Leather jackets are awesome. Joey Ramone knew this. General MacArthur knew this. James Dean knew this and so did Steve McQueen. Over their history they've come to symbolize authority and the counterculture alike. Adopted by the military, rock and roll and biking movements, leather jackets have become an important part of modern fashion, worn by men and women of all ages.
Leather jackets, like most items of clothing, have evolved greatly over time. Owing to an extensive military and later, biking history, different styles of leather jackets have been created to satisfy various utilitarian and protective needs by these two groups. These can be seen with the styles of the bomber, moto, rider, double rider, roadmaster and various other older jacket styles.
However, these jackets, the ones worn and popularized by the Ramones, Brando and others during the 60s and 70s for some reason or another got lost in the shuffle and, although maintaining popularity, began to be outsold by bland leather jackets designed with minimal, generous and frankly, boring cuts. This effect, which I'm going to call the "Danier effect" led to the increased popularity in the types of leather jackets. Danier and many other popular leather goods stores dropped many of the utilitarian, protective and stylish elements of leather jacket design in favor of neutral, spaciously cut boring jackets that appealed to aging baby boomers.
Although these now ubiquitous designs are certainly popular I feel that some of the older jacket designed with history and style in mind are a much more interesting choice. These jackets can be found and are made by a lot of different companies but they are normally fairly expensive. Which brings me to vintage leather. There are a lot of benefits to buying vintage leather. First and foremost is that leather jackets made in the 50s, 60s and 70s are almost guaranteed to be, although oftentimes heavily worn, made from much higher quality leather and hardware than modern leather jackets, especially those less than 600$. On top of that leather is one of the those materials that can benefit from age and develops a beautiful patina over time with wear and stress. Something that buying a brand new or pre-distressed leather jacket cannot provide. Add this to the fact that vintage leather jackets normally have very interesting designs and that leather itself is a tough, resilient material and buying vintage leather really makes a lot of sense.
just never ever wear leather blazers
and when in doubt do whatever bowie did
