Okay, from the comments, I see the following concerns:

1. The zipper: too trendy, too jarring, too gearish. My question: is this a style preference (something you personally would not want to wear) or is it an objective fail on me?

2. The flared hem: i think this will ease as the jacket gets a bit less stiff. It's actually pretty flattering in the mirror, especially on my IT shape. Again, is it a matter of preferring a more classic line, or does it look bad?

3. The crop: Angie preferred the cropped jacket, IK thought it looked incomplete and kind of silly. I adore a cropped jacket myself and would wear this as I wear my Allsaints cropped leather jacket.

I know I'm ultimately going to have to make the call myself. And I am planning to drag this baby off to L.A. for the expert YLFers there to see in person. But if you had strong feelings about these aspects or anything else, I'd love to hear more about what and why.

The three things I'm not concerned about:

1. The weather wearability. Trust me, I could wear this close to year round. 20 years here have done something to my blood. It's not going to go sledding or anything like that, but it's warmer than I expected.

2. The price is a concern, of course, but it's not a deciding factor for me unless the other things are an issue, because I'm willing to pay for the jacket of my dreams and can't think of a single item I use more here than jackets.

3. The sleeve length, which according to the wise women here, are a relatively easy fix.

And thank you so much for taking the time - I owe you all!