The Jacket

The rather distinctive jacket worn by Christopher Eccleston's Doctor Who this year is a good looking swatch of leather, no doubt about it.  Battered and well worn, and with something of a Second World War era look about it, it looks like the Doctor's had it for, well... some time.

It caught my eye when the first publicity shots came out before the TV series, and I fancied having one, or something similar, some time.  The double breasted, vintage style jacket itself is just the kind of thing I'd go for - slightly unusual, a touch of retro, plenty of detailing.  And it's those extra details that help make it so unique; Straps on the cuffs, nice lining, a belt on the back, panel stitching that doesn't follow a simple straight line across the shoulders and chest, and of course a distinctive and fairly unusual double breasted style.  It's suitably retro overall and with those interesting details, and it could just as easily have come from a top designer of the modern day as from a WWII wardrobe.

And thanks to RTD and Eccleston and their team of telly craftsmen, Doctor Who now has a hefty frothing tankard of Cool served up with this surprisingly brilliant new series.  Any student who will climb a twenty foot statue to wedge a traffic cone on its head will also have been found in front of their telly in the early evenings from April to June this year.  A new breed of children have enjoyed it and hopefully have the spark of imagination encouraged that little bit more, just as previous generations did, and indeed old school fans have (for the most part) been delighted with the new millenium's incarnation.  Somehow they've pulled off an incredibly broadly appealing production.  Happily this new Doctor Who has also avoided being pigeonholed as Geek TV, because its simply so well made that there's nothing to point at and mock.

Anyway, back to The Jacket.  I've always felt that subtley is a good thing in being a fan, and as luck would have it the Eccleston Period jacket is JUST a black leather jacket to the Unaware Masses.  In the pub, it's Just A Leather Coat.  And a damned good one at that.  Only somebody In The Know would Know what this jacket is, in which case all it would of course attract the Due Respect which it deserves.   :-)

No such garment or close approximation was to be forthcoming despite much laborious searching of retail outlets and countless hours deeply immersed in the Internet.  A misleading tabloid article suggested the screen jacket was a £200 Ben Sherman, but alas Ben's never done such a jacket, and neither has Littlewoods as the same article suggested.  All this was not surprising when the digging and probing revealed that the screen jacket really is an old one...  I'll publish an article here about the origins of it at some point soon.

So began the quest to have it created specially.




The Replica

"If you want something done properly, do it yourself"  They say.  And They are, as usual, right.

So it was then that a completely accurate replica of the ninth Doctor Who's trusty old black leather jacket was born.  And here it is, made available for discerning yet subtle fans out there to enjoy and also to get lots of practical use from.

So now you can have your very own, custom-made, replica of The Doctor's coat!  FANTASTIC!

Here's some guy wearing one.  It's brilliant isn't it?  >>

You'll find more photos on the PICS page - CLICKY


Is it accurate?

Oh yes, VERY.  You'll like this paragraph.  It's an accurate replica of the costume jacket used in the show.   And it's not just a jacket that happens to look a bit like The Doctor's jacket.  You see, having dug deeply enough, and having asked enough people enough questions, eventually the origins of the screen jacket even before Lucinda got her hands on it to costume Mr Eccleston came to light.  It's had a good few owners now!   Anyway, here's the sentence you've been waiting for:  This jacket comes from the original pattern!



Click HERE for an article on the origin of the jackets used for costuming Doctor Who 2005 and how we've been able to copy the pattern exactly, up close and personal.




Now, the pattern is absolutely faithful to the original vintage black leather jacket used by the BBC wardrobe folks, but when you get it it'll be a new jacket without the damage or ageing and wear and tear.  The screen jacket has had a lot of wear and tear and apparently some deliberate extra ageing.  (The brief for the costume designer was that it should look "900 years old")  Roughing it up is up to you, because it DOES have to be damaged to reproduce the badly beaten look of the screen costume.  We'll be publishing an article on wearing, ageing and weathering here for everyone's use - I'd like to ask for help with this though, so if you have any experience or knowledge of applying wear & tear which you'd care to share do please let us know.


Is it good quality?

Yes, EXCEPTIONAL.  This Jacket is hand made right bang in the middle of London, England by truly expert leather craftsmen.  They've been in the industry for decades, and create leatherwear to the best possible standards for independent designers to top name labels.  Not only is this an authentic replica of The Doctor's jacket, it's also a top class wearable leather jacket in its own right, on a quality par with top end fashion label leather jackets.  Only excellent quality materials and hides are used, and the leathers used for our jackets were chosen with great care to match the look, feel and behaviour of the original vintage screen jackets used.

You know, before this project I couldn't really tell you what was a good leather jacket and what wasn't - unless it was clearly made of very nasty leather.  Now though, I'm actually aware of the differing qualities of construction, and though I know that it's hard to believe unless you see it first hand, I've seen that it IS possible to have a well-made and fitted pocket flap instead of a so-so one!

These took a lot longer to get right than they should have, because we had a lot of trouble with some of the first people we approached for this project.  I won't go into detail, but there were several prototypes, more than one of which caused a sigh of dismay.  Finally a company was found who were a breath of fresh air, who just took on the job and got it done, and got it exactly right first time, and also to the highest standard seen of all the contenders.  Superb.  The time and money that could have been saved if we'd found them sooner!

So regardless of the particularly collectable "Doctor Who's Jacket" value, it's also an excellent example of a quality leather jacket in its own right and should serve you well for many, many years.  As any good leather jacket should - as The Doctor's clearly has... 


Can I have it in my size?

Of course.

We cater for all the typical sizes of S/M/L/XL/XXL.  But in addition to the basic size we'd like to ask a few detailed measurements from you, such as your arm length, to make sure you're getting a jacket that fits your frame.   Each one is therefore individual to its buyer.  We give guideline chest sizes for each Size of course, but ultimately it's up to you to choose the right basic size by knowing which one you would normally buy in shops.





Is The Doctor's Jacket brown or black?

Good question.  So much so that I felt it needed a page of its own.

CLICKY here for the "Is It Brown Or Is It Black" article




Is it BBC Licensed?

No.  We spoke to BBC Worldwide about licensing of course, but licensing the branding, use of the Doctor Who logo and official endorsement for a single one-off, admittedly cliquey, garment isn't particularly viable or beneficial to the Beeb, or indeed to us, so no, this isn't an official BBC/Doctor Who branded or endorsed commercial product.  They're quite happy with us selling this of course as there's no actual copyrighted or trademarked designs or concepts involved since it's not an original BBC design, and so long as it's clear that it's not an official BBC endorsed item.  Common sense really.  So no, it's not Official, Licensed or Endorsed.  It's been created by fans, for fans.


How to get one made?

You can order one right here.

Have a look at the CHOICES page to see what specific options we've provided for.  We've catered for everything which people have asked for while we kept in touch with everyone who registered an interest while the project was being worked on.
Creation and delivery takes around two to three weeks.

And yes, we will ship to the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Australia.  Anywhere else, please ask us first.  We may require a payment method other than Credit Card for some countries.



Please e-mail any questions or comments to this address too.  Happy to answer anything at all.

"Doctor Who" is the intellectual property of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the UK

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