Posts from stairstars in thread „John Wayne Hat/Eyepatch from Rooster Cogburn and True Grit“

I know it can be frustrating when this happens,and you are entitled to believe whatever you care to about your items, but when you place them on the market, then we, your potential buyers, have a right to question and share our misgivings.

The big issue, to me, is your claim that American costumed Wayne for TRUE GRIT when every piece Wayne wore that survives, and came directly from him, was made by Western Costume Company and Luster was in his employ. American did not even exist then.

From their website:

History
United*American Costume Corp. was established in 1977 by legendary Costumer and Costume Designer, Luster Bayless. After working for almost 20 years in the industry, Luster wanted to form a company independent from the studios that would provide quality wardrobe for affordable prices and never lose sight of the notion that we as costumers are “filmmakers”.

The first project United*American Costume furnished the wardrobe for
was “The Sacketts”.

They also had a few name changes that date your labels.

Luster did end up with Wayne wardrobe. One example from the Estate sale was a piece from THE SHOOTIST that he did not want risk losing in a rental, so he labeled it with this:

For what these cherished pieces usually sell for, you should not blame us for being careful and diligent.

rick

Sorry, I did not mean to inflame.

If, you have a copy of the John Wayne Estate catalog from Oct. 2011, you will see that all the pieces from TG and RC were from Western - as shown by the labels. These pieces all came from Ethan, right out of Duke's closet, that was removed to storage in Newport Beach weeks after his death and remained there for over 30 years. The catalog is also online at HA.COM under "resources' if you do not have one.

I think you might also seek out the date American Costume became UCAA.

I see now they are not the HERITAGE pair.

Obviously, folks, like me, have read Luster's account in DUKE, WE HARDLY KNEW THEE, that he provided a new one every day for Wayne (no one else wears one in the films) and that they have the center mesh painted hole to look through as Duke demanded. I have handled a few of these, and they all had the mesh.

I also am aware that Wayne and the two Chucks wore the same garments many times, such as in shooting the cantina scene in THE ALAMO. There are set images that show Wayne taking off the gold wool coat and handing it to Chuck to shoot the fight sequence. At the Estate sale we had several pieces with Roberson's name. Joe Musso told me that when Luster ordered pieces from WCC they bought 6 of each; 4 for Wayne and 2 for the Chucks.

Were these the two pieces just at Heritage?

I am not aware the hats or patches were number.