James Dean Jacket

[alfa]

McGregor-Blue

I was able to locate a few more pics of a authentic Blue McGregor Anti-Freeze
This one looks like a good match to the real deal..... even down to the collar size... I guess mine above is a later version/different collar with a different label all together. Anyone on board have one of these jackets.. the more pics we have the better.. into identifying the real deal.

Someone saw a McGregor tag in "Rebel"
Did someone have a pic of the zoomed in tag in Rebel Without a Cause?
did it look like this one?

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[Peacoat]

Collar isn't right. In about 1960 I had what was probably a McGregor Anti Freeze in red. It looked like the same jacket JD wore in Rebel. A lot of the guys were wearing them.

Don't know what happened to that jacket. It was probably a 34 or a 36 long and sure wouldn't fit me today. But would be nice to look at the label and see if it was a McGregor Antifreeze.

Edit note: When I said the "Collar isn't right," I was referring to the jackets on the other page. I think the collar on on the blue jacket above is getting mighty close to what I remember. But it has been almost 50 years, and our memories play tricks on us. If I could find a red Anti Freeze with the same collar as the blue one above, I would be satisfied.

 

[alfa]

McGregor Anti-Freeze

Thanks for the info... good to here.. there is some hope...
Maybe one day well see that 1960s McGregor...

 

[bobalooba]

Harry --

I certainly agree with you about "urban legends" surrounding Dean.

I read in one account that Dean himself picked out the red jacket to use in Rebel (off the rack),

karol

I am not a Dean expert but I became breifly obsessed for a short while but I am pretty sure Dean did not pick out his own jacket. In the original script he was supposed to look somewhat nerdier, they had a brown jacket, glasses, the works. They were then told they were allowed to shoot it in color because of the money it was expected to generate and like many companies of the early days of color they took advantage by using more colors than they would have in a black and white film.

Dean may have had a little say in the matter but studio bigwigs were the ones who decided he would have a brighter colored jacket.

 

[Milu]

You'll need one of these to put in the pocket. (Handmade by an 80+ year old Italian craftsman that made the 50's originals)

A picklock collector on a private forum saw the one Dean had in the movie, still all scratched up from sliding on the concrete.
Back in the 90's one of the big auction houses sold the Rebel Picklock for several grand.

Original 50's Latama's & Coricama's go for terrible prices these days.
($1500.00 to 3000.00 on up)

A square button Latama would be around $12K. A modern flatguard picklock by Frank Beltrame around $150, a Burn about $1K+ depending on spec.

These are square button copies from Burn Knives, only 12 were made. There are supposed to be only 12 originals as well.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

I believe there are lesser number of original Latama Square buttons.

The Burn ones looked really nice on Latama's website, it's nice to see some of the old style horn back in limited numbers on some of the modern Italian knives.

 

[Edward]

I've always loved the style of a traditional switchblade, though never owned one - for obvious reasons!

 

[bobalooba]

I own a switchblad style knife, the only difference is it has a lock on it and is under 8", thus making it legal in my state

 

[Absinthe_1900]

They are an interesting collectible, the old Italian stilettos were never really a public danger like they were made out to be, now they are an expensive curio for collectors.

Two for one photo:

 

[Milu]

Love the Dean and switchblade photo. The above images are off topic but I thought they might be of interest.

 

[alfa]

Rebel Jacket

I contacted... the "The James Dean Remembered" myspace page, about a replica. Here is what they said:

Quote:Sure! The Fairmount Historical Museum sells the red
windbreaker and I believe daddy-O's sells it too. The
websites are www.daddyos.com and
www.jamesdeanartifacts.com or .org or something like
that.
The red James Dean windbreaker is easier to
answer about. Over half the lookalike contestants wear
a red windbreaker and so do the teeny-tinies, the
littlest lookalike contestants. I expect that you can
find one at the James Dean Gallery or its companion
store, Rebel Rebel, www.tentativetimes.net/lenny/ or
www.jamesdeangallery.com

Let me know where you have success. Hope to see you in
Fairmount. Are you in the Fan Club yet?
www.tentativetimes.net/jdr/ And I sure will check
out your Fedora lounge! Cool!

 

[alfa]

Rebel Jacket

DaddyOs does not carry anything anymore..
and.. www.jamesdeanartifacts.com is the same site for the Fairmount Museum listed with the 2 jackets above. Still waiting.. from www.jamesdeangallery.com to reply.

Heres some pics to get everyone on track....

 

[Peacoat]

Note the color of the lining in the pic above--a reddish brown. Never noticed that before. You have put some work in this; thanks.

 

[fardin]

here two japanese links, as far as i know this has not been posted. the pic of one of em was posted before.
http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/kenshima/mm137609-76.html
here the translated page
http://translate.google.com/transla.../mm137609-76.html&sl=ja&tl=en&history_state0=
looks like it is still available!!

http://blackwatch.seesaa.net/article/16323111.html
http://shopping.yahoo.co.jp/search?...1%A5%D5%A5%EA%A1%BC%A5%BA%29&cid=2495&x=0&y=0

 

[alfa]

Rebel Jacket

Good find!!!! thx. Thats crazy expensive.
Where is SC and his jacket?

Alfa

 

[alfa]

Rebel Jacket

Here are some more details of the Jacket:
Heres a shot of the Collar: notice the width.... and stance. They are not sharp and pointy when it sits flat. This is key to how it stands when flipped up!

And the red buttons on the Cuffs, which are thick and wide... not elastic and thin like many of the replicas. The McGregor anti-freeze jacket often came with colour matching buttons.

 

[alfa]

Rebel Jacket

Article from:
http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/the-rebel-without-a-cause-cast-of-characters/


The iconic Baracuta jacket, and silent star (insert revision here: often credited as the famous jacket in Rebel, it clearly was not. Could have been the McGregor or fabricated by the film’s costume designer– as he claims) of Rebel Without a Cause. Some say that it too was bought at Matson’s men’s store for use in the 1955 film, but costume designer Moss Mabry insisted that he made three of the jackets from a bolt of red nylon and painstakingly worked on the size of the collar and the placement of the pockets. “Even though the jacket looked simple,” Mabry said, “it wasn’t.”

 

[alfa]

Rebel Jacket cont.

I found something interesting on this blog from Japan...
http://murda.exblog.jp/5817209/

But i cant seem to translate it.. Can anyone translate it?
Here are the pictures of interest. Basically it's the first picture of an authentic McGregor Anti-freeze in red that i have seen that looks like Deans. (note: Waist is cut higher, compared to the long sleeves, hmmm, and lining is white)

Heres other colours:

 

[alfa]

Authentic McGregor Red Anti-Freeze

I was able to find some pics of an
Authentic McGregor Red Anti-Freeze
that was selling on ebay. It sold for over $730
Here are the detailed pics...

 

[smsstuart]

More on the Red Jacket

Alfa-

Please read my posts from March 28, '06. It should be fairly clear what is known and what is still up for grabs. As to whether the label seen in the jacket used in the film (or at least the one to make it into the planetarium scene), unfortunately the sharpness and detail aren't enough to determine exactly which version of the label it has. The label had minor variations over the years, ie. the location for the size - centered at the bottom, or extreme lower right-hand corner and even a separate tag below the label in later years. The label you post in the first example is from a jacket that used Antron nylon. This type of nylon was introduced by DuPont in 1960, so that particular label example isn't quite the one to be seen in the Rebel jacket. (The label you pictured from the jacket that sold on eBay would be correct).

I've seen many variations of that fleece in terms of it's softness and thickness, so don't know if the differences you mention are due to manufacturing changes, wear, or who knows what.

Many versions of the collar used on Anti-Freeze jackets had a throat tab - a rectangular piece of self material - affixed to the underside of the left-end of the collar, that fastened to the collar's right side with a button. This would be used to keep the collar upright for added warmth. I don't see it in the jacket used in Rebel and the tab seems to appear and disappear depending on when the jacket was made.

Also the picture you posted on 3/26 of the red jacket with the obviously longer sleeves in relation to the body length is most likely due to "long" sizes that the Anti-Freeze was also offered - although not as long as the picture makes it appear. (Perhaps it's the way the hanger is supporting the jacket).

The Japanese repros appear to be spot on, presuming they got the cut correct. Obviously the addition of the internal pockets and the two-way zipper isn't accurate, although they did reproduce the McGregor crest pull-tab for the zipper, which is a nice touch.