Take a look at langlitz.com. Scroll past their motorcycle image to find "civilian" jackets. When designing one for myself, I had frequent, affirmative contact with one of the owners and later visited Portland for measurements. I claim some experience with higher-end custom shops. The feel of Langlitz Leathers was genuine, and the jacket they made for me is superb. You would have to decide for yourself about cost, but I think you could expect an excellent fit, the best material and outstanding workmanship.

 

I've never worn leather jackets, are they not something you can just buy and take to a tailor to fix the issue you have with the sleeves?

It's strange that mediums don't fit you, I'm 5'7" and I usually buy everything in a medium without it being too long.

 

Polo by Ralph Lauren makes a nice, fitted lambs skin, very similar to the picture you posted. I purchased it on sale at Saks last year for a little less then 300 bucks.

I don't know how, but I managed to score one minus the annoying little Ralph Lauren, Polo player thingy ensignia stiched into the breast.

 

Try the Brooks Brothers leather jackets, very nice lambs wool without the banded waists and sleeves.

 

The REAL problem with MOST of these (not necessarily the Polo or BB) is that they are all cut far too long these days. I am only 5'8" and I like my short leather jackets to sit at the waist, or maybe 1 or 2 inches below that. The trend, though, is for these things to hang much lower than that. I think it looks awful. I friend of mine got a great leather jacket at www.wested.com. You can add custom features and I think it will be right up your alley. I know I certainly have one of these baby's on my wish list. Got that vintage vibe too, and I am always all over that.

 

Part of the problem is that what your looking for is s a "motorcycle jacket" or at least was inspired by one several generations back. What that means is that the arms are designed to be long enough to come to the wrist when your arms are out in front of your body and bent in to hold the handle bars. The extra body length is to avoid showing off the top of your rear when your bent at the middle sitting on the bike. The extra room inside is to hold bulky warm garments for cool weather riding, or to leave room for air to circulate when your riding on a hot day.

In other words the base item is not a fashion garment, but sports equipment. They are cut correctly to fill that role.

Now, most people who wear one will never get on a bike, and its iconic enough that being a rider is not required to wear one (though it helps). Your best shot is probably to get something custom made, reset your expectations, or look for something a little more dressy.

Good luck!

 

If you ride a motorcycle, you need the jacket to be a bit long when you're standing. Otherwise, it'll ride up on your back when you're bent over in normal riding posture. Same with the sleeves. They have to fit when your arms are stretched out to the handlebars, so they'll be a bit long when you're standing. I have a 3/4 length leather car coat, and the sleeves were too long. My local dry cleaner shortened them nicely (for $40), so leather sleeves can probably be shortened unless they have "motorcycle jacket" zippers in them.

 

Great looking Schott

Just order a Schott 689H and have them shorten the sleeves for you in their custom options. It has a 25" length, which is 3" shorter than most standard "trim" jackets. I can't imagine that they would charge you $2,000 to shorten the sleeves some:crazy:

Leather is not very "forgiving" (but it can stretch out of shape if too tight), so you'll want to be sure that the shoulders and chest fit well - that is comfortably. Sounds like you basically want to wear it as a shirt, with maybe only a V-neck T-shirt underneath.

Frankly, I've never seen any leather jacket, racer or otherwise, that looked as smart as the 689H. Of course, part of that stems from my anti-detail preference: There's little extraneous patching and ribbing, and no wrist or waist bands. This is a winner, IMO.

 

Vanson offers custom-made jackets (I own one). The leather is thick and extremely well-made. What I own is a functional motorcycle jacket with armour, but eventually, I'm going to purchase an Enfield street jacket from them in horsehide.

 

...In other words the base item is not a fashion garment, but sports equipment. They are cut correctly to fill that role....

Unless you're Steve McQueen, who wore real stuff and looked cool doing it.

It's hard to find well made stuff that fits these days. Everybody is so damn fat, and/or pumped up with weights and steroids and protein shakes. But mostly just real super fat. Normal dudes look like mice wearing typical stuff.

 

Unless you're Steve McQueen, who wore real stuff and looked cool doing it.

It's hard to find well made stuff that fits these days. Everybody is so damn fat, and/or pumped up with weights and steroids and protein shakes. But mostly just real super fat. Normal dudes look like mice wearing typical stuff.

Just get fat then. Problem solved

 

One thing to keep in mind when talking about having alterations done to a leather jacket, there is a significant difference in the thickness of a true motorcycle jacket and one made of "fashion" leather. The motorcycle jacket is usually at least 4mm in thickness and most people who do alterations don't have the equipment to sew leather that is this thick. Many will not even sew the thinner fashion leather, but it's easier to find someone who will work on this than it is to find someone who will alter a heavy duty leather jacket.

Also, like someone mentioned, most motorcycle jackets have zippered sleeves.

Cruiser

 

I second Vanson.