I am returning to showing after a couple years off. Low and behold, my show coat is way too short now. I am looking to buy a new one, but I don’t have access to a tack shop nearby to try them on. I have looked at a bunch online, but stil skeptical on them, as I am looking for one that comes in a true long, not just kinda sorta longer than the regular length. Bonus points for one that stays under the $200 mark! Any input is greatly appreciated!
I am tall and long waisted and have a lot of trouble with jackets…even if the sleeves are long enough the waist falls too high and makes an ugly bubble thing at my lower back. Grand Prix has long sizes, but I never see them in retail stores. I got a prior year’s style Grand Prix coat on EBay, new with tags, for $80 and then took it to a tailor to have the back and side seams altered to make the torso fit correctly, that cost another $65. Considering that the tag on the coat read close to $400 it was still a great deal and it fits like it was made for me now. I bought a 14L to get the sleeve and hem length. Grand Prix 14 is about an 8 in RJ, so keep the sizing difference in mind.
If you size for length and shoulder fit, the rest can be rearranged to fit. Any tailor with experience altering suit jackets can do the work, but you need to tell them to leave the back vents alone if they’ve never seen a riding coat before 
RJ’s talls are pretty tall right off the rack. I am a giant (six feet, 125 lbs, all arms and legs with disproportionately broad shoulders - classic “inverted triangle” shape if you read fashion blogs!) so I bought a size or two up to get a bit of additional arm length/shoulder width and had it tailored to fit my slim torso.
I ordered a slim tall Grand Prix jacket through Beval and I am debating whether to have it taken in a bit or not. It is a pretty nice fit as is.
My current problem is that the coats that are long enough in the arms are a bit too long through the torso but I’ll take what I can get I guess…
Also, randomly, the Equine Couture Raleigh Soft Shell fit me like a glove! It was plenty long through the arms and I didn’t swim in torso. I didn’t love the quality so I ultimately went with a Grand Prix but for about 90 bucks you really can’t beat the price. You can get free shipping both ways from Smartpak and there area lot of reviews that go into detail about quality/fit/etc. It runs a little big so size down.
I have tried the Equine couture and tuff rider coats, but neither are long enough. I am long in the arms and torso, so anything that is strangely long in both would be ideal. I will check out the grand prix coats now.
If the Equine Couture coat didn’t fit I would recommend Canaqua’s suggestion to size up a couple of sizes in RJ or Grand Prix to get the increased length and have it taken in to fit your torso.
I like the GP long jackets. I have a long torso, long arms, and broad shoulders, and GP fits me great. If you don’t mind going with wool instead of technical fabric, you can probably find some under $200 but it will take some digging to find your size.
I looked at size charts, and looks like I will be going 2 sizes up in the GP jackets to get the right length. I think that would be able to be tailored. I don’t mind wool jackets, so I think we may be on to something!
Oh, keep in mind that GP uses UK sizing. They also have slim/long options which will be smaller at the waist, but I have found that it is harder to find in-stock slim sizes much less slim/long.
I wear an 8 in RJ and generally a 14 in Grand Prixs. I am tall with long monkey arms and there is no way a regular length anything fits me (I have one regular RJ and it is halfway up my forearm when I’m riding…). The Grand Prix longs work really well for me and I’ve found them consistently for cheap on eBay. You could also post the size and such you’re looking for on English Tack Trader and see what people have.
I bought a long size in grand prix… seems like it may be a good fit after I have the waist taken in a bit.
I got my jacket (grand prix tall and slim), and it fits almost perfectly. It actually measures 1/2" longer than the specs, which is perfect. Thanks for the suggestions!
