Club Obi Wan

Has anyone shortened a US Wings jacket? I recently purchased a striated lambskin and it looks really good but I would like to take about 1.5 inches off of it and I am in debate mode as to leave it be or shorten it.

I'm not aware of anyone who's attempted this myself.

Best take it to a leather garment specialist to give you their opinion, as that would require a specialist to perform such a thing.....but strictly my opinion, I'd leave well enough alone.

If it bothers you that much, sell the jacket and find one that is a more 'suitable' length for you.

Sometimes, though, if you wear a jacket with this kind of thing, it starts to grow on you.

If not, you have those two avenues of 'escape'.

Good luck!

Regard! Michaelson

I agree with Michaelson. I thought about doing the same thing a while back but then realised that it would never look right if I did. Front pocket placements would look off, not to mention that if you tried to raise the pockets to compensate, you’ll have the visible stitch holes to contend with. If you can’t sell it on, and if you won’t end up wearing as it is, I would experiment with soaking and carefully shrinking the body. It’s a big gamble, though. Worked for me but I was dealing with lambskin and took my time about it.

I looked heavily into shortening a cape buffalo USW, even consulted a tailor with leather experience and got a quote. He and I were convinced it could be done, but ONLY because the pockets are positioned so high on the cape buffalo OTR. The other thing of course is the straps -- too low and you risk it being more like a half belt. For the other jackets which have the pockets positioned more normally, I probably wouldn't take the chance; raising them would leave holes.

The quote was $200-250, allowing wiggle room because he wasn't sure how easily his machine could stitch through that thick hide, but we also planned to alter the zipper flap to an LC style and this was over a year ago. At that price you're into S&J premium and BK levels counting all expenses, rendering it pointless IMO unless that jacket has sentimental value.