Club Obi Wan

Here's some pics of my Raiders Spec jacket. The first thing I noticed when I got it, were the lack of "Handemade By British Craftsmen" and "Union Jack" labels. Instead, the collar label read, "Handemade By Craftsmen." The lambskin was noticably thinner than the standard lambskin. It has proved to be plenty tough enough, however, for most urban adventures. The quality was also not as consisent as the standard jacket. It has areas that are very smooth, and others that are quite grainy. By comparison, my standard lambskin is smooth all over. This is not a big deal, unless maybe you are one of those stitch nazis. My 'Spec' jacket has natutally distressed very easily. I received it at the end of November and have worn it just about every day. It has been in some monsoon rain storms and a couple blizzards. The only thing I ever did for distressing, was to wad it up into a ball and throw it into a corner when it was wet, and then left it there until it was dry. I did have Mrs. Blooze remove the shoulder pads. They really weren't noticable, but when the leather started to crease, it creased around the shoulder pads, leaving a triangle shaped design on each shoulder. OK, Now for the pics.
First a front view

Shoulder stitching

Now some comparison pics between a standard ROTLA, and the ROTLA Special. The standard jacket is on top in all photos except for the pocket pic. In that one the Special is on the right and the standard is on the left.




Both jackets are size 44R. The standard was a dark brown variety. I gave the standard jacket a hot water treatment,.......and it shrunk considerably. The Special jacket body may have been cut a little longer than the standard initially, but it wasn't much longer. The sleeves were almost of identical length prior to the standard getting the hot water treatment. The difference you see in size in the pics, is almost entirely from the hot water treatment. These jackets were very comparable in size when they were new. Now what's my verdict? I like the leather on the standard jacket better, but I love the cut of the ROTLA Special. The Special is a winner, you can't go wrong with it. I would love to get the ROLTA Special in Peter's new goat or horse.

Very interesting! What about the arm holes? The Wested regular jackets I've had in the past have had huge arm holes that went half way done the side of the jacket - does the Special have higher arm holes?

Do the labels mean that it was not made in the UK?

whiskyman wrote:Very interesting! What about the arm holes? The Wested regular jackets I've had in the past have had huge arm holes that went half way done the side of the jacket - does the Special have higher arm holes?

The arm holes are higher, so no flying squirrel effect.

yep.that true.
not flying squirl effect.
the armholes are a bit thighter then the standard jackets

and the distressing picks up really easy I wonder why they do so...when the standard jacket does not take up as much distressing naturally as this one?

Nice jacket man.I love it

Holt

One question on these Special Offer jackets- when people are saying they are 'off the rack' is this meaning that they are not made to order, but stock waiting to ship?

Neolithic wrote:One question on these Special Offer jackets- when people are saying they are 'off the rack' is this meaning that they are not made to order, but stock waiting to ship?

Yes, literally off the rack!



Ignore the one facing you... that's some thing different.

just to be clear.....

if its a wested and off the rack is it made in china? or are only "the specials" made in china?


thanks for any clairty,

JOA

Kt Templar wrote:

Neolithic wrote:One question on these Special Offer jackets- when people are saying they are 'off the rack' is this meaning that they are not made to order, but stock waiting to ship?

Yes, literally off the rack!



Ignore the one facing you... that's some thing different.

NONE of them are made China!

Wested do not source from China.

If the jacket does not have the Union Jack and has the brighter yellow tag that says "Handmade by Craftsmen" instead of the "Handmade by British Craftsmen" then it is made overseas. I believe they are from Pakistan but may be somewhere else.

The Roltaa, the Crunch and the denim are definately outsourced.

If some of the more recent ebay otr's do not have the Union Jack then they are probaly outsourced too.

All the customs are made in th UK.

Kt Templar wrote: Yes, literally off the rack!

Thanks, Kt.

Yesss... this means it should arrive here in far away Australia sooner.

got mine today, very nice!

im surprised how 'thin' it is compared to my wings lamb...

Here's a pic of me wearing it in the sunshine. Sorry about the quality but my digital camera jammed, so this one was taken with a phone camera.

I love the wrinkly look of the sleeves. The jacket looks great!