Ok, so I also had an interesting weekend. On Saturday morning a member of the Film Jackets community called X-Mart who is the owner of one of the Fight Club jackets made for the film contacted me to say he was in London and he had the jacket with him and would I like to meet him. Obviously, I went to meet him, We met in a dingy bar in Earls Court, had a beer, watched the football and talked jackets for 2 hours. I can confirm that he is such a sweet nice guy and not the greedy person that some people thought he was because he wouldn't share information, He would share the info because at the time it was potentially a completely unique piece of clothing, as JAL hadn't yet been identified as the maker. Even he didn't know that. Now for some more exciting news. The change in the colour of the jacket, the little inconsistencies that we have been plagued by for years makes me realise after seeing this that it is very possibly screen used. It has paint flaking off it and other areas which have been touched up where you can see the brush marks. I recommended that he take it to JAL at some point to see if it can jog any memories. The leather itself is a lot thinner than the leather that JAL is making the jackets in. As in, mine, Steve's, probably AJ's first jacket as well. The colour is very, very close but not quite that. The jacket has shoulder pads, it very well distressed but isn't totally stiff. It was possible that this jacket was used for a couple of scenes. For the most part I had to use rubber gloves but he did let me touch it, it is quite soft and a fully wearable jacket and it was amazing.Also, the lining is identical to my first JAL lining. OK, pic heavy, i'll try and describe what you're seeing to make it easier.
Firstly inside, bad low light, but the colour is perfect, as its meant to be
Outside, Natural Light. It was a bit rainy so we had to be quick, so apologies for some of the quick snaps
inside cuff detail
cuff distressing
Paint on the sleeve
http://s175.photobucket.com/user/loverpants_2007/media/20140629_185440_zpshnriu2kr.jpg.html
My Jal for colour reference
Wrinkled distress
Shoulder Stitch
Sleeve (Left)
More paint detail
This is my friend Rob wearing my Larger Browner JAL and me wearing my normal jacket holding the original.
I'm thinking, they might have started the filming with this jacket, but perhaps it wasn't red enough, started painting it, and then moved on to other jackets. There was one very obvious piece of distressing on he shoulder that is very visible in the scene where Tyler and the Narrator get on the bus. But they are exact. I'll try and find the picture if I can. Again, many thanks to x-mart, he is the sweetest, accommodating generous person and I felt very honoured that he picked me to share this with. Hope you like the pictures.