“yeah, cute, okay”

“I ordered a size 4 as I usually wear, and the arm holes felt borderline too small. I thought the jacket would be too large in all other respects if I exchanged for the next size up, so I decided to live with it. I'll just not layer sweaters underneath. But it's worth it because the design is really nice looking, a little bit of panache to be honest. The waist is too high (I'm 5'7") but I plan on just getting the belt loops lowered by a tailor. The garment has no designed-in waistline aside from the belt loops, so it's easily remedied. The photo is deceptive on two accounts: as mentioned, it has no tailored waist--in fact, if you remove the belt, it's a pretty expressive A-line. And in keeping with that, the second deception is that the 'skirt' created when you cinch the belt is quite more dramatic than depicted. You'd almost think I'm wearing a petticoat. With the very wide collar and lapels, though, plus the sleeve cuff cinch detailing, somehow it still manages to look proportional. I hope. The fabric is very nice, which hooked me into ordering. It reminds of grosgrain (as in ribbon) only with a much finer weave. Lint/animal hair do appear, but certainly not nearly as much as on felted wool. It's not much of an inconvenience. Order up if your arms are at all bulky. It's easier to tailor the body than magically expand the arms. Not for winter wearing (at least not Virginia-and-up, or San Francisco). More of a summer jacket, really.”