My Oldest Indy Jacket

[Deleted]

A lot of you folks know that I have been into the hobby of Indy Gear since Raiders came out at the theater. Some of you already know this but have asked for a few pics............

In 1993 I went to a jacket maker here in Chicago with a few pictures and drawings and had him make me an Indy jacket.

At the time he was 83 years old and his skills had declined so some of my details went undone. He would only work in Cowhide, period. The cowhide he used is some tough heavy leather.

I know this is no screen accurate jacket be any means but at the time I did not even know about any Indy Sites and was very new to the Computer scene.

Anywho here you go....................








Indoors Flash



Indoors




On a final not, I have lost quite a bit of weight since the jacket was made.


Cheers,
G-MANN

[Tyrloch]

Gmann,

Honestly, considering the lack of all of the info we have now, and the age of the maker, I don't think it's half-bad! It's not really that far off. Granted, the bottom isn't too fitted, and the sleeves need a bit of a taper to them, but it's definitely got the Indy vibe to it! All it really need is a SA drag behind a truck to peel that shine off it!!

~Jace

[IndyBlues]

So this is the famous GMann jacket I've heard so much about. I tell you what,....before I found COW, I would have sported that jacket all over the place, with a big grin on my face.
Considering I had no clue about all the details of the jacket, that looks Indy enough to me.
Plus, like you said, you've lost alot of weight since you got that jacket. It's just a bit big now.
John, did you wear it like crazy when you got it??
'Blues

[aeriscanon]

What amazes me is how keen your eye was toward the details of the jacket back then. I never looked beyond the subtle things that made the Indy jacket the Indy jacket. It honestly never occurred to me that there was no elastic on the bottom of the coat or wristbands. I thought it was simply a style of bomber jacket that had long been discontinued and the closest thing was a current bomber jacket offering. For that being a "test run" jacket it is very VERY good! Especially considering you had that made pre-web days.

That really is some awesome work from back in the day, G-Mann.

[pitfallharry]

Yeah, I agree with what everyone else has said. Even though the jacket maker wasn't as sharp as he used to be and you didn't have places like IndyGear to help you out I think that jacket is pretty darn close. I've seen other offerings that don't look as good as that one and they've had the benefit of the gear sites to do their research.

I really like the color of that jacket too. Very cool G-Mann!

[GCR]

indyblues said:

I tell you what,....before I found COW, I would have sported that jacket all over the place, with a big grin on my face.

Same here, IB...er, I mean 'B. If I had been able to get my hands on a jacket like that back in 93, I would have worn that thing everywhere also, hell I probably would have slept with the thing on!

I searched high and low for a jacket that had all the same little details as the Indy jacket for years. I would spend an hour or two roaming the aisles of the leather store and asking to see what they had stored out back, but to no avail. It never occured to me to have one made.

You did a fine job with this one, G-MANN! I really have to give you a lot of credit here, as that is truly a remarkable jacket.

-GCR

[pastimesteve]

That's amazing and certainly a one-of-a-kind. I admire your dedication to getting that jacket made.

Steve

[Jorenz]

That's amazing considering you probably didn't have screen caps.

Did you keep the original design sheets?

[Kt. Templar]

Very cool, the colour is especially good.

That is a very interesting story, do you remember how long it took hime to make? What was your reaction to it when you first saw it completed? Did you wear it a lot?

[Tyrloch]

Taking another look at it, I think that the side straps are just a bit too high, and that's why it flares out at the bottom a bit. That & the fact that you lost some weight. But again, everything considered, it really is a very good "close-enough"...Congrats to you John, for taking the initiative to have a jacket made in the absence of offerings at the time.

~Jace

[Deleted]

Thanks everyone.


The only pics I had for reference were in the "Raiders" Storybook.

It took Sam about 3 weeks to make. He did repairs mostly at this time. Mainly on the Chicago Policemen's jackets.

As I said he did leave out a few of my details but it still turned out pretty well, considering the man's age. It has more of a LC look than ROLA but given the options that I was aware of at the time I though he did a good job.

I did wear the heck out of it for quite a while and it still could use a LOT more distressing but this thing is Tough As Nails.

On a final note, He did enjoy the challenge and told me I was very different than his Usual Customers that all wanted Black jackets at that time.

Cheers,
G-MANN

[IndyBlues]

Ya know, that was around the time I was wearing a black biker jacket. That was the in thing, so I can believe he was suprised about doing a brown jacket.
I've noticed a big resurgence in brown clothing and fashion,...it's the new black, ;D.
Brown baseball team hats, with the standard logo of that particular team(goes great with an Indy jacket, IMHO), brown sneakers, ...also, lots of military styled bags and camo fashion.
Our Indy gear is starting to go mainstream.
'Blues

[Ragingblues]

I agree that with nothing to base it on but photos in a book, and having the guy miss several details... and agree to only make it in cowhide.... this was a fine endeavor. It also shows how long you have been into this stuff, way before learning there might be others on the planet that shared your interest.

Great piece of gear history!

Ken

[rick5150]

Cowhide is hugely under-rated by virtually everyone. I wonder why that is. I have a predistressed cowhide Indy and a lambtouch and these jackets are soft as heck and they drape great. Very comfortable too. Hmmmm...