How realistic to stretch this lambskin shearling by 1.5 inches in length?

[jamington2004]

it’s almost perfect and I’ll struggle to find another so I’m toying with stretching it rather than sell it on.

The seams seem to be quite stretchy so I’m guessing if it’s wet I could stretch the seams themselves as well as just pulling it and fixing it somehow.

Not sure what would happen to the shape / zip etc?

I look forward to barrage of “definitely not you madman just buy a jacket that fits” and “absolutely you can, here’s how”

Or maybe I’d be better off getting a longer waistvand especually the back it just sits too high and looks like a cropped jacket rather than a normal bomber

View attachment IMG_3626.jpeg

 

[jacketjunkie]

First off, welcome to the Lounge!

There is zero chance. You can either wear higher raise jeans, just live with the fact it is not overlapping with your jeans and layer accordingly, longer sweatshirt under the jacket and you are fine or last option, you have to move on.

Honestly, it looks like you wear your jeans pretty low. Easiest fix is probably to pull up pants/wear other pants that sit higher.

Jacket looks great, hope you find a satisfying solution!

 

[jamington2004]

Thanks for the welcome and for the no nonsense answer. Yes i tend to wear jeans on / just below the hips, and it’s not so much showing the belt, just it looks liken wearing a jacket that’s too smal (funny that ) especially at the back

I’ll wait for any opposing opinions

 

[Tom71]

Agree with @jacketjunkie. While lambskin can be stretched, it can´t be strectehd THAT MUCH without ruining or even tearing it. Half an inch (give or take) is a go, much more a no.

 

[ABCD]

Leather might stretch but zipper tape is designed NOT to stretch. So theoretically you could get some extra back length (I have successfully stretched a jacket's back by about an inch max) but the front is never going to stretch.

 

[jamington2004]

Does the fact it’s sheepskin make a difference though? It definitely feels more stretchy than normal leather jackets

 

[raf]

I concur with others that wetting and stretching the sheep skin is almost certainly out of the question for you. Aside from the vulnerable (thin) nature of sheepskin itself, pulling on the stitched seams may damage the leather. You'd need to wet the leather and stretch each panel individually, not stressing the stitched leather seams. As noted, the zipper is likely to cause problems with its inability to be stretched.

Either wear your pants higher or get a jacket with a longer body. Sleeve length looks OK, so getting a longer bodied jacket, assuming the body length of this jacket was made in proportion to the chest size/sleeve length may be problematic. I'm assuming here that the jacket was not originally made (or modified) to be shorter in body length than "normal".

Frankly, after looking at some pix of "standard" size jackets of a design similar to yours, and the length differential between the sleeve cuffs and the length of the body of your jacket, it appears to me that the body of your jacket "may" be unusually short in relation to the sleeves, at least.

Look up how to correctly measure the body and sleeves of leather jackets and post the numbers here. You might also examine similar measurements for "standard"' size, similar jackets, and compare your numbers with those supplied by the jacket Mfr. Do not rely on measurements from a possibly inexpert vendor; go to Mfrs of similar jackets and use their measurement technique suggestions and their numbers.

 

[jamington2004]

cool thanks. General consensus is to move on then

Thanks all - its nice to have someone to share my love of leather jackets with after 30 years keeping it to myself

 

[raf]

If selling the jacket, DO make sure to provide Accurate measurements for it as well as pix.

 

[Guppy]

1.5 inches, no way. Forget about it. Look for one that fits.

 

[AeroFan_07]

Welcome to FL - as you have found a lot of us on here truly enjoy leather jackets, boots, belts, etc. We share it openly here.

That's nice bomber-style shearling you have there. Sadly, your torso length is just a bit much for it, unless you can, as others have indicated, find some very high-rise jeans to wear with it. Otherwise, yes, agreed, it's worth a lot more un-modified, so likely best to just sell it along and find another one that fits you better.

 

[Bennarion]

You should look for another leather jacket.

 

[Edward]

Jeans that reach the natural waist are the answer here. If instead you want to buy a longer jacket that comes down to meet the ones in the photo, I'd suggest going for a different style of jacket. I've seen a lot of bomber and motorcycle jacket styles over the years where a short design has been elongated to match with the modern drift to trousers worn well below the waist. I've never seen one that quite worked - all of them, the extra length threw ff the proportions of the designs, and they looked 'wrong'. If seeking a longer jacket, best go for a style designed to be worn that long. A car coat/ workcoat style in the right hide / lining would do the job.