Wested Special Offer Raiders Help

[Bdgsi11]

I am interested in gettin the wested special offer raiders, but I am caught in a little dilemma regarding the of the rack sizing. I currently own a wested regular raiders jacket in a size 38 off the rack and it fits very loose and baggy on me. I prefer a more fitted jacket and since I learned that the special offer was an 80's cut fit, that's when I became interested. I am about 5'6'' and weight about 120 lbs, does anyone feel that I will achieve a better fit with this jacket? I emailed wested with this concern and they said that I should order the off the rack size 38. What do you guys think?

Bdgsi11

[Dr. Evil]

Every time someone has this same question, I always like to chime in. That “80’s Cut” that the Special offer ROLA OTR is supposed to have isn’t so slim. I bought one about two years ago. It’s baggy in the body and tight in the chest. THE ROLA is not slimmer in the body than the ROTLA. The ROTLA is slimmer.

When I bought my second jacket from Wested, I went their myself and tried on a bunch of India-made and UK-made jackets. The UK-made ROTLA OTR’s were all slimmer in the body than the India-made Special Offer ROLA OTR’s. The front panels were about two inches narrower on each side and the body was tapered on the UK-made ROTLA OTR’s.

It seems like every time I mention this, I hear crickets chirping in the silence, but I’m just providing and answer to a question I read over and over again. A bunch of people will tell you different, but I know what I saw when I went there. People will say over and over again that the ROLA is slimmer. I don’t see how. Sure, it’s tighter in the chest and if you get a custom ROLA, it’s gonna be slimmer in the body as well, but that OTR ROLA isn’t tapered at all. In fact, that back panel is a rectangle. The top and bottom are equal in width. The front panels are wider. It’s bigger. Take my word for it. Don’t blow your money.

One thing you could consider is to take that ROTLA to a person that works with altering leather garments and have them take one or two inches from the side on each of the front panels. They’ll take a little from the chest area where the panels meet the sleeves and that’ll take out some of that extra room in the pit/chest area and the body.

[Bdgsi11]

Thanks for the help. I figured it would be on the larger side since all of wested's jackets are. Well, I don't think I will be picking this one up and may probaly be forced to go the custom made route, which I didn't want to do for financial issues. I just am so unhappy with my current wested raiders that I was actually considering getting the kids version just so I would have a slimmer fitting jacket. Oh well.

[Dr. Evil]

You might want to look into getting that ROTLA taken in on the sides. I'm sure a good tailor could help you out. Some people make it sound like puting one of these jackets together is rocket science, but it's not. If a tailor could alter a suit, I'm sure one that works with leather could alter your jacket.

[CM]

Actually, I spoke with a leather tailor and he says (after looking at mine) that the Indy jacket is a hard one to pattern and make right - particularly the back and the vents.

[Dr. Evil]

It all depends on who you talk to. Just remember one thing: the jackets at Wested are made by hand, not some supercomputer or British wizard with a magic wand. All of these jackets are made by regular people. Anything is possible. If an 80 year old woman with shaky hands could make my wife's awesome looking wedding dress, I'm sure a tailor could knock a few inches off the sides of a jacket. After all, Wested will do this for you. Give them a call. I just wouldn't send the jacket overseas because It's a hassle.

[Keith Taylor]

Dr. Evil may be right (man, do I feel stupid typing that ). Comparing my 42" regular Raiders and my 40" special offer the front panel is exactly the same size at the bottom of the body (as is the rear panel). The special offer front panel actually looks bigger, but that's just because the storm flap is narrower on the regular. Zip to seam it's identical. Presumably this would mean that a 40" regular Raiders would have a slightly slimmer front panel than a special offer in the same size. However, since I'm not too familiar with Wested's pattern and I'm looking at two different sizes this is just conjecture.

I am about 5'6'' and weigh about 120 lbs

Whichever version you choose you might be able to go down a further size for a snugger fit (which would put you at the top end of the junior jackets, saving you a whole pile of cash). At 5'10" and 185lbs the 40" special offer fits me like a glove, so I wouldn't be surprised if a 38" was a little loose on you considering the 60+lbs weight difference between us. This all depends where you keep your weight, of course. I have outlandishly muscular legs so a lot of mine is kept in non-jacket related territory

[Ken]

I bought a Tomorrow Never Dies jacket from Wested. They don't do custom sizing on it. I gavce my exact measurements that I had used before on custom Indy jackets and Peter told me a size 38 would fit me perfectly. I ordered it, it arrived and it was ridiculously large.

My advice, if you are a small size and want to order from Wested, go custom. From my personal experience I would not trust their off the rack sizes at all to fit me.

Ken

[Holt]

go custom. Some say they are of the same pattern but I think they are not. there is a HUGE difference between a handmade jacket and a of the rack from India.

[Bdgsi11]

Thanks everyone for all the help and advice. I strongly think that I will be going with the custom made version. Since, on Wested's site, a size 36 is the smallest I can get in terms of custom, should I leave all other measurements set as default to achieve a proper, well fitted and SA look? Specifications are:

Body size: 36
Sleeve length: 23
Back length: 23
Straps: sliders with X box stitching?

[Holt]

Good choice.

I allways recommend adding .5'' extra to the sleeves. they will ride up after some time with normal wear. do this in the back as well.

the SA specs are around this board somewhere. look for the agent5 specs. they do make a good jacket but I would send specs their way as well. doesn't hurt. trust me.

[CM]

It all depends on who you talk to. Just remember one thing: the jackets at Wested are made by hand, not some supercomputer or British wizard with a magic wand. All of these jackets are made by regular people. Anything is possible. If an 80 year old woman with shaky hands could make my wife's awesome looking wedding dress, I'm sure a tailor could knock a few inches off the sides of a jacket. After all, Wested will do this for you. Give them a call. I just wouldn't send the jacket overseas because It's a hassle.

[Bdgsi11]

It is to my understanding that the Raiders jacket, on film, had an all cotton lining. Wested recommends getting a cotton body with satin sleeves but, is there anything wrong with getting the all cotton body?

[Kt Templar]

Some people have found that the cotton sleeves are a bit harder to slip on and off when wearing shirtsleeves.

I have had all satin, satin sleeves/cotton body, all cotton and twill. I prefer cotton and twill personally. The satin can be slightly clammy in warm weather on you arms when wearing a teeshirt. JMO.

[Keith Taylor]

I've got one with all cotton and another with satin sleeves and haven't really noticed the difference. The only problem I've found with the sleeve lining is that while the leather in the arms naturally wrinkles and shortens with wear the lining always stays the same length and sometimes blouses out at the sleeve a little. This happens all the time with my low-friction satin lining. I haven't worn the cotton-lined jacket enough to test the theory but I'd expect cotton would stay put a little easier. Just a thought.

[Bdgsi11]

Well, I almost have enough funds for my custom Raiders, but I have a question. Does anyone know if I can place my order and then pay when it's ready if not sooner? Has anyone done this?

[donovan]

i believe with wested you have to pay the full amount upfront when you place your order.

[Bdgsi11]

Ok, before I pull the trigger on this custom jacket I want to make sure that these specifications will work with this size jacket I'm getting. Also, let me know if I forgot anything.

Jacket style: Raiders 80's fit
Size: 36
Sleeve length: 23 1/2
Back panel: 23


 1. Leather facing- NO leather facing on the zipper. 

2. Storm Flap- 1.5 inches (3.8cm) width; ROUNDED top corner. 

3. Collar stand- Leather collar stand. 

4. Collar- 2.75 inches (7cm)on the tips, tapering down to 2.5 inches (6.4cm). The left collar should also extend to the midway point of the top of the storm flap, or .75 inches (1.9cm) from the edge of the flap. 

5. Right Pocket- 1.5 inches (3.8cm) from the zipper seam (edge of jacket).
2 inches (5.1cm) from bottom. 
Width of pocket: 6.25 inches (16cm). 
Length of pocket (including pocket flap) :7.5 inches. (19.1cm). 
-Scalloped pocket flap. 
- Pocket flap length in middle o f flap, 2.75" (7cm) 

6. Left Pocket- 1 inch (2.5cm) from storm flap. 
2 inches (5.1cm) from bottom. 
Width of pocket: 6.25 inches (16cm). 
Length of pocket(including pocket flap) :7.5 inches. (19.1cm). 
- Scalloped pocket flap. 
- Pocket flap length in middle of flap, 2.75" (7cm) 

7. Side Strap- Legnth : 8.75 inches (22.3cm) 
Width : 1 inch (2.5cm) 
Side straps sewn with X pattern AND box pattern, double stitched. 

8. Side vent stitch- NO stitch holding the side vents closed. 

9. Pleat depth- 1.25 inches (3.2cm). 

10. Yoke seam- The arm seam should be 1 inch (2.5cm) BELOW the yoke seam. 

11. Back panel- The back panel should extend all the way out to the sleeve seam. 

[Gringo]

Zipper style? Chrome or brass? Good luck, It seems you have done your homework Cheers

[fifthchamber]

And how far down you want the zipper to go, all the way or as is normal, stopped short before the hem...

Heh.. I reckon with all that you might get a pretty decent SA jacket! Good work! (What hide will you go with? I'd suggest the (Dark) lamb for authenticity and the Pre-Dis Cow for ruggedness..)

[Bdgsi11]

I was thinking of getting it in authentic brown lamb with a 5 gauge nickel zip. Do you know if the dark brown lamb is really dark in color? I don't want it to look black. Maybe someone has a sample that they can post here.

[Gringo]

hey Bd, It will look black. If you want more brown, go with the authentic. I have it, in sunlight it looks very brown, in dark it looks dark brown. just my 2 cents

[fifthchamber]

As Gringo said, the "Authentic" brown is a touch lighter, for samples you could see my latest thread on Wested new jacket for me... The "Authentic" brown is the older jacket I have in those photos.. The "LC" version..

For the "Dark" brown, I believe Holt's last jacket was that colour.. The thread shouldn't be too far down the table.. His jacket was in the original "dark" brown lambskin IIRC... (Looked great too..).