Harris tweed jacket - keep or return?

[PinkCamelias]

I bought a beautiful Harris tweed jacket from Soeur, it was on sale. I love the fabric, the colour, and it's so well made! But I'm short, and it's very oversized, despite being my size. My question is, is it worth keeping it and having it altered, or shall I return it? I would need to shorten the sleeves (with functional buttons) considerably and perhaps take it in at the back/waist a bit. It fits well in the shoulders at least. It is also quite long, mid thigh, not beyond hip as on models' photos. That I would not try to alter as I don't think it could work without ruining the line of the lapel.

Could it work, or will it be weird anyway in this length on a short (158 cm) person?

Send it back! Tailoring is going to be expensive and the end result might not be what you want.
To me, this over-sized jacket only looks good on the very tall and the very slender, and even then it doesn't always look fabulous on them. Know your own figure - do shapes that drown usually flatter you? It doesn't matter that they are currently in fashion, if they don't actually suit you.

Thank you very much everybody! It's going back, and I hope it will make somebody else happy :) You have been very helpful, I appreciate it a lot!

I like oversize even if it is not usually advised if you're short; but there's oversize, and dowdy/swamping...

I agree with you about oversize op, in fact I think the idea that only tall people can get away with it is a piece of nonsense. However as you say, there's oversize and there's badly fitting. I think that far too often the high street use oversize as an excuse for not taking the trouble to scale down in proportion to height. Good luck in finding something better.

I love the look of Souer clothes and tried on various coats and jackets when I was in Paris a few weeks ago but as a petite/short woman they just looked wrong.

I am still on the look out for a lovely tweed jacket/coat. Was with my DD who is about 6 inches taller than me and they looked great on her annoyingly ;)

Thank you @Floisme , the search will be on :) I think it is actually a beautifully tailored piece, with so much attention to detail, half lining, functional buttons, and so on - but alas, not for me!
@stillavid I love Soeur and have several clothes from there, including very wide pleated grey flannel trousers, that I probably shouldn't wear because of my height, but I do and I enjoy it! But I am less lucky with jackets... Although I have one great coat, but it is soft and unstructured, and I sized down :)

Have a look at House of Bruar too. They used to be quite conservative country grandmotherish but have some newer styles like the funnel coat and a whole variety of Harris tweeds to choose from.

I think you need a gently waisted look op. Not pinched in tight, but just a bit more tailoring through the middle of the back. You are not large and so it will look flattering show your shape a bit more.

Thank you for your advice, @Calliopespa ! And I will look at House of Bruar too.

I am tiny and like oversized, flattering be damned, but like PP I don't think that was quite working, more of a "wearing daddy's good jacket" vibe than cool and slouchy, and would need effectively a full remodel. Something slightly waisted is a good tip. I have a slouchy blazer I wear double-breasted with a belt on top and I think it looks good.

Nope - proportions are all wrong. I’d return and keep looking.

Yes, that's a good description @DreadPirateRobots 😂