I would like the state the following on behalf of Deborah:
Accusations being made against her online and in forums (not necessarily this one) are speculation at best. Hollywood is a very strange world and what it *looks* like to outsiders is usually very far from what really happened behind-the-scenes. Outsiders like to read this story or buy into that rumor and believe they know as much as if they were there on set, but it's not that simple. Even if Deborah did have problems on set, that doesn't mean Spielberg or Lucas hated her for it, or fired her, or anything else. Lots of people have problems. After all, when Ford was injured during Temple of Doom, they considered shutting the whole thing down for Harrison's benefit. And they weren't angry with him. Yes, there's millions and millions of dollars on the line, but moviemakers, especially guys like Spielberg and Lucas, are usually very human and understanding. So, Deborah had a wedding. I think they'd give her the benefit of the doubt for that. Especially since Raiders was a "last-minute" type of project and a lot of people were pulled in with pending schedules or prior commitments (even Ford himself was).
Anyway, it's all speculation. In the end, she has the credit, and in Hollywood, credits *do* matter. There's so many stories from a set (which get twisted in the media machine), so many things that can happen, in the end, when a movie is all over and everyone is sorting the wounded and dead, those who are credited are those who did their job to satisfaction.
If someone is blacklisted in Hollywood, she would not have been given so much screen time on the DVD extras, and quite possibly her credit wouldn't have been there on the movie at all. Moreover, nobody else is listed. If someone is booted from a project, someone has to come in to take their place, hence an additional name would be credited with costume design. If people are saying Spielberg just did the costuming himself, they are probably just buying into tall tales from the web, and don't really know. On a set, a director is too damn busy to take on other jobs like that. And he wouldn't need to, anyway. If someone was given the boot, the producers would just get Spielberg a replacement and they'd move on. More likely, Spielberg just did a tweak (a scratch on the jacket here, a dent in the hat there) for a shot he wanted, and the story has since been blown out of proportion. Maybe Deborah was in the costume trailer working on somebody else, and Spielberg just wanted extra dust on Indy. That sort of thing happens all the time.
Now, the reason Deborah went on to do Landis-only movies post-Raiders is that she married him. That's not uncommon in Hollywood. Not just with husband-wife teams, but also directors and producers tend to keep their same core-crew from film-to-film. Again, the outside world sees this all wrong but likes to fancy themselves as "experts". They usually see such enduring teams as nepotism or even desperation. It's not. Making movies can be like riding a roller-coaster. There's so little time. Working 12-hour days 6-days-a-week is common because you're that crunched. Hence, directors and producers tend to just stick with the crew they know, for two reasons: One, they don't need to waste time selecting new crew. Two, and more importantly, they know who works and have a well-oiled machine. Bottom line, Deborah worked with Landis because they were a husband-and-wife team, not because she was blacklisted.
Now if Deborah was indeed blacklisted, I can only venture to guess it was because of the Twilight Zone accident, which did indeed cause a rift between Spielberg and Landis (and could have been bad for Deborah by proxy). However, that was well after Raiders, so that would not have impacted Deborah's standing in regards to that film, or her being able to speak with authority about it, at all. Maybe that prevented her from working on Temple of Doom, but it doesn't change the fact that she was there for Raiders, has the credit, and has the right to speak about it.
As for the hat, I've never claimed it was a perfect recreation. I simply said it works much better than one would expect from a park buy. I myself didn't think it worked until I tried it. More often than not, costuming is not a matter of a perfect recreation, but the SUGGESTION of what people's expectations are. My satchel-bag for Indy is flat-out wrong (I use a U.S.M.C. bag from the Korean War) and my leather jacket is a neutral brown rather than the near-black that is Indy's, but guess what? When I go to a gathering of Indy costumers, I'm the one getting the most photos, compliments, etc. Mine has more the suggestion of accuracy (probably helps that my jacket is distressed rather than shiny-new). In other words, it works. Costuming is funny that way. You can be way off but work better than the genuine article if it matches sensibilities. So, for the hat, all I've ever said is that it works better--much better--than one would expect from a theme park purchase.
As for authenticity, here's my story: During my time at AFI (I have indeed graduated), Deborah made several appearances to lecture about costuming. She brought with her Indy's hat. During intermission, when most of the students went out for a smoke break, I spoke to her about it. She said it was not THE hat because there is no *one* hat, but a dozen or so, but this was indeed one of them, that it did see screen time in Raiders. She did not specify if it was a hero-hat or stuntman-hat, but I imagine they're all very similar (a little sarcasm there). And me being me, I would wear my Indy T-shirt and hat to school often, so I had them on hand and could compare them. It was amazing how close they really were. I was as surprised as anyone. I thought for sure I'd hold mine up and it'd look like crap. That just wasn't the case. Also, I did ask her about the Disneyland hats. She said she had approval on them and that they were very close in design. Now, granted, she did not specify if she had some sort of contractual quality-control approval, or if she simply went to the park, saw them herself, and thought they were good. But either way, being one who worked so closely with "that damn hat" (as she said it was called at times) I trusted her opinion.
As for the whip, one of my professors during my second year at AFI was Lauren Polizzi, who was the Art Director for KOTCS's reel 1 (she designed Area 51 and Doomtown). Herself a fan, she told me she had the on-set whipmaster tell her where to get the whips they were using, and even trained her a little (she has since demonstrated her moves and wow--she's good!) So the link I passed on here is the one recommended by the whipmaster from Crystal Skull. Take it for what it's worth.
For Penman, don't worry. I don't take anything you said as insulting. As I said, I think it's great you want to go that extra mile and make cool Indy stuff (heck, I may have to buy one myself someday when I can afford it). Differences of opinion and Hollywood lore is fun to discuss, too. I'm sure you know better than I just how easily there can be a dozen different versions of the same event from a set, so it's also very interesting to compare notes. Some posters and I just have a history on this site of being at each others' throats, and I simply didn't want to let professionals I respect and learn from to be flamed. Please don't think my frustration with one poster in any way carries over to another.