Fit Pic Evaluation Help - New Half Belt

[Stand By]

I'm not sure what you think there's not to like …? You wouldn't want it bigger/tighter/longer/shorter in any way as far as I can see. The fit looks great!
You can wear it to your local bar and look good in it as you have a drink and worry about something else - 'cos you've no worries with that jacket. Cheers!

 

[tmitchell59]

Terry - your pics/vids of the Californian is one of these reasons I picked one up. Thanks for posting up those resources. Sadly, I don't think the hide on this one will approach the character yours has, but who knows.

Despite a closet full of them, I've had an extremely tough time acquiring a leather jacket that fits this well. As I said above, I'm not thrilled with the handwarmer pocket location, but given the fit and the unusually high level of comfort right from the go, I'm really leaning toward keeping it.

I think I've come to the conclusion that no leather jacket will be perfect -- its minimizing the flaws is what's important. If fit and feel are the most important qualities (and they are to me), then I don't think I have a choice but to keep it.

Mine is Funky, you have seen it. Leather looks mismatched, some grain some none. No idea why mine is like it is other than it may be an early one. Note the shorter sleeves in mine. The sleeve length is something they did modify. The Havana has the longer sleeves.

I got the jacket in this video today as I was looking at your new ELMC. As soon as I put it on I thought of my Californian. The ELMC Cali is a nice jacket.

 

[l0fielectronic]

Fit looks spot on, agree with the other comments about the belt maybe being a little high. Maybe with some wear it will look a bit more 'natural'.

 

[nick123]

Fit is great. You have NOTHING to worry about.

 

[ton312]

Perfect fit...hoping my delayed delivery of an Aero 30's HB is just this type of fit...or it's back in the que

 

[ton312]

And I like the higher position of the HB

 

[ProteinNerd]

Fit looks spot on. I'd prefer the belt and the handwarmer pockets a little lower if it was mine which it isn't.

Yes, its an ELMC Californian. Honestly, I would prefer the belt a touch lower, and the handwarmer pockets are stupidly high -- I have to hunch my shoulders and contort my arms to get my hands in. Silly. But I never use handwarmer pockets, so it isn't a deal-breaker for me.

Fit is great, but the pockets, handwarmer pockets as well as chest pocket are way too high for my taste.

Fit looks perfect. Pockets, about 2 inches too high. Not that it looks bad, but I can appreciate the annoyance with pockets you can't reach easily and naturally.

The fit looks darn near perfect. As to the location of the half belt and hand warmer pockets, I agree with the previous comments - they both are placed too high. Overall, great looking jacket.

I mentioned the high pockets and high half belt in the dedicated thread to the ELMC Californian and HPA Rep said nobody had ever mentioned that to him before which I find very surprising. They are way too high imo opinion and throw off the balance of the jacket.

Once you see it you cant un-see it.

Its the only reason I don't have one of these otherwise fantastic jackets....I really do love it apart form that, but it just bugs me too much. If you could order one with these issues addressed I'd be all over it.

The fit is great on you and if the pocket and half belt placement don't bother you, you'd be crazy not to keep it.

 

[pawineguy]

I'm just echoing now what others have said but if you are ok with the pockets and half belt location than I can't imagine a better fit. I typically don't use my hand warmer pockets, but if you do, I would make sure that you can comfortably use them before you make a final decision.

 

[Doctor Damage]

I don't think the original designer intended the pockets to have hands stuffed in them, just impedimenta. Were these originally supposed to be motorcycle jackets? If so, then the pockets were high to keep them and their contents from squeezing into your lower abdomen as you sit on a bike. I consider it a modern thing for short jackets to be long enough to stuff hands in (it's an 80s thing with oversize, long fitting short jackets).

 

[Cooperson]

Good fit but the high pockets have always been a big issue for me, otherwise I would have bought one myself by now.

 

[Jägernaut]

If I could find one like tmitch has for $700 or less, I'd be all over it. That leather and overall look is just too good to pass up. I don't think the average person would see anything wrong with it. We are just fanatics.

 

[Grayland]

The hide looks fantastic and I love the slim sleeves and high armholes.

 

[GregO]

Thanks everyone.

Nice that just about everyone agrees on the same issues -- handwarmer pocket location and belt height -- they're the issues I noticed when I first slipped it on and took that all-important first look in the mirror. Someone mentioned that they thought the chest pocket was too high -- I actually don't agree on that one, and I like the location very much. I often think chest pockets fall a bit too low.

The verdict: Its a keeper. It fits too well and is far too comfortable to send back. It is a really nice spring weight jacket, so the timing is great.

 

[HPA Rep]

From the question posed to me in another thread by ProteinNerd, I thought I share my reply here, too, seeing how it relates directly to the same overall topic:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/elmc-products.81206/page-4#post-2061060

I highly doubt Gary would change anything. I can mention it and see what happens, as he did change the sleeve length on the long fittings when I asked (and that took a lot of work on my behalf), but this is a far, far bigger deal to change than sleeve length and my gut tells me that he and we are selling too many to warrant taking on such a huge undertaking.

The responses here fall around 40%-50% to make the change, which aren't even all from people who would actually purchase one if the change was made. And there are those who don't ever participate here (the overwhelming majority, that would be), so I see this as being a case of you can't please all of the people all of the time, and I suspect Gary would, too.

Thank you for the feedback, though.

I should add a detail that further diminishes the chance for making the change you mention: we've sold a fair number of these to those of celebrity status, which one would think are some pretty meticulous, appearance-conscious individuals. One of these is actor Adam Goldberg, who liked his so much that his character on the "Jim Gaffigan Show" (now filming season 2) was just outfitted with a Californian and the costume director loves it and others from the show have now ordered this same style, along with Windwards. This is info. Gary now knows, so it doesn't exactly make for a compelling argument to alter the style.

I will present the discussion to Gary because of the respect I hold for TFL members, especially those who have spoken up, but I also want to be candid and state that this is not a battle I will press home very hard for all reasons cited.

 

[cuchulain]

The fit is great and the HB and pockets wouldn't bother me. The placement of the HB and pockets almost looks like the jacket was initially sized much shorter and they just added length at the bottom leading to the high HB and pockets.

 

[TREEMAN]

I'm with the nerd on this one, the balance is off and you can't un-see it!! This might come back to bite you in the ass someday!!

 

[GregO]

I love the slim sleeves and high armholes.

Exactly. Seriously, the sleeves are fantastic. They are quite slim without being too tight, and visually appear to have a nearly constant diameter all the way up, although they do not. I detest sleeves that have too large a diameter -- just looks sloppy. The sleeves are perfection, at least on me.

 

[HPA Rep]

The fit is great and the HB and pockets wouldn't bother me. The placement of the HB and pockets almost looks like the jacket was initially sized much shorter and they just added length at the bottom leading to the high HB and pockets.

I think the entire subject is also relevant to jacket size and individual wearing it. GregO is taller than I am and his Cal is 40L, while mine is a 40R. I think everything mentioned is even less pronounced on me at 5' 9" tall in a 40R vs. a 40L. Bigger sizes get longer, thus a 42, 44 & 46 will all have longer proportions in relation to placement of belt and pockets. Was sagen Sie?

 

[pawineguy]

^ I agree, the long pattern seems to accentuate the pocket / half-belt placement.

 

[Seb Lucas]

It's a really great fit. The pockets are odd looking but maybe you'll get used to them.