Iron Heart brown horsehide riders jacket (ihj-129) fit check

[tapatio]

Hello loungers. Long time reader but first time poster here.
I got stung by the leather jacket bug a couple of years ago when I got my first one: a Schott 530 cafe racer.
Since then I’ve don’t a lot more research and read the forums and got the the point where I feel ready to get my next piece.
I wanted it to be brown and have a collar. I’m a tall, slim guy and like the general silhouette of the cafe racers and single riders.
After much consideration I found myself deciding between ordering custom through Thurston or getting this Iron Heart jacket from Berkeley Supply.
After trying it on at the store and feeling like it was a really good fit I’m feeling more inclined to get this jacket that fits week and I can walk out of the store with on the same day as opposed to waiting for months and taking risks with the fit.

My issue now is that after trying the jacket in sizes 38 and 40 both look, to me, like they fit well and I’d like to read some of your thoughts?

Does the 38 look ok or too small? It would be a tshirt fit. And I can feel the jacket under my arm pits if I take a really big deep breath.

The 40 has enough room for a light sweater and I feel great freedom of movement.

The person at the store was pushing me a bit more towards the 40, suggesting that once the sleeves crease and come up a bit it will still look ok, plus having room for a sweater will increase the range of wearability. I’m nervous about going too big since I feel like my schott café racer looks a bit baggy on me and I don’t want to repeat the mistake of going too big. But I also don’t want to make the mistake of going too small…

 

[Will Zach]

40 looks like a great fit. I would be nervous if I felt the 38 under my armpits - it may loosen with time or it may not. I'd go with a 40 - it looks great. Can you post pics of the back and side?
Edit - I realized these were taken in the store, so you may not have other pics. Never mind.

 

[tapatio]

The person at the store did a terrific job and convinced me with a generous discount so I bought the size 40.

Here are a couple of photos I took at home. I’m feeling pretty good about the choice.

Size 40 Front open

Back with zipper closed

 

[tapatio]

40 looks like a great fit. I would be nervous if I felt the 38 under my armpits - it may loosen with time or it may not. I'd go with a 40 - it looks great. Can you post pics of the back and side?
Edit - I realized these were taken in the store, so you may not have other pics. Never mind.

Despite my best efforts to research this leather (knowing that the jackets are made by FourSpeed for Iron Heart) there was no information about how it would age, break in, stretch, etc. So, like you, I concluded that going with the 38 was more risky…
In the end I thought the large looked like a good fit and based my choice on comfort and wearability.