Bent pocket flaps?

[Castor Dioscuri]

I have a question that I don't think has been addressed recently, but one in which I doubt I'm alone in asking.

On some of my Indy jackets, such as my first few Indy jackets, I have had a problem with my pocket flaps, on the vertical corners that face away from the zipper. Essentially, what happens with those pocket flaps is that when I put my arms at my side or raise them, my arms tend to brush past or flatten-forward the vertical edges of the pocket flaps, so that what eventually happens is that the pocket flaps are bent in that corner in such a way that they stick awkwardly away from the jacket.

Yes, I've tried bending the pocket flaps back on some of my jackets, but what happens is that they just tend to go back to that 'bent' look due to my arm movement, and if I bend it often enough, it eventually leaves stretch-marks/creases on the leather.

Now some of my jackets don't have this problem, namely the longer jackets where the pocket flaps are below my arms, but for the ones that do, any advice? I can't be the only person facing this problem. Thoughts?

[Michaelson]

I've had A-2 pockets do this as well, but never gave it much thought. I just decided it was the nature of the beast, being a shorter jacket.

Regards! Michaelson

[Tremolo]

Of my three Indy jackets one does that too. It´s also the softest one (soft brown cowhide), so it adds up nicely to the overall wrinkly look.
The only solution I could think of would be sticking something like a strip of cardboard on the back of the pocketflap to keep it straight. Although I don´t know how long that would work.

[Tibor]

Just part of the normal breaking in process that leads to a jacket being an old friend. On thinner jackets like Todd's or Westeds you can stuff the pocket flap in the pocket as Indy's sometimes were.

[Hatch]

Castor, have you tried wetting the back half or for that matter the whole flap and letting it dry flat maybe with some weight on it overnight or longer......obviously won't be permanent but may help to 'train' it to lay flat at least till it needs repeating...just thinking out loud....

[Kt Templar]

I think it can be considered as natural distressing!

If you really want to try and remedy it (either way could ruin the jacket so proceed at your own risk):

1) Steam Iron, iron the underside of the flap with full steam then allow to cool/dry.

2) A much more invasive procedure and you will have to get someone to do it (probably). Open up the flap and insert a shirt collar stay and sew back. You can even get metal ones that way it will NEVER bend, you might have to trim it to size.

http://www.jetclip.com/images/Collar_Stays.gif

[Indiana G]

as an extension to KT's second option, instead of opening up the flap, you could sew a reinforcement layer in there to stiffen up the whole flap. that too wouldn't be visible at all.

....just go with the TOD look and shove a sankara stone cloth wrap in there so the deformed pocket looks natural with a warped pocket flap

[Yojimbo Jones]

I'd go along with the "it's character" camp. Or you could also look at it as being screen accurate. There are a bunch of shots of at least one of the Raiders jackets doing that.