[hk__2]

> since obviously you can't really know what color some jacket really was.

That’s why colorizing companies employ historians and researchers. You can have a pretty accurate idea of this color with enough research, but it takes time (and thus money).

[theoh]

That might work when the job is colorizing Hollywood productions, but for documentary photos, it's not going to be possible in most cases. You just won't have any leads at all about the origin of the garment, apart from whatever you can observe of its style. An expert can certainly suggest a few colours that don't look anachronistic, but that doesn't make the end result historically "accurate", just plausible/convincing.

[dehrmann]

Is there enough money in colorizing old movies to bother?