So Kristin and I hatched a plan yesterday at work to go today on our lunch hour and try on both the Danier Leather black & white moto and the Club Monaco floral moto, have Kristin take pictures and me to post them for comparison purposes. We had such a blast and felt rather silly taking pics in the two stores but it was an interesting exercise.

First up is the Danier Leather moto - I adore the graphic style of this moto with its crisp combination of black and white. I like that neither the collar nor the cuffs are white, which I think makes it easier to keep clean and pristine looking between professional cleanings. The leather is soft and supple. In all of the pictures with the jacket undone, I have tucked the sleeves in as they are too long. There is a zipper on the bottom 4 inches of the sleeve which of course Danier can re-do for my shorter arms, keeping zipper and all. It is a size medium. I can just do it up but would not likely wear it zippered anyway. The shoulders fit well and the waist is in the right spot for me. I think the length is good with trousers but it could be too long to wear with dresses. There was not a large to try on for comparison but I do know that the Danier Leather jackets in large are always too big in the shoulders for me. FWIW my black leather blazer is the same size and just barely does up as well.

Secondly, the Club Monaco floral moto: I fell hard for the beautiful unexpected colouring of the floral pattern on this jacket. I like that it is not a literal interpretation of floral and that it is in shades of grey and cream. The fabric was light and felt wonderful to the touch, but was not delicate. I liked the cropped length and thought that where it hit me on the high hip/waist was fairly flattering. I also found the colours to work really well with my salt-n-pepper hair. The sleeves were shockingly just the right length - no shortening required. This is a medium and is no where near being able to do up. It is also quite tight in the shoulders and upper arms and that is with just a tank underneath. I would definitely need a large in this jacket, which the store did not have for me to try on. Based on their sizing, I'm doubtful that even a large would zip up, but it would be better.

A little bit about the service: Danier was stellar as usual and the SA's though it was cool that we were taking pics for a fashion community website and there were no problems that we were not buying today.

Club Monaco was the complete opposite. The SA was unhelpful and borderline rude. I felt uncomfortable asking if they had a large after searching the rack and finding none. I felt that I had no right to be in the store as a heavier woman and clearly didn't fit their demographic.

So...over to you...does one of these stand out above the other? Do you like the leather jacket or the floral jacket for me? Or do neither work and I should move on?