Iron Heart X Simmons Bilt Horsehide Western Shirt - The Pale Rider - Natural
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Some final notes on this experiment.
-Definitely some shrinkage was experienced. I’d say a 1/2 size. No room for layering other than a T-shirt or a long sleeved T-shirt. Just how I wanted it.
-leather is still stiff, but not like it was when new. Manageable now.
-This now fits me like a bespoke item. I think wearing while it dried helped with that.
-areas that had the most friction from articulation showed signs of dryness compared to unaffected areas. Nothing dramatic, just lightened coloring.
-2 coats of Pecard’s before and after the soak was used to avoid excessive drying out of the leather. I didn’t want it to be stressed at all, other than normal wear.
-finally rubbed it down with mink oil that contained a silicone additive. I think I’d of forgone the 2nd coat of Pecard’s (when damp) and just used the mink oil instead. The way the leather is tanned, it is very reluctant to absorb the dressing. I bet this changes as the shirt is broken in and the fibers open up.Post script: This was a super fun and chill project. I can’t wait to get it on the bike!
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@Autorotate holy freakin crapoli man that thing has transformed
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@Autorotate speechless… what a beautiful beastie beast
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@Autorotate I found your mission statement: "To explore strange new folds and creases, to seek out new colors and new shapes, to boldly go where no man has gone before."
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@bob_z I’m right there with you….
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@Autorotate …and I’m sitting here contemplating doing the Autorotate treatment.
. As has been mentioned, that’s the joy of clothing of this quality. We make them ours and they represent who we are.All individuals with stories to tell.
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Funny how we're all getting different results. Very cool actually. I was nervous about going full blown soak, so I kind of cheated and did a very wet wipe down with a rag. The shirt definitely got wet but not all the way through to the rough out side. Wore it dry, about 6 hours, although under the arm pits it was a little wet for a few more hours. Hit it with my fav conditioner Skidmores once again. While I got some puckering and waves in the placket, nowhere near to the level Auto got. So I'm guessing the more wet it gets, the higher the likelihood you'll get some tightening up. Anyway, I'll post some pics tomorrow when I can take some proper shots in the sunlight.
Overall results, still pretty rigid although there was a moment there when it was wet I really had hope LOL. But there was a kind of "opening up" that Auto describes making the shirt a little bit more wearable. I'm not getting much drape, but a sort of settling down if that makes sense. And probably some expansion in the shoulders which is where I needed the most help. Still getting snap pops though on the middle snap and above. I got a feeling I may have permanently blown out the cupping effect because they were popping so violently before. Or maybe I'm just crazy LOL. But they do seem to pop much more easier now so that kind of sucks. I might mess around with some pliers next.
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I can’t speak for others but the popping of the buttons went away for me after a few good wears. I would really need to force my torso out to get them to pop at this point. First few wears they would pop easily
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DISCLAIMER
No, I did not buy this shirt (yet).Just took the chance and threw it on today at Burg & Schild. Just to see how it feels you know
Use it or lose it.
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Be by patient. Don’t use pliers on your extremely expensive leather shirt. I used pliers on an extremely inexpensive vest once and always regretted it.
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My shirt has stopped popping buttons unless I try really hard to make them pop by over exaggerated movements. I have worn my shirt 50-60 wears and it has broken in considerably from new. The shirt was very stiff in the beginning and is now quite soft.
From a break in standpoint, this is one of the hardest leather items I’ve had to break in.
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@weftyarn awesome!!
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