Wow! Now this thread took some serious time to get thru! I totally realize I'm late to the party but I just felt I had to share my thoughts regarding this jacket. Since it's such a huuuugh thread I figured my first post in it needed to match it's size!:lol Prepare for a long one...
OK, I actually first saw this amazing flick three weeks ago. I never heard of it before but it was one of the few new flicks that I hadn't seen yet in the rental store. I was pulling a night shift at work and we rarely do anything else but hang so I needed something to pass time. I quite honestly didn't expect it to be anything special but BOY was I wrong! This flick had me by the nuts right after the 80's themed Hot Pink Drive logo. A true master piece with one of the most iconic film heroes I've seen since, well a loooong time anyway.
The day after I go home to my wife and just keeps raving about this awesome movie experience but more then anything THE JACKET! I must have that jacket! I'm a huge fan of vintage racing jackets and I have quite a bunch of them in my closet. Besides from Levis and Lee denim jackets that's the only thing I wear. My wife being the sweet heart she is tells me to buy one for my birthday. The one were talking about is the Steady replica. Giddy as a school girl I take all the measurements and get ready to order....
I then decide not to. My wife asks me what the heck I'm up to, she thought it was a great gift. More then anything now she needs to go find something else!:loll I told here why and once I was finished she TOTALLY agreed with me.
Even though I wear satin racing jackets every day I just came to the conclusion that there was no way on earth I could "own" or "Rock" that jacket. Not because of it's look (face it, for a racing jacket it's design isn't really that over the top) but for what it was. A REPLICA of a film costume belonging to a fictional character. I'm a huge Star Wars fan but I would never get the idea of walking down the street with a Luke Bespin jacket or a Clint Easwood poncho for that mater. OK, get ready to hate me now, call me a D*** or what ever you find suiting but when people were starting to post pics of their steady's I drew a sigh of releave. Just what I had feared happened. Most dudes looked like they had dressed up like the "Driver" or even worse, Michael Jackson.:unsure
I truly don't want to make people feel bad for their choices but IMO this jacket doesn't work on anybody besides for "The Driver". The problem the way I see it is first of all, most people (i'm not talking about this board in general. By now this jacket seem to be everywhere on the web) who sport it doesn't look like they would ever wear something similar if they hadn't seen the movie. Therefore they look like they have dressed up for Halloween or something. Second, this isn't the M-65 army jacket Deniro wore in Taxi Driver. Now that was a real world item which anyone could have owned. The Driver jacket is a one of a kind, made by a costume department much like Captain Kirks costume. It's based though on real world jackets but with that huge scorpion on the back it can't really be taken for anything else but the Drivers personal jacket. If people were having something personal and not the scorpion on the back I truly think it would be a completely different story. The design of the jacket is fairly basic and could pass for an 70's vintage racing jacket that you found. With the big a** scorpion though, sorry but you will look like your trying really hard to be the driver.:unsure
What REALLY makes me think it looks so wrong when people has it on is the way Steady made it. I have to admit that for the price it doesn't look bad but once again, that's for THE price. Owning several vintage racing jackets and then comparing them to the Steady it just looks fake, or like an replica if you will. The non ribbed cuffs, the scorpion over the quilt stitching, the stiff looking material and so on. It just doesn't pass for a vintage jacket. IMO, it looks more like something Michael Jackson would have worn on stage then the bad a** Driver jacket.
Finally what really makes it so hard to "Own" or "Rock" is that they all look brand new, stiff and without any history what so ever. A jacket like this really needs that in order to be "Rocked". If you look at the one (ore ones) Gosling wears they are all weathered and broken in by the costume department. Think Indiana Jones! What makes for a good believable Indy display. A weathered Wested jacket!
Once again, I'm not trying to judge people or saying that they made bad choices, just sharing my thoughts regarding this fantastic movie jacket and the problems that comes with it, especially if you plan to wear it on a day to day bases.
With all that being said I still want this jacket. I do not however want to try and be the Driver. So the only way I see it's gonna happen for me is to wait and see what Magnoli comes up with and if I'm able choose a design of my own for the back. That way it would be me Rocking my jacket and not me trying to rock the Drivers jacket. Anyway, for those of you who had the energy to read thru all this nonsense this is just my way of looking at it. Nothing more, carry on!
Cheers,
Steve.
