Brando "The Wild One" leather MC jacket/Perfecto 613/618.

[Aussiebowlerhatfan]

Does anyone know for both certain&sure IF Brando ACTUALLY wore a Schott Perfecto 613/618 "one star" in "The Wild One"?&are the one's Schott make since the 50s THE EXACT&PRECISE one/style&type?.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Don't think anyone here believes that story. Do a search, this has been explored a lot on here. Not a jacket style I care for at all so I forget the details but Mysteryo identified the jacket as made by Durable. There's a thread on this with good photos.

 

[Mysteryo]

You'll find most the answers here http://www.filmjackets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=56&hilit=wild+ones, and on the facebook discussion group "Vintage Leather jackets" (search "durable" on the page), and over the internet and books (from japan)...

 

[Monitor]

But, the Durable theory has never been confirmed, so it might still be something else. I also think it's the Durable, but people who had owned a whole number of these jackets claim that they never had one that was the exact match.

Finding one must be a pain for the collectors. XD Durable leather jacket - eleven million results. Durable vintage motorcycle jacket - nine million hits. Durable 50's jacket - zero results.

 

[ProteinNerd]

Does it really need to be "the exact same"? If people who spend a ridiculous amount of time researching can't be sure.....does it matter?

 

[Monitor]

Does it really need to be "the exact same"? If people who spend a ridiculous amount of time researching can't be sure.....does it matter?

I completely agree that it doesn't matter and it's why I settled for the Schott when I was after the style, but fans sometimes like to convince themselves of things.

And I'm thinking... Let's face it, even wearing the very jacket that was actually used onscreen won't make you look like Brando. So what's the point.

What I really don't understand is why doesn't Schott just make a repro of that jacket? Many people who are after this look first turn to them for the jacket. They constantly get asked that same question and instead of constantly making stuff up about Brando wearing a 618, why not actually make a jacket people want? They certainly have the means to do it so why just not move the sleeve zippers around, tweak the pattern here and there a little and be done with it? I'm convinced that some kind of limited edition replica in, say, Horween, with a period correct hardware would be sold out within minutes.

 

[mendelboaz]

I personally find that any person with even a remotely athletic body type and a broken in Perfecto style jacket or Buco style jacket will look as cool as Johnny Strabler. You don't need the exact same jacket to achieve that look-- just get a jacket and rock it well.

 

[nick123]

I personally find that any person with even a remotely athletic body type and a broken in Perfecto style jacket or Buco style jacket will look as cool as Johnny Strabler. You don't need the exact same jacket to achieve that look-- just get a jacket and rock it well.

Agreed. Tbh I see people on this forum who look cooler than him.

 

[Edward]

I completely agree that it doesn't matter and it's why I settled for the Schott when I was after the style, but fans sometimes like to convince themselves of things.

And I'm thinking... Let's face it, even wearing the very jacket that was actually used onscreen won't make you look like Brando. So what's the point.

This reminds me of the wry chuckle I always get out of seeing middle-aged men argunig over whose size 48 A2 is the "most accurate" repro.....

What I really don't understand is why doesn't Schott just make a repro of that jacket? Many people who are after this look first turn to them for the jacket. They constantly get asked that same question and instead of constantly making stuff up about Brando wearing a 618, why not actually make a jacket people want? They certainly have the means to do it so why just not move the sleeve zippers around, tweak the pattern here and there a little and be done with it? I'm convinced that some kind of limited edition replica in, say, Horween, with a period correct hardware would be sold out within minutes.

Could be they just don't want to give the lie to their own marketing going back years! Either that, or they really don't feel there's enough of a market out there, bearing in mind the sort of production run they normally do. I do wonder how the Aero MC jacket measurs up - that is, after all, what the Strabler figure in Madame Tussauds is wearing.

I personally find that any person with even a remotely athletic body type and a broken in Perfecto style jacket or Buco style jacket will look as cool as Johnny Strabler. You don't need the exact same jacket to achieve that look-- just get a jacket and rock it well.

I like to think a fat middle-aged guy can rock one too!

 

[Monitor]

This reminds me of the wry chuckle I always get out of seeing middle-aged men argunig over whose size 48 A2 is the "most accurate" repro.....

LOL you said it but yah, seems to me that the majority of the A-2 repros are plus sizes. But I guess this is due to the fact that most guys in their 20's couldn't easily afford a decent A-2. At least up until recently... I guess that's why I've given up on chasing the accuracy since it's very much the same with the Perfecto style as well - albeit the main difference being the length and not the width of the jacket. So they use all those historically accurate details, like the correct hardware, stitching colour, etc. but then the jacket is 25" or 26" in lenght, sometimes more. Not overly accurate.

Aero did a very accurate job with Tussauds Strabler jacket. All the details are there.

 

[mendelboaz]

Hear hear, Edward. Just wear a pair of enginer boots and some denim with it and you're good to go! I still think your heavy steerhide Aero MC jacket (the extremely heavy and V-shaped one) is one of the slickest Perfecto style jackets I've ever seen, and it suits you to a tee.

 

[Siggmund]

Does it really need to be "the exact same"? If people who spend a ridiculous amount of time researching can't be sure.....does it matter?

I agree that it doesn't matter (much) but it's sort of like having the proper leather belt for your reinactor uniform. There is a lot of fantasy that goes into wearing clothes. "Looking the part" and feeling like you look the part don't always coincide. Thus, the middle aged RAF fighter jock in his Irvin (such as myself). I feel cool and look, well, puffy.
Also. people crave certainty, or at least abhor uncertainty. That's at least partly why so much research goes into these things. That and curiosity, I guess.
As Monitor suggested, Schott should make an accurate Wild One replica and satisfy the consumer demand.

 

[Stearmen]

And I'm thinking... Let's face it, even wearing the very jacket that was actually used onscreen won't make you look like Brando. So what's the point.

That reminds me of the time in the mid 90s when I picked up an old Triumph motorcycle. I rode it over to a friends shop to show it off, he was gone but his wife was there. I said to her, do I look like Brando? She looked me over and said, "keep gaining weight and losing your hair and you will!"

 

[Bern1]

Give Stearmen a hand! (With credit to his buddy's wife), that's the winner line right there!

 

[navetsea]

maybe Brando used butter to condition his leather jacket too...

 

[Edward]

LOL you said it but yah, seems to me that the majority of the A-2 repros are plus sizes. But I guess this is due to the fact that most guys in their 20's couldn't easily afford a decent A-2. At least up until recently...

I know what you mean about length. Obviously, a lot of it is down to people wanting a longer jacket to cover more of their spine as they ride crouched over a racing bike - a style of motorcycle unknown when the original Perfectos were designed. That, and people wanting to cover the beltline of jeans which sit four inches south of their actual waist. Thing is, there's only so much you can elongate a design like that before the proportions all look.... just off.

As to the other point, above - I agree, I think it's a combination of factors. I couldn't have pulled together that sort of jacket money until I was in my mid-late thirties. Also, even if I had bought an A2 at 25, I'd never be able to get my expanded, middle-aged corpus into it now, whereas whatever I buy now from the likes of Aero will probably see me out...

Probably too different generations of pop-culture. Those of us buying repro A2s now are a mix of the guys who were too young to be able to afford an original when they were cheap, but still grew up with the same Brit / Hollywood WW2 films as the slightly odler guys who did (we just saw 'em on TV at Christmas...). I don't think there's quite the same mainstream consciousness of the A2 as a cinematic thing for kids in their 20s now - if anything, a lot of them have probably seen much more in the way of Vietnam pictures. Still, eventually somebody will do a flick with an A2 or a B15 in a prominent role, and a new generation will discover them in a big way...

Aero did a very accurate job with Tussauds Strabler jacket. All the details are there.

You don't happen to know if that's the same as the one they still sell? I do eventually want to get one of these again, but less tapered at the waist if they can accomodate....

Hear hear, Edward. Just wear a pair of enginer boots and some denim with it and you're good to go! I still think your heavy steerhide Aero MC jacket (the extremely heavy and V-shaped one) is one of the slickest Perfecto style jackets I've ever seen, and it suits you to a tee.

It's gorgeous, but alas I'm gonig to have to sell it on this year.... It's just always been too neat at the waist. Size 42" chest (so it's about 24" pit to pit in this model, from memory), but the waist is around 38"-40", where I'd need the jacket to be closer 42-44" there.... (I'm working on losing a bit of weight again, but I'll never again have the sort of definition I did when I was 21, so this jacket is just the wrong shape for me).

That reminds me of the time in the mid 90s when I picked up an old Triumph motorcycle. I rode it over to a friends shop to show it off, he was gone but his wife was there. I said to her, do I look like Brando? She looked me over and said, "keep gaining weight and losing your hair and you will!"

Ha! Yes, I feel that. But hey, Vito was still cool..... in a different way....

maybe Brando used butter to condition his leather jacket too...

Well played, sir!

 

[Monitor]

You don't happen to know if that's the same as the one they still sell? I do eventually want to get one of these again, but less tapered at the waist if they can accomodate....

The one I got in 2014 was very much the same as the jacket you have (had?). Then again, it's different from the jacket on the wax figure but I can see that the product photos have been updated so I can't say for sure anymore.

 

[Peacoat]

maybe Brando used butter to condition his leather jacket too...

No, he used Pecard.

 

[rocketeer]

This reminds me of the wry chuckle I always get out of seeing middle-aged men argunig over whose size 48 A2 is the "most accurate" repro.....

Yea' 50 year old teenagers haha. I have even seen an 18 year old in full USAAF replica generals uniform with a senior pilot wing. When I diplomatically pointed it out he should be toting a few more lbs and some grey hair he was most put out. 55 year old 2nd lieutenants haha.

Could be they just don't want to give the lie to their own marketing going back years! Either that, or they really don't feel there's enough of a market out there, bearing in mind the sort of production run they normally do. I do wonder how the Aero MC jacket measurs up - that is, after all, what the Strabler figure in Madame Tussauds is wearing.

I would think you could dress Brando's waxwork in any decent Perfecto style leather and 99,999 out of 100,000 visitors would say he looked cool before deciding the jacket was not accurate/the correct make etc. I dressed up in a Eastman Luftwaffe jacket , wrote Johnny on it in white paint and stuck a bus drivers hat on my head and everyone said. "He's a Wild One"

I like to think a fat middle-aged guy can rock one too!

Whenever i put on a jacket I look in the mirror to see if I can still carry it well

 

[Edward]

FWIW..... to add to his old thread, Ken told me a couple of months ago that Aero made two jackets for Tussauds, but he has never visited the exhibition, so he didn't know which one they used.