Opinions on jacket modification?

[J. Wilhelm]

Update on uniform.

The old blue jacket used as a fatigue blouse has seen better days. Having been worn out in the space of 3 years, I have purchased a pitch black denim jacket as a replacement. I will no be re-doing the buttons in copper as I did the last time, because it's more trouble than it's worth (the copper will stain upon contact with human skin natural oils - it turns a dark bronze shade very quickly after a few days of wear).  Instead, being a real denim jacket this one has rivet-style buttons, like jeans. I think I'll try to find replacement rivet buttons to replace these ones (or match them even), and apply the same "Double Row" treatment to make the jacket look like a period fatigue blouse with a dense button table.

As to abandoning the navy colour...well, I'm not a re-enactor. This is steampunk. The fabric is nice, being considerably thicker tha the last one. It's a bit of a stretch to use denim - although the transition from the Civil War to the Indian Wars period did see the canvas fatigue blouse replace the wool coat worn in the Civil War (lots of details on that in the previous pages on this thread). Canvas is very similar to denim, except for the number of threads in the weave (number of threads in warp and weft).

Sorry for the grainy picture. The twitter image server would not cooperate with my Twitter app
on my old phone so I had to pair it down quite a bit. This phone is on its way out anyway (RAM too low).

I'll update the picture tomorrow using my new phone.

[Banfili]

Looking very neat, and military - well done!

[J. Wilhelm]

Looking very neat, and military - well done!

Thank you! It's an odd animal of a uniform. Made up with some pieces I can wear as everyday wear. Truth is that the American Civil War uniforms were very simple, inspired by French, Italian and Austrian uniforms of that specific decade.

[MWBailey]

Looks a bit like the (apocryphal, yet still blendable) shell jacket, albeit in blue rather than confederate gray,  worn by Patrick Wayne in the movie Rio Lobo (John Wayne Jingoistic wetsern movie). The collar's different, but not much else, so far as I remember.

Nice look!

[J. Wilhelm]

Looks a bit like the (apocryphal, yet still blendable) shell jacket, albeit in blue rather than confederate gray,  worn by Patrick Wayne in the movie Rio Lobo (John Wayne Jingoistic wetsern movie). The collar's different, but not much else, so far as I remember.

Nice look!

Thank you! Yeah it just fits the bill. It's difficult to get clothing off the rack that works, but sometimes it does. The other blue jacket was really worn out (poor quality stretch fabric). This is real denim. I saw it last month for $20 and snatched it. It's daily wear for me too (without the insignia so people won't think I'm making any kind of statement).

[J. Wilhelm]

  It looks like I just lost this jacket on my way home yesterday. If I lostit in the bus, then it's gone for good.  I'll be searching for a replacement, but I don't have too much time to do that in person, and it looks like the jacket is nearly sold out and out of print.

[J. Wilhelm]

It looks like I just lost this jacket on my way home yesterday. If I lostit in the bus, then it's gone for good.  I'll be searching for a replacement, but I don't have too much time to do that in person, and it looks like the jacket is nearly sold out and out of print.

Ha! Almost one year out. No I didn't lose the jacket. It's been so long, I don't even remember how I got it back 

Anyhow, another idea just popped into my head. Someone was talking about welding equipment on Twitter and I spotted this: A "welding cape" or "welding sleeves." Available in canvas or suede. A bit short for an "Attack on Titan" jackets, but rather interesting looking.

I've been looking for cropped jackets forever. I'm imagining this as a sort of "Hussar Pelice" to be worn over the golden corset if it could be lined with another material such as fleece. Does this have Steampunk potential?

[Sorontar]

I can certainly see possibilities. Depending on what look you want, you can add black or white lace around the neck and/or cuffs. If you decide not to use it as a cropped jacket, the black section can be replaced with loose white cotton or similar for a blouse/shirt-like look, or a darker leather/suede apron effect. The arm pockets can have a logo painted or stitched onto them, or maybe bits of radio aerials or other equipment stuck into them, or maybe bones or feathers or something appropriate to your persona for the occasion when you wear it. Likewise, the front can have something placed over the trademark and new buttons can be glued/welded onto some of the existing press-studs.

I have been wanting to make a costume based on the (lesser known) Star Wars pirate, Talon Karrde -
Being able to adapt existing clothing is crucial as it saves me having from to make the jacket myself. My main problem is finding suede that matches the brown of my existing jackets.

Sorontar

[J. Wilhelm]

I can certainly see possibilities. Depending on what look you want, you can add black or white lace around the neck and/or cuffs. If you decide not to use it as a cropped jacket, the black section can be replaced with loose white cotton or similar for a blouse/shirt-like look, or a darker leather/suede apron effect. The arm pockets can have a logo painted or stitched onto them, or maybe bits of radio aerials or other equipment stuck into them, or maybe bones or feathers or something appropriate to your persona for the occasion when you wear it. Likewise, the front can have something placed over the trademark and new buttons can be glued/welded onto some of the existing press-studs.

I have been wanting to make a costume based on the (lesser known) Star Wars pirate, Talon Karrde -
Being able to adapt existing clothing is crucial as it saves me having from to make the jacket myself. My main problem is finding suede that matches the brown of my existing jackets.

Sorontar

What the goal is:

I believe I saw a somewhat similar cropped jacket by ZARA (very expensive!) in imitation suede with imitation fleece lining. I had been looking for one last year and then I forgot all about it until a few days ago.

I'm still looking for a crop jacket to fit over the corset in the luftschiffengel uniform. The "fatigue blouse" I have (shown above in the page) is still okay, but by necessity, as clothes wear out, I'm having to evolve the uniform. The original fur pickelhaube has succumbed to age, and it was replaced by a type that's not as nice, but it's made from genuine lambskin smooth leather, as opposed to polyurethane rubber which is what led to the first hat's demise.   I I'm even mouling over making the cap from scratch myself or with help from a tailor if need be, because you can't buy an exact copy as nice looking as the original at any price now.

The corseted "lederhosen" black shorts, still are being sold, and I have a new pair on tap, to be paired with brand new leather lederhosen braces. It'll be modified the braces into having a more practical attachment method in the back buttons on the shorts, with elastic, like modern braces, so as to compensate for leather stretching over the years which can make the front plate fall out of alignment (tilting). I've also found a new pair of imitation brown fleece boots. So I'll soon have a thread on the new uniform.

The next step in the evolution of the uniform is the adaptation from US Civil War era colors on coats and fatigue blouses (Navy) to a more "American West appropriate" color scheme, which is more in line with the British style Khaki color scheme that was adopted by the US Army during the Indian Wars Period, and later standardized for the uniforms of the Spanish American War (eg Rough Riders uniforms)
So the uniform will change colors as actual uniforms did in real life.

The fleece simply signifies uniforms suited for high altitude climate. The uniform is built in layers to be taken off according to temperatures (removable sleeves, pant legs, aviator like suits with a Last Exile flair), with an option to build up to an Arctic style uniform for use at the service ceiling of 30, 000 ft. My COVID respirator masks will be the standard equipment for servicemen serving outside the gondola and on top of the envelope of the airship.

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