I received my Wested LC today in the mail, and it's a great jacket, but there are several fitting problems.
The sleeves are a little short, but the main problem is that the sleeve is lower down than where my shoulder is. The jacket is comfortable when my arms are at my sides, but if I lift my arms up, the whole jacket lifts up with it. As such, It is very difficult to put my hands in the jacket pockets, or do any other arm motions.
Do you know if Wested can resize or fix this for a custom jacket? Their return policy wasn't very clear.
hi, i think what you're describing is the famous wested "flying squirrel" effect.This rise,when lifting the arms, is due to the LC pattern - low arm hole placement.Fitting under arm gussets may help this problem,but in my experience didn't make much difference.I am sure other more experienced members may be able to advise you better.
donovan wrote:hi, i think what you're describing is the famous wested "flying squirrel" effect.This rise,when lifting the arms, is due to the LC pattern - low arm hole placement.Fitting under arm gussets may help this problem,but in my experience didn't make much difference.I am sure other more experienced members may be able to advise you better.
The gussests do help, but don't totally elemintate this issue, as you have so aptly stated, it is a design issue with the jacket itself. I would talk to them about alterations. They are good people and will do everything they can to assist with problems such as this. W>
That effect is very common in many makes of leather jacket. It usually happens when patterns are made for looks, not use. Interestingly the G&B Indy and bike jackets by Langlitz and Johnson Leathers San Fran don't do this. It's in the positioning of the sleeve and body but that's all I know. Of course it can also happen if the jacket is too small/short. That kind of problem can't be altered.
My Schott vintage Perfecto does this a little bit, too, but I think its just because its supposed to catch some air through the grommets for breathing.
The LC jackets rise up due to the design. The Hero, etc don't per the gussets under the arm. If you want an LC that doesn't do that, the gussets help a bit.
I know that my US Wings LC was VERY irritating as the sleeves rode up an inch or more when I raised them.
I know it ***** but as I've found out over the years, a decent amount of research needs to go into before arbitrarily ordering an Indy Jacket. Being made for looks on film, etc one jacket style can be suited to nothing but one exact stance.
The Hero (based on the original Raiders style) seems to be the most "action worthy" style as the arms don't ride up during use and the way it sits on the shoulders helps that as well, etc. Maybe adding the storm flap snaps would make the Hero model more "functional". Sadly, to me the LC looks very functional, more like an A-2 but in the end with the sleeve ride up etc, looses it's charm.
Adding gussets to the LC might help the design somewhat but not sure how much. I used to be in LOVE with the look of the LC and thought nothing else existed but after many reviews and research I've slowly come to love the Hero much much more.
So, do they resize them? Probably.... but at what cost? How much does it need to be tampered with until either they've lost all profit or you're paying for a whole new jacket?
Long time ago my wested goat had a sleeve length issue, I contacted them and the biggest problem was matching the leather, but I was lucky. I sent the jacket back and they put on new sleeves about 1-1/2 longer (they were that short, don't know what happened) and when it came back, all was good.
I'll also mention this. If you send it back, contact them for instructions on how to do it, the jacket needs to be sent back stating something to the effect of repair so there's no duty charge, or something. It alludes me, but I'm sure others no what I'm talking about.
