There’s no doubt the leather jacket is a favourite in most chic closets, to be worn with jeans and boots or over a modern dress as the mood takes you. I had dinner not so very long ago with a journalist friend of mine who wore her super-soft black leather biker jacket over a Dolce & Gabbana short dress and looked tres stylish, but you do need to have a kind of swagger to pull that look off (as she did).
Having said that it’s easy to get it completely wrong. Too much detailing, the wrong accessories and un-unflattering shape, particularly on a vertically or horizontally challenged girl and you can end up looking like a bike-riding Goth, when what you were really after was glamorous, sexy and feminine with just a hint of an edge.
Unless you’re super-slim go for a simple shape in the softest leather you can afford. It doesn’t have to be ‘designer’, there are plenty of less expensive leather brands out there but a good jacket will last you for years and work with so many different things. And if the leather jacket is not already a staple in your wardrobe my advice is to start with versatile, flattering black. Avoid too many zips, shoulder pads and anything too short and particularly avoid belted jackets. Look for simple clean lines in a modern shape and you’ll wear yours for ever.
Also avoid quilting as a) it will bulk out your jacket and b) you may well get tired of it, and bomber styles that grab you around your middle. Think sleek, simple, flattering and fitted and make sure you have a really good look at how a jacket fits across your shoulders and at the back. Try it on also with both a pair of jeans and a dress or skirt if at all possible to ensure you’re getting the proportions right.
These are this season’s favourites I’ve found so far at a range of prices by designers such as Lot78, Reiss, Ted Baker and Kookai. Make your choice……………………………………….
