Indiana G wrote:castor's your man. he actually provided me some great details of both while i was waiting for my TN........i asked him if i could have one of them....he said no.....
I thought you had one of each too, G! Besides, no way I'm parting with mine for those magic rocks you were offered me!
But seriously, in my opinion, the only person that can truly offer a fair and subjective answer to this question would be someone who recieved a TN and a Wested CS Novapelle at around the same time, therefore no "new jacket envy" syndrome would be present!
If it helps any, I did recieve my Wested Novapelle around Jan, but that was to my own custom specs (which I've heard that Wested now has discontinued custom specs for the time being), while I got my TN the day of the film's release.
I'll try to be subjective, which should be easy since I love both jackets:
As far as fit is concerned, it really depends. Since Nowak is currently mostly open to anything, you can get a really good fit as long as you can supply good measurements. However, the temptation is there to get screen-accurate measurements (or as close as possible), since it's the closest thing to owning a screen-used prop that most of us will ever come to, which means sacrificing your own personal fit. But if you can overcome this temptation, you're all set. However, do bear in mind that though the body and chest are fitting, the sleeves tend to be baggy unless otherwise requested.
For Wested. since they said they are putting a hold on custom requests, it seems that it really is luck of the draw here. While my Wested perfectly, this was before they announced the (temporary?) end of custom requests.
The color on the Nowak is noticably lighter than the Wested I have, but I've heard that Wested is now using a more screen-accurate color for their Novapelle. However, I personally think that on-screen, the Nowak jacket on Ford looks darker than what we get out of the box, and closer to Wested's Novapelle, perhaps due to the studio's aging techniques. Yet in certain behind-the-scenes photos, it looks closer to what you get out of the box for a Nowak. So it really depends on personal preference I guess.
Compare these two photos for example:
http://www.theraider.net/films/indy4/ga ... ij4_03.jpg
http://www.theraider.net/films/indy4/ga ... /mo_08.jpg
However, the Nowak jacket out-of-the-box still is lighter than any of the shots I've seen, so perhaps a little Pecards is needed? You can get it distressed like the film used jackets, or undistressed like Wested's jackets, which is a plus I suppose. The distressing I mention here is distressing done AFTER the jacket is made, since both Nowak and Wested use hides that have a pre-distressed look. It's just that Nowak goes the extra mile and offers to hand-distress their jackets just like they did for the movie jackets.
Now when it comes to style, I can't really say. Since my Wested Novapelle was based on my own specs (which I guesstimated from the Nowak jacket), it would be unfair to comment here. However, I've read that Wested made a lot of improvements since then to their Indy IV jacket, as far as similarity to the prototype LC jacket is concerned. I suppose that as far as style of these jackets is concerned, they would be more or less identical, since they are trying to replicate the same jacket anyway. Differences here would be more in design, rather than stylistic.
Is the Nowak jacket worth 200 more than a Wested? Only you can answer that.
The Nowak jacket is thicker than the Wested. I'd call the Nowak winter-spring weight, while the Wested seems light enough to use year round. The Nowak is also significantly heavier. Likewise, based on the 'heaviness', I would imagine that perhaps the Nowak would be able to better take a beating than a Wested. However, as far as all around comfort goes, I'd say go for Wested's Novapelle.
Both jackets have an identical chalky, fur-felt feel to them.
Some would contend that the Nowak has the advantage of being the screen-used jacket vendor. Especially considering that KotCS just came out, it would be the same as getting a Leather Concessionaires around the time of Raiders' release, or LC's release. Though they are right, it still is worth mentioning that Wested still was a major player in KotCS, as far as I'm concerned. They were involved behind the scenes, and I'm sure others can elaborate, and more importantly, Botwright was involved with the original trilogy. So it would be like getting a HJ made to resemble an AB, in that you get the both of both worlds.
If film history also plays a big part of this decision for you, you've got to ask yourself if you like the original trilogy better, or if you like the new Indy movie. Because if you hate this new movie and are getting the gear just to say "It was made by so and so...", then it would be the same as being someone who absolutely hates ToD, but has a Cooper's jacket made around the same time. Sure it is historical, but so what if you hate the movie?
I know I've rambled on for long enough, but hopefully this should help a little in narrowing down your decision.
