Club Obi Wan

When I started looking at the Indy jacket, Wested had a very specific image on the site that "sold me." I thought I had saved it, but cannot find it anywhere.

It is a shot of the jacket from the rear left side. The arms are folded in front of the jacket so they cannot really be seen. I think the upper left arm could be seen to the elbow.

I found it to be a very simple, yet effective shot and it gave the jacket a certain slim-fitting, lightweight appearance that looked "right" to me. It almost gave the illusion that the back panel was longer than the jacket - like short tuxedo tails, if I am recalling correctly. Of course, this is an illusion (or a bad memory) but it was a great look.

I was wondering if anyone remembers the shot and if they can post it or send it to me.

Check out the old IndyFan website via the Wayback machine, and scroll down to The Jacket: http://web.archive.org/web/200108131105 ... om/xmarks/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That is definitely the one! Thank you so much. Now I need to find a better image of this for an article I am writing.

Yep, THAT was the original Wested lambskin jacket we all got first, knew and loved.

Regards! Michaelson

That photo sold me, too. Unfortunately, I'm not built that way, and I still ended up looking like an unmade bed even in that jacket. By the way, it's good to see you alighting here briefly again, Rick5150!

Now how come the leather on that jacket looks right to me (color, shine, drape), and few others do?

An unmade bed?!

I am not built like Ford either, but that Wested image left a lot to the imagination and I think it was better that way. You cannot tell about the collar stand, the pocket flap shape or even which way the side straps are facing, really. Back then, that was enough, but now everyone needs to know what type of leather, every single pattern detail, the country of origin that the thread came from, the birthday of the stitcher, etc. It can get silly. Now with Blu-ray screen captures? Forget about it.

Oddly enough, my initial jackets from Wested based on that single image, often fit better and just looked better than the last 4 or 5 that I received when I started providing details. I think that it may be that we just tend to over-think every single detail, because now we can. I am learning that I do best when I am blissfully ignorant.

When everything is said and done, after all the work that we put into the research and the tiny details - most of us still do not look like Ford, and the jacket alone is usually unrecognizable by the common population.

BTW, thanks Flash Gordon - After a while, there was nothing I felt I could add that has not been discussed already. But I do check in from time to time, just in case.

From what we were told back then, the tannery that leather was sourced from closed for business, and Wested had to go elsewhere to get their hides. That's why this one looks so different than what you've seen in the past few years.

Regards !Michaelson

I rememeber that image. Still a great looking jacket save for the straight yoke, sleeve and yoke seams lining up, straps anchored at the lower portion of the pockets, straps sewed into the seams, D-rings...

Texan Scott wrote:I rememeber that image. Still a great looking jacket save for the straight yoke, sleeve and yoke seams lining up, straps anchored at the lower portion of the pockets, straps sewed into the seams, D-rings...

and still this jacket is more alluring to me then any of the BK/TN jackets out there. To me the BK/TN are not a be all end all SA jacket. 100% raiders jacket clones will never happen. TN-CS yeah, thats a different story. So in the end of the day, what difference does it really give if your yolk is lined up or not? do we feel more Indy if the seam is alittle different from the movie jacket? I know I don't, I thought I would but it really doesn't give it. Do we really need to get countless of jackets made and send them back cuz the collar stitch or pocket shape is different then we wanted, I know I and my wallet will get as much of an headache as the vendors who make them and to me anyways, it takes away the fun of the jacket hobby cuz you get such high hopes for it. that's what I have learned over the years in this hobby. If you ask me now, to me it's about the magic of what was made before. the old vintage jackets made close after production.

Like this old 1980's LC /wested jacket.



Those jackets are intresting to me.


Jm2c

In the end, none of it really matters in the grand scheme of things, but it is not uncommon for people to slice and dice if it is a hobby and of particular interest to them. I think all of us have at one time or the other wanted these articles to be as close to the screen image as possible and reasonable (and we have that now with several vendors). Otherwise, lets just get an A-2 or a G-1 and call it good.

Texan Scott wrote:Otherwise, lets just get an A-2 or a G-1 and call it good.

That's what a lot of us ASSUMED it was in the beginning, as we didn't have the luxury of popping a videotape or DVD in a home machine to check the details.

We had to pay for a ticket and go watch the film....again....and again....and again....and we STILL missed those details as the shots were quick, and many things just fooled the eye in a darkened theater.

Regards! Michaelson

Holt wrote:

Texan Scott wrote:I rememeber that image. Still a great looking jacket save for the straight yoke, sleeve and yoke seams lining up, straps anchored at the lower portion of the pockets, straps sewed into the seams, D-rings...

and still this jacket is more alluring to me then any of the BK/TN jackets out there. To me the BK/TN are not a be all end all SA jacket. 100% raiders jacket clones will never happen. TN-CS yeah, thats a different story. So in the end of the day, what difference does it really give if your yolk is lined up or not? do we feel more Indy if the seam is alittle different from the movie jacket? I know I don't, I thought I would but it really doesn't give it. Do we really need to get countless of jackets made and send them back cuz the collar stitch or pocket shape is different then we wanted, I know I and my wallet will get as much of an headache as the vendors who make them and to me anyways, it takes away the fun of the jacket hobby cuz you get such high hopes for it. that's what I have learned over the years in this hobby. If you ask me now, to me it's about the magic of what was made before. the old vintage jackets made close after production.

Like this old 1980's LC /wested jacket.



Those jackets are intresting to me.


Jm2c

Beautiful jacket!
That leather it's amazing, and the wrinkles caused for the tape on the back of the leather, very SA.
I love the color and the rounded collar points.

IMO, an Indy jacket must have something else, besides SA details... it has to have "soul".
And my friends, that jacket has soul....oh, yeah...

Regards.-

And that is going back as far as you can go in the hobby.

MOD EDIT: Name removed from posting based on this rule: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=13312" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Its been fun just to see different vendor's versions of this jacket. All of them have their strengths, and there are no sub-standard jacket makers in the forum today. Each are different in their own ways, and have their own take on it.

We really need a vintage Raiders jacket thread.

That's the one I have actually....clown collar and all......I really need to get a "Hero"....

It all comes round again...

Michaelson wrote:

Texan Scott wrote:Otherwise, lets just get an A-2 or a G-1 and call it good.

That's what a lot of us ASSUMED it was in the beginning, as we didn't have the luxury of popping a videotape or DVD in a home machine to check the details.

We had to pay for a ticket and go watch the film....again....and again....and again....and we STILL missed those details as the shots were quick, and many things just fooled the eye in a darkened theater.

Regards! Michaelson

I went to Temple of Doom six times - one time specifically just to eyeball that jacket and make notes. Oh, the 1980's. I was shocked to see the jacket wasn't an A2. It was a revalation to discover there were't knits on the jacket. And I stupidly imagined that it was the same jaacket they used in Raiders.

Hello all!
I haven't posted in ages...
Here are some pics of my 1998 Wested that I took circa 2009.
Cheers!