Sir, how would you like your Indy jacket?....

[Texan Scott]

...and if you've ever been polled, you know how painful that can be!


Give us your take on it. There are basically two camps. What do you prefer in an Indy jacket?

What hides do you like in a Raiders jacket, Last Crusade?

[TheExit148]

I want the distressing to be all me. I am that way with all jackets, jeans, clothes etc.

[tekors]

Totally mine distressing...brand new so I could give it my character...

[Indyzane]

Distressed FO-SHO!

[fifthchamber]

I like a brand new jacket, but a brand new distressed hide...

The Wested that I ordered in pre-distressed is STILL the best jacket I have...I love everything about it..Worked in, but not "used"..Just looking ready for me to add whatever I want to the mix..Perfect...(Perhaps less so for Raiders? But certainly spot on for Crusade...)..

So, yeah, Wade has made a load of gear for me too, and I asked for the same, lightly conditioned and broken in..Then I can add what I want, or leave it as it is if it's great...I think that works best for me...

Regards

[Rick Deckard]

Well, I'm not sure what exactly qualifies as distressed. For example, I love my US Wings Antique Cow Hero, and that leather was antiqued...so does that count as distressed, or does distressed mean taking sandpaper, a knife, acetone, etc. to a jacket and rubbing off some of the finish?

My favorite leather's are cowhide for a Last Crusade jacket...b/c that jacket has a thicker look to me when I watch the movie...and lamb for a Raiders b/c a dark lamb just makes a Raiders jacket look like, well, a Raiders jacket.

[HDRnR]

Predistressed just never looks right...it looks.......predistressed.

[fifthchamber]

HDRnR/_....

I think my thread with the "pre-distressed" cowhide still exists somewhere? I'd say it looks pretty good...But then, it IS mine of course....

I think it is still lovely, and although not obviously "worked on" it still has a better finish to it than a fair few of the jackets I've seen (both here in Tokyo, and in this forum)..Maybe I'm just viewing it wrong?

[fifthchamber]

Yeah..I see what you mean...

Doing it myself is what I'm doing with the older Wested (LC) and my Bantu Wind Todd's...The Todds actually scraps lovely.. It really is good stuff...And the Wested is great once that "shine" wears out of it....(Which is why I didn't chose "New, shiny"..I just don't like the "shine"...As easy as it is to wear out..)..

I guess as with many things Wested, I have been rather lucky so far!

[Texan Scott]

Well, I'm not sure what exactly qualifies as distressed. For example, I love my US Wings Antique Cow Hero, and that leather was antiqued...so does that count as distressed, or does distressed mean taking sandpaper, a knife, acetone, etc. to a jacket and rubbing off some of the finish?

Pre=worked, let's say, whatever that means. Pretreated before it got to you, whether distressed, antiqued, or whatever.

[Rick Deckard]

Well, I'm not sure what exactly qualifies as distressed. For example, I love my US Wings Antique Cow Hero, and that leather was antiqued...so does that count as distressed, or does distressed mean taking sandpaper, a knife, acetone, etc. to a jacket and rubbing off some of the finish?

Pre=worked, let's say, whatever that means. Pretreated before it got to you, whether distressed, antiqued, or whatever.

Well, in that case I'd say predistressed (aged, antiqued) for a LC jacket b/c it seems to be such a big part of that look, and new for a Raiders jacket. (Lamb distresses easily on its own, so just wearing a lamb jacket will give it that worn look.) Besides, there are plenty of times in Raiders when the jackets looks worn but not distressed to the degree of the LC look.

[Gorak]

As much as I can appreciate the "make your own scars" concept, my life is,unfortunately, isnt filled with that much adventure to Indyfy my jackets in my lifetime. As I get older, the more I can appreciate a pre-distressed jacket.

[Indyzane]

Wasn't the jacket we all have grown to love pre distressed with a swiss army knife? Like Gorak said, it takes a lot of time/years to distress a jacket that's FO SHO!

[Zoltar]

Brand new.
They don't stay that way long though!

[CM]

A shiny new one. I don't want Indy's actual jacket...

When I frist saw it (in Raiders when it came out), I thought, 'great jacket, where do I get a new one that's well made?' I don't actually like the look of a distressed jacket. While the Raiders one looked to be in good conition and plausibly worn, I hated the look of the distressing in LC or ToD. But I love the design of those jackets. In my view, there are few things more phoney and in some ways, sad, than a man with a leather jacket with pretend wear. It reminds me of the 1980's, when car dealers I knew over here sold fake spray-on dirt to put on rich city guy's SUV's that never went anywhere interesting. I even felt that way when I saw the last IJ film. I thought, what the **** is IJ doing with a pre-distressed leather jacket? It looked as authentic as the CGI.

[fenris]

...I'd like it to be FREE.

oh, wait... we're talking about how it would look! Brand new I guess. At least I have the option of keeping it nice and clean or worn and beat up.

[binkmeisterRick]

I have a couple Indy jackets. My original goatskin Wested was bright and shiny after I got it seven years ago. It's broken in nicely over the years, conforming to my shape and wearing where it's meant to. I also have (well, bequeathed to my fiancée, really) a lambskin Wested that was pre-distressed by its previous owner. It was a pretty nice job, but it doesn't look like I put that wear there. Combine that with the natural distressing it's received on top of that, and mine looks overall like a confused jacket. Tony Nowak was the only one I've seen that could really make a jacket look naturally aged. My TN-1 looks that way, as he lightly "broke in" that jacket for me. Thing is, Tony knew where a jacket would wear naturally and how it would normally scuff up, which is why his looked believable. Compare that to more than a few self-distressed jobs I've seen here (and at least one LC in particular) that make it look like a pin striped leather jacket.

By far, I prefer a new jacket that I can put my own natural distressing to over time, which brings me back to my A-2. I have an Eastman Rough Wear 27752 contract A-2 in horsehide I got last fall. I could have gone with their aged "warhorse" option, but I chose the shiny new jacket. I am happy to say that my jacket is developing some nice tones, wrinkles, and scuff marks in various places, just from being worn. Its not even, either. The elbow seam on one sleeve is showing some scuffing, while the other hasn't quite developed it yet. Natural distressing isn't completely predictable, which is why so many fake distressing jobs look unbelievable, in my opinion. That LC jacket in question makes me shiver every time I think on it. It's natural for me, thank you.

[Gater]

I have always preffered to distress my own jackets. Having spent time with Guybrush and seen what that guy puts a jacket through!

The biggest problem I have is that the Raiders jacket has the blue tint under the brown, so when scrathed or scraped, it shows that blue-ish colour. My lambskin Wested comes back light brown when scraped or scratched, though so it doesn't have that same Raiders distressed look that I was striving for.

The predistressed cowhide is nice, but I got my 2 in early '01 so the colour is very light - closer to CS than Raiders. 10 years later, they still look like they did right out of the bag, so 'natural' distress of cowhide must take a real Indy adventure!

[Indyzane]

Good point Rick! Tony did know the best spots to distress a jacket!

[irishjones]

As great as a new jacket looks, I'd love to get a pre-distressed jacket for myself. I'm actually thinking of purchasing one of Wested's pre-distressed LC jackets in cowhide. My current LC Wested is in soft lamb, so I'd like to have something thicker for the colder months.

[fenris]

Only now did I notice there's a 2nd question in TS' thread...

If ever I get a leather jacket, it should be the lightest possible hide... so I guess it would be lamb? That is the lightest, right?

[Michaelson]

That or calfskin.

Regards! Michaelson

[Texan Scott]

As for the Raiders jacket, Todd's new BW jacket in grainy lambskin is over the top. It also looks really cool if you have nicely dyed goatskin. As for Last Crusade, I personally think thicker is the way to go with it, in naked HH or cow. HH, goat and cow are the more durable hides, and representative of the skins that jackets were actually made of prior to WWII.

Lamb distresses easier and is usually thinner, for the hotter regions & locales.

[Holt]

like Todd & Holt with the jacket and Eric and Magnoli with the grail diary; .

Holt and Eric...

aren't they the same person?

[Michaelson]

Sort of like jekyll and hyde.

[Texan Scott]

Didn't want to sound redundant. You wear many hats.

[kwad]

You wear many hats.

He has to, now that he has a clone.

Edit because I forgot to write the rest of my post;

My vote was for shiney and new. However, I think pre-distressed hides have their place, if it is not overdone. I don't like the hides that have one crackled darker pigment over another. It looks too 1980's stone washed. It looks, uniformed and intentional.

Naked and washed hides look great, if they are dyed evenly (and the right color).

[whipwarrior]

I like making the jacket mine.... BY DISTRESSING IT!!! Weathered leather RULES!!!

[Indiana Jeff]

Well, I clicked shiny and new, but feel a little disingenuous about it since my first jacket was a Wested in pre-distressed cow as seen here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=48452&hilit=+wested" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But recently I got a US Wings Legend in Bison and that one's going to get its look the long and hard way.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[nicktheguy]

I'm all for the 'distress it yourself' - the hide takes on the qualities of its owner that way. Each hide is unique - every member here is unique. I remember the overly popular pre-distressed look on leather jackets in the 80's - frightening to see those jackets now. They look terrible with the natural age on top of their unnatural distress. I've seen many A-2 copies in thrift stores that have that look - but that's just my opinion - and to be fair I have a predistressed Last Crusade from Nowak that I love - but that's a very distinctive look - go figure - that makes me a bit of a hypocrite.

[Texan Scott]

Certain jacket styles just look better pre-distressed. I think it is cool to have the natural look and smell of the leather be predominant.

[HandsomeDynamite]

I like my leather new, me wearing it and living in it will give it the right look.

[Castor Dioscuri]

Good question-

I usually go for a brand new jacket. However, I've would go with distressed jackets if, like in the case of Nowak, the vendor distressed jackets for an Indy production, so as to get the most SA jacket possible.

I also prefer soft jackets. Heaven is a soft lamb.

Movie style? Hard call... Not sure this applies after I get the measurements adjusted to fit my own, as I like to ask for pockets and collars to be scaled to a flattering size.