Club Obi Wan

howdy all,

i ordered this on september 18th and just got it today....i had to dig out my very first post here in COW just to go over what i speced out. here is what i speced out:

- raiders jacket in dark brown goat
- 80's cut with tappered sleeves....extra 1.5" in the sleeve to get a nice rippling effect (cross your fingers)
- sliders, x-box stitching, request to have straps pointed towards the middle of the coat instead of towards the arms
- silver zipper if possible
- 2 pc gussets
- satin lining throughout

here's what i got:

- raiders jacket in dark brown goat....very nice hide.
- i guess my last jacket was 80's cut because i don't notice much of a difference in the cut at all, but this jacket is actually larger than my old one. i received the extra sleeve length but no taper. it looks good when i cross my arms and the leather ripples wonderfully, but it falls down past my thumb knuckles when my arms are straight down
- sliders, x-box stitching, straps are pointed in the usual way (not what i requested). this was rather disappointing because this is what i really wanted, along with the action pleat elastics which were also left out
- i got the silver zipper but i'm afraid to use it after all the horror stories i've heard. it does not look as robust as the other zipper so i guess this jacket will stay open. not too much of a bummer because i just wanted a silver zipper, useable or not.
- i only received 1 pc gussets which is fine
- satin lining throughout and my own little 'indy jacket tag'

all in all, i love the jacket and will wear it in good health. i can't give wested full marks on this one for missing some of the more important specifications considering that it took more than a month this time.

i will post pics of this when i get home.....but mr. mcfly, you can put up the "this is useless without pics" guys because i sure do like watching them dance on the screen!

cheers!

Yes, I agree with my esteemed colleague Tone.
;0



Congrats!

Congrats on the jacket Indiana G...I don't think anyone else has mentioned this, but how about some pics?

I know someone who recently got a goatskin Wested, I have a lambskin and I'm amazed at how much "sturdier" the got is, thicker, tougher etc. Nice skin though I do prefer the softness of the lamb, I'm interested in how it softens up, my lamb is a year and a half old and just like a second skin.

Congratulations on the silver zipper, it's rare to get one of those, is it a matt silver or shiny chrome silver? If it is the shiny one it is a expensive zipper (I can't remember the make). It will hold up to wear. The other should be fine just don't be too rough with it. By the way.... pics?

oh she's a shiney silver zipper.....is that good?

my old one has the dull brassy one but bigger teeth. i've heard bad things about the silver zippers so i'm scared to close it....guess the office will just have to live with seeing my bare chest

Indiana G wrote:oh she's a shiney silver zipper.....is that good?

Apparently, a little while ago I was over there to order a jacket (one which I had to put on hold cos the tax man had his several pounds of flesh out of me ) I pointed out some nice shiney silver zippers and he said, good naturedly, "Oh, you would choose the most expensive ones wouldn't you."

Seems they are usually for his Japanese customers who ask for them especially on their (non Indy) jackets, there's a whole other side to his trade that is not film based that sell over there.

woohoo, i'm japanese!!!! not really though...but it is quite befitting as the wife and i are going to a sushi restaurant tonite.....i'm gonna ask the waiters and cooks if they have shiney silver zippers like mine

Remember they have very sharp sushi knives. Mmm, I had japanese tonight, Chirashi with a side order of Uni Gunkan. Whoo hoo!

i'm back....man that sushi hit the spot! anyways, here are some pics:

here is my non-reversed requested strap:



and now a bad picture of the jacket showing the single gusset:



and here's me forcing my wife to take pictures:





the dark brown goat has almost a purplish hue to it but the grains in the leather are ver nice!

cheers everyone.

That is a GORGOUS jacket!!!!

HIGH regards! Michaelson

oh and i forgot to mention something that i mentioned to orb already. my coat has a tag marked 44.

i recall in my first order that i stated my suit size/chest size to be between 42 and 44. the first coat that wested provided me with was probably a 42. the second order, i simply just said 44 which is why its probably bigger.

does anyone have a regular fit jacket? perhaps in another thread? i thought my first was a regular fit but then again i can't see them shaving off any more material so perhaps it was 80's cut....either that, or i have 2 regular cut jackets

thanks michealson. i will give you my word that this one will be aged and weathered to your specs this time!

GOOD man! I'm liking it even more now!

HIGH regards! Michaelson

I'd get those sleeves GOOD AND WRINKLED UP before you consider shortening them. You can ALWAYS shorten them later.

To me there's nothing more annoying than a sleeve coming up a half inch too short...and you should lose a little length to the wrinkles once you break it in.

Try sleeping in it a couple nights. Yeah, I'm married too, I had to pretend I fell asleep on the couch watching TV by accident...

Agreed! put the thing in the bathtub and fil it up, drain it, fil it up, drain it, and so on until all the dye is gone. Then wear it and push the sleaves up to your elbows until it is dry or you go crazy from the cold. I can't advocate this enough. It really gets the shine out and gives it that "had it for a while look". You may have to give it some leather dressing(it gets a little stiff after), but at least you won't be blinded by the shine. And when you toss it into the corner at night, you won't be frightened by the looming shadow it makes. I promise after a few weeks of wearing it, you will have that drape you wanted, and that wifey picture will not glare as much.
Good looking jacket by the way!!!
-GC.

as always guys, thanks for the words of encouragement. actually, i like the length in the sleeves; its not too long that it looks completely dumb and its not too short so that the sleeves fall straight down (like my previous jacket). i saw the picture that i believe toldog put up in the "black lining thread" and you can notice that indy's got alot of bulgey wrinkles in his sleeves when he's driving the truck. my sleeves will mimmic that especially if i'm wearing my gloves.

tone, the zipper seems to work fine which is good cuz its starting to get really cold up here in the great white north.

as for sleeping in it, bathing in it, and artificially distressing it, i think i'm gonna keep this one as is. if i want the "just got towed behind a truck look", i got my old one. i'm taking a page out of michaelson's book on this one (hey michaelson, notice i finally spelled your name right? my apologies for previous posts).

cheers all!

I'll give you that. Treat it how you want. I'm on Michaelson's track as well - sleeping in it, okay, but no showering it. Yours does have an extremely nice fit right out of the box, so I can appreciate babying that for a while.

I like that jacket a lot, you pics show some of that nice purple undertone that the dark brown has that isn't often seen in pics here.

It looks pretty supple too, remind me is your other jacket a lamb or goat? How would you compare them.

thanks KT,

my older jacket was the authentic brown lambskin which is very much different than this one. the lambskin was lighter and softer than the goat. i feel that this goatskin one can be worn in colder weather without me having to reach for my overcoat as i did with the lambskin jacket. also, you can totally feel that the goatskin is a stronger hide just on the stiffness factor.

if you want a conceptual comparison, the lambskin felt like a cumfy blanket right out of the bag, this one feels like a rugged leather jacket that you could ride on your motorcycle with.

Hey George Caplin...did you put your goat jacket in the tub like you described? does that actually work?

Very nice looking jacket!

How about a front pic with it zipped a bit just so we can get an idea of teh cut?

here you go weaver, complete with my charlie chaplin/pele action gear!

Thanks! The fit of your jacket looks excellent!

Perfect Sleeve length Indiana G. Very nice jacket!
But the Sleeve hole opening looks very big.
@Picture is great. The tramp with the hat is back

Regards

orb

G is that a RIRI zipper?

http://www.ririzippers.com/about.htm

Toldog07 wrote:Hey George Caplin...did you put your goat jacket in the tub like you described? does that actually work?

Yeah, just like that. I did it with the lamb I just received too. I'm not an artificial distressor...but I love the results.
-GC

KT,

when i first saw your question, i was like....huh? what does RIRI mean?....raiders...indiana...rocking....something....then i went and looked on my zipper where it was stamped......riri....cool!

now, please tell me its a good zipper....starting to get really cold up here!

Indiana G wrote:KT,

when i first saw your question, i was like....huh? what does RIRI mean?....raiders...indiana...rocking....something....then i went and looked on my zipper where it was stamped......riri....cool!

now, please tell me its a good zipper....starting to get really cold up here!

Yes! LOL Swiss made, high tech, seems to be sought after in certain circles.

Hey Indiana G, I like your bag. Where you got it from?

And is the bottom of the zipper plastic?

that was the bag that i got taken to the cleaners with on my "nice try lao che" thread in the general gear discussion. its a w & g issue mkvii bag from ebay with a magnoli strap. kind of a funny story if you want to read it.

the zipper is attached to the canvas backing which is attached to the jacket. the canvas on the bottom is reinforced with some kind of coating (plastic?).

cheers!

Can you post a picture with the detail of that please?

here you go platon.....

Sweet