My first attempt at an Indy Gear Outfit was for Halloween, 1984. As you can see, it wasn't bad, but still needed a little work. The few main things I still wanted to change were the Pants (these were Brown Dickies), the Fedora (a 1950's era fedora of my Father's), and the Whip (a cheap costume style whip). But otherwise, the outfit was pretty good, being that it was assembled from various pictures and magazines that were available back then. Remember, in 1984, Raiders of the Lost Ark had just become available on Videotape, and Temple of Doom was still in theaters.
Photo on Left, me at home before the Halloween party I went to - Center and Right, two shots from the party
By June of 1985, I had upgraded the Pants and Fedora, and wanted to make a movie with my friends. It was to be called Montana Smith and the Idol of the Ancients. I originally had the idea of naming my character Nevada Smith, but a friend told me that was already a movie! Coincidentally, that was also the reason Lucas and Spielberg changed their character from Indiana Smith to Indiana Jones! We filmed only ONE day, the photos below were from that one day of filming. The filming was being done at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, we had to stop short because of rain. The next time we were to film, I had broke my right arm the day before, going "location scouting" in a State Park near my home and fell about 12 feet backwards off a cliff. So needless to say, the movie was over, and I had a huge cast on my arm. But I do have these photos below to commemorate my movie that never was.
Ironically, after I'd broken my arm, the 12 foot swivel handle Bullwhip I'd ordered had arrived. But with my right arm in a cast, all I could do was admire the final piece to my outfit... ordered for a movie that was never to see the light of day.
Just over one year after my goal to assemble my Indy Gear Outfit, it was finally complete. It was now Halloween 1985. Here are a few pictures of the finished product. The last photo was taken on Halloween at my High School for my 1985-1986 Class Yearbook for the Halloween Page. After the yearbook came out, they gave me the original photo. I love all my new gear since rediscovering Indy Gear, but my original outfit will always be special to me.
Here's the breakdown of my original gear and it's sources:
Fedora - Originally a 1950's era lid of my Father's. Then I got that awesome $30 Stetson wool "official" Indy Fedora. It was picked up Downtown Minneapolis at a men's clothing shop (now gone). I still have it but it's in real rough shape nowadays.
Jacket - An $8 garage sale jacket my mother "fixed" for me. It was originally a leather trench coat. She hemmed it up, removed the buttons, added a zipper, added some elastic at the bottom, and moved up the outside pockets. I still have it too, but it doesn't fit anymore....
Shirt - Picked up at Army Surplus. It didn't have pleats, but the shirt and button colors were good and it had epaulets to boot.
Pants - Originally Brown Dickies, then I picked up some used Military Pinks from Ragstock.
Bag - I found this bag at Army Surplus. The strap was the same color and material as the bag was, so I removed it, dyed it, and took the front attaching buckle and slid it up for the appearance of a functional buckle and stitched the strap inside the front of the bag.
Belt - A regular brown web belt.
Gun Belt - An old black leather belt I had.
Holster and Gun - A toy "army" plastic holster and gun. It was originally green and attached to a green plastic army belt. I cut the belt off, put two slits in the back so it could go on my leather belt, and spray painted it black (ToD).
Whip Holder - I made myself from some scrap leather and a snap I added.
Whip - First a cheap costume black whip. Then I got a 12 foot swivel handle Bullwhip that the store added a leather strap on for me.
Boots - My brother's boots.
Gloves - A pair of my Dad's work gloves.
5 O'Clock Shadow - I had to grow that thing out for a week and it still needed help. So a little mascara and.... voila!
