Help Deciding on a Jacket

[lump]

vivli said:

I was wondering about how the jacket distresses.

First, congrats on getting to Wested and acquiring a nice jacket in the process. (Um, well, two nice jackets).

Horsehide, as I understand it, distresses very nicely over time. A fellow I know on another forum shared pics of a horsehide barnstormer that looked fantastic. The hide to avoid if you prefer a natural distressing is Goatskin. The only distressed goatskin I've seen was done artificially.

[Vivli]

Ah, that sounds perfect then. Exactly what I want is a jacket that'll naturally distress, so that sounds excellent. And thanks for the congrats. I've been wearing the cloth one a little, and while I do think I prefer the look of the denim, the fading on the cloth jacket is very hard to notice in the light, and so for the price was a bargain. Comfy though, and it's nice to at least have an Indy jacket to help me put up with the wait 'til my birthday and I get my leather one!

Also, Cowboy, I didn't mean to ignore your reply, but I wasn't too sure what it was referring to. So sorry if I seem rude for not replying to it.

[COWBOY]

vivli said:

Also, Cowboy, I didn't mean to ignore your reply, but I wasn't too sure what it was referring to. So sorry if I seem rude for not replying to it.

You're ok..... indylounge.proboards105.com/index.cgi?board=jacket&action=display&thread=1200282512&page=1

[Vivli]

Oh, I see. Sorry to hear about your problems. However, it sounds like Peter's willing to repair it for you, which is good, and you two seem to be close to reaching a fair agreement about the repairs. I had no idea Peter's wife was in hospital though. That's very sad to hear. I feel a bit guilty for taking up his time worrying about jackets if he had that on his mind now. I hope she's okay and that it's nothing serious.

That said, unless I misinterpreted your post, you seemed perfectly satisfied with your Wested at first. So I'm not sure how much help you being able to visit would have been. If my jacket developed problems (which I really hope it doesn't, obviously!), I'd have to post it back too, due to it costing less to post than to visit. Just, obviously, paying the extra in petrol (well, in this case, my parents paying the extra!) was worth it to choose the right jacket. I wouldn't be able to go there in person for repairs, unfortunately.

But again, because I'm in the UK, postage isn't nearly as much as I imagine it is for you.

Still, I'm very sorry to hear you had problems, and when I visited, all I can say is that Peter seemed really really friendly, and I'm sure he'll do his best to fix your jacket for you. I hope you manage to sort it out regardless!

[GCR]

Vivli, congrats on the jacket, it looks incredible!

It's pretty cool you got a chance to visit Wested and meet Peter in person. I always regretted not being able to visit the Wested shop myself when I was in the UK a few years back. One of these days I'll get there, though. I just hope I'm able to come away with a jacket that looks as awesome as yours!

-GCR

[Vivli]

Thanks for the kind words!

Visiting definitely helped me with my decision, although a lot of that might have been because I was buying a non-custom made jacket, which allowed me to try on different sizes and types. The real advantage as well was getting offers of custom jackets that had been sent back (as my final one is). It meant that I could get a jacket in the style I wanted (a tighter fit) without having to custom order it. He had quite a selection of ex-custom made jackets too. Like the Crystal Skull one, which I don't think you can order 'off the rack' normally. It's very helpful if you're not ordering custom.

Which I luckily didn't need too, since this one fitted me really well. I'm a tiny bit worried the sleeves on my jacket will end up slightly short, as they're pretty much the perfect length now, and I read that leather could begin to wrinkle, so they might end up a bit shorter.

The only problem now is I've seen all the different versions. I always insisted I just wanted one jacket, Indy style, that I could wear for years. I've already ended up with two! (If you count the cotton one, that is). And all the others on offer were really cool too. I mentioned in my first post about it how much I liked some of the other jackets I saw. It's a shame I don't know more about screen accuracy, or I'd be able to tell you guys in detail.

Anyway, sorry to keep ranting about my jacket! I'm just suprised by all the kind comments here and feel like I should reply. You guys really are great.

[Ragingblues]

You can't go wrong with more choices or by seeing something in person before buying. I'm also wondering if your jacket happened to be one Pagey returned. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought he returned a horsehide jacket recently, due to sizing issues or something.

Totally unimportant, of course... but it would be a cool bonus to know who ordered it originally.


Ken

[Kt. Templar]

I believe only a few of the jackets on the rack to your right as you come in the door are returns. Most of them are just stock jackets. From time to time when they get a big batch of leather, if it is slow or just when they expect a jump in demand of a particular style (There IS a new movie coming out don't ya know ) they make a few of the more common sizes.

I know they made a few Raiders and a few CS protos in novapelle a few weeks ago when they got the new batch of skins in.

On the rack behind the till are the outsourced ROLTA lambskins, you can tell them right away, they are lighter weight and also longer in the arms and body. (They say LONG on the card label kimbled to the sleeve).

I agree going there means you can almost get one right away. In fact NONE of my jackets are custom made for me. All have been off the rack (although I suspect a couple WERE returned customs).

[Vivli]

It would be pretty awesome to know who ordered it originally. Provided they didn't send it back because something was wrong with it I hadn't noticed of course.

I looked at Pagey's thread, and I don't think it was his. Obviously, it's hard to tell, but he mentioned he ordered his without leather facings, and if I understand rightly, that's the bit of leather that runs down the inside side of the zip and across the pocket right? If that's the case, mine has those. Also, I thought my pockets were smaller than his in the picture, but that might just how they look. I'd love to do a closer comparison but I don't have the jacket at the moment, and won't until the 9th February (when it's actually my birthday).

Although, if anybody's curious, my brother took a few photos, from behind too, I can see if he can send them to me so you can see the full jacket. They were just on a phone too, so I dunno what the quality will be like, though.

One thing I did notice with my jacket, which I don't thing is standard, is that the inside pocket had a zip on it (which is incredibly helpful for me, because I have quite a chunky phone and I've had it fall out of inside pockets in the past and nearly lose it), but my cotton one doesn't, so I presume that's not a standard feature and something the person who ordered it requested. I don't know if that helps at all though!

What Kt was saying makes a lot of sense, going there is very useful to buy off the rack jackets that fit you really well, saves on having to custom order. It's also handy if you want a non-Raiders off the rack, because correct me if I'm wrong, but Wested don't offer Last Crusade/Crystal Skulls cuts on their website, do they? Apart from as a custom fitting. But once there in person, you can buy some. The Crystal Skulls one was great, for example. Looked just like the one in the promos, as far as I could tell. Unfortunately, that isn't that much like the Raiders one (I find once that distressed, it looks way too light). Plus I liked the idea of distressing it myself, but it still looked great. I can't help but wonder if Wested will release it on the website as off the rail closer to the release date of the film, or whether that'll be stepping on the actual maker's toes. Plus, sadly, Peter wouldn't be able to include the same certificate of authenticity.

[Vivli]

Hey again, everybody! Sorry to update an old thread, but I thought I should post here as my birthday has now come (and passed) and I've actually got the jacket, including some pretty decent pictures of it (as opposed to my camera phone ones).

The jacket is amazing still, and I'm noticing new things a lot. Like just how tough it is, yet soft. At the moment it still looks pretty neat, rather than scruffy, but over time I imagine it will begin to distress. I wanted all the distressing to come from wear anyway, so it's pretty ideal. I've read a lot about letting leather jackets get wet to help the natural process begin, which usually would be encouraging, since it seems to be constantly raining in England, but hey, wouldn't you know it? Seems we've hit a dry spell as soon as I got my hands on it!

I haven't treated it at all though, and don't really know about that kind of thing. It feels like it won't have any problems, because of the tough yet softness of it, but if anybody has any reccomendations, I'd love to hear them!

Anyway, here are some pictures!

Simple front shot, sorry about the shadows!

img507.imageshack.us/img507/5967/frontxu1.jpg

And the back, same shadows though

img507.imageshack.us/img507/9025/backlt7.jpg

Here's a shot of me with my Magnoli bag too (another present, which I have to say is fantastic!), pulling one of the worse 'take the god damn photo already!' facial expressions in history, but at least it's an okay shot of the jacket!;

img138.imageshack.us/img138/3033/tx1jenicliff034gc8.jpg

And here's me walking, so another shot from behind. I know I've got the bag slung a little low here, I've adjusted it a little since.

img513.imageshack.us/img513/7669/tx1jenicliff015fd1.jpg

Anyway, I hope some people find that interesting, and I'd love to here what you think. Thanks again to everybody who helped out! I really, really appreciate it!

[Deleted]

Vivli,

Now that's a great looking jacket. I like the smaller pockets and the drape looks excellent. The bag looks good too.

Also a belated Happy Birthday.

Cheers,
G-MANN

[Ragingblues]

Beautiful color and leather on this one! Congrats again on finding one that works well for you.


Ken

[Vivli]

Thanks for the compliments guys! (And the happy birthday!). They're much appreciated!

[pitfallharry]

Wow, that's a great looking jacket! I think it was very cool that you actually got to go to Peter's shop and try the jacket on first before you bought it. I think A LOT of us here wish we could have done the same thing.....

If that's HH it looks very soft. I used to own a Wested Goat. I ended up selling it because I was never totally happy with how the jacket draped on me. Plus, I had a minor issue with it.......

By the way you've also sold me on Magnoli's bag and strap.....Man, that does look nice.


Congrats again,

[Kaplan]

it never fails. Every time I see a wested HH I get jacket fever again.

Anyway, beautiful Wested!

[IndyBlues]

Great looking jacket, man! The horsehide seems to never fail in the looks and color department. Seems to drape rather well for a heavier leather, and the color rocks.
Congrats!
'Blues

[Vivli]

Thanks again guys. I am really impressed with the horsehide. At the moment, the collar seems a little bit stiffer than it is in lots of Raiders, but I guess that's pretty much to be expected from a brand new jacket, and other than that, to my eye at least, it seems pretty spot on colour wise. The feel is excellent too. If I ever had to be dragged along behind a truck, or fall off a rope bridge, or dodge ancient traps, this feels like a jacket that'd last!

And I'm glad I managed to sell you on the bag Harry! It really is amazing. While I can't say I can compare it to other bags on the market, since it's the only one I own, I have to say the service from Magnoli was simply incredible (honestly, the best I've ever heard of), and both the strap and bag seem perfect. I made a thread in the general gear section praising Magnoli's service which I feel sums up why I was so impressed. It also has a closer shot of the bag if you're interested. I really reccomend it a 100%.

[GCR]

Great pics of a great jacket! That thing looks fantastic!!!

This settles it, my next jacket will be a Wested. I just have to decide between a heavily customized, Raiders-spec HH or (more likely) an LC version in a pre-distressed cowhide (or perhaps Novapelle). The only catch is, I'm going to wait until I visit the UK again so I can order it in person (and meet Peter ).

Now if I can just stop buying so much gear, I might be able to finally afford that tour around Europe. ;D

Anyways, great jacket once again, Vivli...it's got a great color, excellent details and a perfect fit.

-GCR

[Vivli]

Thanks! In terms of jackets to consider, I would say the Novapelle looks excellent. The predistressed look it had, to me, was excellent (I don't know too much about distressing, but still), not looking too over the top, but just right. As I've said before, I was tempted, but preferred the Raiders version (and a non-distressed jacket). I didn't see any pre-distressed cowhide, but novapelle would be a good bet if you want pre-distressed LC (especially since it's now SA to Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls!). That jacket looked really good to me.

Although, obviously I'd reccomend horsehide as well. It really depends what you're after, though, I guess!