The idea of the vest came about in 1983 when I was living in London, England and going to school. There were lots of "punks" who had leather jackets covered with all kinds of pins and patches, like my vest, except it was for punk music. I adapted the concept to Rush.
As most of you may know, Rush memorabilia is very difficult to find, and most of the time, I come across things that I already have, making new additions to the vest a labor of love. I've spent hundreds of hours and gone into hundreds of record stores, CD stores, tatoo parlours, music stores...you get the picture. From Venice Beach, California to London, England, the jacket has a great collection of buttons, pins and patches.
Besides the fact that I get to show off my "fandom" by wearing the jacket,
it's also a great conversational piece, hence, a great way to meet new
fans. Where ever I've gone wearing it, people invariably come up to me
and tell me it's a great jacket, and where did I get it? Is it for sale?
A lot of people find it hard to believe that I made it myself...and yes,
I sewed the majority of the patches on it myself. With a little help from
mom on occasion and a few Mexican seamstresses in San Diego!
I can't really put a value on the vest. Someone offered me a front row center seat at the TFE Devore, CA, show for it, and I just laughed. Sometimes I say, well, if someone offered me maybe, $10,000 for it, would I sell it?
Probably not.
