I would think by now would automatically be incorporating this apparent pattern flaw into their design if it were the problem as some has suggested) I have not found this to be the case for any of my Expeditions.
In the past, I've even read that you need to add as much as two inches to the front. This just does not seem like a practical way to purchase a jacket if you have to worry about things like that to make a jacket fit correctly.
Its not a "flaw". If you take your Expedition, zip it up, and lay it flat on
your bed, with the zipper facing up, check to see if the front of the jacket
and the back of the jacket are even with each other. I bet they are.
Then, turn the jacket over, so the back is now facing up. Check it again.
I bet the front and the back line up with each other.
Wested's Indy jackets do this also. Its the way a jacket is made.
However, humans are NOT made like this. If you get someone to
measure you, from the center of your shoulders, down your back to
your waist, you will get a different measurement than if you measure
from the center of your shoulders down your front to your waist.
The front measurement will be slightly LARGER than the back. Probably
by about an inch or so.
Why? Because down the back is fairly straight down, while going down
the front you have to go over your chest and in some cases, over your
stomach if you have any kind of gut.
Now, when you put a jacket on that has the front and the back that line
up with each other, and zip the jacket up, it will look slightly shorter in the
front than in the back because your body measures more in the front than
in the back.
To prove this to yourself, do this. Put on your jacket, zip it up, and stand
sideways in a mirror, and stand as straight up as you can. Then take a
picture of yourself.
Then, post that picture for us to see. I will bet you any amount of money
you have that the front of your Expedition is higher than the back if you
stand up straight and don't slouch.
This is what we all refer to as "Ride up". And that is why people ask for
an additional inch or so to just the front of a jacket.
I have done this with my Wested Indy jacket, My Aero Redskin B-3 and
my Aero Californian jacket.
It just helps the jacket look more "level" when you are wearing it.
This phenominon only happens on jackets with open bottoms. Meaning,
they don't have any rib knits to hold the bottom of the jacket tight
against your body like an A-2 or any type of windbreaker with some
elastic at the bottom hem.
Take the pictures of yourself and post them for us to look at, or, you
can do a search on this site for people who have posted pictures of
themselves.
In EVERY SINGLE side view picture, the people who do NOT have the
extra inch in front, the jacket is higher in the front than the back. The
less of gut you have the less this shows up, but it does show up. Just
check out the pictures.
Thats why its suggested to get an extra inch to inch and half in just
the front of the jacket.
Flathead