Club Obi Wan

Looking at some photographs of Ken's 10 year old Aldens stimulated a question for me.

This is directed predominately at the long-time members here although everybody is welcome to respond, of course.

How old is the longest-serving Indy jacket (or Indy-style jacket) in your wardrobe? How has it held up through its lifetime?

I’m particularly thinking of the longevity and durability of our jackets with this question – how they have been used, cared for, what (if any) repairs have been carried out over the years et cetera.

We usually only get to see brand new jackets - for a change, some jackets with a bit of history would be great.

I got my first Indy jacket in 1989 from the Paramount Pictures catalog. I wore it constantly and it even went to Europe and back with me. It's been stuffed in suitcases, drenched in the rain, and modified a couple of times. Right now it's in my younger brother's possession since it doesn't fit me anymore, it's a little faded in color, but still in great shape. I have no pictures of it right now, but next time I see him, I'll be sure to snap off a few.

The oldest jacket in my collection is the one my mother made me back in 1984. It was the closest thing to an Indy jacket for me at the time. It was a $7 or so garage sale leather trenchcoat that she made the following modifications to:

Raised up the bottom, added a zipper, removed the buttons, moved up the pockets, and added some elastic to the sides. It even had Noel Howard type pleats on the front (I know, not screen accurate on the jacket, but looked pretty cool). It also had already bucket cuffs to boot. I still have it, but there's no way it'll fit me today. But I can't get rid of it, it means too much to me now.

I was going through some of my old log notes and saw that I had received my first Indy jacket in December of 1992. It was a Christmas present. It was sold as the official Indiana Jones jacket from a magazine ad. I believe the vendor was W & W. From the Indy Gear jacket web page, I learned that the jacket was a Cooper/U.S. Wings predistressed cowhide. It cost around $250.

The jacket held up well except that the lining eventually developed wear holes after about nine years of heavy use. I had no problems with the leather, stitching or hardware.

A bad experience with having the jacket cleaned put it out of commission. I have another thread which discusses that in detail.

Axel

Dooh, I am a newbie inhere!

My oldest Wested is 5 years old and made of lamb.

The smell of leather was heavier then than now - and I don´t know if that´s good or bad.

However the "old" lamb was more smooth and had a darker brown colour to it - it looks black on pics.

It had suffered heavy distressing (You could ask Peter ) but the leather and the liner is intact to this day, and the jacket has been on my shoulders on a daily basis.

The pattern has changed during these 5 years - only minor details, but a trained eye would sure spot the changes that has been made - some for the better and some for worse - but again only minor details!

Wested did and still do making great jackets!

Best regards

JAN

My oldest is a Disney jacket circa 1994. I love the natural aging process:







Sorry there are no full shots, these were taken to defend Michaelson's natural distressing beliefs in another thread... This jacket was aged using time, travel and nature.

Kind regards,
Indy

Indy Magnoli wrote:This jacket was aged using time, travel and nature.

Kind regards,
Indy

TIME TRAVEL! Now there's an idea

I think the longest serving jacket will be Mr Keppler's, pictured on the main site, which was the first replica jacket I do believe way back before the internet.

Ken

I'm surprised your jacket is still going after what you've put it through Ken!

Magnoli, I love the look of that jacket..... Is it still wearable though? Has it still got many miles left in it would you say? Or has it been 'retired'?

Ian

English Adventurer wrote:Magnoli, I love the look of that jacket..... Is it still wearable though? Has it still got many miles left in it would you say? Or has it been 'retired'?

It's still going well. The lining has a few worn holes, but the leather is doing alright. The collar got a bit roughed up by a mule in the Grand Canyon, but I'm planning to Pecard it shortly. I'm a bit scared that it'll restore it too well...

Kind regards,
Indy

Hey, Minnesota, can you show us some pics of that jacket? I, for one, would love to see what it looks like.

bink

I got my first Indy type jacket back in 1984. After seeing ToD, I wanted to be Indiana Jones. I totally conned my mother into buying me the only leather jacket I could find in the middle of a southern summer which was a yard sale Avirex A-2. I had to work all summer to pay my mother back. I wore that jacket seemingly everyday for years. I never warmed up to the knit cuffs or waistband but the lambskin broke in and felt so good. At one point, I had a nice old lady replace the cotton liner with a cooler satin one. I remember she charged me $5 for the job. I never treated the leather and never gave the jacket special care. It ended up looking pretty rough. It was a really well made coat and still is. My mother always pointed out how I begged for the jacket and then didn't take care of it. She just didn't understand. The old A-2 is a bit small for me now but I wear it occasionally because it really takes me back to those childhood days when anything seemed possible.