The Indiana Jones shirt is based on a typical safari-style shirt. Its distinctive feature is two vertical strips running from the shoulders to the bottom of the shirt tails and continued over both breast pockets. A common debate regards the original shirt color. Surviving samples of the original shirts seem to be darker in reality than they appear on screen. Most fans look for an off-white "stone" color for their replicas. The original shirts, however, may have been more of a "tan" or "natural" color. The shirt varied little from film to film, the only notable difference being the darker buttons in Temple of Doom and Last Crusade. Originally designed by Andreas Dometakis for the films, this shirt was once one of the hardest pieces of gear to find.
Now, however, there are several companies that replicate this shirt accurately. Noel Howard offers a lightweight shirt in a fabric and color boasted to be identical to the original. Wested Leather produces a similar shirt in a lighter shade to match the "screen seen" color. Magnoli Clothiers offers a tailor-made shirt in the same style with several color options. The most economic choice for a screen accurate shirt is What Price Glory, though the sizing can be a bit tricky.
Many mass-produced "close enough" options have been made over the years by such companies as L.L. Bean, Orvis, Cabelas, and Tilly Endurables. Other intrepid fans have even produced their own accurate copies by buying two "close enough" shirts and using the cloth from one to add vertical pleats to the other.
Slight variations in color and details can be seen in shots of the shirt through the films:
Raiders of the Lost Ark: |
Front |
Back |
Epaulettes |
Cuff |
While many often think Indy's shirt is white, you can see the contrast when shown with the pure white color of Marion's blouse. |
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: |
Front |
Back |
Epaulettes |
Indy's shirt shown here with bow tie and dinner jacket. |
Indy's Shirt once the going gets tough. |
Back. Notice how the shirt being wet shows off how thin the material actually is. |
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: (note that in the film, Indy never has his jacket off while wearing his "adventure" shirt) |
Front |
Epaulettes |
Dressed up for meeting Dad. Last Crusade had Indy wearing a black Irish poplin tie for a while with his "adventure" gear. |
Shown here once again contrasting with pure white. |
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (coming soon) |
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