While in high school I was a rabid fan of MacGyver and wanted to copy his clothing style; so much so that I called the production office in Vancouver BC and spoke with the head costuming guy to find out where they got certain articles of clothing. He told me that this particular leather jacket was custom made for the show by a company in L.A. called Leathers & Treasures. I then called Leathers & Treasures and confirmed that they indeed did make these jackets and that they had a few left that weren’t purchased for RDA, his stand-in and stunt double.
I immediately purchased one and let me tell you, I wore the hell out of it. It cost me around $500.00. If I could go back in time I’d have never worn it, just hanged it in a closet and kept it in mint condition.
A few years ago I called Leathers & Treasures to see if they still make this particular jacket. I spoke with the owner, Dennis Pollicino, who told me he no longer sells retail or manufactures leather goods. He is now a ‘one-man-band’ manufacturing and selling jewelry and leather accessories wholesale. While he is no longer able to make more jackets, he did give an interesting cost break down of how much it would cost to make.
For one jacket, Dennis estimated it would take:
– 45 square feet of leather at a cost of at least $4.00 a foot ($180.00 minimum)
– $150.00 to make the pattern
– $300.00 to physically make the jacket (cut, sew, install zippers, etc.)
– and he’d have to sell it for around $900.00 in order to make a decent profit
When I met RDA backstage at The Tonight Show in 1996 I had this jacket with me and was going to tell him how I came to own it, but since he wasn’t feeling well and wanted to get going, I didn’t want to take any more of his time than he was already willingly giving me to sign my roll of duct tape. The next time I meet him I’ll definitely have it with me and tell him the tale. I wonder if he’ll even remember or care, afterall Mac wore quite a few jackets over the course of seven seasons and two movies.
See the original post and discussion here.
Cool that you still have the original receipts. Also an interesting tale indeed. I have jackets similar to the original brown one, but a bit more modern, so that they don’t look out of place today.