Hi All. This is my first post on VLJ and I hope I can gain some advice regarding my new jacket.
I received this Georgetown Leather Design Jacket in size 38 and while I like the style of the jacket, I have two issues with the jacket.
1) The jacket is too tight.
The sleeve length (27"), shoulder width (17"), and jacket length are fine (25"), but the chest and waist are very snug fitting on me. My chest is 38" and I wear a 30" waist in pants, and the measurements I got off the jacket laid flat are: pit to pit: 19", shoulders: 17", and waist: 16". The tag says 38 on the jacket but it almost feels like a full size smaller.
In the listing where I bought the jacket the chest pit-to-pit was advertised as 20", which would have been fine, but unfortunately when I got the jacket it measured out one inch narrower.
2) The jacket is very stiff.
The previous owner(claimed to be the original owner) said he had it hung in his closet for decades and is the reason it is smaller in size and stiff. I can believe it being stiff, but I don't know if the jacket would shrink a this much just sitting. The leather is also a bit dry, so some conditioning would be in order as I would prefer the jacket not feel like a starched strait jacket.
My Questions:
1) Should I attempt to size up the jacket or just return the jacket?
After doing a quick search on "Can you stretch a leather jacket" I came across a VLJ forum describing a warm shower technique where a member sized up his jacket from a 44 to a 46 by soaking the jacket and stretching the leather. Here is the link for reference: https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/stretching-your-jacket-up-a-size.1387/
This method seems only good for stretching the jacket about an inch in each dimension, which would improve the fit I think.
2)If I attempt the warm water stretching tehnique, should I condition the jacket to make the leather soft then soak and stretch, or should I jump straight to the soak and stretch then condition after?
3)Or will conditioning alone allow me to stretch the jacket to fit better?
Or maybe I am ovethinking this whole thing and I simply need to condition and wear it a lot. I would like to avoid more drastic measures like the water technique until necessary.
Now that I have listed all these details out it seems like there are more negative qualities than good qualities, but I do like the look and feel of the jacket and am not opposed to taking on a small project. Any input woulld be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.
I received this Georgetown Leather Design Jacket in size 38 and while I like the style of the jacket, I have two issues with the jacket.
1) The jacket is too tight.
The sleeve length (27"), shoulder width (17"), and jacket length are fine (25"), but the chest and waist are very snug fitting on me. My chest is 38" and I wear a 30" waist in pants, and the measurements I got off the jacket laid flat are: pit to pit: 19", shoulders: 17", and waist: 16". The tag says 38 on the jacket but it almost feels like a full size smaller.
In the listing where I bought the jacket the chest pit-to-pit was advertised as 20", which would have been fine, but unfortunately when I got the jacket it measured out one inch narrower.
2) The jacket is very stiff.
The previous owner(claimed to be the original owner) said he had it hung in his closet for decades and is the reason it is smaller in size and stiff. I can believe it being stiff, but I don't know if the jacket would shrink a this much just sitting. The leather is also a bit dry, so some conditioning would be in order as I would prefer the jacket not feel like a starched strait jacket.
My Questions:
1) Should I attempt to size up the jacket or just return the jacket?
After doing a quick search on "Can you stretch a leather jacket" I came across a VLJ forum describing a warm shower technique where a member sized up his jacket from a 44 to a 46 by soaking the jacket and stretching the leather. Here is the link for reference: https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/stretching-your-jacket-up-a-size.1387/
This method seems only good for stretching the jacket about an inch in each dimension, which would improve the fit I think.
2)If I attempt the warm water stretching tehnique, should I condition the jacket to make the leather soft then soak and stretch, or should I jump straight to the soak and stretch then condition after?
3)Or will conditioning alone allow me to stretch the jacket to fit better?
Or maybe I am ovethinking this whole thing and I simply need to condition and wear it a lot. I would like to avoid more drastic measures like the water technique until necessary.
Now that I have listed all these details out it seems like there are more negative qualities than good qualities, but I do like the look and feel of the jacket and am not opposed to taking on a small project. Any input woulld be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.
