Distressed my jacket LC style

Discuss technique for prolonging the life of your gear or giving it that aged look

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Flattery
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Distressed my jacket LC style

Post by Flattery »

I've been distressing my jacket off an on over the past few months, trying to give it the look of the LC jacket. There was only so much I could ahieve since my jacket is goatskin, but I think it came out well overall.

The distressed areas, under typical lighting, do not show as much and are more sutble than in the photos (unless the jacket is in sunlight).

http://img345.imageshack.us/img345/1483/front1er.jpg
http://img345.imageshack.us/img345/2789/back7zr.jpg
http://img345.imageshack.us/img345/9974/pocket15ak.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/2307/pocket28tq.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/5020 ... er15ot.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1881 ... er26vh.jpg

Feel free to opine.
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J_Weaver
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Post by J_Weaver »

Excellent! Its looks very natural. :clap: What method did you use? All of this talk about distressing has me thinking about distressing my Wested goat as well. :D
Last edited by J_Weaver on Thu Jul 21, 2005 11:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Indiana_Tom »

Nice, dude! I like it. Looks very natural, not like this original jacket beeing auctioned right now...

I suppose you used a combination of acetone and sandpaper, right?

-Tom
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Post by Wrightknife »

Nice job the Jacket looks great. I have a Wested goat and I love it too.


Have a great day,
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Post by Flattery »

Thanks, gentleman.
I suppose you used a combination of acetone and sandpaper, right?
Exactly. I don't know what grade of sandpaper, though -- it was just laying around the house.

It really looks better in typical lighting -- the jacket doesn't appear to be that shiny unless I'm taking pictures.

Thanks again, fellas -- I wanted it to look natural, but it looked fake to me, but I guess that's only because I knew it was fake. Now I feel better about having done it. :wink:
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Post by Indiana Texas-girl »

Wow, see that's what I wish mine looked like. What type of leather is that? How do you handle the acetone, by that I mean how hard do you rub?
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Post by Michaelson »

He says it's goatskin. Regards! Michaelson
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Post by Indiana Texas-girl »

Oops he sure does. I went back 2 times trying to see if I could find what leather it was. Boy I must have splashed a bit too much acetone in my eyes.
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Post by Flattery »

How do you handle the acetone, by that I mean how hard do you rub?
Not very hard at all. I do it just hard enough so that a wet spot forms and evaporates after about 5-7 seconds. It would really depend on the individual dye job from jacket to jacket, though. Thus far the dark brown goatskin (pictures make it look lighter) is the easiest to distress, is my experience.

You really just have to experiment with it on control areas to find out how the acetone will affect the dye.
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Post by Swindiana »

That's one heckuva nice goat jacket! :tup:

Easier on the DB... :-k I have the authentic and have tried some acetone on certain areas. It seems that the auth. dye job will take some more elbow grease to even show the slightest of distressing compared to yours then. The places I tried it would only dullen the shine down further a bit, but then again I didn't try very hard.

Good job!

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Post by Mola Ram »

Thats really natural looking!

It does look alot more realistic than the LC jacket.
You did a really good job on it. I dont think you should
worry about it looking fake. You did such a good job,
I think if you showed it to someone they wouldent believe
you it was fake.
Regards,
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Post by Zach R. »

That is quite possibly the best distressing job I've ever seen on these boards. :clap: :mrgreen:
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Post by Flattery »

Oh my. :oops: And I did it because I was bored! Thanks everyone for your compliments.
I have the authentic and have tried some acetone on certain areas. It seems that the auth. dye job will take some more elbow grease to even show the slightest of distressing compared to yours then. The places I tried it would only dullen the shine down further a bit, but then again I didn't try very hard.
Exactly the same with my authentic brown lamb. Only thing the acetone did was dull the color, so it's more of an almond grey than brown. It still looked good, but not what I wished to achieve. I got better results with sandpaper than acetone.

I do have a question... next step I want to take is to make some of the distressed areas "flaky," where some leather has become cracked and rough. Anyone know of how I can do this minimally without totally destroying the leather's integrity?
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Post by Mola Ram »

looks good how it is.

-Adam
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Post by Flattery »

Great pics, Tone. And thanks for the advice -- I'll consider more in depth whether I'd like to do it or not... but at this point, it's crucial to the LC look of distressing.

That is one fine distressing job, you have there. That's the look of a well worn and well loved jacket. I have a suspicion that if I tried to do that with sandpaper on goatskin, it would end up looking like the LC jacket posted here recently. :lol:

I'll try the wire brush on a control area, probably the inside facing, and see what results I get. Thanks again! :wink:
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Post by DanielJones »

Flattery, great job on the jacket. Would love to see some shots in outdoor lighting to see the effects compaired to the indoor lighting.

Cheers!

Dan
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Post by Flattery »

Flattery, great job on the jacket. Would love to see some shots in outdoor lighting to see the effects compaired to the indoor lighting.
Thank you much. I'll see what I can arrange for you. The heat index is 111 here, so... it might be a while.
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Post by DanielJones »

Completely understand. We're sitting in aroud the 100°F± mark here for about a week now. No place for wearing Leather.

Cheers!

Dan
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Post by Zach R. »

:shock:
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Post by Indiana Neri »

Flattery wrote: Thanks again, fellas -- I wanted it to look natural, but it looked fake to me, but I guess that's only because I knew it was fake. Now I feel better about having done it. :wink:

"Itch's fake! Schee, you can tell from the crosch schectchions."
(Probablly the worst Sean Connery impression you'll ever see :shock: )

I bet you can fool the auctioneers at any prop auction with that jacket. "Very well, [Flattery], very well indeed!"

:wink:
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Post by Zach R. »

Do you find them often within your cereal boxes?
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Post by Canyon »

Tone, you've got screen accurate stubble, mate.

That's all that matters. :D
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Jacket

Post by Spooky »

OK, well it looks like I'm the one left with the short straw (to say):

RATS ! 8-[

Name?
Age?
Why? :lol:

I think Pagey has a pet that might like yours ... a lot :twisted:

P.S.> Nice jacket, Flattery ! :D
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Post by Ken »

Flattery

Nice work on the jacket - its subtle and like people have said looks very natural like its just been broken in

Tone

WooHoo!! A guy after my own heart when it comes to distressing. I have ultra respect for you going that far with the jacket - and man does it look good!! Great results there!!!

Ken :)
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Post by Indiana Texas-girl »

I've got either big mice or small rats in my backyard. Does he need some friends?

What are y'all gonna name it?
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Post by Indiana Texas-girl »

I'll let my dog catch it and hopefully he won't kill it in the process like he's already done once....well, he punctured the neck and I told him to "drop toy" which he did do, and then the little mouse just went into shock, bled a little and died about 10 minutes later.
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Post by Ark Hunter »

Looks awsome Flattery! Though, one word, TRIPOD! :lol: That's ok, I'm usually to lazy to use one too.
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Post by Flattery »

Seriously, how's it coming? Still too hot?
It has been, recently -- but when I have a little time I'll just toss it on the ground and then take a few shots.

.
Flattery, I don't know if you've had a chance to get back to this yet but I thought of another method you might try for the "flaky" or chipped sections of the jacket. I found this one in an old box of breakfast cereal and found it very handy for working those specific areas of the jacket.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y268/i ... wested.jpg
I can't believe I missed this! Sometimes my browser (Firefox) will, in a way, refresh itself so that I can't see what posts are new here when I'm in a hurry.
Nice work on the jacket - its subtle and like people have said looks very natural like its just been broken in
Thanks, Ken. I was actually just admiring your jacket in the photos section of the Templars website. :wink:
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Re: Jacket

Post by Bufflehead Jones »

Indiana_Tone wrote:(But that's anthropomorphic, isn't it?)
Tone, my wife called me that one day when I was talking to one of my dogs. I think this is only the third time that I have seen that word used in print. The first two were reading articles about the book, Seabiscuit.

My wife is like that, too. I always hope that she doesn't see an injured animal on the side of the road. Not long ago, she started talking about the fact that we could use a hamster or a rat for a pet. "Rats, why'd it have to be rats." I tried to remind her how much she really wanted a bird, parakeet, hopefully.
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Post by randystokes »

My brother seems to attract -- or be attracted to -- women with a deep reverence for all living beings. His first wife spotted a dog running loose along a freeway and stopped to rescue it. After a long time spent trying to find its owner, they adopted "Freeway" (as they named the dog), and she had the dog longer than she had my brother (no causal relationship).

One of the best stories, though, is when my brother's second wife found a hummingbird that appeared to have flown into a window or something. She carefully picked it up and nursed it back to health, feeding it sugar water from an eye dropper, until it appeared strong enough to return to the wild. She gathered my brother and their three daughters -- and probably a whole crowd of onlookers -- out in the front yard for the ceremonial release. She said a loving -- a probably tearful -- goodbye to this little creature she'd saved, and, holding it in both hands, tossed it gently skyward. It flew up above their heads briefly, as if to say thanks and goodbye -- right before a hawk swooped down and snatched it for a yummy meal. Oh well . . .

Next time, boys and girls, how my sister-in-law deals with fighting dogs . . .

Randy
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Post by Michaelson »

Man, THIS topic is so far off the tracks it's kicking up clouds of dust!!!

Back on the tracks folks! Criminy! #-o

Regards! Michaelson
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Post by Spooky »

OK, Michaelson -
Behold, as a wild ___ in the desert, go I forth to my work (to nudge this thread 'back into the light' :lol:).

Tone / Flattery / Other COW Sith Lords of Distress:
When you achieve the frosted flake effect (sorry just saw a Tony the Tiger commercial :lol: )
... Do you ever re-apply Pecards afterward?
I'm just wondering if distressing a section of your jacket to the point of flaking leaves that section more susceptible to element damage
(e.g. Does it accelerate wear or result in any more severe cracks/flakes which migrate across a larger area?)

BTW, I'm am not seduced by the dark side yet - just curious is all.

P.S. ...
Indiana Texas-girl wrote:I'll let my dog catch it and hopefully he won't kill it in the process like he's already done once....well, he punctured the neck and I told him to "drop toy" which he did do, and then the little mouse just went into shock, bled a little and died about 10 minutes later.
That's just a sweet and heartwarming story, ITG ... 8-[ 8-[ 8-[
Does your dog do that to your Ewoks as well? :lol:
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Post by Indiana Texas-girl »

Spooky wrote:That's just a sweet and heartwarming story, ITG ... 8-[ 8-[ 8-[ Does your dog do that to your Ewoks as well? :lol:
Not yet he hasn't.
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Post by Flattery »

Tone, you said everything that I would have. I don't have anything to add.[/quote]
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Post by Spooky »

Thanks Tone / Flattery.

I like the look of both your jackets.
Especially, the more lightly distressed areas.
In fact, I have an (alternate style) jacket that has similar-looking natural wear (flecks excluded).

After more time and some natural wear, ...
Yeah, I could even see myself doing the acetone/sandpaper 'hokey-pokey'.
Small steps ...
:D
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Post by Flattery »

After more time and some natural wear, ...
Yeah, I could even see myself doing the acetone/sandpaper 'hokey-pokey'.
Small steps ...
That's what I thought when I got my second jacket (the one in this thread)... but I got really impatient. I'm happy with how it turned out, but man, I can't let that happen if I decide to get another one.

Or can I... :-k
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Post by LeatherneckJones »

I know I'm about a day late and a dollar short, but I just found this... great looking jacket!

I've got a new Wested on the way (Dark brown goat, Temple of Doom), and have been toying with the idea of distressing it ( I have a Raiders Wested I've owned for six years, and it just beginning to show the faintest signs of natural wear!). How long did it take to do it? I swear I'm loosing sleep at night worrying about whether or not to beat my jacket unmercifully...
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