First Look at the New SeV Women’s Line

For years, Scott Jordan has been inundated with questions about if and when SCOTTeVEST would start carrying a women’s line, and for the longest it looked like they might not ever. Well, that’s not entirely true: I still have a v2.5 women’s vest that SeV released years ago, but until now, that was it. In order to wear any of their other designs, taller women like me made do with less fitted garments in the smaller men’s sizes; truly petite women were basically out of luck unless they wanted to look like they were wearing their dad’s jacket.

Not long ago I mentioned that SCOTTeVEST would be making a few women’s garments, and two weeks ago Scott sent samples of their new vest and jacket for an exclusive first look. Amidst the flurry of emails came this tidbit of information: Scott said “YOU are and were the inspiration to do women’s products. I just got sick of seeing a gorgeous picture of you in men’s products.”

Well dang, that was pretty unexpected and very cool…but also more than a little bit intimidating. How am I supposed to take pictures wearing these items without being completely self-conscious now, Scott?!

Better to just get it out of the way, I guess.

photos of me were taken by Sarah – thanks hon!

I’m laughing because I thought Scott was joking at first…turns out he was serious. He told me in a later email, “Please be sure to take credit for inspiring us to do it and that your review is an exclusive first look.”

Talk about a way to make a girl’s day! Anyway…

The garments will be available in rust, stone and black; I was sent the rust jacket and stone vest in women’s size Medium. Both had tags inside which said “First Sample”, and both have to be returned; there may be some changes in the final designs, but they are essentially complete.

I’ll start by talking about what the vest and jacket have in common, then we’ll look at some of the characteristics specific to each. Both garments are composed of a soft, yet long-wearing, 100% polyester shell with 100% silky nylon interiors. The care labels say that they can be washed in cold water and tumbled dry, but they really should be dry cleaned for best results.

Both have the newly redesigned SeV interiors which feature a more finished trim than previous generation’s jackets or vests, along with subtle labels on the pockets to help guide the wearer with suggestions as to what can be kept inside.

Both have a plethora of interior and exterior pockets, which in all honesty I don’t think were ever intended to all be completely filled. If they were, the wearer would not only look like the Michelin man, errr – woman, she would be far too loaded down. Instead, I think the pockets should be viewed in a similar style as runway fashion – you don’t wear it all together, you pick out pieces and make them your own. Same with these pockets. Pick out a few that are exactly where you want to keep your gear, and don’t feel guilty if you aren’t using every pocket on the vest or jacket; it’s okay, really!

Here are shots of both the vest and jacket interiors, which are very similar. There are little mesh ear bud pockets on each placket, as well as pen pockets. You’ll note the snapping mobile phone pocket on the left breast, with the sunglasses pocket underneath; this is just like the newer men’s interior design.

There is a large, approximately 10″ tall x 8″ wide) pocket on the left bottom interior of each, and on its front is a less deep 5″ x 8″ wide zippered pocket. There are pockets worked into nearly every seam, and like I said – you are under no obligation to fill them all…really.

The right side of each garment has a velcro flap pocket which can hold your digital music player, but it can also hold your phone if you prefer. You’ll notice that all throughout the garments, there are finished “button holes” which make up the PAN, or Personal Area Network, through which device earphone wires can be routed.

Both the vest and the jacket have SeV branded pulls on all zippers, and subtle tonal embroidery on the left breast plackets.

There are gray SeV logos in the center back of both the vest and jacket…

note the 11″ long zippered pocket under the vest’s back flap

…and TEC labels worked into the sides.

I really like how the TEC logo was hidden in the side vent on the vest

The TEC logo is directly under a nearly hidden pocket worked into the jacket’s right hip

Let’s start talking about some of the differences between the two garments now. The jacket is a slightly dressier style, which has much less obvious pocketing on the exterior when compared to the vest; it also has a single zipper closure.

Here you can see that the jacket has a slightly boxy shape; it is definitely more tapered than a man’s, however.

It has removable sleeves which zip in and out, so it is essentially two garments in one and can be worn just about year-round.

The bottom hem is a bit straighter than I would like because I am short waisted; I would prefer that the jacket be cut a little shorter or it have side vents. The hem on this one hits right at my hips’ widest point; vents would help break up the straight line – which is what I am doing when I stand here with my hands on my hips…but hello! I can’t do that all day long in real life.

But that’s just how it fit me. You’ll see in a moment that on other women, especially those with less in the hip area, it can look really great and fit perfectly.

I’m 5′10″, by the way

Check out the inner cuffs on the sleeves: they are attached not only to the lining but also to the sleeve itself, so they don’t get sucked back into the jacket when you remove an arm.

The collar is a traditional fold-down or flip-up model, and inside it has a fabric flap worked in to allow wires to be run along the collar and kept in place; there are two elastic loops to hold earbuds on either side of the neck.

Then there is the more casual vest, notice that it has a pocket on each breast, as well as a stand-up collar lined in polar fleece. The vest has dual zippers on it’s front, so that you can unzip from the top or from the bottom; this comes in handy when sitting, since the vest hangs a little longer than the jacket.

The vest also has a more tapered style than the jacket, with a longer back – great for keeping your business covered when stooping down or bending.

There are also these lovely vents on the sides, which are great for women with smaller waists and padded hips…like me!

I think this style is definitely more flattering to someone with a curvy butt, but women without much hip action going on will still look great in it, too.

Here is a closeup of the polar fleece collar, which has three sections which lift up and then Velcro down to keep earphone cables managed.

There are also two gray elastic loops to keep the earphones from dangling out of reach.

To create a garment that can manage essential gear without putting it in an inappropriate place – or in a place that would make a feminine wearer look chunky, well that had to have been a bit of a challenge. Let’s take a look at how SeV did…

I had some of the lovely ladies of the Zeta Kappa chapter of Sigma Kappa (Angelo State University) model the same size Medium jacket and vest, so that you could get an idea of how they look on different female bodies. As you can see the women are all different heights, and even though they wear the same size, the garments fit them all a little bit differently.

Amber is 5′6″.

Ashley is 5′8″.

Becca is 5′4″.

Erica is 5′5″ish.

Liliana is 5′2″.

Jessica is 5′9″ish.

Karyn is 5′5″.

Rebecca is 5′7″ish.

Stacey Leigh is 5′3″.

Ylani is 5′8″ish.

All of the classic SeV touches are present inside – you get the hidden zippered pockets inside other zippered pockets, magnets on the front hand pockets, special sections inside larger pockets for special uses, and yes…the sunglasses pocket has the lanyard with a microfiber cloth attached to a gator clip – just like on the guy’s jackets.

And the right hand pocket on the jacket and vest each have a coiled key-chain lanyard and a wide elastic band built into the pocket that can hold a bottle – also like the guy’s jackets do.

Overall, my favorite is definitely the vest because it is more flattering to my body type; however, the jacket certainly is a step in the right direction for women’s products. I asked Scott if it would be possible to work zippered vents into its bottom, similar to those on the Milan, and I guess we’ll see how that goes. If the jacket had vents, I would be living in it come fall, since it is the perfect weight for most of our Texas seasons. Of course we are enduring dead summer heat now…but that’s when the vest comes in handy! Throw it on over a polo shirt, tee shirt or a tank top, and you won’t want to take it off!

I have a guilty secret…every time I look through the cards hidden in the pockets of a SCOTTeVEST product, I am always hunting for the one that will have a quote written by me. It hasn’t happened yet, but now I don’t even care if it ever does. Scott has just about convinced me that I was truly the inspiration behind SeV products for women, and that is about as cool as it can possibly get…we’re talking miles better than a pocket card quote.

If you want to be notified once the new women’s’ items are available, Scott said you should “email girlgeeks@scottevest.com. These items should be for sale in late September; the vest will sell for $100 and the jacket for $120, with a pre-order discount to be determined.”

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