Club Obi Wan

Hi all, I’m about to embark on my first Indy jacket and I’ve started to go down the sizing rabbit hole. I’m a shorter gentlemen, about 5 foot 5 inches tall, and I’ve got an approximately 40 inch chest measurement. I’ve never really owned any jackets that fit me well, expect for one. I’ve got a Barbour Ashby in small that fits me excellently. What tends to be an issue for me are the sleeve lengths on off the shelf jackets.

I’m considering a Wested Raiders in washed lambskin, so I’d appreciate any insight or advice on if I can get away with the off the shelf size or if I’d best be advised to do a custom order. I envision wearing it with either a button shirt or t shirt and perhaps a light sweater into late fall. Part of why I love my Ashby is it seems to hit the sweet spot where I can wear it with only a light layer or a heavy sweater and it still feels great.

Thank you all!

Welcome to the never ending rabbit hole!

As someone who is at the shorter side as well (I'm around 5'2-5'3 feet), I'd say it's best to go for the custom than the off the rack sizing. My first ever indy jacket was their custom standard raiders in goatskin, and I was very happy that I went with the custom route. Better chances of nailing the right fit, and less worries while waiting for your jacket to arrive

Well what's the look you're going for? Are you looking to replicate the fit of the film or a more regular type of fit?

At your height it's probably best to go custom. IMO Wested's OTR jackets are slightly long for the style though not too much, but they are made for someone more like 5'10" . A 40 Wested OTR would be 26.5-27 inches, so check your other jackets for that length and see, understanding that the Indy jacket works best at a certain length.

The thing about your Barbour is that they are made roomier, that's why the small fits you well at a 40" chest. You're basically a size medium chest but a size small length. Wested's standard jackets are not roomy like a Barbour. On top of that, leather doesn't really billow, it clings and drapes. So even if the dimensions are the same, a leather jacket and a cloth jacket that are identical will fit differently. So if you're a 40" chest, a Wested will be a true 40" chest more like a suit jacket. It won't be a true "medium" but more like a small-medium. A lot of people find it best to size up.

So my advice is to get a true *jacket* that fits you ok (a jean jacket or leather or harrington or whatever), measure the dimensions and put on a typical pair of pants you're most likely to wear and get in front of a mirror and visualize slight adjustments and roll the sleeves slightly, etc, and take note.

Well, welcome to the club, your in for some fun.

Sizing has been fun for me to, but guess what.
I’m 5’5” with a 40/41 chest.
No big chest, little bit of a belly, and I swear it’s not a beer belly.

My Wested is a size 40, it’s a hero, not a legacy.
My S&J ToD is a 40
My S&J Truck Chase is a 38.
What I’m saying is reach out to Diego, he’ll get what he needs to make you jacket that you’ll love. I was initially concerned with the 38, but it fits perfect.
You can do some searches, I’ve been posting my ToD & Chase jackets a lot lately, so you can see how it fits our similar sizing.
Edit: for couple of pic's.
ToD

Chase

And if your near NH, drop me a PM.

Croft

Thank you all for the helpful replies! I’m not looking for strict screen accuracy for sure, I love the look of the jacket and I’d be wearing it on a regular basis to and from the office and out and about nights and weekends, so it should be comfortable. I don’t do cosplay or anything like that.

I’m mighty tempted by the S&J, I think what makes me hesitate is the price, not sure I’m ready to jump in that deep. But they look like beautiful jackets. It could also just be my hesitancy to buy cloths online.

It’s all good. And while I have fun cosplaying, but just for photo shoots. I wear mine just about every day.

Croft

Weirdly enough my second driving force in this hobby, after "heck yeah original maker!!" was, wow: made to measure at £135! (this was a while ago!)

I'm 5ft 2 after a good night sleep, 40" chest. So standard sized jackets tend to swamp me a bit, the ability to trim a couple of inches off the bottom of a jacket has been a godsend.

Left Legacy hero 40, custom. Right current Barbour "Skyfall" size "M" with about 2" trimmed of the sleeves at Barbour.

Word of caution, the Skyfall Barbour jackets are cut with a smaller chest tolerance than most Barbour models. Most have a 4” tolerance (a size 40 jacket would measure 44” or 22” pit-to-pit), the Skyfall model has a 2” tolerance.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Good call. The jacket in Skyfall is more of a shooting jacket, whereas the Ashby is more like a coat and made for layering.

I am a 5' 2" lady and had my first Indy jacket made custom by Wested.

I think it's high time we had a thread exclusively for those COW members who are vertically challenged.

Here's a good summary from a while back. The Barbour Commader jacket is the Skyfall model KT is wearing. In rewatching the video, I was reminded the tolerances have an even larger range than I remembered and noted above. Regardless, the same caution holds, Barbour jackets have different chest tolerances so knowing what tolerance your particular jacket has will be necessary to using that to translate into an Indy jacket.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Indiana Jeff wrote:CM has it right on the money.

Even within brands, different ranges will be 'sized' differently. Best explanation I've heard is from Barbour referring to the Commander jacket cut compared to other Barbour lines.

To summarize, to Barbour, a large is a large is a large; but depending on which line you are wearing there are differences in the chest tolerances so the fit will be different.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNxjC35PMiE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Canyon wrote:I am a 5' 2" lady and had my first Indy jacket made custom by Wested.

I think it's high time we had a thread exclusively for those COW members who are vertically challenged.

Hear hear!

No reason why it can't be this one.

Have you measured yourself yet Zenmaster87?

Truth be told, and it's been said here on the forum many times, Wested does need more comprehensive size guidelines on their site.

Now I'm not short but rather quite painfully average, but many, many years ago what I did is take the expensive route and get a Wested cotton jacket first and used it almost like a fitting toile and figured out some of the quirks of the standard Raiders in regard to my body and I've been able to nail all the custom Westeds I've had over the years. And because Wested is so ubiquitous and every other vendor is familiar with them it has really helped get correct sizing for S&J and BK for me.

My first basic advice: if you're under ~5'8" then definitely go custom and a back length starting no longer than 26". Sleeves are no big deal and it's far, far better to go too long than too short and very easy to get them shortened locally if needed.

I had similiar questions for Wested when I was debating the Legacy Raiders jacket. They advised that its the same fit as the "Hero" jacket. The "standard" measurements for the Hero are listed on the page here https://www.wested.com/custom-made--rai ... -512-p.asp

For a size 40 jacket, here's the standard measurements BEFORE selecting any custom measurements.
Jacket size - 40”
Sleeve Length - 26”
Half Shoulder - 6.5”
Back Length - 23.5”
Pit to Pit - 22”

I'm a 39 chest, 6ft tall. I had an Ashby jacket in size small. I sold it because it was a tiny bit tight in the chest, and got the Bedale in size 38 instead, much better fit but also a larger size "38".

My two Tony Nowak Raiders jackets both have a 21" pit to pit and fit well.

Keep in mind too, in my experience and opinion, the back pleats add a bit of chest measurement overall.

TheExit148 wrote:I had similiar questions for Wested when I was debating the Legacy Raiders jacket. They advised that its the same fit as the "Hero" jacket. The "standard" measurements for the Hero are listed on the page here https://www.wested.com/custom-made--rai ... -512-p.asp

For a size 40 jacket, here's the standard measurements BEFORE selecting any custom measurements.
Jacket size - 40”
Sleeve Length - 26”
Half Shoulder - 6.5”
Back Length - 23.5”
Pit to Pit - 22”

I'm a 39 chest, 6ft tall. I had an Ashby jacket in size small. I sold it because it was a tiny bit tight in the chest, and got the Bedale in size 38 instead, much better fit but also a larger size "38".

My two Tony Nowak Raiders jackets both have a 21" pit to pit and fit well.

Keep in mind too, in my experience and opinion, the back pleats add a bit of chest measurement overall.

I don't think it's the same exact fit. Hero has more 'off the shoulders' effect. Legacy jacket fits more like proper jacket. Hero has all those quirks of ill fitting jacket we see on screen in Raiders.

The Legacy is indeed based on the Hero. It is not a standard fit pattern. It is meant to be as close to the original jacket as possible, odd fit and all. It has the off the shoulder quirks of the hero pattern, with more accurate hardware and better strap length. That and the leather is supposedly the closest to the original lambskin that Wested has ever offered.

tomek9210 wrote:I don't think it's the same exact fit. Hero has more 'off the shoulders' effect. Legacy jacket fits more like proper jacket. Hero has all those quirks of ill fitting jacket we see on screen in Raiders.

From Wested "If you look at the hero jacket in the custom made section there is a size chart and the legacy is the same jacket as the raiders hero so you can use that size chart. "

TheExit148 wrote:

tomek9210 wrote:I don't think it's the same exact fit. Hero has more 'off the shoulders' effect. Legacy jacket fits more like proper jacket. Hero has all those quirks of ill fitting jacket we see on screen in Raiders.

From Wested "If you look at the hero jacket in the custom made section there is a size chart and the legacy is the same jacket as the raiders hero so you can use that size chart. "

Then how my Hero in size 38 had the 'off the shoulders' effect so much pronounced that they hanged good 2 inches past my shoulders and in my current Legacy in size 40 it is barely noticeable ?

Yeah, the Legacy is the same pattern as the Hero but uses more accurate hardware and of course the new leather. Now what Wested has done over the past maybe 3 years is adjust the pattern to remove some of the overly exaggerated features and smooth the lines, so to speak. I had always considered the Hero to be more of a caricature of the film jacket -- not really Peter's fault, he was just trying to appease a lot of people with varying opinions. The newer Hero jackets have a more standardized cut that makes them somewhat easier to fit while also being undeniably Raiders in a way that's eerily similar to the Relic Hunter.

But that would be my other piece of advice: if you're going for a regular jacket for every day wear and not cosplay, get the standard Raiders. It'll be easier to get the correct measurements if you don't have experience with Indy jackets or the more screen accurate patterns.