Wanted

[lupine91602]

I'm looking for advise on where to find some specific JW style clothing items, and would REALLY appreciate advise on sources.

The items are:

*John Wayne style leather vest with canvas back. I have the Duke vest by Wahmaker, but this is an unfinished leather look and it seems JW's was a shinier finished leather.

*Salmon or Coral colored wild rag/bandana

*striped wild rag/bandana (as worn in Hondo)

Again, any advise on merchants who sell them would be appreciated!

-Michael Grant

[ehheisner]

Hello Micheal,

There is a John Wayne style bandana on ebay currently (look under "John Wayne" Clothing section). It is a recreation of the one he wore in Hondo with the red & blue border.

Good luck and let us know where you find the other clothing items

[ehheisner]

Michael,

To get your vest to look more like The Duke's, you could use some saddle/leather oil to grease it up and make it look more used. Most of the Wahmaker vests are lighter color and look great for fancy dress. Oiling the leather will add a lot of character for you.

Send us some before and after photos.
EH

[lupine91602]

Thanks for the tips. I did try neatsfoot oil and saddle soap. It worked for aging (and darkening) but it still doesn't have that sort of finished leather look that some of the Duke's had. Since then, however, I found just what I was looking for at:
http://westernandwildlifewonders.com...3an9dl115ftvd3

I wasn't familiar with this company, but ordered the vest, as well as the Searchers and Big Jake shirts (both the salmon/coral color I was looking for). The stuff shipped quickly and seems very good quality, so I'm happy.

I've attached an image if you'd care to see the vest and Big Jake shirt.

[ehheisner]

Very cool!
I really like the Big Jake shirt. It will probably wear in nicely the more you wash it. The rest of the outfit looks real sharp. Where did you get your hat? I'd love to see more closeup photos of the hat.

What's next on the wish list?
yer pal,
EH

[lupine91602]

Thank you. The hat is from Baron's Hats in Burbank. I think they are over priced, but do good work. I've also had hats made elsewhere (3 at Knudson Hat Company: The Searchers, Last of the Dogmen & Maverick). I like their work a lot and they have some nice Duke hats if your willing to wait for delivery. Another company is the Rocky Mountain Hat Company, which made a Shootist hat for me (100% beaver with rattlesnake hat band).

Let me see if I can find another photo of the one above though.

[lupine91602]

Unfortunately, none of these really show the hat that well. Baron's seems to do a more natural looking aging then Knudsen, but I think the prices for what you get with Knudsen are much better (you can get a higher beaver pelt concentration for what Baron charges for 100% felt) however there is no denying their quality.

[ehheisner]

I do like Knudsen Hats a lot too. I have one hat from them and they did a really nice job. 6 - 7 months is a long time to wait for a hat but worth it.

[lupine91602]

I had 3 photo's attached to the previous post (thought I did anyway), but maybe they were not allowed. Not sure how that works.

Anyway, if you want to give me your e-mail address I can send them. Alternatively, if you are on facebook, I have photo's posted there if you want to friend me. My page is: http://www.facebook.com/michaelsgrant

There are photo's of the three Knudsen hats there as well as the Shootist one from Rocky Mountain. I received 2 of the 3 Knudsen's in 4 months but the last one took closer to 7. They were out of the color I wanted (pecan) for the Last of the Dogmen hat. I was frustrated and almost canceled the order. Glad I didn't since its now my favorite casual hat and the one I get the most complements on. I didn't have any aging done to the ones I ordered from Knudsen, so I'm curious if you did and were happy with it? A friend has the Outlaw Josey Wales from there and I thought the aging looked so-so. In fairness the hat is so light colored it may just be the way it looks on that style.

Hope you had a good 4th!

[chester7777]

Michael, Looks like your doing a great job getting decked out in full Duke regalia!
Been known to do the same. Sent you a Facebook friend request, noticed you are friends with Jeff Sutherlin, so am I.

Chester

[ehheisner]

I haven't had Knudsen or others age my hats. I do a lot of hoseback riding, brush clearing and other yard duties while wearing my character hats so they get plenty of sweat and natural aging. I find the shop aging usually looks good in photos but up close it often looks too perfect and unnatural. Probably the best way to do it would be to get the light aging and then just wear the heck out of it.
My biggest problem is that I have so many hats that it's hard to get them all excercised!