Wested Destiny Sadness

[Shadowtek]

I was very excited to get my Wested Destiny. I saw it as the exact main jacket I wanted to have and wear. It arrived yesterday evening and today I opened it up excited. Put it on and felt this weird scratching line in the jacket? I was like is this someone else’s jacket or has it been altered? It seemed like it wasn’t cut and measured to my specs it was altered down from a larger jacket because of the large seam on the sleeve I thought.

I needed slightly shorter sleeves so 23-23.5 inches and instead of them just being cut from the factory that way it seems like it was altered down to that… the alteration wasn’t particularly good and lots of fabric is poking up. At least put the entry point on the body somewhere that it’s not poking into your arm. I can have someone do that here and better, I got a custom so I didn’t HAVE to alter it… Is this normal for Wested? Everything I saw especially on this jacket champions how it’s “custom”. I guess it was custom, but it seemed shoddy to have this large seam poking out for like 8 inches on the sleeve.

Does anyone else have that poking seam on their jackets?

[Rob]

Do we know if they altered a standard jacket, or did they make the jacket, realise they'd made a mistake, and then alter that. So, technically, altering a custom jacket?

I know it doesn't matter either way, as you're showing us a shoddy job, and that's the main issue here... but my mind did go to whether they caught their own mistake before sending it. I know when I ordered my most recent jacket from them last year, they got all the custom measurements right, but got the requested hardware wrong. So they're certainly capable of mistakes (even silly, basic ones that they just shouldn't be making if they paid attention), especially in this era where it's no longer Peter B and his literal cottage industry down Wested Lane, but instead farmed out to some factory in London.

Will be interesting to see what the other chaps here think although, to my memory, I haven't seen something this bad in a long time. Is no one doing QA over there?

[Shadowtek]

Sadly, I messaged Wested and they’ve only argued with me telling me that this is normal on all their jackets, but I have two other jackets from them and there wasn’t a 8 inch seam poking out like that. I understand you need to have a small seam to put in the lining, but this seems like someone went back and altered it after it was done…? Maybe it was a mistake?

[bearbeast]

Wow, this is pretty bad... Wested isn't great with complaints usually, but this is a special case. I would definitely write to them...

Whether a botched job, or a modified custom job...it's still botched....

Cheers,
Bear

[Shadowtek]

I wrote to them and they insist it’s not botched and is normal. They said I can take it to a local tailor to fix or I can pay to send it back and they’ll have the factory re-sew it. Literally argued with me for like 4 emails on how this is normal on every jacket for the last 45 years. Yes all jackets with linings have this but most are hidden or done in inconspicuous ways and smaller and hardly ever noticeable.. you gonna tell me inside an expensive brand jacket is a giant seam like this poking someone’s arm lol

[Western New York Indy]

This is really unfortunate... So sorry to hear about this. It's super weird that they would sew it that way. It's like they stitched on the inside of the fabric in order to hide the seams for a while and then suddenly gave up and decided to switch to the outside, and make the most horrendously large and obvious seams possible... It could have been an error with one of the machines or something, but it's unfortunate they didn't catch it and go back to fix the shoddy job. I am sorry to hear about this experience, as I'm sure it was very disappointing for you. And the fact that Wested is denying the problem makes it even worse.

-WNY Indy

[Shadowtek]

Thanks for listening, yea it’s normal to have an entry/exit point on linings to sew them but the size and intrusiveness of this is wild to me. They blamed it on the leather being thicker but I have a thick cow jacket with maybe a 4-5 inch seam like this and it’s well hidden and the lining was folded over very cleanly and stitched so it doesn’t “rub” your arm. I’d love if someone has a destiny and can turn the sleeve inside out and see if it’s thissss bad

[bearbeast]

I am so sorry that Wested isn't cooperating...

I have had seven Wested jackets through my hands over the last years and none have any sewing that makes things uncomfortable.

The thickest leather I have is horsehide, which is so thick it has barely broken in after years of using it... and it still does not have this.

I do a bit of amateur sewing myself. As I studied the construction of the jacket: it is sewn shut at the rain flap/zipper after (I would surmise) being assembled inside out. There should be no backward sewing anywhere.

Cheers,
Bear

[Shadowtek]

Great point! Sewing shut at the rain flap or zipper makes way more sense… this clearly looks like it was an after the fact as usually when you have to alter a leather jacket you do it at the arm sleeve but when you are making it why not close it up somewhere else…

[bearbeast]

I think even when altering a professional would do it inconspicuously... I would say they would open it at the rain flap, work the jacket inside out through there and then put it all back. I've never done this, but this is what makes sense.

[bearbeast]

Well, I have to take back what I said....

I just looked at some of my jackets, and they do indeed have such a sewing on the left arm's lining.

But it is very soft and not cumbersome at all. That is why I hadn't noticed it. You can't feel it when wearing the jackets, or when putting them on. You notice it only on quite a close inspection.

I still don't understand the purpose, as far as I see it, you can still assemble the jacket without such a seam.

Cheers,
Bear

[Shadowtek]

To attach the lining to the leather you have to have an “exit” seam somewhere but usually on other jackets I have they hide it near the cuff and sometimes even fold it over so it’s covered and minimal. It just seemed kinda unprofessional how they handled my questions but also that they didn’t “hide” this better. Perhaps it’s just what they do and I’m more sensitive to it then others because I wear tshirts with my jackets sometimes

Right like you said I’d expect it to be hardly noticeable and in my other jackets it’s not but this one stood out quite a bit…

[Shadowtek]

Well as an update the rest of the jacket is amazing and Wested agreed to cover the cost to have a tailor move the seam or do it themselves. Seems like they could have been a bit more cleaned up with it but aside from that it is a nice jacket. Just felt a bit deflating dealing with a large seam like that when my previous ones Legacy Raiders and LC didn’t have that issue. My LC may still stay my daily driver but this is going in the rotation for sure.

[Illinois_Jones]

Well Wested's customer service and demeanor has been notoriously inadequate since, well, forever and it seems it has gradually gotten worse since Peter passed. It is a small business with a small staff that does make A LOT of product so it is prone to quality control issues at times, and I imagine that with the volume of orders they've gotten the past few years it has become more of an issue but it seems to be dying down some -- it looks as though they've removed the "everything is custom made right now" banner from the site. It's been years since I've ordered anything from Wested, well before the DoD business uptick, and though their communication was always "terse" the product was good and arrived well ahead of schedule, certainly not like the old-old days when it would take 30+ days to ship.

At least they decided to reimburse you something; they do rely on repeat business quite a lot. And TBH Wested can be a bit of a gamble since they do make a lot of product fairly rapidly and at a good price point, so quality control isn't as big of a priority as at S&J or BK. Basically you'll -probably- get what you ordered from Wested and in good condition, but the chances you won't are higher than elsewhere.

[bearbeast]

Whoa, I am very glad they cooperated in the end, Shadowtek, this is great news!

Cheers,
Bear