premature jacket distressing

[rbxb]

Begin rant.

Unless your jacket is specifically for cosplay, pretend, theater etc. I dont see the need to artificially distress a new and perfectly good leather jacket.

I carefully select a good, well built, cosmetically appealing, stylish leather jacket to USE and not baby. Break them in with your own adventures. Just wear them....wear the @#$% out of them. Ride horses, go on dates, hay rides, mountain hiking, camping, cleaning stalls, stack cinder blocks, pour concrete..whatever. I buy my leather jackets for real world use. I condition them with Lexol and maintain them but I aint afraid to roll in the dirt or get a little cow sh*t on them. I think we sometimes overthink things. I wouldn't go near my 'hide' with acetone, a knife, scour or Brillo pad. Time and use will suffice.
That's my story & I'm sticking to it. As Peter Botwright used to say. ...CHEERS

[Tibor]

All good, but some people like the look of a well worn jacket but either
a. Don’t have the time to do all those activities
b. Aren’t physically capable of all those things
c. Don’t live in a climate suitable to wear leather that often
d. Prefer careful, controlled distressing to unplanned and occasionally seam-splitting or catastrophic damage.

I personally don’t like the smell of most leather conditioners so would likely skip that as well and will pass on the rolling in manure. It’s not that I mind doing your list of tasks, but would still like to be welcomed in polite society wearing my jacket.

[bearbeast]

I am also a fan of natural distressing, but I completely understand people wanting a fully distressed jacket.

If you want to 100% look like Indy you need your gear to be heavily worn. And this will never happen in real life. I think my oldest jacket is since 6 years ago and looks brand new, even though I did not baby it.

Like Tibor said, not all Indy fans get a chance to be dragged behind a truck daily in order do obtain that worn look.

Cheers,
Bear

[Canyon]

I've had my Wested jacket for 20 years now and I have to admit I distressed it by hand but I did not use acetone.
I actually used sandpaper and rubbed my back against a cobblestone wall. I'll post some pictures of my jacket soon as this is my 20th anniversary of being on Indygear.

[bearbeast]

I've had my Wested jacket for 20 years now and I have to admit I distressed it by hand but I did not use acetone.
I actually used sandpaper and rubbed my back against a cobblestone wall. I'll post some pictures of my jacket soon as this is my 20th anniversary of being on Indygear.

And now WE get to say to you: Many happy returns!

Looking forward to the jacket shots.

Cheers,
Bear

[Canyon]

Why, thanks!

[Indiana Croft]

I’m in the pre distressed camp, I’ll get just to the point where it’s distressed then stop, with a few tweaks here and there.
Then whatever happens after is icing on the cake.
Actually had a comment on my S&J ToD, nice well worn jacket, if he only knew.
I’m 63, and a jacket would take forever to distress to my liking.
Luckily S&J do an awesome job.

Croft

[rbxb]

I’m in the pre distressed camp, I’ll get just to the point where it’s distressed then stop, with a few tweaks here and there.
Then whatever happens after is icing on the cake.
Actually had a comment on my S&J ToD, nice well worn jacket, if he only knew.
I’m 63, and a jacket would take forever to distress to my liking.
Luckily S&J do an awesome job.

Croft

All good info guys. I'm not here to bash anyone else's methods. I get it. I'm over 60 too and remember dragging my new bellbottom jeans behind the truck to knock the 'new' off. I've seen many a predistressed hide that looks real nice. We spend big dollars and fret over getting the right one that these makers select, tan, dye and carefully cut and assemble to our specs. Shower in them, scrunch the arms up, dry them, then hit em with Lexol. Re-scrunch the sleeves, dry them and then put em in service. Beyond that, I'll go the organic route.
https://flic.kr/p/2oK9KLd

I'm selling two to fund a new T o D Legacy. Cheers

[Michaelson]

Begin rant.

Unless your jacket is specifically for cosplay, pretend, theater etc. I dont see the need to artificially distress a new and perfectly good leather jacket.

I carefully select a good, well built, cosmetically appealing, stylish leather jacket to USE and not baby. Break them in with your own adventures. Just wear them....wear the @#$% out of them. Ride horses, go on dates, hay rides, mountain hiking, camping, cleaning stalls, stack cinder blocks, pour concrete..whatever. I buy my leather jackets for real world use. I condition them with Lexol and maintain them but I aint afraid to roll in the dirt or get a little cow sh*t on them. I think we sometimes overthink things. I wouldn't go near my 'hide' with acetone, a knife, scour or Brillo pad. Time and use will suffice.
That's my story & I'm sticking to it. As Peter Botwright used to say. ...CHEERS

I’ve been preaching this since the hobby came on line in 1996!

Regards! Michaelson

[Castor Dioscuri]

I actually used sandpaper and rubbed my back against a cobblestone wall.

I couldn't help but think of this...

[bearbeast]

I actually used sandpaper and rubbed my back against a cobblestone wall.

I couldn't help but think of this...

Hey, that's me!

[Rob]

Begin rant.

Unless your jacket is specifically for cosplay, pretend, theater etc. I dont see the need to artificially distress a new and perfectly good leather jacket.

I carefully select a good, well built, cosmetically appealing, stylish leather jacket to USE and not baby. Break them in with your own adventures. Just wear them....wear the @#$% out of them. Ride horses, go on dates, hay rides, mountain hiking, camping, cleaning stalls, stack cinder blocks, pour concrete..whatever. I buy my leather jackets for real world use. I condition them with Lexol and maintain them but I aint afraid to roll in the dirt or get a little cow sh*t on them. I think we sometimes overthink things. I wouldn't go near my 'hide' with acetone, a knife, scour or Brillo pad. Time and use will suffice.
That's my story & I'm sticking to it. As Peter Botwright used to say. ...CHEERS

More power to you. It's not an unusual position to hold, but as there will always be threads about distressing jackets (because that's an actual thing to be discussed), people who are doing it au naturel, get lost in the mix. They don't really make threads about it. What would they even say? "I wore my jacket to the shops. I might be getting a new crease soon... thought this needed a thread." LOL.

So it's easy to think LOADS of people distress their jackets and no one must feel how you do, but again, that's just a function of topics people post, not reality

[rbxb]

Begin rant.

Unless your jacket is specifically for cosplay, pretend, theater etc. I dont see the need to artificially distress a new and perfectly good leather jacket.


More power to you. It's not an unusual position to hold, but as there will always be threads about distressing jackets ... people who are doing it au naturel, get lost in the mix. They don't really make threads about it. What would they even say? "I wore my jacket to the shops. I might be getting a new crease soon...

Good one!

[Castor Dioscuri]

Begin rant.

Unless your jacket is specifically for cosplay, pretend, theater etc. I dont see the need to artificially distress a new and perfectly good leather jacket.

I carefully select a good, well built, cosmetically appealing, stylish leather jacket to USE and not baby. Break them in with your own adventures. Just wear them....wear the @#$% out of them. Ride horses, go on dates, hay rides, mountain hiking, camping, cleaning stalls, stack cinder blocks, pour concrete..whatever. I buy my leather jackets for real world use. I condition them with Lexol and maintain them but I aint afraid to roll in the dirt or get a little cow sh*t on them. I think we sometimes overthink things. I wouldn't go near my 'hide' with acetone, a knife, scour or Brillo pad. Time and use will suffice.
That's my story & I'm sticking to it. As Peter Botwright used to say. ...CHEERS

Granted I've never distressed a jacket on my own, but I've always thought of distressing clothing, whether it be jackets, jeans, hats, etc, as no different from cultural storytelling. It represents something to the person that owns it, and I'd a form of identity expression- whether that be grunge, western, adventure, etc.

Is there a need for it? No. But there's little "need" to do half the things people do to their possessions anyway (e.g. stamping a logo, adding decorative trims, repairing old items when one can afford/obtain new ones, etc.) Ultimately, if it means something to the individual, and helps them express themselves, then all power to them.

[bearbeast]

Begin rant.

Unless your jacket is specifically for cosplay, pretend, theater etc. I dont see the need to artificially distress a new and perfectly good leather jacket.

I carefully select a good, well built, cosmetically appealing, stylish leather jacket to USE and not baby. Break them in with your own adventures. Just wear them....wear the @#$% out of them. Ride horses, go on dates, hay rides, mountain hiking, camping, cleaning stalls, stack cinder blocks, pour concrete..whatever. I buy my leather jackets for real world use. I condition them with Lexol and maintain them but I aint afraid to roll in the dirt or get a little cow sh*t on them. I think we sometimes overthink things. I wouldn't go near my 'hide' with acetone, a knife, scour or Brillo pad. Time and use will suffice.
That's my story & I'm sticking to it. As Peter Botwright used to say. ...CHEERS

Granted I've never distressed a jacket on my own, but I've always thought of distressing clothing, whether it be jackets, jeans, hats, etc, as no different from cultural storytelling. It represents something to the person that owns it, and I'd a form of identity expression- whether that be grunge, western, adventure, etc.

Is there a need for it? No. But there's little "need" to do half the things people do to their possessions anyway (e.g. stamping a logo, adding decorative trims, repairing old items when one can afford/obtain new ones, etc.) Ultimately, if it means something to the individual, and helps them express themselves, then all power to them.

Very well said. If you get down to it there is not much need to anything we do. We need some food, some shelter, a bit of rags on our bodies.

99% of what we do is not a basic need after all. And us gear-heads take it one step further. We don't NEED 20+ sets of Indy clothes, tens of props on our shelves, whips and so on... it's all for fun.

Cheers,
Bear

[CM]

Begin rant.

Unless your jacket is specifically for cosplay, pretend, theater etc. I dont see the need to artificially distress a new and perfectly good leather jacket.

I carefully select a good, well built, cosmetically appealing, stylish leather jacket to USE and not baby. Break them in with your own adventures. Just wear them....wear the @#$% out of them. Ride horses, go on dates, hay rides, mountain hiking, camping, cleaning stalls, stack cinder blocks, pour concrete..whatever. I buy my leather jackets for real world use. I condition them with Lexol and maintain them but I aint afraid to roll in the dirt or get a little cow sh*t on them. I think we sometimes overthink things. I wouldn't go near my 'hide' with acetone, a knife, scour or Brillo pad. Time and use will suffice.
That's my story & I'm sticking to it. As Peter Botwright used to say. ...CHEERS

Agree - I've never distressed a jacket either.

[Bennethon]

I’m close to finalizing my S&J order and I’m at the distressing decision point. I’m really not sure which way to go. My jacket is going to be an everyday wear jacket, not a cosplay piece. So the “no distress” route is appealing to me. I like the idea of breaking it in myself. But at the same time, I frequently read accounts of people saying they did “no distress” and the jacket looks the exact same years later. So then I think “light distress”? But I’m not sure.

[Indiana Croft]

S&J can do light distressing, just ask for extra light, couple hits on seams, cuffs and back hem.
It’ll be subtle.
And look great.

I have a DoD and I told Diego, go screen accurate, as he does it all before assembly, no thread damage.

Croft

[fifthchamber]

I think, honestly, it really depends on the jacket and the film it's from (if it is...)

Indy? Never has a clean jacket....It might be less destroyed or less dirty in some scenes, but it's a broken in, bare bones jacket, and you won't get a decent jacket, down to that level, without a LOT of work put in....I agree with Michaelson on this mostly, but for an Indy jacket to be Indy, it needs to be "close to dead", or at least, "very sick"....S&J did such a good job on my Raiders "Truck" that it's the only one I wear now....The others ALL look "too clean" to want to wear in comparison...I like the scrapes, the brown highlights shining through, the elbow damage and the collar smash....It ALL makes it CLEARLY an "Indy jacket", over "just a cool leather one"...

So I think it really depends on what you're going for....One small "thing" (Problem? Maybe not that bad....) I've noticed is that the more damaged and messed up my Indy gear is? The better and closer it looks to Indy.....So, don't be scared to get that look from the start...It's what we're ALL here FOR....

[Castor Dioscuri]

S&J can do light distressing, just ask for extra light, couple hits on seams, cuffs and back hem.
It’ll be subtle.
And look great.

I have a DoD and I told Diego, go screen accurate, as he does it all before assembly, no thread damage.

Croft

I'll second this. Having distressing marks on the seams and pocket edges, etc really makes any jacket pop, regardless of any movie connection. It just adds a sweet contrast that takes it that extra mile in a purely aesthetic fashion sense, and I personally wholeheartedly stand by this.

Just think of any movie or fashion ad where you see a leather jacket that makes you stop and think 'that's a cool jacket.' Odds are it is distressed similar to this.

If you go overboard, and have wide swaths distressed (like across the back or chest, for example) then yeah, I'd agree it might come off as "costumey" if subtlety is what you're after. But Indy jacket or no, seam distressing is always the way to go IMO.