I'm very happy to announce that I now have the Indiana Jones jacket that I've always dreamed of. For those interested, it's a post-mod Wested Last Crusade jacket in original dark brown lambskin with antique brass hardware. The leather was gradually aged over the course of a year, using a variety of methods (primarily 220-grit sandpaper and ice water). I personally modified the collar stand to the correct Last Crusade style, and had blackened brass snaps affixed to the storm flap by a local shoe & luggage shop. The gentleman that owns and operates the shop is a native of Middlesex, England.
I told him about the jacket while he worked on it, and he revealed to me that he used to drive past EMI Elstree Studios nearly everyday when he lived in the United Kingdom. He also found it interesting that the authentic Indiana Jones jacket was manufactured in the very place that he used to live. I provided him with my copy of the June 1989 Premiere Movie Magazine to aid in the placement of the collar snap, and also showed him a Wested business card while telling him about our little community here at Indygear. ) Below are links to pictures of the jacket before and after the conversion process. Enjoy!
I know. This, unfortunately, is a frequent problem with Geocities. It should be available within an hour, if it's not innundated with traffic. Believe me, I know how irritating it is. I've had the same problem while editing my site; having two windows open and refreshing the page to see if my updates appear the way I coded them. After a certain amount of viewing, it gives me the 'Site Temporarily Unavailable' message. It *****, but at least I don't have to pay for it.
Yeah, but that was before I had the snaps put into the jacket. Now that it's finished, I wanted to show everyone. Maybe it will inspire other Wested Crusaders to embark on a similar quest for the Holy Grail of Last Crusade jackets and make their dream come true.
EVERYONE likes my lid. In retrospect, I guess I really got lucky on that one. Swales crafted a very LC-looking Poet, for which I am eternally grateful. As much as I appreciate everyone's desire for the hat, it's not up for grabs. In fact, it's the only hat I own! ) I'll need it for all of my adventures!
Actually, I distreseed it with authentic Texas dust (courtesy of Holly) at the Dragon*Con, then again on Halloween. I brushed most of the dust off afterward, but it still looks pretty good. I think the camera flash muted the effect some, but it looks very dusty and adventure-worn in person. )
For those who don't know, the alterations were done to make the collar stand/storm flap match up to what was on the screen jacket in LC-and Dale did a FINE job matching it up!
Just thought I'd tell you so, as if you didn't already know!
Later!
Indydawg
Thanks, Indydawg! Yeah, the lack of authenticity in the LC collar stand / storm flap has really been bugging me for some time, and I couldn't stand to look at it anymore. I HAD to do something. I e-mailed Wested and requisitioned some snaps, but the envelope they arrived in had been damaged, with only two pieces remaining. So I contacted them AGAIN, and once again they sent more. After waiting for nearly a month, I ran out of patience and had the brass snaps put on by the leather shop. The snaps from Wested arrived about a week later. Now, you might think I'd be upset by this, but I wasn't. I discovered, much to my surprise, that the snaps Wested uses are made of blackened, copper-toned aluminum. Aluminum is a weaker, more inferior metal to brass, which the movie jacket snaps are obviously made of. So my lack of patience paid off in this case. However, Wested sent me not one, not two, but THREE complete sets of jacket snaps- enough for three Last Crusade jackets. I guess I'll just hang on to them until the next summit, where I will give them to deserving people who need them.
it's a great jacket, congratulations!!! Didn't you feel bad before distressing it? You certainly had in mind that distressing an expensive jacket could go wrong... ;-)
Maybe I'll do it like you in the future, when ordering a Wested.
Did I feel bad about distressing it? No way! I knew exactly what I was going to do before I even ordered from Wested. Furthermore, I have an extensive library of photographic reference material, as well as the movie, which guided me in my work. I was very well-prepared for the task. The risk was inherent, of course, but I had confidence and a lot of patience. Do I have any regrets? Not one. The jacket looks awesome, and I'm going to wear it until I die or until it rots off of me, whichever comes first. )
I think I've landed firmly in the Michaelson camp on gear distressing.
While a part of me is thinking, that really looks like a screen used Indy jacket, the greater part of me just wants to say 'go to your room and think about what you've done!'
Hmmm. I generally like to distress my gear to a degree, but that is a bit too much for me. I cannot tell if it is a result of the flash or not, but the distressing looks too heavy and unnatural. No offense, just my opinion based on the picture below:
I realize that many times a different picture from a different angle may make all the difference in the world. The collar mods look great though. Man you have guts to intentionally rip seams on a Wested, I have to say that
Don't worry, it's just the camera flash. The distressing looks quite natural in person. I'm going to borrow my brother's new digital camera, which takes crystal-clear pictures, and photograph the jacket with that. It will make a world of difference, believe me.
Last edited by whipwarrior on Sun Nov 23, 2003 8:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Okay, here are some shots of my jacket photographed last night with a REAL digital camera. The first 5 or 6 pictures (for comparison) are from last year when it was new from Wested. Enjoy!
To be honest, I prefered the jacket before the artificial distressing.
It's obviously been a labour of love, and for the most part the jacket looks very similar to a genuine LC jacket, but for me it just needs a little more 'blending' on the very distressed patches on the sleeves, back and body (with brown pecards or similar) - just how it looks to my eye whilst comparing it to photos of film-used LC jackets.
Then again, it's always tough to get a good photo of jacket colour etc., so it may well look a lot more natural 'in the flesh', so to speak.
As long as you like it (& almost all the others posting here obviously do too), that's what really counts.
Yes, a lot of love went into distressing it. When it was fresh out of the box from Wested, the leather was so thin and shiny that it resembled a plastic garbage bag. I couldn't live with that, so I changed it. I've always loved the appearance of the jacket in the LC motorcycle chase and tank sequence, so I made it my goal to reproduce that look as faithfully as possible. I spent hours freeze-framing through my VHS tape until it developed scratches in the places where I would pause it. I also used numerous pictures from books, magazines, and the Internet (most notably the famous Smithsonian pictures taken at the Washington D.C. summit). They proved invaluable in duplicating certain details on the front of the jacket. It just goes to show that where there's a will, there's a way.
Whipwarrior - last night the bottom 4 photos didn't show up on my PC for some reason, but now that I see them I think that the jacket does look great when worn!
Sorry, still too much for me. I think it looks terrific in the 5th and 6th picture... everything below that is too much for my liking. Of course, I realize you didn't distress it to please me Anyways, I generally prefer the Raider's jacket over the Last Crusade
I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's not my fault. I didn't invent Geocities, I just use it for convenience. And with that kind of language, you're going to be an archaeology student for quite sometime- or you might find yourself banned from this message board altogether. Think about it.
) Below are links to pictures of the jacket before and after the conversion process. Enjoy!
Regards. Michaelson
Regards. Michaelson
Anyways, I generally prefer the Raider's jacket over the Last Crusade 
