Perfect Leather Jacket [0:00:00]
[Music] The right leather jacket can make any man
look amazing.
Seriously, I can recall three instances in which I’ve been out with my friends and
I’ve had a woman approach me who I do not know or not know very well, whisper in my
ear, “I want you.
Let’s get out of here.”
The common thread in those three situations besides me, a good looking leather jacket.
In today’s video, gents, I’m laying out the seven rules that you need to know to buy
the perfect leather jacket for you.
The first and most common reason that a guy buys a leather jacket, he wants to look good.
Leather looks great on men.
Why?
It’s one of those fabrics that when tested people find it very masculine.
Yes, they’ve asked women, they looked at a number of different fabrics, and when women
touch leather, they think strong, they think masculinity.
Leather jackets also have a lot of attitude.
When you think about a rebel, you think of Rebel Without a Cause, James Dean, what is
he wearing?
A leather jacket.
When you think of an ace, when you think of a top fighter pilot, you think of Top Gun,
what do you think of?
The leather jacket.
You think of an adventure or a guy out there exploring finding new civilizations, Indiana
Jones, the leather jacket.
It pops up again and again and we’ve been conditioned to think of a man of adventure,
a man that’s a rebel, a guy that’s out there doing his own thing is wearing a leather
jacket.
Let’s not forget the practical need that leather serves.
Leather protects.
First up, from the elements whether it’d be wind, whether it’d be snow, whether it’d
be rain, whether it’d be sleet.
Leather is going to do a good job of protecting you from the elements.
But, let’s talk of other forms of protection.
So, if we go back and we look over a thousand years ago, they were using it as armor.
Now, leather isn’t going to necessarily stop a stabbing blow, but leather can actually
and they can do it they can boil it they can actually treat it they can create layers that
actually is going to do a very good job of stopping a glancing blow, and in some case
even stop arrows.
And, even today, we see leather being used in a number of different industries to protect
people.
One of the most common, motorcyclists.
Why do they wear leather?
Because let’s say when you get knock off a bike you’re going 20, 30 miles an hour
down the road and you start rolling down that road, you start sliding, it’s nice to have
leather because it’s going to protect you from that road rash.
The second rule to buying the perfect leather jacket, pay attention to your body type.
Some of us are thin, some of us are thick.
Some of us are tall, some of us are short.
Most of us were somewhere in between.
The point is, you want to find the right jacket style, the right jacket fit that’s going
to work for your particular body type.
So, if you are short and thin, understand that you want to wear a jacket that’s going
to fit closer to the body and overall is going to be a shorter design.
Now, you’re in luck here because most leather jackets are actually cut not to go beyond
actually the waist area.
Some jackets like this one are going to go a few inches past that and you will find some
longer jackets out there, but you want to avoid those.
In general, you’re going for a shorter jacket.
Now, if you’re thin, you also don’t want to go for a jacket that billows out.
So, be careful of those flight jackets, the aviator style.
This jacket right here, this actually isn’t great for my body type.
And, to my defense, I bought this over twenty years ago.
But, if you look at this jacket right here, it’s actually built for a larger man.
Now, for the shorter guys I said go for the shorter jackets, go for the jackets that fit
you closer.
Why?
Because proportionally it’s going to work.
But, if you’re a bigger guy, if you’re a taller guy, if you’ve got some weight
on you, you want to go for longer jackets.
You want to go for jackets that have a little bit of room in them.
Why?
Because proportionally it’s going to work for your larger build.
Now, when I say longer jackets, it doesn’t mean you need to go for like a duster or something
like that.
But, what I am talking about is more of a fatigue style or a flight or bomber jacket
without the elastic around the midsection.
It’s that elastic I think that on larger guys or bigger guys, it doesn’t look so
good.
Your next rule, know the different leather jacket styles.
First up, we’ve got the double rider.
This is a classic American style most often seen in black.
We saw Marlon Brando wear this in the Wild One, and it’s a classic look for anyone
riding a motorcycle especially a Harley Davidson or something like that.
So, the key characteristics of this jacket are going to be the higher waist cut.
You’re going to have the belt going around the waist.
Notice the length of the sleeves.
So, what is up with this?
This is actually when you’re riding a bike you want to have the freedom of movement that
this jacket provides.
Basically, it’s not going to go in and around your trousers at all.
In fact, this is going to ride a bit high.
That belt is going to keep it in place.
And, also notice the double flap.
The double flap is there to protect you from the wind.
So, oftentimes you’re going to have the zipper over on the side and what this does
is that whenever the wind is hitting and you’ve got the wind going in, it’s actually not
going to go straight through because you got this additional flap of leather here that’s
going to provide protection.
Now, the jacket I’m wearing right here, this is not a double rider.
This is actually a moto or a racer jacket.
And so, this one has more of a European flair and I have to admit I actually love this style
right here.
And, little things like it’s not going to have epaulets and it’s going to button up
like this.
Other things that are very obvious when you look for them, I don’t actually have a belt
here in the midsection.
And, the midsection rides a bit lower especially when you put the sleeves down, you can easily
see the difference.
[0:05:09] Next up, we’ve got the bomber jacket and
the flight jacket.
I’m going to bring them together.
I know they are actually separate jackets, but in general these jackets were designed
for men and women when they’re flying at high altitudes to be able to protect themselves
from the elements.
Another key characteristic of these jackets are going to be the elastics around the wrists
and around the waist.
The reason it was there is, again, to keep the wind out, to keep the person insulated.
Other things you’ll sometimes see on flight and bomber jackets, you’ll see lining in
and around the neck, oftentimes white or maybe a dark color.
And, in general, they have two large pockets.
These are basically to be able to hold instruments or things that a pilot needed.
Now, another common style you’re going to see in leather jackets is going to be the
fatigue style.
This, again, comes out of the military.
Now, the fatigue jacket in the military actually had four pockets and you occasionally will
see a leather jacket with four pockets in a fatigue design.
But, overall this is going to be a looser fit, it’s going to fit a little bit longer
and it’s not going to have any elastics in and around the waist or around the wrist.
Next up, we’ve got the cattleman.
This is basically a leather blazer.
Is this going to be something that you want to dress and wear formally?
The answer is no.
It’s still very casual, but for a lot of guys especially down in the southwest, they
love their cattleman blazers and I think they look fine especially down in New Mexico or
if you’re going to a casual event in Arizona.
Next up, we’ve got the duster.
Do I think the average guy should be wearing a duster?
The answer is probably no.
But, it actually has a long practical history with the American West.
So, we look at the cowboy coming out of Mexico down in Texas, they wore dusters.
Why?
Because they had easy access to the material to the fabric, and it did a great job for
protecting them from the elements especially when you’re on a horse for weeks at a time
moving cattle.
Now, this next rule is critical.
Buy a leather jacket that fits you properly because if you don’t buy a leather jacket
that fits you properly, it’s never going to fit you properly.
And, yes, I know in theory, you can get a leather jacket adjusted.
But, you’ve got to find someone that’s got the right equipment which is pretty rare
and then someone that actually knows how to adjust a leather jacket which is even more
rare.
Find and only buy a jacket that fits you well.
So, the first thing you want to do is put the jacket on.
Make sure it fits you in the shoulder points.
You can move around, you’ve got some freedom of movement when it’s zipped up.
But, here is the second part, understand that leather will adjust to your body a bit especially
that thicker leather.
The thicker the heavier the leather, the longer it’s going to take to break it in.
And so, it may feel a little bit tight, but understand that it may take a few hundred
wears, yes, a lot of wears, but over time it’s going to start to age on you and it’s
going to adapt to your body.
The next rule to buying the perfect leather jacket, you need to understand leather.
So, let’s talk about the cuts and then let’s talk about leather from different animals.
So, first up, the cuts.
You’ve got full grain, you’ve got top grain, and then you’ve got suede.
I know there are some other cuts here, but right now those are going to be the most common.
So, whenever you hear full grain, what you’re getting there is the top part of the leather.
And, if this is what you’re looking for, it’s a great choice.
It’s not always the right choice because why would you want to go for top grain which
is actually full grain, but it’s been sanded off a bit?
Why would you go for something that’s been sanded?
Because when they sand it, it actually gives it a very smooth look.
They can dye it a wide range of colors.
They can even have put like a glossy look it.
Now, let’s talk about what I’m wearing right here which is suede.
Suede comes from corium.
This is the part of the skin the part of the leather that actually is the most malleable,
it’s going to be the softest.
But, it’s also going to be that which will absorb water the easiest and isn’t the most
durable.
Now, why do people like suede?
Because once it’s been treated and it’s got this napped surface, it’s incredibly
soft and it’s a luxury material that a lot of people go for.
But, again, it’s durability, it’s ability to take abrasion and you’re going to see
suede in a wide range of colors.
You can also combine it with top grain or even with full grain leather for different
types of effects when you see – want to see contrast in a jacket.
The next rule to making sure you get the perfect leather jacket, gentlemen, pay attention to
the build quality of the jacket.
You want to look at the construction, the way that they actually stitch it the way they
put it together the style, and you want to look at the hardware.
So, that’s going to be the zipper, that’s going to be the buttons, everything else that
is not the leather.
So, when I’m going in and I’m looking at the inside of a jacket, I want to first
make sure is the stitching straight.
Then, I want to look at the number of stitches per inch.
I’m looking for about eight stitches per inch because whenever they’ve got more stitches
per inch, what that means is that they were going slower over with the sewing machine
and the construction because they were just happen to, you know, let it go longer.
This adds up, and to me, this means that this jacket is going to last longer.
[0:09:54] Next up, I’m going and I’m looking at
the zipper.
At a bare minimum, you want a YKK zipper.
I’ll tell you the smoother and that basically a little bit heavier and sometimes even larger
the zipper is, those are all good signs because that means that they’re spending the extra
money on all these other basically what’s going into the jacket and you know try fastening
those buttons, is it really difficult or actually is it pretty smooth?
Small things like that mean that they actually spent the money on good equipment.
The next rule, if you want the perfect leather jacket, you need to budget for the perfect
leather jacket.
And, that may be expensive.
Put the money to the side, start saving up now because I can tell you when you find that
jacket that you absolutely love, when you put that on, you know that you’ve got to
have this jacket, this is going to get you compliments.
You’re going to feel a hundred percent confident in this jacket.
You don’t want to have to not get it because it’s way outside of your budget.
But it’s something that when you have that jacket you’ll cry once over the price, but
every time you put it on for the next ten, twenty, thirty years, you’re going to feel
and look amazing.
And to me, that’s something worth budgeting for.
A well-fitted classic great looking leather jacket is a key piece of a man’s core wardrobe.
You’re going to get hundreds of wears out of this jacket, it’s going to have some
great stories, so make sure that you budget for it.
You put the money aside, so when you see that jacket you find your grail, you’re able
to afford it.
So, what video to watch next?
How about something that works with a leather jacket?
Let’s talk about boots.
How boots, make you more attractive to women.
Guys, this is a funny video and I bring in the science.
We talk about how boots make you more attractive, and they go great with a leather jacket.
So, check it out, guys, I will link to this video down in the description.
[0:11:41] End of audio