Club Obi Wan

hi, all! I hadn’t been active here in a while, but I got the hankering for a new Indy jacket, and the favorable (for us) exchange rate pushed me towards finally buying a Wested, so I got a Raiders Hero in shrunken lamb.

The only Indy jacket I’ve owned is a Todd’s, which I’ve owned since they started making them, so that’s the only thing I have to compare it to, but this jacket sure feels a lot heavier and more “substantial” (for a lack of a better term). Can’t imagine it tearing nearly as easily as the Todd’s.

They got the measurements dead on to what I asked for, but I do still feel like the back is a bit longer than I might have liked (I didn’t realize where they were doing the back measurement from).

I was thinking of wetting the jacket down, both to bring some more texture out of it, but also to possibly shrink it a touch. I looked through a lot of posts, but I feel like I’ve heard slightly different things in terms of water *temperature* - should I use hot or cold water?

The shrinking isn’t necessarily critical, and I’m a little hesitant to get too extreme with a $300+ jacket. I do like the jacket a lot, but I thought a 23” back would seem way way shorter than it is (and most of my other jackets are very short 40s and 50s jackets). (I’m a 38 regular through and through.)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Hope you’re all well.

EDIT: ok, did further post-digging and I see that hot water will shrink it, cold water less so.
Should I be stressed about the jacket seeming a little...long?
My Todd’s is a whole inch shorter than the Wested.

A hot shower will certainly pop the grain on the skin and pull the leather in a little (ak shrink it back) ... i have 2 washed lambs .. one i treated to a hot shower and the other i didn't. the showered one is great but you need to wear it before its fully dry to let it shape to you AND also to pull and reposition things such as the collar the way you want them ... there is no doubt a blast of hot water really gives the jacket a different feel but if you like the 'new jacket' look then its not the route for you .... personally i really like the technique ... but thats me

Post a photo and we can give you our opinion. The back hem of the jacket should sit just past the top of the rear pockets on a good fitting pair of jeans. The front hem should just cover the bottom of a belt buckle or a bit lower. At least, that's how I like it to fit. The hero cut jackets measure a much shorter back length because the collar hangs back an inch or two further than a standard fit jacket.

Here are some pics.
Bear in mind, I’m wearing vintage trousers, so they’re likely higher waisted than modern trousers (I don’t own any modern trousers so these are a good barometer for my pants height in general).
My wife thinks it looks great. I’m a little pickier than she is though.
I’m not sure Wested will even take this back (they claim that jackets with backs of 23” or less aren’t returnable because they’re so small that they can’t easily be resold on clearance?).
I’m not sure I want to return it. I do love the jacket in general, just not sure about this length.

I guess I’m asking for folks to help push me off the ledge one way or the other? haha.
My wife thinks it looks great the way it is.
Of course, if it shrinks up a bit, that will help - not sure if it’ll make it demonstrably shorter, though.

@the character, I did see pics of your jacket and it’s what helped push me off the ledge into ordering! Though I do feel like some parts of yours are a touch more “shriveled” looking than what I’m going for. Beautiful jacket, though!

Looks like a perfect back length to me.

havershaw wrote:
They got the measurements dead on to what I asked for, but I do still feel like the back is a bit longer than I might have liked (I didn’t realize where they were doing the back measurement from).

My Todd’s is a whole inch shorter than the Wested.

Wested’s Hero Raiders drops the back of the collar and shoulders down so it wears about an inch and a half longer than the regular cut. I’m 6’1” and have a Wested Hero with a 23” back and it works well. Matches some of the scenes where it appears more like a short western jacket.

Honestly, I’m more concerned that they didn’t scale your pockets to match a size 38 better. I think the back length is decent and the sleeves could be tailored (or hot water treated).

Tibor wrote: Wested’s Hero Raiders drops the back of the collar and shoulders down so it wears about an inch and a half longer than the regular cut. I’m 6’1” and have a Wested Hero with a 23” back and it works well. Matches some of the scenes where it appears more like a short western jacket.

Honestly, I’m more concerned that they didn’t scale your pockets to match a size 38 better. I think the back length is decent and the sleeves could be tailored (or hot water treated).

I was going to ask if anyone thought the pockets were huge! Because yes, the pockets seem extremely big to me, but I thought maybe I was used to the Todd’s pockets and maybe those were small?

I’m not worried about the sleeves - I know they’ll ride up with some hot water.

Back seems good to me...

Agreed, for a jacket right out of the box, the fit is good on you. It'll get even better with regular wear.

If you are used to 40-50's James Dean style jackets I can see why this one would feel long.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

The front and back length look good to me. The sleeves are too long, but those will shrink up as they wrinkle. I would get the sleeves wet, wear the jacket and bend at the elbows a bunch to start them creasing and compressing a bit.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

Though I do think the pockets are a *touch* big (or they could have put them closer to the bottom of the jacket maybe?), overall, I do love it, so I’m just going to hit it with some hot water and see how it feels after that.

yup shrivelled can happen .. its loosened up a bit since then in fairness but its definitely one of the drawbacks off a wet jacket .. it pull in odd areas so you can end up going round in circles trying to 'fix' things after ... you can always try a cooler light wetting .. its far less aggressive for obvious reason ...

best

Well, that definitely fixed the sleeves!

Overall, I’m pretty happy with it, although it’s pretty #### stiff now. Hoping that works itself out, as I did love how pliable it was.

I put hot water on it and then slept in it, and it’s pretty much molded to my body now. I was having to adjust it a million times to get it to hang back off my neck right when I got it, and now it just effortlessly slips into that position (can’t really get it to sit any other way now).

I think that looks pretty darn awesome! Well done.

Glad to see you took the plunge! Jacket looks great! I like the slightly larger pockets, actually. The water really did the trick on the sleeves. Mine hit at the same spot yours did originally, so I may have to give that a shot. Wear in good health!

Cheers!
Nate

I'd say that new fit is perfect. You look great!

Looks great - is it shrunken lamb or washed lamb?

thanks, all! I’m really happy with the fit now.

it’s still pretty stiff after wearing it all day - is there any leather conditioner that I should try to soften it back up? or maybe I just keep wearing it? (not an easy feat this week in Arizona, I must say.)

When I say stiff, I mean like it basically retains the shape of my body when I take it off and throw it on the bed, haha.

@whiskyman, it’s shrunken lamb.

Lexol leather conditioner will help.

Regards! Michaelson

Whoa, that looks like such a better fit! The change in the sleeve length is dramatic. And it has character now. Yes, Lexol or Pecard leather lotion (maybe they are the same?) would work well on that to soften it up a bit. I would avoid traditional Pecard dressing on lambskin, but leather lotion should do the trick.

havershaw wrote:Well, that definitely fixed the sleeves!

Forums need a "Like" button.

Now that LOOKS like an Indy jacket now! .,.. superb! ...

Your jacket looks FANTASTIC!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Forrest For the Trees wrote:Whoa, that looks like such a better fit! The change in the sleeve length is dramatic. And it has character now. Yes, Lexol or Pecard leather lotion (maybe they are the same?) would work well on that to soften it up a bit. I would avoid traditional Pecard dressing on lambskin, but leather lotion should do the trick.

I've been using Lexol regularly on my eBay find Kelso lamb and I've been happy with the results.

thanks for all the kind words!

I’m only wearing it around the house and it has softened up a bit - I may still lexol some of the bits around the shoulders to un-stiffen those a bit (at least the armpits etc).

I’m guessing just regular old Lexol? Does it affect the color at all?

Yup, regular Lexol conditioner. I've seen it marketed as "deep conditioner" and "all leather conditioner", but I think it's all the same. The updated bottles all seem to have the "all leather" tag.

I haven't really seen any changes in color. Upon application it darkens a bit, but returns to its original color when it soaks in. I'd spot test it just to be sure. My Kelso is much darker than my authentic lamb Wested. From the pics, the color of yours looks to be about halfway between.

update:

although my wife thinks I’m nuts for wearing a jacket around the house, it’s softening up nicely with some regular wear, so I may not use the Lexol after all.

Also, I’d just like to say that I *love* this jacket. It’s so well-made and it fits me beautifully. The grain on this shrunken lambskin is exactly what I was looking for.

havershaw wrote:update:

although my wife thinks I’m nuts for wearing a jacket around the house, it’s softening up nicely with some regular wear, so I may not use the Lexol after all.

Also, I’d just like to say that I *love* this jacket. It’s so well-made and it fits me beautifully. The grain on this shrunken lambskin is exactly what I was looking for.

Post some larger pics with the fit and new grain showing.