BK Durable "The Wild One" One Star Double Rider

[dmoser1978]

She sewed on a new piece of leather to fix the deteriorating collar.








And the leather belt she put together:

 

[dmoser1978]

The jacket that BK used as a model was relined by Dena Hamilton at http://www.greatleather.com. I had her take a picture of the inside of the jacket with the old liner removed. Looking at the pockets and comparing it to a picture of Brando in his jacket makes me think that they removed the lining on his jacket, probably to make it drape better and not be so hot while filming.

 

[roadking04]

Wow! Love the before and after. What amazing work. That jacket is unbelievable.

 

[Justhandguns]

Oh my word, that's beautifully restored! How did you do that! Now I am really tempted.

 

[TREEMAN]

Amazing work !!

 

[dmoser1978]

Ok, here are pictures comparing the BK and the Durable. Things that stand out are the sleeve openings on the BK are slightly larger, the underarm gussets are 2 piece instead of one, and the belt is 18"s on the BK vs 11" on the Durable. The BK is a nice jacket, but could use a little polishing.

 

[dmoser1978]

Ok, here are pictures comparing the BK and the Durable. Things that stand out are the sleeve openings on the BK are slightly larger, the underarm gussets are 2 piece instead of one, and the belt is 18"s on the BK vs 11" on the Durable. The BK is a nice jacket, but could use a little polishing.

 

[dmoser1978]

 

[dmoser1978]

 

[dmoser1978]

 

[dmoser1978]

 

[dannyk]

Like you said not bad. Looks like a really nice jacket. But a few tweaks here and there could make it really special.

 

[dmoser1978]

Oh my word, that's beautifully restored! How did you do that! Now I am really tempted.

Well, I sent it off for the restoration, though I did have to do some leg work to find NOS zippers and lining material. The main zipper is a replacement zipper for an M51/M65 field jacket, and the new sleeve zippers match the zippers of Brando's screen jacket. I did have the jacket re-dyed, though if I had it to do over again I'm not sure I would have done that versus leaving it it's natural patina.

I wasn't able to source anything quite like the original quilted lining, and had to make due with what I could find.

Dena at http://www.greatleather.com did the restoration and was really good about working with me to make the jacket what I wanted.

 

[Carlos840]

Ok, here are pictures comparing the BK and the Durable. Things that stand out are the sleeve openings on the BK are slightly larger, the underarm gussets are 2 piece instead of one, and the belt is 18"s on the BK vs 11" on the Durable. The BK is a nice jacket, but could use a little polishing.

The collar is completely wrong!
The original has almos a 90 degree angle between the points, the BK is closer to 45 degrees.
Also square epaulettes vs pointy ones...

Looks to me like they don't have an original and their "copy" is very loosly based on the Durable.

There are rumors that say these jackets are made in Pakistan similarly to what 5 star is doing.
Any chance you have a 5 star jacket in your collection to compare both?

 

[Mich486]

He is the guy who loaned to BK the original in question to copy the pattern... and he received the BK jacket copy as a payment, or so he says a few posts back. So my understanding is that BK was looking at that exact jacket. Agree the collar angle and the epaulettes look different. So is the strip of corduroy in the collar although that might be as a result of the relining.

BK made in Pakistan? This is news to me. Is this discussed somewhere? I remember recently some people speculated that because 5* had a similar label in a inner pocket like some BK jackets but then it turned out also Real McCoy’s use the same style label...

 

[red devil]

He is the guy who loaned to BK the original in question to copy the pattern... and he received the BK jacket copy as a payment, or so he says a few posts back. So my understanding is that BK was looking at that exact jacket. Agree the collar angle and the epaulettes look different. So is the strip of corduroy in the collar although that might be as a result of the relining.

BK made in Pakistan? This is news to me. Is this discussed somewhere? I remember recently some people speculated that because 5* had a similar label in a inner pocket like some BK jackets but then it turned out also Real McCoy’s use the same style label...

There is nothing concrete to back that rumour, but it is an educated guess. There is actually nothing concrete about where the jacket are being made. It could be made anywhere really.

 

[Monitor]

The collar is completely wrong!
The original has almos a 90 degree angle between the points, the BK is closer to 45 degrees.
Also square epaulettes vs pointy ones...

Looks to me like they don't have an original and their "copy" is very loosly based on the Durable.

There are rumors that say these jackets are made in Pakistan similarly to what 5 star is doing.
Any chance you have a 5 star jacket in your collection to compare both?

They were working from an original, as @Mich486 stated but I'm guessing here that BK actually tried to make his version more screen authentic (which is commendable) because @dmoser1978's jacket is slightly different. For instance, jacket worn in the movie indeed has pointed epaulets, not square cut ones. And it also has that double... Underarm football deal going on, like on BK's take.
There are some other differences, too. The coin pocket snap is different with the snap being lower on the jacket above than what can be seen in the movie and et cetera.

Well anyway, as much as I hate myself for even being able to notice any of that crap, while BK made a perfectly albeit slightly more crude repro - look a the angled or sharp edges of the lapel & hem points, around the zipper, whereas they're rounded on the original - my theory is that either nobody has the exact same thing OR that Brando isn't wearing Durable.

And if it indeed is Durable, only one person that I know has the closest looking jacket to the original and he is a member of this forum. That jacket seems to have every single detail just right...

 

[Mich486]

There is nothing concrete to back that rumour, but it is an educated guess. There is actually nothing concrete about where the jacket are being made. It could be made anywhere really.

BK say they are made in Greece. I agree they could be made somewhere else though.

I thought there was more to Carlos claim. If not it seems like a pretty wild guess to me saying they are made in Pakistan. What about China then? Plenty of leather jackets copyist there too. In fact I’d put my odds there.

I own both a BK and a 5*, I could be wrong of course but I have a hard time believing they came out of the same place.

 

[red devil]

BK say they are made in Greece. I agree they could be made somewhere else though.

I thought there was more to Carlos claim. If not it seems like a pretty wild guess to me saying they are made in Pakistan. What about China then? Plenty of leather jackets copyist there too. In fact I’d put my odds there.

I own both a BK and a 5*, I could be wrong of course but I have a hard time believing they came out of the same place.

Yeah, it could as well be made in China, although I find that a lot of smaller makers get their garments done in Pakistan.

@Carlos840 only mentioned the rumours, he did not claim anything. We are all guessing at this stage, as you said

Edit: as you know a lot of manufacturers obsfuscate the origin of manufacture, although that is less likely with the small makers we discuss here. Hence why BK seems odd as opposed to the usual suspects. I should also clarify that I am not trying to knock on BK here, I have no formed opinion about them.

 

[Carlos840]

BK say they are made in Greece. I agree they could be made somewhere else though.

I thought there was more to Carlos claim. If not it seems like a pretty wild guess to me saying they are made in Pakistan. What about China then? Plenty of leather jackets copyist there too. In fact I’d put my odds there.

I own both a BK and a 5*, I could be wrong of course but I have a hard time believing they came out of the same place.

I did not make a claim, i said "There are rumors that say these jackets are made in Pakistan"...
I know about these rumors and i am trying to find clues on the matter, that's very far from claiming they are made in Pakistan!