and gets absorbed by the cotton drill for a start. Doesn't happen with leather lined. I'm not taking off my jacket just so I can wash the car or some dishes... it's a work wear item after all... I also found that a large watch tends to cut into the drill fabric.
Here's a bad photo of the new goat half-belt on.
http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t679/SebLucas/JacketOn_zps27bfa604.jpg