I went through the same thing a year ago. I was doing a Fallout wasteland post apocyptic costume. So I grabbed a cheap $10 used x-element leather jacket and went to work. I rubbed it down with acetone to release some dye then I stuffed a gym bag of heavy stuff inside the jacket and drug it down a dirt road behind my truck. Unfortunately that leather was chrome tanned and ended up blue/gray.
On a non-chrome tanned or dyed through jacket, this creates a natural looking weathered patina. As the dirt gets into the grain as well, you give it a light coat of mink oil to lock in the dirt permanantly and protect the leather, as the acetone treatment stripped Its protective coating.
You can't really do this with cheap jackets. Or a lot of new, expensive jackets for that matter. You should keep an eye out for vintage Excelled jackets, they patina OK and are inexpensive used, I see them from $20-100 on Craiglist consistently.
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