Re: Wolverine's Jackets
Well, since this thread got bumped up, I figured I'd write a synopsis of the Vanson Wolverine jacket in an effort to pull together all of the information contained here. I'm not going to say this is all 100% correct, but it is my best guess from all of the research and information that I have come across.
There were at least four jackets made by Vanson for Fox. Two of which were samples for the studio to decide on color choices, and two for actual production. The first is the red striped version seen below.
This jacket is made from horse hide, and can bee seen in pre-production artwork on the X-Men DVD, which tells us that the studio definitely had possession of this jacket at some point.
Utlimately, however, they decided to go with the gold striped version seen here.
This is the second color sample jacket that went to the studio along with the red version. I believe that this jacket is made from the illusive "MI9" leather that caused so much trouble when people were trying to get Vanson orders.
Once Fox decided to go with this color scheme, they sent the jacket back to vanson and had two more made from horse hide. I'm not sure what happend to the origianl red striped version, but I don't believe that it was ever used during production.
Once the studio received the two new jackets in brown horse hide, they began the process of weathering, which brought them to the state that they are seen on screen. This picture shows Jackman and his stuntman wearing their respective jackets.
There are some things that are still unexplained about the screen used jacket. These include the chest zippers that zip "UP" to close instead of down, the main zipper which is on the left hand side, instead of the right, and the gusset color appears to be the same as the rest of the jacket, as opposed to gold, which is on the prototype versions. Whether these changes were requested by the wardrobe department, or a result of the weathering process is unknown. But given all of this information, anyone who is interested in ordering a vanson can do so.
If you want a Wolverine jacket from Vanson that appears as it did on screen, the best color combination is definitely WALNUT for the base, and GOLD stripes. The only other way to get the screen used look is to have one made with horse hide (which Vanson currently does not have) and weather it the exact same way the wardrobe department did. I'm not sure how they darkend the leather, but it is believed that after they sanded the jacket, several coats of oil were applied which caused the darkening.
Another choice, which should be the closest to pre-weathering, is the color GA2, with gold stripes. GA2 is a richer shade of brown with just a hint of red undertone. This matches the color characteristics of the horse hide fairly well, but I wouldn't recommend trying to weather it as a means to create a screen accurate look.
There is still the issue of the bottom stripe measurments. At some point, the dimensions of these stripes were changed dramatically. No one knows how or why this happened. Upon last speaking with Mike at Vanson (who recently left the company), he informed me that he did change the dimensions to match those of the "gold" prototype above. I have never seen this jacket in person, so I cannot vouch for their screen accuracy. However, if you desire, you can have the stripes made to your specifications for an extra charge. I believe that the best measurments for screen accuracy are 1-1/4" at the zipper to 4-3/4" at the back. These measurments are derrived from a standard size 42 wolverine jacket (the screen used was size 44), so keep that in mind if you place an order.
You will also need to specify that you want the sleeve gussets to be the same color as the jacket for a screen accurate look. If not, they will be the same color as the trim. Vanson will also modify the chest zippers and main zipper if you desire, but I'm not sure of the charges for this.
I think that about covers all of the bases, from prototypes, to types of leather and colors, to screen accurate measerments and features. Once again, this is my best guess on the history of this jacket with the research I've done. If I'm missing someting, feel free to chime in.
- John
