Club Obi Wan

Hey folks! I never took any "before pics of my boots when I distressed them, but Indiana Ken liked the way mine looked, so he asked me to distress his. I did get an opportunity to photograph the results before and after this time:
















-Rabittooth

That seriously looks so awesome!!!!!!! I'm stoked to go home from college so I can get working on mine.

That's amazing work there Rab! Great job!

I really dont know what to say. I was so stunned when I first saw these pics - to think they went from what looked like orange ice skating boots to near on dead ringer perfectly distressed Aldens....

All I can say is a massive thank you to Rab. I cannot wait to receive these bad boys!!

Ken

for some reason i always hated that. I dont understand why you want to make your gear look old....to me it does not look so great. I guess its all personal prefrence right? Even though i dont like the way it looks rab did do a good job at making it look old. Remember thats just what i think....im a natural wear kinda guy. rab i hope you arent upset by my post at all, if so pm me and ill change it.
kindest regards
molorom

Molorom wrote:for some reason i always hated that. I dont understand why you want to make your gear look old....to me it does not look so great. I guess its all personal prefrence right? Even though i dont like the way it looks rab did do a good job at making it look old. Remember thats just what i think....im a natural wear kinda guy. rab i hope you arent upset by my post at all, if so pm me and ill change it.
kindest regards
molorom

Not at all. To each his own.
But Indy's gear looked old and worn, and some of us are trying to emulate it as seen on screen...that's why we do it. Almost all of this stuff is VERY well made....and to get it to the point of looking like Indy's with natural wear would take more time than I dare to guess at. AND...it wouldn't be in a controlled manner.
Don't forget...for me...Indy gear is a costume, and other than my 2nd Wested...not something that I wear everyday. To me...film accurate color and wear = better costume.
So Molo...is it distressing and old looking gear that you don't like, or just artificial distressing you don't dig?

-Rabittooth

Those boots look awesome! So Rab, are you gonna divulge your secret distressing technique?

Wow Nice job Rabittooth! Those look great.

well rab,
to me natural distressing its realistic and natural looking artificial distressing looks sometimes just plain tacky....What i mean is that i dont like the way artificial distressing looks. I do however like the way natural distressing looks.
mola

Pretty amazing work there Rab - how long did that little project take?
On the subject of distressing, it is a matter of to each his own - I tend to ride the fence myself. I've done distressing work on electric guitars, and it does seem to make things feel more broken in and comfortable sooner. That said, I don't think I could distress a real pair of Aldens, - I guess for me the price tag may dictate what of my Indygear gets distressed and what doesn't...

Dr._J wrote:Those boots look awesome! So Rab, are you gonna divulge your secret distressing technique?

It's a zippo lighter, some black shoe polish, some leather conditioner and some sanding of the soles.
You hold a zippo lighter just far enough from the leather to let it darken and deposit soot on the surface. Rub that soot in and continue til you've got a desired effect. I crush up the boots to give it the creases and "wear". Then I use some black shoe polish sparingly...then wash most of the black shoe polish off. Then use a leather conditioner to seal it and darken it further. I also sanded the soles a bit so they weren't so new looking.
The white-looking dust you see on the boots is just tiny debris from the paper towel I used to dab on the leather cream. It can be washed off, but I left it on my pair cause I liked how it looked. Ken can wash it off if he wants, but I figured I'd let him decide when he got them.

-Rabittooth

Molorom wrote:well rab,
to me natural distressing its realistic and natural looking artificial distressing looks sometimes just plain tacky....What i mean is that i dont like the way artificial distressing looks. I do however like the way natural distressing looks.
mola

Gotcha!
So...you don't like the way Indy's gear looked in the film?
That was artificial distressing for sure. They took a pocketknife to the jacket according to some articles in fact.


-Rabittooth

Panama Tom Jr. wrote:Pretty amazing work there Rab - how long did that little project take?
On the subject of distressing, it is a matter of to each his own - I tend to ride the fence myself. I've done distressing work on electric guitars, and it does seem to make things feel more broken in and comfortable sooner. That said, I don't think I could distress a real pair of Aldens, though - I guess for me the price tag may dictate what of my Indygear gets distressed and what doesn't...

Amen to that! I collect replica lightsabers and some of those guys distress them like crazy to look more like some of the more beat-up ones did in the film. That scares the snot outta me...I'd never mess up my lightsabers.
I dunno...the Indygear only looks "right" to me when distressed. Just like it just looks "wrong" to others.
AND...why some guys on the RPF say "Great lightsaber...but ya gotta dirty it up a bit."

Actually...it only took about an hour or so to actually DO...the drying of the leather conditioner was overnight.

-Rabittooth

Those Before & After pics are amazing!
Nice Job.

Nice job again Rab!
The method used seems good too, it basically just adds colour to the leather deep in there and I think the leather can take it for sure instead of what would probably happen if you had sandpapered it and used chemicals. I'm no expert by all means, I'm just saying I would feel comfortable with not actually physically hurting the leather. Now... Where is that leather couch of mine...

High regards
Swindy

They don't look as old as they do antiqued. Nice work !

Wow!

I looked for just a few seconds at the Aldens in some online pictures and decided not to get them because I hated the color. I know they can be dyed to whatever color I would want, but if I'm going to spend that much on a more casual set of shoes, I want to wear them right out of the box. However, after seeing the possibilities, I'm having to reconsider. Those just look great!

IG

Rabbittoth:

Great job with the make over. BTW: Which make/model of boots are those?

Thanks.

those are the J.Crew "decker" model. I'm wearing mine right now. Great boots!

Thanks. I've got a pair of the Carolina's while I get an Alden sollution arranged.

I've got a pair of WWII style Corcoran jump boots that I may try this out on. They are a kind of milk chocolate brown, which I have never really cared for. They're beater shoes that can take pretty much any kind of abuse, and I think the darker, worn look would work on them.

Cheers,

IG