Is this a Schott from 1983 or earlier ? Bo Brady /Peter Reckell

[RJD257]

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the 1st appearance of the rebellious Bo Brady character on the soap: Days of Our Lives, and the character & actor have been popping up a lot in social media - prodding my memory about something....

Born in 1965 - I'm 10 years younger than the actor Peter Reckell, and about 2 years younger than that famous character. My maternal grandmother had the show on every day, then passed the tradition/addiction onto my mom. By the time the 1980's rolled around, it actually caught my attention while I was in college, with high-budget, high-adrenaline action/adventure storylines with larger than life heroes & villains who could have come from a Bond movie.

As a fan/collector of leather jackets since I was 15, I've grown in my depth of knowledge about what IS a good jacket and what isn't...

I've been scratching my head trying to figure out if that very first jacket (on screen from 1983-1987) was indeed a Schott Perfecto ? (see attached photo) It could have come from either the actor, or the show's wardorbe department (...who probably had a bigger budget...). It has all the classic design elements (the classic half-belt, 25" waist, the epaulets of the 618, the chain pulls on the exterior pockets, and the bardware seems to be either brass or nickel plated - not chromed...) But three things throw me...it had a red flannel lining, and the stitching on the lapels seems to go in a zig-zag pattern and not a stright line - neither of which I've ever seen in a Schott. Also the way the leather breaks and folds seems to be very pliable, which I wouldn't expect from a new steerhide jacket.

So - does anyone in The Lounge know if that WAS a Perfecto - or some other manufacturer who was "inspired" by Schott (...like Durable, etc...) ? Was Schott supplying Hollywood & TV Studios with their jackets in the late 70's early 80's ?

Thanks In Advance for helping this inquiring mind solve this mystery !

 

[jeo]

It’s not a Durable, that’s for sure.

It doesn’t look like a Perfecto to me either. Chest pockets on a Perfecto are more vertical than what I’m seeing in this photo. Belt loops are pretty wide too for Perfectos.

It’s the correct buckle, but for an older perfecto.

Any other photos you can provide, especially the back?

 

[RJD257]

It’s not a Durable, that’s for sure.

It doesn’t look like a Perfecto to me either. Chest pockets on a Perfecto are more vertical than what I’m seeing in this photo. Belt loops are pretty wide too for Perfectos.

It’s the correct buckle, but for an older perfecto.

Any other photos you can provide, especially the back?

Wow ! I tremendously appreciate your wanting to dive in and help me solve this 40 year old mystery jeo ! I don't feel quite so dumb if you're equally perplexed ! The back is one solid panel - with a kidney panel, and it ends at the waist of the 5'11" actor wearing it. There are a bunch of pix from 83-87 on the web - and some on Facebook, but they're fuzzy because they're screen captures from videos. You can find some here on Facebook - in albums titled 1983 Caps 1, 1983 Caps 2, 1984 Caps 1, 1984 Caps 2, 1984 Sept-Oct Caps. Maybe you can see a clue that I didn't > https://www.facebook.com/DaysCapsbyKatLucas/photos_albums I'm attaching 4 here, but again, they're far from crystal clear.... Thanks Again for wanting to help me stop scratching my head over this ! Rich

 

[jeo]

Link doesn’t work. No pictures of the back?

In this image it looks like it could be a Durable. Long sleeve zipper and in the correct spot. Collar looks like Durable too.

And in this image the chest pocket actually looks correct for a Perfecto lol

There may have been multiple jackets.

 

[jeo]

And actually I didn’t see this initially, but the sleeve zippers here are in the correct spot for a Durable.

If there was a clear picture of the back I’d be able to tell you for sure.

 

[RJD257]

Link doesn’t work. No pictures of the back?

In this image it looks like it could be a Durable. Long sleeve zipper and in the correct spot. Collar looks like

View attachment 560174

And in this image the chest pocket actually looks correct for a Perfecto lol

View attachment 560175

There may have been multiple jackets.

Let's try the link again
https://www.facebook.com/DaysCapsbyKatLucas/photos_albums

Trust me - the thought that there were multiple jackets definitely crossed my mind - lol. I do know this thing had a red lining that looked like flannel, and to the best of my limited knowledge, Schott didn't make red liners in the 70's or early 80's ? The hardware is all brass or nickel, and the stitching on the lapels seems to be in a zig-zag fashion, or maybe it's just puckered and pulling ? Thanks again for trying to help me solve this puzzle ! Rich

 

[jeo]

I was wrong, it's a Durable. And yes, you're right, Schott never had a red lining, but Durable did, although it wasn't a true red, more of a red/orange.

Durable collar.

Durable sleeve zip.

Durable shoulder gusset. Perfectos didn't have this kind of rounded gusset around the shoulder rather straight down to the middle of the back.

Another example of the long Durable sleeve gusset that's on top but more towards the outer wrist and not directly on top of the sleeve.

This is the Durable cut. Perfectos didn't fit quite like this with this much of a drop.

Durable collar

More sleeve zips

Can't see it clearly, but this is the back of a Durable.

Another example of the Durable collar with the bottom lapel that's angled down moreso than other Perfecto style collars.

 

[Aloysius]

Another example of the Durable collar with the bottom lapel that's angled down moreso than other Perfecto style collars.

Scrolled down to comment exactly this. I had the same reaction watching a low budget 70s comedy about greasers and seeing Stallone's jacket. I turned into the DiCaprio OUATIH meme, pointing at the screen and looking to the wall beside me.

 

[jeo]

Here you can clearly see the Durable shoulder gussets and back

 

[RJD257]

WOW !!! DAYUM ! Thank You SO Much for solving the mystery ! While you were doing your detective work, I was actually downloading a bunch of those same images for you - so you didn't have to do it - lol.

What type of leather do you think that was - based on how it's folding, draping, etc ? Steer-hide or just naked cowhide ? Or Horse Hide ?

Now I know who to come to for any detailed info !
I also just connected to you on Instagram

Hope you're enjoying YOUR Durable that I saw there ! That was a find !

Rich

 

[jeo]

Based on the big #10 Talon it looks like an older one so most likely steerhide.

 

[RJD257]

Based on the big #10 Talon it looks like an older one so most likely steerhide.

Well, those pix/screen grabs were from 1983, and if it was the actor (Peter Reckell) own jacket that he brought to the set - he probably had it for a while before getting the role. And who knows ? He may have picked it up used himself !

Thanks Again for all your AMAZING help - with very little to work from !
Rich

 

[ton312]

Is nobody going to mention the fact that all these images are harvested from (presumably) Days of our lives?!?? This fact in and of itself is so hilarious that I can’t even stand it. It’s also a bit frightening that I remember watching this show in the early 1980’s with my sister on our lunch break (we rode our bikes home for lunch from school).

 

[RJD257]

Is nobody going to mention the fact that all these images are harvested from (presumably) Days of our lives?!?? This fact in and of itself is so hilarious that I can’t even stand it. It’s also a bit frightening that I remember watching this show in the early 1980’s with my sister on our lunch break (we rode our bikes home for lunch from school).

Oh - trust me, I appreciate and am fully on-board with the humor of this when I started this little thread ! The show came on the air the same year I was born, and my maternal grandmother was the "O.G. Days Fan" in my family, who then passed the tradition/addiction onto my mom, with my watching in the background from about 1980 as the show roared into the high-budget, high-adrenaline action/adventure storylines with larger than life heroes & villains who could have come from a Bond movie. I can't even count how many times some of these characters came back from the dead - lol.

Alas - that was in the "glory days" of that industry - which like many things today has to now do things on a shoe-string budget, and cannot afford helicopters, remote shoots, etc. Iconic comic books from my adolescence are now barely recognizable as well. The one thing I could never figure out was who made that damned jacket (...until now, with the help of jeo of course...)

What's even funnier is that's Ruth Buzzi from Laugh In as a guest star in a couple of those scenes...

 

[Madhouse27]

Exterior motorcycle-riding, rock band, black leather image aside, I admit to watching a fair amount of Days as a young guy. It was my high school girlfriend’s show that I seemed to continued on with (long) after her departure. Seeing Bo brought back some memories but perhaps we should focus some screen shots of Marlena…