I haven't tried this on a jacket, but I do have some experience on using these techniques on furniture, and I imagine that some of the same principles apply.
An old trick for putting a patina on a piece of furniture is to use a piece of burlap. Daily. The idea is to rub the burlap over the furniture every time you go by, smoothing it out. This also adds microscopic scratches to the finish which fill in every time you wax, trapping a little dust (see below). I imagine the same could be done with a jacket, just rub it down with burlap when you take it off. Treat the jacket periodically with your dressing of choice, and these scratches will be treated but the wearing will start to show. The advantage here is that burlap is far less abrassive than sandpaper, and will remove far less material. After seeing photo tours of the shops where the jackets are assembled, I was amazed at how thin the fabric really is, and making it any thinner should be done with all due caution, as has been addressed here many times. This isn't a quick one day out-of-the-box approach to distressing, this is a slow all year approach. The advantage is that it should only take minutes each day.
Another trick is to let dust accumulate in the cracks and crevices. Look at an old piece of furniture. Even if it is periodically waxed and cleaned, dust builds up in the cracks, adding to the patina and character. This is just a thought, but: Could fullers earth be added before appplying the dressing to the jacket? After drying, most of the earth will dry and wipe off, but some will stay in the seams and crevices and scratches. After this builds up for awhile, the jacket will look like it's been around for years.
I know that we all have a different approach to aging jackets. I guess my philosophy is to have a jacket that looks well used, well loved and well cared for, handed down from grandfather to father to son. I just want it to look that way right now
Best to all,
plynck
That should have read "Burlap". I'll see if I can go back and edit my post. Thanks for the correction.
