A MAN OF STYLE!: Fall style - The motorcycle jacket

Friday, October 8, 2010

Fall style - The motorcycle jacket

I got my first (and actually my only one so far) motorcycle jacket about 20 years ago in India out of all places.... I was traveling there after my army service and one day i went into a leather store in Delhi and had my eye on this black leather asymmetrical motorcycle jacket but since i was a tourist the guy at the store thought i should cover his annual sales and gave me a price that scared me away, but as i was making my way out of the store he kept on dropping the price to about fifth of the original offer ....so i went back and tried it..... the true is that i really had no intention of getting this jacket and that's why i walked away....but i guess it had my name on it!The motorcycle jacket got its big break into the fashion books after Marlon Brandon wore it in 1953 as Johnny Strabler in the movie The Wild One.

Marlon Brandon in The Wild One

Shortly after and over the years it was adopted as the classic rock n roll jacket portraying a rebellious image with a rockish/punk/metal, bad boy bad ass feel (which off course made almost every
teenage kid in my time wanting one ....but quite honestly it was way too expensive for me or most of my friends to afford). You could not catch any rock bands such as the Ramones for example or even most of the 80's hair bands and off course heavy metal bands without one.....and most times decorated with heavy, metal hardware like studs and metal chains (as if they needed to add a more intimidating touch to their style...).

The Ramones

Since the main purpose of the authentic motorcycle jacket is protecting the biker it is safely equipped and quite thick and heavy, with more substantial zippers, weatherproof pockets and closures, higher collars and designed to be longer at the back than the front in order to protect the kidneys of the bikers from the cold while they are bent prone over their motorcycle.

Hillside USA at Biker's Den

But over the last decade the fashionable versions of this jacket had shown a lighter and friendlier side while offered in softer fabrics such as cottons and wools and in colorful stripes and plaid designs (actually one of my best selling styles till this day on my women's line is this washed striped cotton motorcycle jacket .....my wife has 4-5 styles of it one for almost every season).
And this fall i found quite a lot of motorcycle jackets offered in fun fabrics and patterns ....so now you don't need to be in a rock band.....you don't even need to wear jeans in order to sport a motorcycle jacket style......