Santa Fe Jacket

The **Santa Fe Jacket** is an iconic Carhartt style whose origins can be traced back to the **Western Jacket** of the 1980s. The Western Jacket was a bomber jacket with a distinct western-style yoke running across the chest and back. Later in the 1990s, a new version with a different yoke pattern was introduced, called the "Santa Fe Jacket", named after one of the American Southwest's famous cities. During its twenty-year run, the Western Jacket and Santa Fe Jackets were produced in close to fifty different colors. For the (hopefully almost complete) style/color list, see the bottom of this page.

The predecessor to the Santa Fe Jacket was the "Western Jacket" that debuted in the 1980s as part of Carhartt's **"Rugged Western Wear"** line-up. There were originally two types of Western Jackets. Both styles were collared, bomber type jackets with rib-knit cuffs and waistbands and a firm duck shell. The difference was that one version had a corduroy collar, darker colored thicker rib-knit and quilted flannel lining while the other had a rib-knit collar, lighter colored thinner rib-knit and thermal lining.

The early Western Jacket colors were **"Brown Duck"** (later known as **"Carhartt Brown"**), **"Steel Blue"**, **"Black"** and **"Navy".** The original "Brown Duck" Western Jacket had darker brown rib-knit compared to the lighter brown of the corduroy collar, though both the collar and rib-knit were darker than the shell. In the early 1990s, Carhartt changed the design so that the color of the rib-knit began to match the collar color but both remained darker than the shell.

Up until the early 1990s, most Carhartt outerwear did not have the outer Carhartt "C" logo patch and instead had a small Carhartt script logo tab. The early Western Jacket was no exception and this smaller logo was placed on the seam of the left lower front pocket. In 1992, Carhartt introduced Sandstone Duck. It was a "pre-worn" version of the classic Firm Duck that was meant to feel and look broken in off the rack. The first Sandstone Duck Western Jackets arrived in 1993. They were made in **"Bark"**, **"Hunter Green"**, **"Pewter"** and **"Port"**.

Both styles had two lower-front welt pockets and rib-knit cuffs and waistband. The signature western yoke ran across the chest and back. The original Firm Duck Santa Fe Jacket colors included "Black" and the Southwest-inspired **"Clay"**, **"Damson"** and **"Teal Blue"**. The original Sandstone Duck Santa Fe Jacket colors were **"Chestnut"**, **"Hunter Green"**, **"Indigo"** and **"Ruby"**.

In 1994, Carhartt was two years deep in the Southwest Collection and a new style was introduced with a southwestern name: the Santa Fe Jacket. It was similar to the Western Jacket but had a different yoke style and a Carhartt "C" logo patch on the left side of the zipper at the bottom waistband. There were two versions available. The first had Firm Duck Shell, polyester quilted flannel-lining and a corduroy-trimmed collar. The second was the same but with a Sandstone Duck shell and matching sandstone collar.

A new Southwestern style Western Jacket was released in 1994 as well. It had a Washed Duck shell and tribal print on the sheeting lining. The Carhartt "C" logo patch was located on the bottom left waistband instead of the script logo pocket tab. The jacket was produced in the Southwestern-themed "Cactus", "Damson" and "Teal Blue" colors, in addition to the more traditional "Black" and "Carhartt Brown." In 1995, the Santa Fe Jacket yoke style replaced the Western Jacket yoke style. The quilted flannel-lined version was offered in "Black", "Carhartt Brown", "Green", "Navy", "Red" and "Teal." There was also a quilted nylon-lined version that was made in "Black" and "Carhartt Brown."

Carhartt expanded the Western Jacket's color options in 1996. Brighter hues such as "Royal", "Red" and "Aqua" were considered part of their "Casual" line while the more reserved "Black", "Carhartt Brown" and "Navy" colors were considered part of the "Traditional" line. "Green" was discontinued. 1996 was also the first year that a Sandstone Duck Santa Fe Jacket was available. All Sandstone styles were also considered "Casual." The "Casual" Sandstone Santa Fe styles had thinner rib-knit waistbands than the "Traditional" Firm Duck Santa Fe Styles.

Carhartt differentiated between the Firm Duck and Sandstone Duck Versions by name: the Firm Duck version was called the Western Jacket and the Sandstone Duck version was called the Santa Fe Jacket. In 1996, most collared Sandstone styles had leatherette-trimmed collars. Leatherette (fake leather) is the same material used in the Carhartt "C" logo patch on most Sandstone styles. The colors available were "Chestnut", "Hunter Green" and "Wine.

In 1997, the Santa Fe Jacket was used to refer to both the Firm Duck and Sandstone Duck versions and they weren't separated into Casual and Traditional categories anymore. In the Firm Duck version, "Royal" was discontinued but "Rum" was introduced. The Sandstone Duck Version only kept the previous year's "Chestnut" and replaced the others with "Aspen", "Cobalt" and "Wheat." For the first time, both the Firm and Sandstone Duck Santa Fe Jackets had corduroy-trimmed collars.

The following year in 1998, Carhartt began simplifying their color/style code format so the Santa Fe Jackets were given new codes. Jackets made in late 1997 to 1999 usually had both the old and new codes on the tags to ease into the transition. All Firm Duck Santa Fe Jackets became the J13 and the Sandstone Duck Santa Fe Jackets became the J14. The individual colors were specified by a three-letter color code that followed the style code, such as "J13 BRN" which meant a Firm Duck Santa Fe Jacket in "Carhartt Brown." The J13 was discontinued in "Rum", but "Aqua", Black", "Carhartt Brown", "Navy" and "Red" remained. The J14 continued to be produced in "Chestnut" and "Wheat" and "Burgundy" and "Hunter Green" were new additions.

In 2004, the fit of the Santa Fe Jacket was slightly loosened and elongated. The thinner rib-knit on the Sandstone version was also changed to the thicker rib-knit found on the Firm Duck version (see my comparison post for more details). Throughout the years, Carhartt expanded the color options for the J14 even more. Colors such as "Blue", "Brick", "Burgundy", "Cement", "Dark Teal" and "Hunter Green" saw limited use in the late 1990s to early 2000s. The mid-2000s brought more short-term colors such as "Camel", "Clay", "Saddle" and "Spruce." Others like "Carhartt Brown", "Chestnut", "Dark Brown", "Midnight", "Moss" and "Wheat" remained in production much longer.

The J13 was discontinued in 2011, but the J14 was not. Carhartt released two-toned versions of the J14 in the early 2010s, in "Carhartt Brown/Dark Brown" and "Gravel/Black". On these jackets, the color below the yoke was lighter than the color above the yoke and on the waistband. "Black", "Dark Red" and "Worn Brown" were the most recent color options.

In 2011, Carhartt released a limited edition, two-toned Washed Duck Santa Fe Jacket, the J312. It was available exclusively at Dungarees until 2012. Both color options were similar to the two-toned J14 Santa Fe Jackets, though the J312 had a contrasting color that matched the lower body color. Carhartt discontinued the J14 in 2014, marking the end of an era. There has been no true successor to the Santa Fe Jacket. The 101228 Sandstone Bankston Jacket was the most similar but it lacked the signature western yoke.