Anyone got a trashy old 80s style semi dark denim jacket they wanna part with? I've tried so many thrift stores & i'm not keen to buy a new one because these days all you've got is these clean cut designer boutique yuppie-esque looking ones in all the stores. The one's in thrift stores are usually the traditional looking ones & are nice & brocken in, but they're usually too short or an ugly fit where the arms start to get bigger & baggy from the elbow up & i'm after more of a slimmer straight arm 80s style fit. I've even checked heaps of shops for the classic Levis Slim Fit Tucker Jacket as they call em, which you'd think would be common, but noone seems to stock them here in Australia. I'd prefer preloved anyway since it'll probably look more like what i'm after & plus it's just for sewing all my old patches on & would probably look lame on a new one.  Another problem i'm faced with is online stores not wanting to deal with anyone outside the U.S. If anyone can help me out in any way let me know.

I think what you want are the old US made Lee, Levis or Wrangler jackets, made into the 90s I found this in Google, but there were more sites, Google US made Lee, Levis...

http://denimjunkies.com/jackets.htm

Thanks  :).
Unfortunatly the prices are waaaaay out of my price range.
I found a brand new one i really like that was only $58 U.S. & it was a Levis Premium Standard Fit Trucker Jacket in the color or wash called Jagger. Actually that exact jacket would be even better in Slim Fit if they do that one in Slim Fit. Unfortunatly that site won't sell outside the U.S. & that exact color & that exact jacket is not being made in Australia from what i've been told. The only Levis Trucker Jackets i can get over here is a Relaxed Fit in a really dark blue denim. It's so frustrating.

Thanks  :).
Unfortunatly the prices are waaaaay out of my price range.
I found a brand new one i really like that was only $58 U.S. & it was a Levis Premium Standard Fit Trucker Jacket in the color or wash called Jagger. Actually that exact jacket would be even better in Slim Fit if they do that one in Slim Fit. Unfortunatly that site won't sell outside the U.S. & that exact color & that exact jacket is not being made in Australia from what i've been told. The only Levis Trucker Jackets i can get over here is a Relaxed Fit in a really dark blue denim. It's so frustrating.
If you buy a new stiff one, kids used to creatively break them in like bury them for a few days and even drag them behind their car!  I think there are  easier ways to break them in these days :)

;D I had an absolutely awesome jacket..LEVIS..I think.. from early 80's...Its not "politically correct" now but I had a Rebel flag stitched across the back..and TONS..I mean..of buttons on the front..it was my FAVE..I dont care if it got 10 degrees out..I still only wore my Denim..Cause it was cool..I have no idea what happened to it..I really think someone stole it from a party when I took it off for just a few and put it in the back of my friends car..thought it was locked..I REALLY miss that jacket!

try Ebay....you can find almost anything there.




Erin :)

Tried ebay, all the denim jackets on there are crap & all the Levis ones are mainly women's which is the same problem i have with them in shops. Men's clothing is not very well catered for & we are a bit neglected in that respect. Whenever we get catalogs in the mail there's so much emphasis on womens clothing & sometimes there's not even one page with men's clothing on it. It's bullsh!t, all the best clothes are only done in women's fits & sizes, especially denim & jeans. Whoever says it's a man's world & that we've got it better has no idea.

Ok i found a good Levis denim jacket today, but it looks a bit too new for my liking & the colour is not dark dark denim, but it is quite a bit darker than i'd like it to be.
Maybe i should do another post for this question, but does anyone know some really good ways i can age & fade denim faster than  having to wait untill it's been through the wash 5000 times or without doing something as risky as using something as harsh as bleach which would probably just ruin it & make it look crap.

If you google "denim aging" (without the quotes) you can find one or two gems amongst all the pages about aging rock stars squeezing into their denims.  One page I found discusses three methods manufacturers use to age denim.  There wasn't a method included though.  They mention snad blasting, stone washing (using pumice stones) and washing in caustic soda.  You could try one of these at home I guess.  As long as it's your washing machine of course!

Caustic soda sounds the most realistic since sand blasting would totally wreck it & obtaining those stones wouldn't be easy. Wouldn't caustic soda be a little harsh like bleach since caustic soda can strip paint or a powder coated finnish off metal from what i've heard? I could always test it on dark old jeans i don't want. Instead of wrecking my machine aswell maybe i should also do it by hand in a plastic tub type container. There has to be someone out there that knows more about this & has a good & prooven method, come on people.

Dude...let me check around here to see if I've got another one. I just cut the sleeves off one so I can wear it over my leather in the winer. I'm in the process of painting on it since we can't buy the patches anymore  :\'( What size are you if I do find one? Medium ok?

As for aging them...one thing I used to do with jeans was put them in the washer with A LOT of salt. NO VINEGAR...vinegar helps keep them dark! Salt & bleach used to work for me but then, I wore mine ALL the time except for probably when I took a shower. My poor jacket is falling apart so it only hangs on a hanger now, tho it still fits me. I'm afraid to even touch it anymore.

Dude...let me check around here to see if I've got another one. I just cut the sleeves off one so I can wear it over my leather in the winer. I'm in the process of painting on it since we can't buy the patches anymore  :\'( What size are you if I do find one? Medium ok?

As for aging them...one thing I used to do with jeans was put them in the washer with A LOT of salt. NO VINEGAR...vinegar helps keep them dark! Salt & bleach used to work for me but then, I wore mine ALL the time except for probably when I took a shower. My poor jacket is falling apart so it only hangs on a hanger now, tho it still fits me. I'm afraid to even touch it anymore.

Well with the Levis jackets i tried a medium & a small in the shop & the small was a perfect fit. It was brand new though so i don't know whether the older ones would differ in size slightly because tht's definitly the case with the t-shirts from the 80s. A medium from back then is a lot smaller than a medium from now. I'll try the salt idea. I also know that a hot wash, tumble drying & using powders & dertergents with traces of bleach will help speed things up a bit.

As for aging them...one thing I used to do with jeans was put them in the washer with A LOT of salt. NO VINEGAR...vinegar helps keep them dark! Salt & bleach used to work for me but then, I wore mine ALL the time except for probably when I took a shower. My poor jacket is falling apart so it only hangs on a hanger now, tho it still fits me. I'm afraid to even touch it anymore.


The only thing that ever kept me from doing anything like that is I'm such a "caretaker" of everything I've got. For instance, I'll often be tempted to cut pictures out of magazines and post 'em on my walls, but I've never actually done it since I don't wanna ruin the mags.

But anyway, I found one (in good, not very used condition) at a thrift store about a year ago. I love wearing it around town - makes me feel like I'm back in the 80's! 8)

Just to make it cooler, I'd like to give it that "broken in" look without wearing it out too much -- would you suggest just washing it with a moderate amount of salt in the washing machine?

Just to make it cooler, I'd like to give it that "broken in" look without wearing it out too much -- would you suggest just washing it with a moderate amount of salt in the washing machine?

The salt won't give it an instant distressed look. It takes a while-which is why my mom used to go mad when I'd pour 3/4 of a box of Morton Salt in the washer LOL!

Anything abrasive will give you what you want...try one cup of salt in a washer set for a medium load. You can keep doing this until you get the look you want. Also, when you wash towels, toss the jacket in. If you want denim to maintain it's brand new, off the rack look...you should turn it inside out and wash it initially with vinegar to set the dye.  To distress it, do the opposite...abrasives and DON'T turn it inside out.

One other thing you can try, tho it will eventually fray and you'll get shredded denim if you do it too much...take  a single edged razor blade and CAREFULLY scrape it at an angle to the denim. It will lighten the colour...but be careful. I had a blade slip once and end up in my thumb...not fun. And you have to keep an eye on it...you'll get fuzz and you'll begin to see when you're wearing through the fibres and will end up with a hole. Maybe a copper wire brush would do this better and safer-I dunno...I never tried it.

The hard thing now is it's hard to find the classic fit we used to get in the 80's. Back then I was known for taking a razor blade to ANY jeans or denim I just bought and also for filling a spray bottle with 100% straight bleach and squirting the hell out of whatever I just got. You can get some pretty cool effects.