Leather Jacket Ownership Evidence!

[hells_half_acre]

As background to this possible discovery, I should state that my friend got this wicked awesome HD TV and a Blue Ray player - and we decided to celebrate by having a little rewatch of S1!

And that's when I made this SHOCKING DISCOVERY!

Dean picks up the Leather Jacket from John's abandoned motel room! Meaning, that before the pilot, John was actually in possession of it...

The Evidence:

As we know, Dean gets covered in mud and they check into a nearby motel for him to get cleaned-up. They walk in and see this:

See that wicker shelf beside the sink? See the clothes piled on top of it? and the clothes piled in the corner of the room?

How about from this angle, as Dean tries to tell us that he doesn't like chick-flick moments:

Just a pile of clothes right?

But when Dean comes out of the bathroom after his shower, he immediately reaches for that pile of clothes and low and behold, the Leather Jacket is on the very top:


That's right! John not only left his Journal behind for the boys to find - he also left the Leather Jacket of Awesomeness.

Now, you could argue that Dean could have brought in clothes from his car, including the Leather Jacket, and they just didn't show it on screen...but, after he tells Sam no chick-flick moments, he totally just turns and disappears into the bathroom...

My theory is that Dean just picked a change out clothes out of the ones that John had left in the room (there were a lot to choose from). John and Dean are pretty much the same size - actually, out of the two of them, John is a little bit bigger (at this point), and I was remarking to my friend before Dean fell in the water that I really liked the Chocolate Utility Coat he was wearing because it was just a little too big for him and made him look small and cute. I think Dean and John frequently wore each others clothes when they traveled together, since there wasn't as big a size difference as between Dean and Sam (who tend to keep their wardrobe separate).

Which would explain why in After School Special, we see Dean wearing the Leather Jacket while John is out of town, yet John has it to abandon for Dean to find in the Pilot.

Or, you know, you could just go with the "we don't see Dean get his clothes from the car" theory, and leave it at that...but personally, I think I just made a whole bunch of "John gives Dean the Leather Jacket" fics into AUs. ETA: Just to be clear - I do know the jacket originally belonged to John, I'm just talking about when it was that it came to be in Dean's possession permanently.

And yes...I realize how absolutely geeky this obsession with the Supernatural wardrobe is...but goddamn it, it makes me oddly happy. (If it makes you oddly happy too, check out my "If Clothes Could Talk" post...I'm partway through posting S3 clothes.)

ETA (months later): I always assumed the leather jacket that John was wearing in Something Wicked (1x18) was THE Leather Jacket, but it's not! Check it out: Different buttons, different seams, different collar:
Of course, Dean says in Dream A Little Dream of Me (3x10) that the jacket used to belong to his father, so that's not in dispute.

Comments

[elsewhere-kels.livejournal.com]

Also, in 3x10 the Demon!Dean that Dean dreams about says "Your music? Dad's. Your favourite leather jacket? Dad's." etc, etc

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, we've known it was originally John's jacket since 1x18 Something Wicked...I was more just referring to when it became DEAN'S jacket - originally, I thought that it was given to Dean sometime before After School Special, but now, I think they just traded it back and forth until this moment, when Dean picked it up and never gave it back.

[elsewhere-kels.livejournal.com]

Aaah, I see - sorry, misread. :) Very interesting point!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

No worries...I could have been clearer in the post! :)

[raloria.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Verrryyy Interesting. ;)
I'll have to check that scene out again. Totally missed that during my SPN Revealed note-taking. I saw Dean grab the leather jacket after his shower, but I never really thought about him not having it before, or that it was already in the room before the boys even arrived. Good catch! :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah! I was quite jazzed at the discovery...it just suddenly occurred to me that they were in a room full of John's stuff, it was well within reason that Dean might not have arrived with the Jacket....and sure enough, it really looks to me like it was waiting there for him. :)

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

You are an observational fiend!

Just curious--have you noticed in S6 if they've been having Sam with a new wardrobe (like should be the case) or have they been sticking some of his old clothes in hoping so one (you) will notice?

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

In 6x01, he did indeed have new clothes...everything after that I haven't paid THAT close attention to, because everything after that is excusable by saying "some of his old clothes may have been stored at Dean/Bobby's place, since Dean DID try to get him back at first."

I usually only really concentrate on the clothes when I'm specifically watching the DVDs in order to get screenshots of them...with S6 so far, I've just been watching them once on TV and then once more so that I can timeline it...and then that's it.

[trystan830.livejournal.com]

oooh cool stuff.

and nothing wrong with your geeky observations - i quite like them.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)

[trystan830.livejournal.com]

you're welcome. =)

[lethiaw77.livejournal.com]

I just rewatched the pilot the other day (trying to get a friend hooked) and I remember noticing he didn't have the jacket in the first part and literally cheering when he put it on...I kinda like the jacket :)


On a different note...I had mentioned (whined) once that your VVV didn't have enough Hermione and your response was it was too many people to keep up with...well I now fully understand what you meant...I'm writing a SPN/Buffy crossover and honestly I'm trying to find a way to get rid of some characters because I have people standing around doing nothing and saying nothing and I don't know what to do with them...sorry for rambling...my bad

So back to the jacket...I'm with you on this one...I think he borrowed it and just never gave it back

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Is it wrong that I'm glad that you feel my pain? Haha, because it's not like you don't LIKE those characters, you just cannot keep that many balls in the air during a scene and not have it jarring when one of them speaks after five pages of not saying anything :P

It also gives you respect for the real writers...especially if you ever try writing Castiel. You start to really understand why he only shows up occasionally and doesn't stick around long.

[lethiaw77.livejournal.com]

No it's not wrong that you're glad I feel your pain :) and yeah it's so awkward and I find myself forgetting there are other people there...I haven't tried to write Castiel (it's a HS AU before Cas so I don't have to try thank God). I can see him being really difficult to write especially because so much of his "dialogue" is physical I imagine it would be like trying to narrate physical comedy...congrats to you for pulling it off :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Indeed, most of his presence is physical, not verbal..and on top of that, he's TOO much of a BAMF. Fights just aren't as perilous unless he's got reduced angel-mojo or incapacitated in some way.

Thanks for saying that I was able to pull him off though!

I hope you figure out how to juggle your characters too! Send some of them on weird errands maybe? Haha :P

[sandymg.livejournal.com]

Interesting and sounds right. Guess this is canon now :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

It is for me, anyway :)

[msninacat.livejournal.com]

That's awesome!! There's nothing to say that John didn't have some of Dean's clothes since they seem like they would be less focused on whose is whose then Sam and Dean. Dean totally could have just found some of his in a bag and grabbed the Jacket of Hotness to keep warm since his other jacket got saturated. Great screencap proof. XD

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yeah, I was pretty excited when I realised. When John joined back up with them, they didn't trade clothes, but by then Dean and Sam were getting their own hotel rooms and John was staying someplace else - so less chances for the wardrobes to mingle.

[marlowe78.livejournal.com]

Wicked eyes, girl!

But, there is another possibility. Maybe it was already mentioned here, but I'm too lazy to check them all before I post, so...

How about John vanished, but, because Dean had been in New Orleans and it had been planned they'd meet up afterwards, John kept the majority of Dean's clothes. For some reason. And, well, with it, the jacket. Aaaand then, Dean is kinda pissed and soooo happy that it was left behind by John - because John wouldn't keep the jacket, knowing Dean loves it. Right?

Hey, don't say no! It's possible.... somehow. Dontcha think? Which doesn't mean that they didn't share their clothes.

Both theories,yours and mine, actually would explain why Dean seems to be wearing too long jeans in "Wendigo".

Your theory could mean he was wearing some of John, my would mean that because John vanished with Dean's clothes, he was wearing Sam's.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Oooo! I like your theory too!

I think they are all possibilities...plus, you know I just love the idea of Dean sharing clothes - doesn't matter if they are John's or Sam's :P

[shayasar.livejournal.com]

I know, I'm super late to this party and now I'm poking holes in it :P Sorry?

But Young!Dean is already wearing the jacket in "After School Special".

Although we can always say that he borrowed the jacket from dad then? :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I added that to the theory later... obviously, not to this post though (foolish me!)

Personally, my headcanon is that by the time Dean was big enough to wear the coat, he and his dad just both used it - which was why Dean just threw it on without a second thought in the pilot, and why John had it with him when they split up before the pilot.

So, I figure it went from being John's, to something both of them used the same amount, then it became just Dean's when John left it behind in Jericho.

[shayasar.livejournal.com]

Mhm, I like that canon :) You just totally convinced me that that's the way it happened! :)

Btw, I absolutely love all your posts for the different pieces of clothing. It's one of the things I love this fandom for. Every detail is important and will be noticed. And where else could I find a list of episodes for a certain piece of clothing :)

It's really brilliant!