Indy-esque Cotton Jacket

[Texan Scott]

Well, you guys did a great job. It looks like a perfect fit.

[fenris]

I should've asked them to install gussets... just so the jacket body doesn't go up when I raise my arms.

Perhaps another time...

Total cost of repairs: $3.50 (give or take a few cents)

[Texan Scott]

Now you have the specs that will get you to where you want to be with the jacket, if ever you decide to in the future.

[Michaelson]

Did you have the sleeves shortened as well? They look shorter in your last photo than in your original photo.

Regards! Michaelson

[fenris]

Hmmm... I didn't tell them to shorten the sleeves. But yeah, now that you mention it... It does look shorter. I'm gonna have to inspect the sleeves.

* just inspected the jacket, nope. they're the same length as before.

[Texan Scott]

Distressing, water, etc. could have shrunk the sleeves a bit?

[Michaelson]

Really? Interesting.

You sure lost a lot of length in the ride up into the elbow's if that's the case.

Regards! Michaelson

[Holt]

i'll bet the back wil look even more accurate now now that it is shortend. the straps did look alittle high on the older version.

anywho, awesome looking jacket

[fenris]

Now I see why it looks shorter. As I move around, the jacket's sleeves crumple upwards... sometimes it stays that way, sometimes it stretches out. I still have a lot of material left to lengthen the sleeve, though... It just depends on what feels like a comfortable length.

I don't wanna go back to the tailor too soon. The tailor's assistant was already finding my requests weird or something. Hahaha! She was wondering what all the fuss was about the jacket... I guess she thought the length before was good enough for a jacket.

[fenris]

Anybody got good shots of the main pockets; the insides, how the hand warmers are made, how the pocket works...

Right now, the pockets are fake. They're just basically hand warmers - if you put something inside the pockets, they'll just fall out the sides. Hehehe... That's something I didn't quite figure out on the jackets as there were no pics of the inside of the pockets.

[Castor Dioscuri]

You know, this reminds me of a point I've been mulling over for the longest time now.

For me, the biggest problem I have with the jacket is not the achieving the perfect S.A.-ness, but rather, achieving the perfect fit for me.

After all the trouble most of us have over finding the 'right' fit, and considering that most vendors leave it to us to find our own measurements for that fit, I'm really leaning towards bringing an existing Indy jacket to my own tailor, asking him to make me a version of that jacket scaled down to my own preferences (since after all, a man's best friend is his tailor), and then ship off that version to whichever jacket maker to make the perfect Indy jacket bar none.

No more fiddling with measurements, no more playing the middle-man, no more guessing games.

Obviously though, the big question is the cost. Which is why it is a point I've been mulling over for such a long time, considering that the 'measurement jacket' will be a one-time one-purpose kinda jacket. Certainly an extravagent expenditure. But after racking up who-knows-how-much in over a few dozen jacket 'experiments', this certainly is starting to look like a viable alternative.

Anyone think this idea sounds solid? Or terribly flawed?

[fenris]

But won't that mean essentially paying for two custom jackets? One in cloth (I'm assuming you'll have a cloth version made first as a pattern for the leather version) and one in leather. I'm not sure how much that would cost over where you live... here in the Philippines it's very cheap (I wonder how much cheaper it is in China? Half the price?).

Take note, though... even I had problems with my jacket. And that was already having the tailor measure me in person. Okay, it wasn't really his fault, but mine. At least next time, I'll know what instructions to tell him.

[Indiana Jeff]

Castor, that's not a bad idea. It's taking the jacket back to it's original creation. A cloth mock-up of the jacket had been made and then sent to have the leather jackets made based on that.

You may be able to get a mock-up/pattern made to your exact specs relatively cheaply, especially if it is meant to be a pattern and not a finished jacket to wear. I guess it would largely depend on your tailor as to how much input they would be willing to let you have if you went in for multiple fittings and wanted the straps or pockets moved fractions of an inch to get them just so. If you're talking about a history of a few dozen jackets that have not fully met your expectations, it could be a great investment to have a pattern made to be able to send off to a custom jacket maker to use.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[fenris]

A little update on my jacket... Been wearing it a lot lately due to it raining and raining over here. I plan on using scotchgard on it to make it a little waterproof, though.

It felt awkward having the sleeves ride up whenever I put my elbows on the table and touch my chin or something. This, I think, was due to the sleeves being a tad too short. I managed to lengthen the sleeves a bit and it's now just the right length.

I also closed the hand warmers... had them stitched closed since I don't really use them. It's kinda awkward to actually use it as it's pretty high up... very uncomfortable. Whenever it's cold, I just put my hands in my pants pocket.

I also managed to fix the zipper that I screwed up when I got the jacket body shortened.

[Texan Scott]

Well, Fenris, with that kind of description you'll need to....



...apply duct tape to your fedora to make it waterproof?

...use squiggy lines like John Madden, and do a play-by-play analysis?

Nope!

You'll need to...

Post em, UP!

[fenris]

It's pretty much the same, only the sleeve length is now a little longer. I'll try to post pics as soon as possible.

[lantzn]

It's pretty much the same, only the sleeve length is now a little longer. I'll try to post pics as soon as possible.

I just saw this thread for the first time and thought the second jackets sleeves were a bit short in the picture. I like the long length of my CS jacket because when I stretch out my arm it doesn't look like a Frankenstein's monster's jacket on me. Overall that's a great idea you've done there, looks good.

[lantzn]

Someone mentioned waxed fabrics. Here's a full line for some ideas.
http://www.britishmillerain.com/categor ... ax-oilskin

[fenris]

I actually sprayed Scotchgard all over the jacket so it will be a little waterproof since it's the rainy season over here... perfect weather for a jacket.

[Charybdis]

I had seen mention on another website that Wested had done a cotton Indy jacket. It's something I'm a bit interested in seeing as to how I have a cotton A-2 and I absolutely love it! Would be cool to also have a cotton Indy...

Unfortunately, I just got a reply from Gemma that Wested no longer does a cotton Indy jacket.

For all those who do have one, please post some recent pics. I'd love to see more of this!!!

[Michaelson]

Actually, they made two versions.

One was in cotton drill, and the other brown denium.

I still have the original drill prototype (it's faded pretty good too), and bought one for my wife. They very first versions had cordoroy collars. The second round discontinued that collar for a complete drill material.

Though liked the denium version due to ease of cleaning (the drill had to be dry cleaned), it was a lot heavier than it needed to be. A much lighter material would have been better.

Anyway, I wasn't aware they had discontinued the cotton Raiders jacket. That's too bad.

Regards! Michaelson