Wested's Raiders Hero Screen Accuracy, what went wrong?

[Thee]

I have heard complaints on this forum and various other indy forums about the screen accuracy of wested's raiders hero. I think it is generally agreed that wested did make the screen used jackets for raiders. So why isn't their's the most screen accurate? Did Peter forget the details of the jacket or the pattern, what went wrong?

[xmasters]

Apart from the buckles their pattern is pretty accurate in a general sense, but remember Raiders used many jackets were made. With subtle differences in the manufacturing of each one. Not to mention the leather, which is a separate issue in itself.

[Thee]

It seems both steele and jones and the bill kelso have found good leathers for their raiders jackets appearance wise, but I dont think either of them are shrunken, I believe wested says they used some type of shrunken lamb for the movie. So has any vendor found a shrunken ribby merino lambskin?

[backstagejack]

Also remember, Peter made jackets for more than just Indy films. So he gets hired to make jackets. Does his job, moves on with his life. No need to save the pattern etc. Which is probably why the jacket was also different in each film on top of Ford's changing measurements or requirements for scenes.

He never expected to be berated years down the road by fans for an exact copy of some jacket he made for a set of movies. That's pretty much the case with all of the original vendors. It was just a job amongst many others.

Time fogs memories, it's why Noodleman says Indy wore Redwings.

[Forrest For the Trees]

While Peter may very well have made the jackets for the original film, he never had the original patterns. Over many years and much fan input, the pattern he was using continued to be refined. The Hero jacket they sell now seems to have been made in response to Tony Nowak's Raiders jacket, as Tony claimed to have been lent a screen-used jacket and created patterns from that. IMO, Tony's jacket was far more accurate than what Wested had created. Since Tony's passing, Bill Kelso Mfg. have copied one of Tony's jackets and used leather that I think looks even better in the form of the Relic Hunter. Meanwhile, Steele and Jones have been creating accurate jackets as well based on a ton of research, and most recently, recreated a super-accurate reproduction of a previously unknown screen-used jacket (what they call the Truck Jacket).

Taking all that into consideration, I think Wested's Hero Jacket just doesn't compare to those other two offerings. IMO

[backstagejack]

While Peter may very well have made the jackets for the original film, he never had the original patterns. ......

Ah I did not know that part. That would explain it.

Maybe this has been explained elsewhere but how would he make the jackets without having the patterns? A quick glance at the main site says he used his "James Dean" pattern and added action pleats and the pockets.

It also goes on to say of the original #14 ordered for the film, all had differences due to possibly being made by different people.

[Tibor]

It’s pretty likely he made patterns but threw them out shortly after the movie, and they were probably pretty informal patterns to begin with and never expected to go into production for the public. After looking at them for years, the origin with A2 jackets is pretty evident. You start there, remove cuffs and waistband to not interfere with the holster, take off the epaulettes and you have the shoulder seam off the shoulder as in some A2 contracts, keep the light silver colored zip, add a yoke from an A-1 jacket to anchor the back pleats from a half belt, and carry the pleats to the bottom without the half belt, keeping buckles and straps. It was a clever design that drew on a lot of historic jackets

If you study A-2 jacket collars, you see exact matches among different WW2 contracts as well. The Indy jacket will always be my favorite hybrid.