The Pants of Indiana Jones

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The pants worn throughout the Indiana Jones films were based on original World War II Army and Army Air Corps officer trousers. Although not original Pinks they are based on the same basic design and do carry a slight pinkish hue. The pants made for Raiders are said to be more of a greyish-brown where the pants made for Temple of Doom and Last Crusade were supposedly a purer reddish-brown. The pants were made of a khaki wool-twill, pleated with seven belt loops, two scalloped button flap rear pockets, a button fly and a four-inch military style hem. For the first three films the pants were all most likely subcontracted by the costume department and made by famed London-based cinema costumers, Angels and Bermans, to be tailored perfectly for Harrison Ford for the production. Bernie Pollack and Johanna Johnston were the Costume Designers for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny respectively and based their designs on the previous incarnations. Johnston had the distinction for designing the pants for two different eras (1944 and 1969).

RotLA pants
ToD pants
LC pants
CS pants
DoD pants


The Military Hem
The Indiana Jones pants are tailored with a classic military styled pants hem. The front of the hem is one inch higher than the back and the hem stitch is four to five inches from the bottom as illustrated by the stills from the film. A standard military hem is at most three inches, but it appears as though the Indiana Jones pants were hemmed at about four or five inches, most likely so Harrison Ford would not get them caught on his ankle-high boots while filming.

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hem2
LC hem