Leather jackets have been used by adventurers since the early
1900s, unless you count cowboys in the American
West in the late nineteenth century. However,
the leather jacket really came into prominence
with aviators in the postwar period following
World War I.
The barnstormers used leather jackets for warmth
and protection in case their biplanes sprang hot
oil leaks and the like.
Indy's jacket is inspired
by the leather jackets of the 1930s that preceded
the advent of the famous A-2 jacket worn by American
fighter and bomber pilots in World
War II. Indy isn't the first adventurer
to wear a leather jacket with a fedora. Alan Ladd
wears this same combination in China
as does Charlton Heston in Secret
of the Incas.
These pictures
are of an actual Wested
from 1999.
Peter Botwright has made improvements since
then. |
Indiana Jones' particular
jacket, designed by Deborah Nadoolman, was made
by Peter Botwright for Berman's
and Nathan's in London. Peter Botwright,
the owner of Wested Leather
in London, claims to have the original patterns
for the jacket. Many fans have been satisfied
with these jackets as authentic reproductions
and they can still be purchased from him today
at www.wested.com.
Deborah Nadoolman recalls personally
aging the original Raiders
jacket with Harrison Ford's pocket knife
and a wire brush in Rochelle, France during the
filming of the Bantu Wind sequence.
Indy's leather
jacket in Raiders
of the Lost Ark. |
Allegedly, during the production
of Temple of Doom,
the jackets were cheaply copied by a French company
for use in the film. The jacket in the film is
around an inch longer than Ford's more snuggly
fitting jacket in Raiders.
By Last Crusade,
the jacket was once again manufactured by Peter
Botwright's company and made from cowhide
instead of the lighter lambskin and a snap button
was added to the jacket's storm flap to
keep in closed, more akin to the design of the
A2.
|