Club Obi Wan

You've heard this one before... as much as I dig "the look", I just cannot bring himself to wear my fedora together with my jacket and LLBeans pants - I would feel like I am in costume or something. However gentle, the ribbing from my wife alone would be too much to bear. So I mix and match... and yet, the leather and fedora go so well together.

So here's my idea: I'm thinking of buying a Wested in black, along with a grey Fed. I figure with grey pants and black shoes it would look pretty snazzy and different, yet still in keeping with the Indy look. Which leads to my question: has anyone purchased a Wested in a color other than the Indy brown?

Again -
Welcome!
I think everyone here has probably (maybe not all) ordered brown, or some variation on that....And hey grey fed and black jacket?! That would look cool I agree....but just go for it! Wear the brown fedora and your wested.....wear it all - who cares what people think!

Cheers!
IJ

PS easier said than done, I know....

I agree that a black Wested and grey Fed would look great. Don't know why I haven't thought of that myself. That would be a great spin on the Indy look. Even better with with a pair of grey pants and black Aldens. One could carry that out quite far with a grey web belt, and dyed grey bag with a black strap. And of course, a white safari shirt. Yes!
I was in Tulsa yesterday wearing my Wested with a brown sweater, brown Miller, jeans, Aldens, and WPG bag. Not too interested in what others thought of it. The gear just works for me.
Indiana Philip

Actually we have made quite a few in black, looks good in lambskin but the goat is suspect
Cheers
Peter

Indiana Philip wrote: I was in Tulsa yesterday wearing my Wested with a brown sweater, brown Miller, jeans, Aldens, and WPG bag. Not too interested in what others thought of it. The gear just works for me.
Indiana Philip

I too have substituted jeans from time to time and it seems to work quite well.

PeltzerPet wrote:I have a gray Fed and I love the thing. It's MY hat, not Indy's hat, can you dig it? I was thinking of getting one of those black MI2 jackets from Wested to go with it - now THAT is smooth.

I don't want to get tooo off topic but didn't Peter do the jackets for Minority Report. I am really drawn to that jacket because it doesn't have a collar. A jacket like that would look really good with a turtleneck.

Pyroxene wrote:

Indiana Philip wrote: I was in Tulsa yesterday wearing my Wested with a brown sweater, brown Miller, jeans, Aldens, and WPG bag. Not too interested in what others thought of it. The gear just works for me.
Indiana Philip

I too have substituted jeans from time to time and it seems to work quite well.

Yes. I completely agree too.

I also go for the modified look... sometimes I'll wear a Red tie with a Safari shirt, Khaki Pants, Wested Jacket and Brown Fedora.

I have a gray Fed and I love the thing. It's MY hat, not Indy's hat, can you dig it?

I dig... but I have a fed that I've bashed and worn and it's kind of my own, too. Not quite LC nor Doom... but somewhere in between.

again wrote: So here's my idea: I'm thinking of buying a Wested in black, along with a grey Fed. I figure with grey pants and black shoes it would look pretty snazzy and different, yet still in keeping with the Indy look.

Woah, sounds really slick to me! I'd LOVE to see pics if you do in fact go with this look!

All right, that's it - I'm doing it as soon as that sweet tax refund check comes...
I'll be sure to post pics. Thanks for your votes of gear confidence!

I don't think changing the colors to grey or black will change how people perceive you much. I find that the average Joe six-pack will think anyone with a widebrim hat (other than a cowboy hat) looks like Indy. Just look at all those silly E-bay auctions. A surprising number of people think Indiana Jones's jacket was black and his hat was made of leather. Go figure.

I say "Dare to be Different." Why look like everybody else? I will not have my wardrobe be dictated by what they wear on Friends.

Men's clothing has been painted into a corner for a long time. Women are given a much greater range of clothing. Men are left with suits, jeans or shorts with not much in between. The avarage guy's clothes look like a hodge-podge from a garage sale.



Not nearly as classy as compared to the men of the forties.





Even the bums looked classier than the avarage Joe today.


Now.....it should be said there is much greater variety of style options today, which does allow greater expression. It's just too bad that expression is sloppy. Someone said it well (I don't recall who)......something about visiting countries looking like we are there to mow it's lawns.............I am through with my tangent now.

Again should wear what suits him.

Every man must choose his own path and be comfortable with his choice.

Talk amongst yourselves now.

MK is right. from a girl's point of view... most guys look like slobs these days... or like he said.. they're out to mow the lawn.
but when they do start to dress better people wonder what the occasion is.

MK, that is one funny rant. Good job.

I have been unable to find one decent web board dedicated to the style and spirit inherent in the earlier part of the last century.
Well, other than this one, of course.

My meanderings have taken me into ugly celebrations of the swanky-retro-hyper-pimp-daddy look. Ugh.

Does anyone else remember the ORIGINAL Banana Republic, back when it was a Safari Outfitter? Oh, the abundance of khakis and olives and the sounds of the wild… Disney’s Jungle Cruise all done up as a clothing store!
I have now-unwearable shirts that I refuse to part with. I am otherwise a reasonable man.

Ah, sorry to derail, just reminiscing.

Blue Coyote wrote:MK is right. from a girl's point of view... most guys look like slobs these days... or like he said.. they're out to mow the lawn.
but when they do start to dress better people wonder what the occasion is.

Hey now! Let's not generalize!

I tend to wear essentially what Adam Sandler was wearing in that photo. Jeans or slacks, a t-shirt under an open button down and shoes or boots.
My general wardrobe.

However, I think again's proposed outfit will DEFINATELY hold some of that old-style class that MK spoke of!

On weekends, I go to my usual button down shirts and khakis, but otherwise I like to wear hooded sweat shirts and cargo pants. Keep in mind, I am 16. I do wear my "school" gear along with a mix of Indyness though, it's pretty cool looking.

again wrote:Does anyone else remember the ORIGINAL Banana Republic, back when it was a Safari Outfitter? Oh, the abundance of khakis and olives and the sounds of the wild… Disney’s Jungle Cruise all done up as a clothing store!
I have now-unwearable shirts that I refuse to part with. I am otherwise a reasonable man.

I sure DO remember! I loved that store and all their catalogs.

We had a Banana Republic store at a major mall in Dallas that I used to visit as often as I could. I remember the Jeep inside, that was piled high with cotton canvas safari pants. I have always loved the "safari look" in clothing, and I have searched for stores that offer that clothing. Banana Republic had the most interesting items; although, I never had enough cash to buy what I wanted.

I would pore over the catalog for hours, marking pages on which items I wanted. The illustrations were great to look at. In fact, the David Morgan catalog with the hand-drawn illustrations remind me of that.

I was truly sad to see Banana Republic go away. What they sell in "Banana Republic" today, is NOT what interests me.



Here is a link to that history:
http://homepage.mac.com/casewright/essays/khaki.html

Even the bums looked classier than the avarage Joe today.

MK, that's classic!

MK wrote:Someone said it well (I don't recall who)......something about visiting countries looking like we are there to mow it's lawns.............

I cannot remember the exact quote either, but you can credit Schwammy with it.
Indiana Philip

Indiana Philip wrote:

MK wrote:Someone said it well (I don't recall who)......something about visiting countries looking like we are there to mow it's lawns.............

I cannot remember the exact quote either, but you can credit Schwammy with it.
Indiana Philip

Or what about the other quote that captured the current men's fashion look: "A guy wearing shorts, sandles, a t-shirt , sunglasses with a baseball cap with the inscription, "Who Farted?" ".

Those are not bums in the MK pictures. They are my workers outside the factory when we made the first Indy jacket.
Cheers
Peter

PETER wrote:Those are not bums in the MK pictures. They are my workers outside the factory when we made the first Indy jacket.

Peter please don't tell us you used "sweatshop workers".... We'd have another Kathy-Lee incident on our hands!

Mike

I personally believe that the picture was taken not long after the Indy fan's discovered Wested myself. Look at the stunned look on the fellows face on the right! He looks shell shocked, which I'm sure most of the Wested employess are most days. (grins) Regards. Michaelson

Sergei wrote: Or what about the other quote that captured the current men's fashion look: "A guy wearing shorts, sandles, a t-shirt , sunglasses with a baseball cap with the inscription, "Who Farted?" ".

You can credit me with that one.
Indiana Philip

No they are not sweatshop workers, they looked stunned and down because they have just looked at their pay packets.
Cheers
Peter

You all ever notice how slim most folks were back in the day? And one reason that true and accurate A-2s don't fit 21st century bodies. We are all too fat, well, most of us. Fedora

Fedora wrote:You all ever notice how slim most folks were back in the day? And one reason that true and accurate A-2s don't fit 21st century bodies. We are all too fat, well, most of us. Fedora

I know I am... but Belgian booze and grub is way too good

I am 16, and absolutely cannot stand the attire of the average young american male. Dear God. It lacks culture, sophistication etc.
Watching the classic 3 Stooges shorts I am reminded of the above quote by MK that, yes, even the bums dressed better than the average male.
What amazes me is that today our society is very materialistic and image is everything. The majority of "talent" in Hollywood today lacks just that, they make up for it cosmetically. In the 30's, 40's and 50's you had to be incredibly talented to succeed in the industry of yesteryear. Look at Fred Astaire. That great entertainer would be nowhere in today's Hollywood.
So I cannot help but ask if this society is so materialistic and "costmetic looks" based, why are we willing to sacrifice our daily attire? It doesn't make sense.
As I type I am wearing a french cuff white cotton dress shirt, a three piece blue pinstripe, a 100% italian silk tie, a pair of vintage wing tips, and my Borsalino, I hadn't a wedding, funeral, special event to attend, I just like to look good. Why can't America go back to a time when society was not only sophisticated morally, and psycologically, but sophisticated in dress and form. Sincerest Regards. Blaine

P.S. Rundquist wears his Grey Optimo with a dark brown goat G1, jeans, and Aldens and that has got to be one of the coolest "non Indy" looks I have ever seen, and I have yet to hear him mistaken for Indiana Jones.

Rick Blaine wrote:I am 16, and absolutely cannot stand the attire of the average young american male. Dear God. It lacks culture, sophistication etc.

Preach it, Rick!

I run around all the time in my Wested, brown DP fedora, jeans, and leather shoes (Danners). I really think only the fedora looks a little anachronistic, but I don’t think broad brimmed hats (or leather jackets, for that matter) ever really went out of style. I lived for years in a rural area where most of the men, and a lot of the women, wore cowboy hats, so I hardly think twice about my fedora anymore, even though I live in a somewhat more urban area now.

My Dad always said,
"You may be good. But if you don't look good, you're no good."
Indiana Philip

Since we FINALLY are getting rain some here in LA, I've been wearing my PB2 with my Wested Lambtouch a lot this week. We have been having an aggrevatingly HOT and dry winter so I haven't been able to wear them much. I also usually wear my other peices of my Indy clothing with other clothes, Cabela's Safari shirt with Aldens and jeans or My LL Bean Double L khakis with a short sleeve button down shirt etc. This morning however I decided to "put it all together". I wore my Cabela's shirt, Double L taupe khakis, Aldens, Brown Web belt, my wested and My PB2 to the office today. One of my co-workers made a comment when I first walked in, "Hey, it's Indiana Jones!" but since I took off my fedora and jacket, nobidy has said a word. So despite what you maight think, Nobody is going to even notice, unless of course you're strolling around with a gold idol under your arm and have a DM on your belt!
Regarding Rick Blaine's comments, I agree about making an effort to dress a little more formally. I read an interview with Dickie Barrett, the lead singer for the Ska Band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones a few years back. In the interview he was asked about his and the band's look, which consisted of a lot of vintage 60's suits and sport coats. He had very similar comments about the current "dressing down" of American men and he has a personal crusade of sorts to change that. MK and Rick Blaine are correct, I've seen photographs of men from back in the day mowing their lawns with a shirt and tie!
PBG

Hi, All,
(Representatives from the State) Wisconsin will be here on Monday, Tuesday and Friday (10, 11 and 14) of next week. Please dress business casual. Just a reminder that business casual means no jeans, T-shirts or sweats.
Thanks,
Elaine

The company I'm contracting for sent this message to all-hands: AS you can imagine, you could hear the groans and gripes as every staff member under the age of 12 who opened it. I had to contain myself in fear of wetting myself at the idea that everyone will have to show up like I do: Slacks, button down shirt and shoes. Tie's are optional but I wear one 4 days a week since my bride loves to see me in one... and it's easier for her to grab a hold of me when I've done wrong.

I go to the gym twice a day, but I don't sit at my desk looking like it. I'm surrounded with people who appear as if they just came off the Skateboarding ramps while everyday I arrive as if I was an Untouchable or as a Jazz era throwback. Someone had already made this sentiment, but I'll paraphrase it again: If you're going to be successful- you have to dress the part. I don't have any idea what I'm doing half the time, but due to the way I appear- I'm treated as if I do. Dressing professionally commands a level of respect, my actions make sure I maintain that level.

I'm also not afraid to be called "Square" or "Old Fashion", (I have the scars on my knuckles where my fist grazed someone's teeth where someone went too far in exhibiting poor judgment and manors in regards to my sister.) In the age when bad boys and inappropriate attire are the fashion, I'll take "Square" or "Old Fashion" as a complements.

Renderking Fisk wrote: I don't have any idea what I'm doing half the time, but due to the way I appear- I'm treated as if I do.

LOL! I love it! That's what IndyGear is all about right there.

"I don't know, I'm making this up as I go."

Good stuff, Fisk.