Leather Care & Fit

Real leather is a hide, not a fabric. Treated right, a Scully jacket outlives the person who buys it and looks better for the miles. Here is how to keep it that way, and how to land the right size the first time.

Know what you’re wearing

Scully cuts a few different leathers, and they age differently.

Full-grain & top-grain cowhide: the workhorse. Firm at first, then it softens and takes on a patina where you bend. Most jackets and vests.
Lambskin: light and buttery from day one, with a finer grain. Drapes close to the body. More delicate: keep it away from rough surfaces and sharp edges.
Boar suede: napped, matte, with the boar’s natural pinhole pattern. Warm and rugged, but suede drinks water and holds dirt, so it wants a protectant spray and a suede brush.
Distressed & washed finishes: made to look lived-in. The scuffs and colour shifts are the point; don’t try to “fix” them.

The first month

Wear it. Leather breaks in against your own body faster than any trick. A week of regular wear does more than a month in the closet. Expect the collar, elbows and cuffs to give first. If a jacket feels stiff across the shoulders, put it on and reach forward a few times; that is the leather learning your frame.

Do not condition a new jacket. The finish already carries what it needs, and over-oiling early just darkens it unevenly.

Everyday care

Dust it with a dry or barely-damp soft cloth every few wears. That is 90 percent of leather care.
Let it breathe. Hang it on a wide wooden or padded hanger, never a wire one, and never leave it balled up or folded.
Keep it out of direct sun and heat. A hot car, a radiator, a sunny window: all of them dry the hide and fade the colour. Never use a hair dryer or put leather near a heater to dry it.
Rotate. Give a jacket a day off between wears so it can recover its shape.

When it gets wet

A little rain will not hurt finished leather. If it gets soaked, hang it at room temperature away from heat and let it dry slowly on its own. Once it is dry to the touch, work in a small amount of leather conditioner to put back the oils the water pulled out. Salt stains from winter roads should come off with a cloth dipped in a 50/50 mix of water and white vinegar, then a light conditioning.

Suede is different: blot (don’t rub) a wet spot, let it dry, then bring the nap back with a suede brush. Treat boar suede with a spray protectant before the first wear and again each season.

Conditioning

Finished cowhide needs conditioning maybe once or twice a year, or when it starts to feel dry or look dull. Use a small amount of a quality leather conditioner or cream on a soft cloth, in thin coats, and let each coat absorb before the next. Test a hidden spot first; conditioner can deepen the colour. Skip mink oil and heavy waxes on garment leather; they are built for boots and will make a jacket greasy and dark.

Stains & spots

Oil or grease: dab off the excess, then dust the spot with cornstarch or talc and leave it overnight to draw the oil out. Brush away and repeat if needed.
Ink or dye transfer: this is hard to fix at home; take it to a leather specialist rather than risk it.
Anything you’re unsure about: a leather cleaner made for garments, sparingly, on a cloth. Never saddle soap, nail polish remover, or household cleaners.

Storage

For the off-season, condition it first, then store it on a broad hanger inside a breathable cloth garment bag, never plastic, which traps moisture and can grow mildew. Somewhere cool, dark and dry. Tuck an unwrapped bar of cedar or a silica pack nearby if the closet runs humid.

How our pieces fit

Everything here is cut by Scully, and it generally runs true to size. The cut, though, changes by category:

Men’s leather runs relaxed: deliberate ease through the chest and body so it wears well open and layers over a shirt or hoodie. Between sizes, size up for layering room.
Women’s leather runs fitted: trim through the shoulders and waist to follow your shape. Between sizes, take the smaller unless you plan to layer.
Western snap shirts are a classic fit: room to move, meant to be tucked. Not slim, not boxy.
Vests follow the same rule as the leather in their section (relaxed for men, fitted for women), with room for a shirt underneath.
Dresses, skirts & blouses follow standard womenswear sizing; check the bust, waist and hip figures on the size guide.

Measure yourself once

Use a soft tape and an existing garment that fits you well, or measure your body directly:

Chest / bust: around the fullest part, tape level and under the arms. Waist: around your natural waistline, the narrowest point. Sleeve: from the centre back of the neck, over the shoulder, down to the wrist bone. Hip: around the fullest part, roughly eight inches below the waist.

Then match those numbers to the charts on the size guide. Our figures are body measurements, the size each garment is built to fit, not the flat measurement of the garment itself.

Still between two sizes, or torn on a fabric? Email hello@trailandtailor.com with the piece and your measurements and we’ll tell you which way to go. Size charts are Trail & Tailor working figures while we confirm Scully’s official spec sheet.