The Many Different Styles of Jackets, Which One to Choose?

by Kelly Richards fashion

There are now so many different styles of mens leather jackets everywhere, it’s become difficult to decide which one is best suited. Below we will discuss a few of the main styles and what occasions and outfits they are best suited for.

Leather Blazer/Coat

This style is like a coat, it’s longer in length (up to the thighs) and is usually buttoned at the front with open flap pockets. Examples of this style worn by celebrities are:

● Fight Club Leather Coat- Worn by Brad Pitt in the movie Fight Club. A simple leather blazer style with two open pockets and buttoned closure. Can be worn casually with jeans, jumper, shirts or t-shirts and even worn formally with formal shirts.

● Life on Mars Coat- Worn by Sam Tyler in the British television series Life on Mars. This is a simple plain black ¾ length leather coat with 3 buttons at the front. Can be worn casually and formally

It seems that leather coats can be dressed up or down so can be worn more regularly but I wouldn’t dress to down as I do not see a pair of tracksuit bottoms being worn with this style.

Leather Bomber Jacket

Also known as flight or aviator jackets, this style goes back to the world war where pilots in the army were known for wearing this style. It is the most common fashion style in leather jacket, and is a jacket for very casual events. A few famous example of this style are:

● Wall Street Bomber Jacket- Worn by Shia LaBeouf, shows a common black bomber style, waist length with the blacked ribbed sleeves and waist.

● Top Gun Bomber Jacket- Worn by Tom Cruise in the movie Top Gun, this shows the style used by pilots during the war with the fur lined collar and tight waist band.

Leather Bombers are very good for keep your core body warm, are usually lightweight jackets which are softly lined. Typically waist length and with front zip closure. The jackets usually come with large cargo style pockets on the sleeves.

Leather Trench Coat

Trench coats are long in length and are usually in black and very simple and plain. Can be heavy to wear if made in real leather but looks great for those with an acquired taste. The most famous examples of this style are:

● Neo Matrix coat- Worn by Keanu Reeves in the Matrix trilogies, a long floor length black leather trench coat. Simplicity at it’s best with a mandarin style collar and panel design. We see keanu wearing this jacket with a suit which you wouldn’t expect but it looked fantastic.

● Morpheus Matrix Coat- Worn by the character Morpheus in the Matrix trilogies, this is a wonderful trench coat with a snake skin pattern.

Biker Leather Jacket

Biker leather jackets seem to be increasing in popularity and becoming a fashion statement for casual wear. These jackets are usually designed heavy and thick for biking purposed and are very long lasting. Some famous examples of this style jacket are:

● Marlon Brando Biker Jacket- Worn by Marlon Brando in the movie the Wild One. This is the most common style associated with bikers and rockers and is still very popular. Now used for fashion wear it seems to be a sought after design. Short in length with silver zippers and a number of pockets.

This style can be dressed up nicely to give an edgy look with the large lapel collars which can be zippered wit a diagonal style zip. This style has been remodelled with various different colours and patterns.

Cafe Racer Leather Jackets

Also known as biker jackets but are more simple and sleek, made from thick leather similar to biker jackets but usually collarless or with a mandarin style collar. An example of this style is:

● Fight Club Mayhem- Worn by Brad Pitt in the movie Fight Club, this is an example of a typical style cafe racer jacket with the mandarin collar and snap button. It comes with stripes on the arms.

Cafe racer jackets are usually easy to dress with as they are streamlined and simple, some can be quite bright in colour with the different colours and striped.

It seems that it all comes down to personal preference in style as we have described the 5 main different styles in men's leather jacket. The best thing to do is decide whether it's the simple style or the rock biker style you are looking for and then decide on the length.

Kelly Richards, working in the leather industry for many years and helping to redevelop the famous styles of jackets in leather.