Waiting Too Long ruining excitement?

[Xopher]

I have a question that is a bit more about psychology I guess rather than specifically jackets, but it came to mind because of custom jackets/boots wait times.

I have been unable to find answers on line so I thought I’d just ask if anyone else has experienced this and what your thoughts are on the topic.

Does waiting too long for an item ruin your excitement about the item once it finally arrives?

Here are two examples that happened to me.

I ordered a custom jacket that was supposed to arrive in 6 months. I was over the moon excited. There ended up being some delays and issues which resulted in the jacket taking a year and a half to arrive.

By the time the jacket arrived I still thought it was nice and I appreciated having it but I just never got that burst of excitement and gratification that I would have if it arrived on time. I actually left it in the package for two days before opening it because my excitement about it was not there anymore.

The other example is I ordered custom boots and was told they would be 10 months to delivery. I was thrilled the entire 10 months. It’s now been a solid year and a half and they still aren’t here yet. My excitement is gone for them too. I’m sure I’ll like them and wear them when they arrive but I think it will be the same “oh they are here. I’ll open them when I get to it” feeling.

Both times waiting a year an a half for custom items kinda burnt me out on custom stuff. A year and a half just seems too long to wait and still have much excitement left once it finally arrives.

Do you all have similar feelings of lost enjoyment after long wait times?

Is there a wait time that is just too long for you?

What is the magic sweet spot for wait time? 6 months? 10 months?

Thanks all

 

[sweetfights]

I feel you. I have been waiting a year and a half for Wesco custom boots.

 

[handymike]

My deposit was placed in 2018 for a custom jacket… a year and a half is stretching it…but 5 has me thinking my jacket will never happen. In a way it’s not a horrible thing as I’m happy with my line-up and don’t really need another one, but I do wish it had happened. I guess I’ll be excited if I ever do get a message.

 

[El Marro]

I have experíenced this with jackets and boots as well. Particularly in the beginning, when I was ordering my first custom jackets, the delays hit me really hard. There was so much anticipation that I couldn’t help but be disappointed and disillusioned when an eight week lead time turned into four or five months.This is particularly rough when you order a jacket thinking you’re gonna get some good time in wearing it that winter only to have it arrive in late spring.
Now that I have spent some years in this game I am really in a different place when it comes to jackets and boots. I won’t say I don’t get annoyed by delays, but I have come to see them as quite normal and I also have a large collection to fall back on while I wait for my order.

 

[Marc mndt]

I'm waiting for both a Thedi and a FL for more than a year now. My excitement is totally gone. Almost to the point that I don't really care anymore whether the jackets come or not.

Since I've ordered the Thedi and FL, other jackets came along that already fill the gap. Also, my interests have shifted. I'd say for me personally the excitement is gone after 6-8 months.

 

[handymike]

My tastes have also changed. If someday the jacket is ever made, it will have a bitchin’ collar & won’t be made of horsehide.

 

[Monitor]

It definitely ruins the excitement for me, yeah.

So much so that even though I genuinely have been wanting to buy a few bespoke made leather jackets, having to wait is the reason why I couldn't bring myself to go through with the order.

It's annoying, too, because we all know waiting lists are artificial.

In my opinion, instant gratification is a major component of fashion. We see a leather jacket we like and we want it now. Sadly, by the time that special jackets we ordered months or years ago reaches us, it definitely won't find us where we were when we ordered it.

OTR is the only way to go for me.

 

[jeo]

I find it's best to forget about an order immediately after placing it. If I'm told it'll take 6 months, I expect a year. In today's day and age of instant gratification it's kind of nice to place an order expecting it'll take forever, completely forget about it and then get pleasantly surprised when it comes sooner than expected.

 

[Jasonissm]

Depends on the item, my Jack White/White Kloud boots are a grail for me, so I was excited the whole way through. Other things, like my Onderhouds, they arrived in about 4 months and I just thought neat, tried them on and stowed them back in the box. Depends how much I personally like the item, and how much my taste change within that waiting time (usually not too much)

Currently experiencing this now with a jacket on the way via cargo ship, my excitement wanes, then all a sudden I remember about it and become incredibly excited for it, stare at pictures, spam refresh the tracking page, etc.
I do hope it arrives soon!

 

[Edward]

I don't mind having to waist for a bit with some things. I've recently ordered a new guitar (nothing excessive - it's a £250 Harley Benton JA25th model, from their 25th anniversary line) that won't ship for eight weeks. That I can live with, a three month wait for a jacket is fine, but once you start getting into a year and such it just becomes too long for me to want to commit to it. I can see why a lot of folks would get on board with a long waiting list, but to date there's not been anything I particularly wanted enough to commit to that.

 

[TheOldFashioned]

I'm approaching two years for a custom luthier built instrument. I commissioned a custom because 1) I wanted something uniquely "mine", 2) I wanted to pay more to help keep me motivated to stick with it during the inevitable plateaus, and 3) I wanted to support an individual craftsman. Since then I've bought four other production models, though none with the same size or specs as my custom. My practice has waned over the past several months because I worry I won't bond with "my" instrument when it does finally arrive, and the long wait has killed the excitement and some of the joy of playing.

I originally figured it would arrive in about nine months in time for my birthday. After checking in about once a month I realized there was no sense in trying to get an idea of where things stood in the process. So then I checked in quarterly just to reaffirm my commitment to the project. The last update I had was 6+ months ago when I was told there were three more projects ahead of my slot in the build queue. I had hoped it would arrive this summer but I would be surprised if it arrives yet this year. At this point I've come to accept it's best to just forget about it and be pleasantly surprised if/when I hear from the luthier that he has started building my instrument. In the meantime I keep telling myself the wood is just seasoning.

 

[58panheadfan]

To the OP question: absolutely!

I have had so many clothes in the past that there is no such thing as a "holy grail" jacket for me and therefore my tolerance for waiting for something has dropped to practically zero.

 

[Canuck Panda]

I have experience the same. Most of my custom jackets are averaging the one year wait time... Or more...

Which makes slightly used new jackets very appealing to me. Cost less and I can wear right away. Sometimes lower expectations leads to very high satisfactions.

The only times when I found custom jackets worth it is when I already have the same jacket but want to make small tweaks like sleeve length or back length, then the custom jacket is totally worth it. But anything more than sleeve or back length desire I just dig myself into another deeper hole which I will not do anymore.

 

[Guppy]

I've waited years for something to appear in the marketplace used that I couldn't just order new. But the time between its appearance and my getting it is usually a lot less than six months. So it's a bit of a different situation. Whether or not the excitement lasts depends in large part on how good the payoff is. If it's worth it, it's worth it. But excessive delays in production are the worst. If someone can't turn around a job for you on time, it's time to hold their feet to the fire. Even if it means burning bridges and not getting anything from them. Unless they have a legitimate, reasonable reason, it shouldn't be acceptable. Not at the sorts of prices we're talking about.

 

[mvilla]

I think it is an experience that you need to go through once... To avoid next time haha

 

[dudewuttheheck]

I would say that for the most part, yes it does lower the excitement for me. With that said, it depends on the specific item and the situation surrounding it.

If it's something that I know I desperately want and basically know what the wait time will be at the outset and am willing to wait that long, then it doesn't lower the excitement at all.

However, the older I grt and the more brands/items I've tried, the less often I am willing to tolerate the wait. As such, I just don't put myself in the position to wait that long anymore.

I waited for over a year and then a year and a half for my 2 white kloud pairs respectively. The relatively long wait did not lower my enthusiasm in any way whatsoever. Same with the 6 month wait for my custom clinch boots and year long wait for my Role Clubs. No lowered enthusiasm at all. Full excitement and satisfaction with all of those.

With some later boots, I did lose some excitement and I know that I would not be willing to so the super long Good Wear wait. With that said, I'm partway through a year long wait for a denim jacket and pair of jeans from a small Japanese one man brand. I'm still excited and I doubt that's going to lower, because I'm confident he will hit the estimate and I know what I'm getting into, plus there is the excitement of getting something relatively difficult to get.

It's subjective for me. For the most part, I've only been disappointed when I've been strung along and usually the disappointment is with the maker, not the product itself.

White Kloud is now a 4 year wait list. If his engineers are a design I like, I would gladly wait that time, but I wouldn't wait that long for almost anything else.

 

[Jasonindenver]

Funny to see this thread now….

Last September I ordered a Thedi Niko through Thurston and Carrie thought at the time it would be about 8 weeks. I thought 12-16 was what I was expecting to wait.

Well…. supply problems with the tannery pushed thing out a few months. Then Theodoros’ trade show travels again stretched the date.

Here I am 9 months in and this is in my email today.

​

​ Hi Jason,​

​ Your package is arriving tomorrow.​

​ From THURSTON BROS ROUGH WEAR​

​ Scheduled Delivery​

​ Wednesday 06/28/2023​

So, how do I feel right now???

I have my camp chair and a cooler of cold beer ready to sit at the curb waiting for the Big Brown Truck Tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Observe]

I ordered a pair of custom White's from Baker's around a year ago, then I got second thoughts about the order and cancelled it a few months later. The boots were already in production and I lost a partial deposit. Then, a few weeks ago, I happened to be browsing the sale page and there they were. I bought them and they showed up last week. I'm pretty happy about it as they're in a unique last which is a nice shape for my wide feet. I have no idea when they were finished, but it was in a strange way a set it and forget it situation with the wait time, since for a while after I cancelled the order the existence of the boots was not on my mind at all. I think back to my first pair of custom White's only taking 8 weeks from order to delivery in 2020 and compare it to now, and realize how good I had it with lead times back even a few short years ago.

 

[cbez]

I can't do long waits. Did one with Baker's and it quickly got more annoying than exciting.

I have a proxy ordered delayed 3 weeks and I have no enthusiasm left for that either.

 

[zebedee]

I'll wait 2-3 months for a custom thing, no problem. Any longer than that and I wouldn't order the item to begin with if we're talking 600 GBP plus - I'd just find something similar OTR.