FQHH - How much sleeve shortening I expected?

[ErgaOm]

Hey guys,

Long time lurker but just now new member here. Great forum!

My question. I have a fit jacket in CXL FQHH that I am evaluating. But I am bit unsure about how to think about sleeve length. How much will they shorten due to wear and creasing? I've been getting very mixed answers about this. Some people even say that the sleeves will only shorten if they are too long to begin with, otherwise not.

The sleeves on the jacket I am considering are "just right". Now, should I add something in length or not?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[HoosierDaddy]

IMO sleeves on a new leather jacket will most often shorten at least 1/2".
Welcome.
HD

 

[zebedee]

Half an inch, if that.

 

[Carlos840]

In my experience sleeves will only "shorten" in wear if they are too long to start with.
If you are part of the long sleeve brigade and like sleeves that stack on your wrist you should expect some "shortening" as they develop a stack and basically settle in a pleated way.
If you wear your sleeves shorter and they don't rest on your wrist they will not change one inch.
At least that has been my experience breaking in 20+ jackets.
I have never had a sleeve lose a noticeable amount and would never account for sleeve length loss durin break in.

Sleeves like this will shorten a little:
Think of it as the equivalent of your jeans stacking on your shoes if they are too long.

Sleeves like this will never get shorter:

 

[ErgaOm]

This is great info so far! Thanks. Keep em coming.

 

[Peacoat]

In my experience, you can expect some minimal shortening as the sleeves break in and "wrinkle up," perhaps 1/2" at most. Probably not enough to notice unless the sleeves are too short to begin with.

Welcome to the Lounge.

 

[homesicksteve]

My experience 'very limited compared to the good folk above -
I have just started my second CXLFQHH jacket.
The first jacket, the sleeves seemed to shorten during the first year,
but then got longer again as the leather broke & softened !
However, I did wear it in a hot shower (twice) & allow it to dry whilst wearing....

 

[handymike]

I like sleeve stacks, so I order mine 1/2” longer than I really need.

 

[Mr Knight]

Both CXL and Vicenza (FYI both are FQHH) tends to stack in the inner-elbow area irrespective of the sleeve being slightly longer than needs be, as such some sleeve length will be lost here but ultimately any extra length loss in the forearm area will be down to if the sleeve is longer than required (as already mentioned by @Carlos840 and noticeable in his pictures).

The main difference being that CXL has a tendency to hold creases much more where as Vicenza usually springs back to its original shape which ultimately equates to less loss noticeable of length as you'll bend your arms, straighten them and CXL won't quite spring back to it's original position.

In short, the answer to your question is the average sleeve length loss is 1/2" but usually 9/10 times this is down to the sleeve being 1/2" longer than it needs to be as folk like the sleeve hem covering their wrist which from a functional fit of a true motorcycle jacket is correct as reaching out to the handlebars causes the sleeve to pull back a little, however from a daily wear standpoint is somewhat unnecessary, but ultimately it's down to personal preference at the end of the day.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I have had dozens of leather jackets over 30 years. Only one jacket has shortened in the sleeves in that time. Vicenza.

 

[Cyber Lip]

Only a tiny bit, maybe 1/4 inch. I haven't experienced the 1/2 inch people are talking about. Yes, you get wrinkles in the inner elbow joint area, but it really doesn't equate that much to a sleeve shortening.

But I'm a guy that just simply wears his jackets and hangs them on hangers when not being worn. A lot of the guys around here do odd things to their jackets to create wear and wrinkles, etc. Maybe the 1/2 inch claims are coming from people that push their sleeves up to create an accordion effect on purpose?

 

[tnjyoung]

Hey guys,

Long time lurker but just now new member here. Great forum!

My question. I have a fit jacket in CXL FQHH that I am evaluating. But I am bit unsure about how to think about sleeve length. How much will they shorten due to wear and creasing? I've been getting very mixed answers about this. Some people even say that the sleeves will only shorten if they are too long to begin with, otherwise not.

The sleeves on the jacket I am considering are "just right". Now, should I add something in length or not?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello ErgaOm,

I have been thinking and telling everyone that sleeves shrink by .5"-1" for a few years now. That is how it seemed to me on my first Sheene. I decided I would look up my old posts to help you with your question. Upon doing this, I decided to critique my "old self" and look very closely at the new vs. old jacket. I must say that, after having done this, I would say that the sleeves shrank .5" at maximum (if any). You can see for yourself by following the below link. Within that post, there is another link on Page 1 that will take you even further back in time to when the jacket was brand new. I think you may agree that the sleeves look pretty darn close.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/aero-sheene-fit-pics-4-months-in.82984/

 

[rockandrollrabbit]

Hello ErgaOm,

I have been thinking and telling everyone that sleeves shrink by .5"-1" for a few years now. That is how it seemed to me on my first Sheene. I decided I would look up my old posts to help you with your question. Upon doing this, I decided to critique my "old self" and look very closely at the new vs. old jacket. I must say that, after having done this, I would say that the sleeves shrank .5" at maximum (if any). You can see for yourself by following the below link. Within that post, there is another link on Page 1 that will take you even further back in time to when the jacket was brand new. I think you may agree that the sleeves look pretty darn close.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/aero-sheene-fit-pics-4-months-in.82984/

Close, for sure, but honestly to my eye the sleeves look a tiny bit shorter after a few months wear. I would venture that the conventional wisdom of sleeve length loss holds.

 

[ErgaOm]

Here's the reply I got from Denny at Aero about sleeve shortening (and sleeve length) when I sent a few pics of a jacket to get fit feedback from him. I posted this in another thread but I might as well post it here too.

"Sleeves can be quite a personal thing and there is no real right or wrong ( within reason). Some people like wrists fully covered and sleeve to “rest” on hand, other prefer it to sit like a dress shirt and be around wrist bone and not touch the hand. Some people want to be able to easily see their watch etc,…… The fact that you are not using on a bike means you do not need extra compensation for handle bar reach.

As for sleeve shortening with wear this isn’t a big factor and isn’t a guaranteed thing either way. The “Shortening” of sleeves is due to creases on the inner elbow area, these creases “lift” the sleeve length slightly. Looking at the pictures the jacket is showing the creases so the length won’t really get any shorter. Somepeople find that sleeves that start of too long end up shortening the most because the long sleeve bunches up against the hand and creates more creasing."

 

[Brettafett]

After over two dozen horsehide A-2 repops, I have found consistently the sleeves shortened by 0.5 to 1" after some wear. A number of these has std sleeve length to begin with, which is why I now order my jackets with a bit of added length. After wear these A-2s fit beautifully.
I have found this a little more pronounced after a jacket got soaked, either though HWT or getting drenched in rain.
A lot depends on the horsehide (some jackets have creased up more than others, some horsehide seemed to shrink more than others, think or thin), the jacket pattern (some patterns pull more under the arms and across the back than others for a given size, ie more creases).
One other consideration, at least with A-2s, is that the sleeves first appear to shorten a touch, due to creasing at elbows and pits, but then after a while, feel a touch longer again - this can be due to the wrist knit stretching out, so they no longer hold the sleeve in place at the wrists and the sleeve then feels to drop lower.