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For Sale: Good Wear Leather Coat Co. Californian Ventura size 48

InLikeFlynn

Familiar Face
Messages
76
Location
Pacific Northwest
It pains me to do this but my new Ventura is up for sale. Here's the reason: the fit was perfect when I received it, only had this about a month now, sleeves and torso length were fine. I've been wearing it every day since I bought it, this includes a few rain showers after which I wore it dry. Over this period of time as the jacket has broken in and as the folds and creases have formed the length of the torso and sleeves have shortened considerably. This always happens with a new leather jacket and I didn't think it would be to such a degree that I would not be comfortable with it but it is.
I contacted Good Wear and they do not do alterations but do have someone they recommend so if it does not sell I may send it in to see what can be done. Vickie said that they do have more of this hide and I may buy some of it and send it with the jacket to the alterations place they recommend. But whether or not they would be able to rework the jacket I just don't know.

This is without a doubt the finest leather jacket that I have ever owned.

There are no flaws with this jacket with the exception of a name tag I sewed on the liner only which I will remove before sale.

This is made of Vegetable Tanned Pigment Dyed Black Front Quarter Japanese Horsehide with contrasting dark brown thread.
Lining: viscose rayon in mid–blue shade
Thread: dark brown cotton 16/4
Main zipper: reproduction 1930s #7 riveted Waldes zipper
Chest zipper: reproduction diamond Waldes zipper
Size: 48

Here's the original measurements when I received it (in inches):
front along zipper: 23.5
front chest under arms: 25.75
back width under arms: 25.75
back height: 24.5
shoulder width: 21.5
sleeves from shoulder seam to end of cuff: 27.25

Here are the measurements now:
front along zipper: 23
front chest under arms: 25.75
back width under arms: 25.75
back height: 23.5
shoulder width: 21.5
sleeves from shoulder seam to end of cuff: 25.5

You can see the width has stayed the same but the torso length and the sleeve length have changed considerably. It's enough to make you chew nails! Oh well, what can you do? If you are a size 46 - 48 and not a tall guy then this jacket should fit great.

New these are priced at $1549.00, I paid $1,150.00 but due to the nametag I'll sell for $900.00, free shipping to the U.S. in the original Good Wear box, overseas shipping will be extra. I'll include all of the original paperwork.

I had some WWII style metal dog tags made up with the jacket information on them to use as identification in case the jacket was stolen so I'll include those as well.

These are when I received the jacket:
venturaBack.jpg
venturaFront.jpg
tags.jpg
tags2.jpg

I'll get some more pictures up to demonstrate the differences in sleeve and torso length here shortly after our weather clears up.
 
Messages
10,181
Location
Pasadena, CA
Damn, I'm almost tempted and just live with the shortness. I keep watching these old TV shows and all the jackets are short. I'll wait 'til I see the pics...
 

Seb Lucas

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,562
Location
Australia
I don't get it. Thirty odd years of buying and selling leather jackets - dozens - I have never had one shrink. Sleeves wrinkle but even there, I've never seen them get discernibly shorter. What are customers meant to do - buy a jacket way too large and wait until it fits?
 

InLikeFlynn

Familiar Face
Messages
76
Location
Pacific Northwest
Shrink may be to strong of a word, I believe it's just the breaking in of the jacket, folds, creases, etc. For some reason the sleeves have been affected most in this case.
 

InLikeFlynn

Familiar Face
Messages
76
Location
Pacific Northwest
Here are some current pictures, the back looks great and the slight shortening is barely noticable:
aaw2.jpg

The front length is good, hardly a change but the sleeves are what is making the problem for me:
aaw1.jpg

Double gun / map pockets are a nice feature:
pockets.jpg

The jacket is actually looking so good that it makes me want to just forget about the sleeve length:
aaw3.jpg
 
Messages
10,181
Location
Pasadena, CA
Only you can tell how it feels on, but from here, it still looks great. That's all I'll say. You need to decide on whether it's right. The sleeves to me still look fine.
 

InLikeFlynn

Familiar Face
Messages
76
Location
Pacific Northwest
That's the kicker, it does look great and it feels great, you can wear this with a white shirt and tie or with the rattiest t-shirt around and still look good. John's work is outstanding. Being a long armed guy though, sleeve length is the one fitting point that is awful hard for me to compromise on.
 

Plumbline

One Too Many
Messages
1,271
Location
UK
If it's any consolation ....

I had similar issues with my Aero Californian and had 1" added at the bottom of the sleeve 1" longer than the original and the strap adjusted toward the wrist by 1" .... it looked fine, was a simple mod and sorted the sleeve issue.

Any good tailor should be able to do it if you have some of the original hide .. it does adjust the look of the cuff a little but I really liked it. It's an option at least if everything else is great and you love the jacket ( which I did and still do)
 

InLikeFlynn

Familiar Face
Messages
76
Location
Pacific Northwest
You know, adding knits was the first thing that crossed my mind when I noticed the sleeves starting to ride up.

I contacted Good Wear to see if I could get a few scraps of the same hide that the jacket was made from with the idea of doing what Plumbline mentioned above. They said that they'll check on it, if it does not find a home here I may look into those modifications.

Plumbline, do you have any before and after pictures of your sleeve modification?
 

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