Achieving the Indiana Jones look...without looking in costume??

[Gray Ghost]

We took a Yankee friend into the GSMNP today. I was wearing russet jump boots, khaki colored Khakis, a beige linsey/woolsey camp shirt & a tan Tilley T3. When we were at Cades Cove strangers started to ask me questions about the exhibits & such! LOL

A few years back, my wife and myself, were walking down the street in Gatlinburg, TN and a gentleman on the street made a comment about how he liked my cowboy hat. I was wearing my brown fedora and leather bomber jacket. Never got the Indy comment but I just had to stop and correct him on the type of hat I was wearing. He was one of those guys looking to give me money if I would take a tour of the local resort. We needed the money anyway so we took the tour and ended up buying a timeshare in Gatlinburg. Now if someone makes a comment I just keep on walking or run for the hills. LOL. I have decided that if I want to wear a certain set of clothes, I am not going to let what other people think ruin what I want to wear. If they want to make a comment that I am trying to look like Indy then I am just going to thank them and keep moving. I know I am not wearing a costume, I just like the clothes and will wear what I want.

=GG=

 

[DesertDan]

I have worn a Fedora almost every day since I was in my early 20's (I'm 47 now). I have worked outdoors most of my life and so my wardrobe just natually evolved into a very "Jonesish" style. I have never been fond of jeans finding chinos more comfortable. The same with T shirts, button down camp-style shirts are my regular daily wear. After over 20 years of dressing this way it's just my clothes, I don't even think of it in terms of "style" anymore.

I sometime get a "Indy" comment but whenever I do I just smile at the person and say "That's Doctor Jones to you." I've always gotten a smile or chuckle in return.

Cheers!
DD

 

[John in Covina]

It is an iconic look and for some people just one element like a fedora will draw comments. Others that are oblivious will be unable to make any connection no matter how accurate you copy the clothes.

The guys at COW (Club Obi Wan) have a tremendous amount of info on the clothes so it might be worth atrip there to see the details they have put together as to accurate interpretations.

Just have fun.

 

[1911 Man]

I find it doesn't matter what I wear, if it includes a brownish hat with a full brim that somewhat resembles a fedora, someone will make an Indiana Jones comment. Most people mean no harm or ridicule in the comment, in fact most comments are more complimentary than anything.

 

[Saint-Just]

It is probably an age thing, but I am somewhat amazed how many people seem to pay attention to what isolated complete strangers can say about the way they dress.

What is important is how you feel. A Western hat, western tie and cowboy boots in SE England and I will feel I'm going to a fancy dress party. But chinos, khaki shirt, and a leather jacket are perfect if your lifestyle allows you to wear that.

For the OP, I'd recommend starting with wearing the hat every day, with no other "Indy" gear. Then the hat will become part of his style. He will learn what he likes with it, and what he doesn't.

Then, keeping the hat as the base of how he dresses, he should think of how he wants to travel. And that will be his style, regardless of how a film character may have dressed over 30 years ago.

 

[15 Black]

I wear a brown wool felt crusher in the cold weather that has more of an outback shape, it looks nothing like an Indy hat and even that has gotten me "Hey Indy" comments. If it's a brown pinch front hat, someone is going to think it looks like an Indy hat.

 

[Edward]

Lose the shoulder bag and try not to be seen carrying a coiled bullwhip in public.

Quite. A bullwhip looks ridiculous in town. Personally, I find a black riding crop much more suited to the urban environment.

 

[Fifty150]

But do keep the pistol. In some neighborhoods, you will need it.

 

[Edward]

Suddenly struck me earlier that I can think of two clear examples of Hollywood characters where they did exactly what the OP is after: took the general Indy style and ran with it without copying it. One was, of course, Brendan Fraser in The Mummy franchise. It seems to me they deliberately avoided putting him in a hat due to the Jones issue. Check out these images:

Sam Neill in Jurassic Park does it very well:

 

[DeaconKC]

And of course you can always say "It is very comfortable and practical, try it sometime."

PS: love the idea of the gun in urban areas, "Goblin hunting"

 

[Kirk H.]

Quite. A bullwhip looks ridiculous in town. Personally, I find a black riding crop much more suited to the urban environment.

lol That is a good one.

 

[Fifty150]

I am a fashion idiot and have worn jeans and T-shirts my entire life so this is stepping into unfamiliar territory for me.

Jeans & t-shirts seem like they scream out for a leather jacket.

Indiana Jones wore the same clothes every day for how many years? You've got to be kidding me with this, right? What is he, a walking comic book?

Imagine if Indiana Jones could pick out different things. Work those into your wardrobe. What would today's Indiana Jones have? Indy might carry a Timbuk2 messenger bag. Indy would surely have a Leatherman Tool and a rechargeable Streamlight. Today's Indiana Jones may incorporate modern technology, like Gore-Tex, into his gear. The 21st Century Indy would have Vibram Lug Soles like the Alden 404. I can totally see Indy in modern Tactical Dress Uniforms.

What kind of car would Indiana Jones drive? Jeep? Ford Explorer? Range Rover? Ford Mustang? Lowered Honda Civic with tinted windows, stickers, and a loud muffler?

 

[scottyrocks]

Jeans & t-shirts seem like they scream out for a leather jacket.

Indiana Jones wore the same clothes every day for how many years? You've got to be kidding me with this, right? What is he, a walking comic book?

As much of a fan as I am, well, yeah, basically.

Imagine if Indiana Jones could pick out different things. Work those into your wardrobe. What would today's Indiana Jones have? Indy might carry a Timbuk2 messenger bag. Indy would surely have a Leatherman Tool and a rechargeable Streamlight. Today's Indiana Jones may incorporate modern technology, like Gore-Tex, into his gear. The 21st Century Indy would have Vibram Lug Soles like the Alden 404. I can totally see Indy in modern Tactical Dress Uniforms.

I've often thought about this. Would an 'Indiana Jones' be wearing the same style of everything in 1936 and 1957? Wouldn't practicality dictate otherwise? Don't most people alter and vary their wardrobes over 20 years?

Basically, yes, he is a comic book character, but (initially) without the comic book.

What kind of car would Indiana Jones drive? Jeep? Ford Explorer? Range Rover? Ford Mustang? Lowered Honda Civic with tinted windows, stickers, and a loud muffler?

If he was still doing archeology, I think he'd be driving an appropriate off-road vehicle, at least while he was in the field. While living at home and teaching classes, though, I'd like to think he'd be driving an American sedan, but it's almost pointless to ponder this. How old would be be in today's day and age? Would he be transplanted from the past into today, keeping his GE mindset? Because if he was just a modern day archeologist named Henry Jones, he wouldn't be Indiana Jones.

 

[1961MJS]

Quite. A bullwhip looks ridiculous in town. Personally, I find a black riding crop much more suited to the urban environment.

Gawd Edward, now I have to go into one of those fetish shops and buy a black riding crop to match my black leather jacket and black fedora. I'm sure to be embarrassed. Sheppler's Western Wear only has the buckskin colored ones.

Later

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

I dress semi-IJ most days. I wear heavy cotton long sleeve shirts with two flapped pockets, khaki pants in either tan, stone, or olive. I own a decent camel sport coat, but no real tweed at this point. I don't own a brown leather jacket yet, but I do own the black one. I have several fedoras that are semi-IJ in shape and one Stetson Temple. I also wear a couple of safari jackets in the spring and fall, as well as M65 and M43 olive drab jackets. I'm basically into the whole earth tones thing...

I only got the Indiana comment with the correct hat and a navy blue hoodie though. Just don't get that.

Later

 

[Edward]

Jeans & t-shirts seem like they scream out for a leather jacket.

Indiana Jones wore the same clothes every day for how many years? You've got to be kidding me with this, right? What is he, a walking comic book?

Imagine if Indiana Jones could pick out different things. Work those into your wardrobe. What would today's Indiana Jones have? Indy might carry a Timbuk2 messenger bag. Indy would surely have a Leatherman Tool and a rechargeable Streamlight. Today's Indiana Jones may incorporate modern technology, like Gore-Tex, into his gear. The 21st Century Indy would have Vibram Lug Soles like the Alden 404. I can totally see Indy in modern Tactical Dress Uniforms.

What kind of car would Indiana Jones drive? Jeep? Ford Explorer? Range Rover? Ford Mustang? Lowered Honda Civic with tinted windows, stickers, and a loud muffler?

Interesting concept.... what would Indy wear these days? You're probably right he'd be in cheap work-clothes. A lot would depend on where he worked in the world too - always seemed to me the leather jacket in the films was a serious 'poetic licence', given the hot climates in which he spends so much time (okay, after dark he might need it, but in the heat of the African desert day?).

I've often thought about this. Would an 'Indiana Jones' be wearing the same style of everything in 1936 and 1957? Wouldn't practicality dictate otherwise? Don't most people alter and vary their wardrobes over 20 years?

I think so, actually. Two reasons....

1] He's had that long in the field, figured out what works for him as practical gear, and probably sees no reason to change it. Of course, in the real world, by 1957 our man Jones could well have been wearing slight variations - an A2 and a pair of service shoes, for example - maybe even a D1 in colder climes. He served in WW2, so probably was issued some uniform bits, plus a man that resourceful could I'm sure have come up with an A2 or whatever despite not being issues one.

2] He's a man in his, what - late fifties? early sixties? - by 1957. Almost everyone has an age at which they have figured out their 'look', and that's the point where they stop changing it (subject to availability, of course). Look at older folks in any given era - in the seventies dressing like they did in the fifties, in the eighties the sixties, and so on. Most people as they age stop keeping up with fashion at some point, and carry on as far as possible dressing as they did in their own hey day.

Beyond that,...

Basically, yes, he is a comic book character, but (initially) without the comic book.

Yes. Essentially, the hat / whip / jacket and the rest are his super hero costume. Notice how they were almost disposable in the first film, but when that proved popular enough to spawn a franchise he came back in the established look. That's the pictures for ya.... character branding and identifiability.

Gawd Edward, now I have to go into one of those fetish shops and buy a black riding crop to match my black leather jacket and black fedora. I'm sure to be embarrassed. Sheppler's Western Wear only has the buckskin colored ones.

Later

No embarrassment needed, dear boy - this is why the Good Lord invented internet shopping.

Hi

I dress semi-IJ most days. I wear heavy cotton long sleeve shirts with two flapped pockets, khaki pants in either tan, stone, or olive. I own a decent camel sport coat, but no real tweed at this point. I don't own a brown leather jacket yet, but I do own the black one. I have several fedoras that are semi-IJ in shape and one Stetson Temple. I also wear a couple of safari jackets in the spring and fall, as well as M65 and M43 olive drab jackets. I'm basically into the whole earth tones thing...

I only got the Indiana comment with the correct hat and a navy blue hoodie though. Just don't get that.

Later

It'a all about the hat. That's what the average man in the street associates as the Jones trademark. Hell, that's why a lot more of us than seem ready to admit it are into fedoras today....

 

[Benzadmiral]

Remember, too, that Prof. Jones didn't wear his signature outfit every single moment, not even every moment while in the field. There's that dark double-breasted suit he wears on the seaplane, and on the steps during the tag scene, in "Raiders"; and I still recall with fondness the moment in "Temple" when he dresses for dinner with Kate Capshaw's character, three-piece suit, bow tie, glasses, and all. So I'd expect there'd be moments when he would dress up, too.

But of course the signature outfit is the trademark, and that's what people remember.

 

[Fifty150]

Indy also had on that white dinner jacket at Club Obi Won.

 

[Edward]

Indy also had on that white dinner jacket at Club Obi Won.

Only place he wore it. He wears tweeds at Pankot Palace (Willie having changed out of her dress and into his white dj and the rest of the Shanghai black tie rig on the plane, then worn it until they reach the palace).

 

[Vampyre Master]

This is a very good topic idea. It's clear to me that you don't quite desire to be dressed to the nines in Indy gear:

You want to achieve the general style, but you don't want to be seen in costume...

Well, with that said, do you frequently wear a fedora with your clothes? Absolutely nothing wrong with it (but there's a whole lot that's right about it!), but if you're trying to avoid being perceived as in costume, you may not want to wear one all the time, unless you're that committed. I'm personally not brave enough to wear a hat so often with my leather jacket, myself. I do however wear khakis/chinos and dress shirts with it, though. In my opinion, this sort of captures an element of Indy style. Field or safari shirts should be fine as well. Keep it up with the Aldens, too, they're a nice brand!

I would like to add, I don't see this style of clothing being sported too often around here, outside the context of Disneyland (some fellow Indiana Jones fans take up wearing bits and pieces, or the whole deal. I have worn my hat and leather once too). However, I have seen one guy at my school campus from time to time wearing what looks like an Indiana Jones style leather jacket (I don't know how to describe it, but some subtle details were almost certainly there too, not just the general shape). It was slightly weathered looking, and he wore a white shirt, either safari or dress, khakis, and reddish-brown dress shoes. I think he pulls it off. I haven't seen him wear a hat, but I think there's a bit of an Indy vibe.

I do that look without the gun and whip, works very well and i'm going for this look as well
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk224/VampyreMaster/about-indiana-jones-1.jpg
V