Indiana Jones's jacket

Template:Infobox Object Around the 1930s, Indiana Jones frequently wore a brown leather jacket while adventuring - preferring a A-2 bomber inspired jacket.

History

As with other facets of his adult adventuring gear, Indiana Jones adopted a look that was similar, whether consciously or otherwise, to that a looter he encountered as a child in Utah, 1912.

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Behind the scenes

Peter Botwright is the man behind Indiana Jones' jacket as it was his company, Wested Leather, which supplied the jackets for Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. As well as customized jackets, Wested Leather sells replicas of the jacket as worn by Indiana Jones actor Harrison Ford.

The jackets for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull were created by Tony Nowak of Tony Nowak Originals, based on the Last Crusade design.

One of the screen-used jackets was donated to the Smithsonian Institution.

Jacket detail

While keeping the same A-2 bomber jacket style without cuffs throughout the film series, the jacket's details varied with each installment.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Striations are visible on the Raiders jacket.

Leather: Striated lambskin

Supplier: Peter Botwright

Lightweight with a loose fit, the Raiders jacket is also the shortest of the series in comparison with the other feature films. The cut/pattern of the jacket gives it an "over hang" which makes the shoulders oversized giving it the loose look. The over hang makes the jacket appear longer and shorter depending on the scene.

The jacket design's zippers were originally aluminum then painted to appear brass during production. As the paint wore off, the aluminum zipper is visible in most scenes with the brass briefly featured in others such as Indiana Jones on board the OB-CPO after the Hovitos chase.

It also had black rectangular buckles to hold in the straps at the sides.

Among all the movies, the first film's jacket design was the least distressed. Despite this, it sports "striations", giving it a worn in look as did the artificial weathering.

Variations to the Raiders jacket on-screen include:

• The jacket used in the South American prologue sequence where Indy enters the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors. Prominent features of this jacket are the pointed collars and the more scalloped pockets.
• The main jacket with the most screen time in the film used during The Raven and Cairo scenes, and just before Indy gets shot and dragged under the truck. Its most prominent features are the striations at the chest panel.
• A jacket used during the desert chase after Jones takes control of the truck. A different, stunt jacket was utilized for the moment Indy was dragged under the vehicle.
• The first jacket made for the shoot was featured during the Bantu Wind scenes recorded in France. Costume designer Deborah Nadoolman personally aged the jacket the night before shooting using various tools such as shoe polish, a wire brush, and Harrison Ford's knife.)

Temple of Doom

Jacket featured in Temple of Doom.

Leather: Lambskin

Supplier: French company

The Temple of Doom jacket as the slimmest fit of the series. Longer in comparison to the Raiders jacket, what also distinguishes it from the other jackets are the smaller pockets.

The second film's design loses the striation features of the first but has a more distressed look.

Last Crusade

Last Crusade design.

Leather: Lambskin

Supplier: Peter Botwright

The Last Crusade design has two metal studs at the end of the storm flap of the jacket. It also has the largest pockets of the film series to accommodate the size of the Grail Diary.

It has the loosest fit in the original trilogy. The jacket appears roomier compared to its predecessors. It is also the heaviest distressed jacket in the theatrical movies including Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Like the other jackets, it is made of lambskin but it appears thicker due to different tanning process used for the leather.

Instead of buckles, D-rings were used for the straps.

Appearances

• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues" → Mystery of the Blues
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Sources

• Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
• Pre-Production

External links

• Jacket worn by Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at The Smithsonian
• Jacket worn by Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at the National Museum of American History