Actually Fitting old jackets?

How often do you guys buy a jacket based on a photo and end up returning it do to crappy fit? I've only found one decent jacket in real life to try on and it was WAY too short. How do you go about actually finding a well-fitting jacket with no access to a decent local store?

Find something that fits the way you like and write down the measurements.

Then ask the seller to take the same measurements when you're lookin to buy.

Sonic is spot on. We list a set of measurements with all the vintage jackets on our site so that people can compare them to their favourite jacket. Unfortunately you cannot rely on the sizes marked on jackets, not only do they vary between makers, but even within an individual maker they vary from year to year I have found.

I've had pretty good luck in the women's section at thrift stores. You're doing it wrong.

Yup - there are standard measurements any seller of a jacket should provide. Pit to pit, shoulder seam to seam across back, length from bottom of collar to bottom of jacket at the back, sleeve length from shoulder seam to wrist...

Those are the basics.