Club Obi Wan

I received my dark brown goat TOD jacket just last week on 1/4/05 and it's quickly become my favorite jacket. Big surprise huh?

When I first saw it I was very impressed by Wested's worksmanship. The color was a beautiful dark coffe brown, just what I wanted, and the leather felt silky smooth yet you could tell it was tough and durable.

I'm very happy to report that Wested got all my options and measurements dead on. The great folks at Wested also responded promptly to my emails and were always very helpful and pleasant when taking my calls. This is the first custom piece of clothing I've ever purchased and I really didn't know what to expect so I want to thank everyone at Wested for making this whole process so painless and smooth!

Just a side note, I was looking for a looser American style fit and I followed the advice here to go up one size and that worked out really well as I like to wear extra layers in the winter. I also wanted unrestricted arm movement and after discussing my needs with Jerry he recommended to change my option for the double gussets and instead have the arm holes dropped and go with the singe gusset. Jerry's recommendation worked just as advertised I'm very happy with the range of movement I have when wearing my jacket.

I'm really glad I went with the extra pocket. The extra right breast pocket was really nice and big and will come in handy for all the junk I like to carry. I also really like the nice clean look of the hidden snaps.

Below are the final specs for my jacket as ordered on 12/6/04.

Style - Temple Jacket
Leather - Dark Brown Goatskin
Lining - Cotton body and satin sleeve.
Side Fastener - Anodized black rectangular sliders.

Options

1. Put zipper on American side.
2. Drop Arm holes, at Jerry's recommendation.
3. One piece gussets, at Jerry's reccomendation.
4. X-box stiching on side straps.
5. Extra inside pocket.
6. Hidden Elastics
7. Extend Zipper as far down as possible.
8. Back panel length - 26" from base of collar.
9. Hidden snaps at bottom of jacket and neck.
10. Add 1" extra to the front.

Finally, here's a few pics of my jacket!

Front.


Back.


Opened to expose the cotton body lining and extra inside pocket.


Close-ups of the collar, love those hidden snaps! These pics also capture the color really well compared to the pics I took from further away.



The YKK zipper on the American side with the zipper brought down as low as possible.


Close-up of the should and back panel seams.


The upper back.


Underarm gusset.


Side strap.


Front pockets.


Here's a couple pics with the jacket on.

Congrats! It looks like another great jacket by Wested and looks good on you too.
Wear it in good health!

Looks slick! Did you go with one size larger after all? or just the larger gussets and such?

I didn't realize North America and Europe zipped jackets on different sides.

Feraud,

Thanks!

Snakewhip_Sable,

Yes, I went up a size and it's not too loose at all even when wearing the jacket with just a t-shirt. The extra size works great when layering and wearing sweaters.

I didn't know that the zippers were on different sides either until I read it here.

BTW, and where are the pics with the hat??

Feraud wrote:BTW, and where are the pics with the hat??

LOL, I'm working on that. It's funny how all this Indy gear collecting slowly creeps up on you...

Congratualtions! It looks like it fits well. But man, it is shiny. That is the one thing I hated about my goat. Do you plan on distressing it (either naturally of artificially)? I am continually curious about what people plan to do once they have a brand new jacket. Will they or won't they?

rick5150,

Yes it is pretty shiny and so far the only predistressing I have in mind is to just get rid of the shine and get a nice flat look. After that I'll let nature take it's course.

Do you have any tips on getting rid of the shine?

Just rubbing alcohol. Maybe acetone if you are careful. Beyond that my methods may be too extreme for many Those of you who have seen what I have done to my goat will understand...

It really does look great on you, not too big at all. Looking back I wish I had gotten the gussets and the snaps on mine, they are good touches. I love the jacket but hate the shininess too. Acetone really does help if you do it right and doesn't ruin the leather at all. Maybe rubbing alcohol is a more conservative approach though.

I just read this thread ->http://www.indygear.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10572, where it's discussed that using a dryer with no heat will take the shine away.

According to what I read in the other thread I should zip the jacket, turn it inside out, stuff it into a pillow and throw it in the dryer for several minutes with NO HEAT.

Do you guys think it'll be okay if I do this cold dryer technique for 20 minutes. BTW, how exactly does this process get rid of the shine?

I've never heard of it removing shine myself. That is the tried and true method to soften stiff goatskin, cowhide and horsehide jackets, though. I've used it many times, and 20 minutes is a good start, but I know of folks who have done as many as 4 hours on a jacket to get it to the level they wanted. I've never had the shine removed, but like you have read others did. Give it a go! You can do the run in 20 minutes runs, or even longer. Just USE NO HEAT!!!!! Regards. Michaelson