In New England, fall describes the season and the movement of temperature. When the early morning commute starts in the mid-thirties, and the travel speeds introduce a 50 to 60 knot wind chill, it’s time to complement the leather jacket with a pair of leather chaps. Fulfilling this simple need turned out to be not so simple.
Most leather chap makers, apparently subscribing to some unrealistic fashion law, are under the impression that on average a person’s thighs are approximately 66% the width of their waist. Perhaps if you’re one of the Olsen twins this myth is true, but for the rest of us freaks of nature, not so much.
Several trips to several stores that carried leather chaps (including my local Harley Davidson dealer) was my first tip-off that there was a chap conspiracy against people with 33 inch waists and 27 inch thighs.
I took my quest to the internet, where I found “work arounds” for those who dare to have a ‘different’ build. These solutions included leather chaps with multiple zippers on the upper thigh, often times combined with a type of “elastic” material sewn into the leather chaps, so the thigh area would stretch to your size. While it was nice to see that someone was addressing the problem, i was skeptical that this universal solution would ultimately provide a fit for me.
Fox Creek Leather
Just when I thought I’d be piling the long johns beneath my jeans, I came across FoxCreekLeather.com. The folks at Fox Creek not only realize that the thigh to waist ratio is a farce, they also refused to compromise quality by using universal fixes like inserts made of elastic material. Instead, these radical thinking individuals from Independence, Virginia decided to take their chances with the fashion police and let their customers order custom sized leather chaps!
Ordering custom leather chaps from Fox Creek was easy. They provided clear directions for measuring your waist, thigh, and out seam. The measurements you take are entered into the Fox Creek order form and your done. Even though my leather chaps required a medium waist and XXL thigh, my order was on its way within 24 hours and the shipping was free!
The product I received was better than anything I had sampled to date. The leather was a thick 1.6mm, yet incredibly soft, and the leather chaps slid on like an old pair of jeans.
The first day I wore them was on my 40 mile commute to work. The starting tempeture was 29 degrees. By the end of my trip, my legs felt great! Before I had Fox Creek chaps to put on over my jeans, my legs would get stiff from the cold (and that was in weather that was 10 degrees warmer). The chaps are guaranteed for life and best of all, they are made in the USA.