How to Design Your Own Letterman/Varsity Jacket

First: Design the jacket itself. Sounds easy enough, right? It's more than choosing colors, my friend. Here are the questions that need answering:

• What size jacket do you need? Consult your jacket maker's size chart; it may be irregular, especially if they are located in a different country.
• The Jacket Style? All Wool, All Leather, Faux Leather, Type of Real Leather, Wool Body w/ Leather sleeves, do you want your sleeves in raglan style or set-in? Do you wish for your wool sleeves to have two strips of leather at the top of the sleeves? ... And so on...
• Collar style? Classic (all knit), Knit Fold over, Byron Knit, Byron Wool, Sailor, Hooded... and so on...
• Color(s)? Body color? Sleeve color? Some people even give you the option of different color sections of the sleeves...
• Zipper or Button? Button color (if you have buttons)?
• Pocket Trim color?
• Knit colors (if it contains knit), Knit stripes? How many stripes? Do you want your stripes to have a thin border/piping/feathering around those stripes? Do you wish to have thick or thin stripes?
• What kind of lining do you want? Quilted, Heavy Duty, Zip out?

Get the picture? It's a Lot of choices, unless you just want to look like everyone else. I personally was not going to spend that kind of money on the same thing everyone else had. No Way. So, take a look at what's out there before you choose the same old thing everybody else has. Honestly, this is not your dad's time, so, why would you want your dad's jacket, there are more options now... take advantage, is my take on it anyway.

Second: You know what jacket you want... Now you should pick your design shop. If you're still in High School or College, you May qualify for some sort of discount with their association. I can't help you there though, I'm afraid. I'm supplying the list of online sites I perused, hoping it helps.

Prices & Websites:

$114.95 -- www.shirtstexas.com (This is the cheapest site I found that gives you a Lot of options. The jacket I ordered from them came just as I ordered it, two days prior to their estimated due date, in fact... But but but, their customer service is mediocre, at best. The packaging it came in consisted of two plastic bags with a bunch of tape on it. Anyway, like I said though, it is what I asked for, at a price that made me happy. So, I give them an A for some kind of effort and I do suggest buying from them.)

$124.00 -- www.varsityjacket09.com (No Collar Options)

$152.95 -- www.webjacket.com (No Collar Options)

$159.00 -- www.unitedsportsapparel.com (Call in Specs)

$177.00 -- www.varsitysportsapparel.com (A LOT of options and they're always adding more. Their customer service is impeccable. I may have passed them up and gone to someone else about my letterman jacket, but VSA is an excellent place to do business.)

$179.95 -- www.nationalachiever.com (No Collar Options)

$185.00 -- www.chainstitchery.com (Call in Specs)

$209.00 -- www.buildyourjacket.com

$210.95 -- www.logosportswear.com (Color Combination Restricted)

$219.00 -- www.thejacketshop.com or www.collegejackets.com

$225.00 -- www.zoomid.com (Quite a selection and interactive)

$226.00 -- www.customchenillepatches.com

$237.85 -- www.mountolympusawards.com

$245.00 -- www.tmathletics.com

$250.00 -- www.coastalemb.net

$280.00 -- www.emblemsandmoretoo.com (Call in Specs)

(Call) www.jacketsletterman.com or www.varsityjacketstore.com

(?) www.Jacketback.com (Doesn't let you choose the color combination)

Third: Do you want patches? Chenille (with or without Swiss inserts?) or Embroidered, Silk Screen Printed or God Knows What all... There are a lot out there. Depending on what you need. Would you like one letter or a few? Do you want them in Old English, script or block letters? Should they be intertwined or staggered? Would you like your team number or the year you graduate? Would you like a school mascot on the back? Should your chenille have one felt back or two? What colors should they be?

When choosing my Chenille letters, I wanted Staggered Old English lettering (which is something Not everyone offers), some numbers and chevron bars. I, of course, needed a site that offered products with No Minimum on their orders and sold to the public, not just organizations or schools. I am giving you a few websites that I checked out, just so's you don't have to search too hard, in order of the lowest (best) price to the highest.

My Order $56.85 www.MountOlympusAwards.com

My Order $58 www.VarsitySportsApparel.com (Spectacular customer service department! And the best overall prices I found, for my entire order, exactly the way I wanted it. Note again: some sites will make them certain ways and some won't. That's why the best price I found was not the site I opted to buy from.)

My Order $60.76 www.NetProPatches.com (Has nice varying prices depending on patch size and quantity. Their chart is worth taking a look at.)

My Order $61.00 www.CustomChenillePatches.com

My Order $85.00 www.PatchLadys.com

My Order $88.00 www.zoomid.com (interactive design)

Different Dealers carry different colors, of course.

I plan to have custom patches made soon but I do not have them ready to go, so no advice on custom patch sites yet, I'm sorry to say.

Fourth: Do you want Lapel/Award Pins to signify Sports, graduation year, mascots, anything? You can have them made special order, with options to have die cast, enamel or rubber coating. Just be careful to pick a place that deals in retail (Beware of Wholesalers!). There are also a bunch of places out there selling premade ones at a steal.

Like the patches, I had to go through quite a few sites to find the ones that offered pins with no minimum to buy. Here are the websites I checked out, to find what I wanted below... Their prices vary, of course, and I did not note any that I wouldn't consider buying from, so, they're all probably five dollars or below.

For Lapel Pins:

www.LapelPinPlanet.com (Purchased quite a few pins from this site at $5.00 each. They are fast, their pins can come in silver which was a serious plus for me and they had things I thought I'd have to have special made in stock.)

www.Bonanza.com (Purchased x1 pin from this site at $2.95. A great site for many things...)

www.CrownAwards.com (Purchased x1 pin from this site at $1.29. Amazing selection of everything to choose from!)

www.sbaa.com/darestore

www.RWEngraving.com

www.pin-lapel-pins.com

www.EverythingWildLife.com

www.QualityLapelPins.com (No Die, Mold, Setup Fees for custom orders. They have a LOT of options for custom orders on many different things, even belt Buckles.)

For Buttons:

www.Astronomy-Pictures.net

www.Bonanza.com

www.LifeJackets.com

Fifth and Finally: If you have decided to purchase your patches from the site you are getting your jacket from, you really need to consider whether or not to let them sew the patches on for you. You can opt Not to. Once they are on the leather though, you pretty much have no choice but to leave them there, whether you like it or not...

I ended up spending far less on this project than I thought possible and it is Exactly what I want, which is precisely what I aim for in these ridiculously long processes I go through, time and time again, on just about everything I purchase. But I believe that if you want something specific, in this day and age, you should get it and not have to settle for anything less.

Well, I do believe that's all I have to contribute on this subject for now. I hope I have been of some help to you and your custom varsity/letterman jacket turns out to be everything you want it to be.