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- Oct 12, 2006
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In need of a lightweight casual jacket that I could wear every day for days running with lots of pockets for wallet, passport, food, etc., I went looking for a Safari Jacket. Having waited for the last minute, my choices were pretty limited. I found a nice one at J.Press but the only one in my size was in navy. I wasn't thrilled with the color, but it looked to be nicely made, and in NY no less (with a stupid made in NY logo embroidered on the back), and would do the job.
My wife hated it, saying the color made me look like I was wearing a lab coat, and wanted me to return it. I agonized over it for hours, searching the web for alternatives and found some really nicely made but pricey ones over at Lost Worlds. The problem is that I wouldn't have time to get it shipped to me, was uncertain about weight and sizing and while I was willing to drive to the mailing address in Queens if that was their warehouse, no one answered the phone or responded to emails so I had no idea if I could get there in the morning before heading to the office.
Meanwhile, I struggled with the J.Press one, trying it on again and again. It had some features I liked and really nice construction around the belt, seams and underarms. I was even impressed with a hidden inside pocket that I hadn't noticed in the store. But its doom was sealed when I checked the outside pockets more closely. They are fakes!! The gusset on the top pockets don't open and neither do the bellows on the lower pockets!! This is actually amazing as the features are there and real, just non-working. The gusset up top is sewn shut and maybe a seam ripper would open it and maybe it wouldn't. The construction of the lower pockets were even more astounding. I don't know how to explain this, but it looks like the lower pockets have a thin inner pocket sewn into a bellows outer pocket. In other words, the bellows is there, but you just can't use it. A lot of work actually went into making something that useless. I assume the idea was to have the look of a Safari jacket but to keep you from stuffing things in the pockets to ruin the line (I sense the weird Misterman or Mordechai Richler touch here; probably to blame for the dumb "Made in NY" embroidery, too). Whoever designed this "feature" made my choice easy. Back it went this morning.
I had no luck at Daffy's or Paul Stuart either (Brooks had nothing when I checked yesterday). The tiny travel outfitter on 44th is gone. But I found what I wanted at Orvis. They had a Filson's Safari Jacket, made in the USA of 6 oz. poplin that had pretty much everything I wanted. The belt was not as nicely detailed as the J.Press one (A+ for Press - the buckle buttons off for washing the rest of the jacket and adjusts in size) or the Lost Worlds model (based on the web only), but everything else seemed pretty good. And it gets bonus point for a nice zippered interior pocket.
One thing that I found odd in this search is the sizing. I have a 39-40 inch chest but narrow shoulders. I typically start looking with Mediums. I needed a L at Press and an S in the Filson's. That makes no sense.
Some images:
Filson -
J.Press:
My wife hated it, saying the color made me look like I was wearing a lab coat, and wanted me to return it. I agonized over it for hours, searching the web for alternatives and found some really nicely made but pricey ones over at Lost Worlds. The problem is that I wouldn't have time to get it shipped to me, was uncertain about weight and sizing and while I was willing to drive to the mailing address in Queens if that was their warehouse, no one answered the phone or responded to emails so I had no idea if I could get there in the morning before heading to the office.
Meanwhile, I struggled with the J.Press one, trying it on again and again. It had some features I liked and really nice construction around the belt, seams and underarms. I was even impressed with a hidden inside pocket that I hadn't noticed in the store. But its doom was sealed when I checked the outside pockets more closely. They are fakes!! The gusset on the top pockets don't open and neither do the bellows on the lower pockets!! This is actually amazing as the features are there and real, just non-working. The gusset up top is sewn shut and maybe a seam ripper would open it and maybe it wouldn't. The construction of the lower pockets were even more astounding. I don't know how to explain this, but it looks like the lower pockets have a thin inner pocket sewn into a bellows outer pocket. In other words, the bellows is there, but you just can't use it. A lot of work actually went into making something that useless. I assume the idea was to have the look of a Safari jacket but to keep you from stuffing things in the pockets to ruin the line (I sense the weird Misterman or Mordechai Richler touch here; probably to blame for the dumb "Made in NY" embroidery, too). Whoever designed this "feature" made my choice easy. Back it went this morning.
I had no luck at Daffy's or Paul Stuart either (Brooks had nothing when I checked yesterday). The tiny travel outfitter on 44th is gone. But I found what I wanted at Orvis. They had a Filson's Safari Jacket, made in the USA of 6 oz. poplin that had pretty much everything I wanted. The belt was not as nicely detailed as the J.Press one (A+ for Press - the buckle buttons off for washing the rest of the jacket and adjusts in size) or the Lost Worlds model (based on the web only), but everything else seemed pretty good. And it gets bonus point for a nice zippered interior pocket.
One thing that I found odd in this search is the sizing. I have a 39-40 inch chest but narrow shoulders. I typically start looking with Mediums. I needed a L at Press and an S in the Filson's. That makes no sense.
Some images:
Filson -
J.Press:
![icon_gu_b_slayer[1].gif](https://www.styleforum.net/images/smilies/icon_gu_b_slayer[1].gif){kind=icon}
