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Things 1 and 2 think I should dress up for Halloween, so, after careful consideration, I decided to dress up like Indiana Jones.
I have a hat and a leather jacket and plenty of white shirts and khakis, and I thought it would be an easy costume to pull together, but when I tried on the ensemble, I looked less like an adventurer than a guy going to work on casual Friday.
So, I went online to see what it takes to dress like Indiana Jones, and I discovered it takes $2,127.90 and a pair of grayish-brown (or reddish-brown) khakis.
That’s a bit more than I wanted to spend, but here’s the breakdown:
Boots: I thought I’d wear an old pair of brown leather shoes, but according to the fanatics at Indygear.com, my costume wouldn’t be authentic without a pair of work boots from the Alden Shoe Co., model No. 405. Luckily, the boots are easy to find online. J. Crew sells them for $450 a pair.
Pants: Indygear says the khakis are based on World War II Army officers’ trousers. In the 1st movie, they’re grayish-brown, but in the other movies, they’re reddish-brown. According to Indygear, they’re wool-twill, with 7 belt loops, button-flapped rear pockets, a button fly and a military-style 4-inch hem. I couldn’t find an online source for Indy-style khakis, so I’ll have to make it up as I go along.
Shirt: Indiana Jones wore an off-white safari shirt with pleats running from the epaulets, over the button-flapped breast pockets to the hem. I don’t have any shirts with vertical pleats (or epaulets), but Todds Costumes sells them for $49.95 each.
Jacket: I thought my brown leather jacket would work, but my pockets don’t have flaps, and Indy’s did. If I want an authentic jacket, I’ll need to order one from Wested Leather Co., the British company that cranked out dozens of jackets for the movies. Replicas sell for £155, or about $245.
It takes a lot of money to look this scruffy looking.
Hat: I’d planned on wearing a fedora-looking hat I got last winter at Eddie Bauer, but Indiana Jones wouldn’t wear a hat from the mall. His fedora was made by a British company called Herbert Johnson, which was later acquired by a company called Swaine Adeney Briggs. It says that particular style has been in production since the 1890s and is called the Poet. It costs £215, or about $340.
Shoulder bag: The fanatics at TheRaider.net say Indy’s shoulder bag was really a World War II gas-mask bag. I struck out on eBay, but Todds Costumes sells replicas for $47.95.
The whip: I found an “official” Indiana Jones whip at the Halloween store at the mall for about $7, but, honestly, it looks like something a kid would take trick-or-treating. The 10-foot kangaroo-hide bullwhips used in the movies were made by David Morgan, who sells them online for $995 each.
So there you go. If you really want to dress like Indiana Jones, it’s gonna cost you $2,127.90, and that doesn’t include the khakis … or the belt … or the gun and holster. I totally forgot about the gun and holster.
The poor man's Indiana Jones
You know, that’s a lot of money to invest just to take the kids around the neighborhood and pass out candy.
I’ll stick with the Indy shirt and a Halloween-store whip and call it a day.
My 7 year old son is not pleased with us. We decided he’s wearing the same costume as last year. Before you gasp in dismay…I’ve been out of work for 3 years, unemployment checks are no longer…and the kids want to be the exact same kind of characters…and the Halloween stores now charge $40/$45 and up for a child’s costume! My son just wants to be a bad guy from Star Wars. His Jango Fet (or whatever his name) costume/mask stil fits. What’s he crying about…we “found” his gun that makes really loud noises again…
My daughter just wants to be a princess or fairy. She has tons of dress up clothes and lots of wings. Fortunately, A friend hand-me-downed their Bell costume yesterday and she’s happy. It’s like a new thing, but her brother is not happy. He wants me to buy another version of Darth Vader, when he already has a that mask and cape. I wonder how expensive that would be to do a “real” Darth Vader look?
You’re making him wear the same costume 2 years in a row? You’re mean. (I’m joking.) Our problem is that Thing 2 wanted to go as Spider-Man again, but his costume is now about 2 sizes too small.
You’re gonna post a pic, right? I promise not to look at the tags to see if you went real or Halloween shop.
Fine. I added a picture. I hope you’re happy.
I am. You made my day. =) I love it!
What she said.
Authentic Indiana Jones costume: $2127.90.
Treasured Halloween memories for Thing1 and Thing 2: Priceless.
I say go for it, but then again, I’m not responsible for their college funds.
Yeah, you would say that. No, unless I unearth a few priceless artifacts that I can sell to a museum, I’ll take the cheap way out.
Two thousand-plus dollars for a Halloween costume you’re gonna wear one time??? Man, now I know I’m in the wrong profession! Should’ve opened up a costume shop (which, by the way, are not making nearly that kind of dough in these parts!!) Me, I always went homemade when I tagged along with the domer-kid.
No, I’m not spending $2,100 on a Halloween costume. That would be insane. (I did order the shirt, though, meaning I’ll be dressing like Indiana Jones every Halloween until the shirt finally wears out.)
Think of it this way, in the last Indiana Jones film, Harrison Ford was about 112 years old, no? So, you already look loads better than he did in his last incarnation as Jones.
I think it works, by the way. Maybe buy a rubber snake as well.
I lump the last Indiana Jones movie in the same category as The Godfather Part III and the Star Wars prequels and tell myself they never happened. Wait … are you saying my costume looks good only in comparison to old Indy? P.S. “I hate snakes!”
Welllll . . . you didn’t spend the $2100 is all I’m saying.
Fair enough.
well you could double up as freddie kruegar too lol xxjen if you added a mask and stripey jumper xxjen
Ooh, and then I could use the metal claws the following year and go as Wolverine!
Very cool! I’m jealous too as I’ve always wanted to rock the Indy look for halloween. Or any day.
I’m not sure I’m rocking anything, with my Eddie Bauer hat and department store jacket, but I appreciate the compliment, or maybe the complement. I’m too lazy to Google it.
What about the underwear?
Surprisingly, I couldn’t find anything about Indy’s socks or underwear, but, honestly, I got distracted by the history of that hat. Seriously, the same company’s been making it since around the time Grover Cleveland was president.
Based on the prices of everything else I’d hazard a guess that some Indy Tidy Whiteys go for about $100
I think that is a perfectly respectable Indy costume. Knowing your distaste for the holiday, I am impressed that you decided to dress up at all.
Hey, I got a shirt out of the deal, so I ain’t complainin’.
Not bad at all Todd. You just need a belt across your chest. I have a WWII gas mask container, but it is a metal can, not a leather bag. Maybe they’re wrong on that one. Happy Halloween.
Looking good. It’s not about authentic clothing but how you feel inside. Feel like Indy, the you are Indy.
I feel more like a suburban dad dressed like Indy, but that’s OK.
Actually if you spend the money on the authentic stuff, it’s all such good quality stuff that you can wear them every day. I wear my Alden boots all the time, and the jacket can be worn out on a Saturday night without anybody knowing the wiser.
Todd – FWI, the khaki pants can be found online at either Todd’s Costumes (who also carries the belts, holsters, and replica guns) or Magnoli Clothiers.
PS – Indy wore white boxers and brown or white socks.
I agree the clothes are timeless, but I do not want to know how you found out about Indy’s underwear!
Funny enough there was an auction where they showed up! We had a good laugh about it on the forums – it’s kind of a running joke now to have “screen accurate” boxers.
Yes Todd’s costumes pretty much cover’s the entire costume now. He has a great 8′ whip for about $100 that can really crack good. He sales a decent hat and jacket. The hat, jacket, bag and whip are all great to start with and just wear some similar colored clothes from Cabelas or similar and you’ll have a costumes everyone will like.