Mystery solved! Figured out my leather jacket issues.

rae

It hit me: I don't like men in leather jackets! And since I'm a tomboy at heart, they don't jive 100% of the time. But in an outfit with my bf or wideleg -very manly - jeans, a leather jacket feels much better. Aaaahhhh, i can sleep again!

11 years ago

Dressing

26 replies

Latest reply was from

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I don't get it

Men wear bootcuts all the time with leather jackets - that's when you like wearing them. Men wear them with skinnies too. You don't like them with skinnies or straight legs.

But! I'm thrilled that it makes sense to you.

I LOVE men in a fab leather jacket. One of my favourite looks if the cut is spot on :).

11 years ago

Anonymous

I don't get it, either, but I'm glad you've figured it out and it makes sense to you!

I'm not a particularly feminine dresser, either, and I love my leather jacket. I wear it open, never closed. Love it with my boyfriends and my skinnies.

To each their own! You look great in your leather jackets, but if you don't feel great ...

11 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I was also born with the boyish style gene. Rae, in some ways my style is more boyish than yours! Boyish haircut, virtually no heels and never high heels, and no jewelry.

What Anne said resonated with me:

"I'm not a particularly feminine dresser, either, and I love my leather jacket. I wear it open, never closed. Love it with my boyfriends and my skinnies."

(I do wear my leather jackets closed sometimes).

But my style can be as girly as boyish: flared skirts, lace, pearls, lipstick, and mostly refined footwear. It's only my Docs and Pliners that are clunky. Fryes - are they clunky? Maybe.

Sooooo, help me understand

11 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I am confused, too, but happy you are happy!

BTW, although I sought a leather jacket all fall, I am still not 100% convinced I will love one, either. If it is the RIGHT one, yes.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

It sounds to me like you are saying, Rae, that you prefer leather jackets to be styled rugged. Hyper-masculine, if you will. Not showy.

By and large, I don't like men in leather jackets either. UNLESS, it's a cowboy duster with a lot of dust because the man has actually been out wrangling cows. Truth is, I find there's something secretly feminine about leather jackets. I feel like most of the time, men are showing their feminine side when they don them.

Have I said this before? I'm getting a deja vu.

11 years ago

cciele

Veteran

Might as well go epic if you're going leather

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11 years ago

Mochi

Veteran

Maybe it's Fonzie Syndrome. If that doesn't ring any bells, substitute any greaser/hoodlum or poser wannabe bad boy type? Just taking a stab here. No matter, though--whatever works! Glad you figured it out.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Only Keanu can wear all that and get a date with me... ;>

11 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

(Personally, I find Keanu too sweet and pretty looking, but I do like his outfit!).

Of course I remember Fonzie from Happy Days. And Richie Cunningham too.

Rachy, that's so interesting. I think of most leather jackets as manly - unless they are made to look girly like my blush moto. Brando in his leather jacket. That's where the style started. Just like skirts will always look feminine on a man (MJ). Although men were the ones that started the kilt trend. Hmmm. It's academic

11 years ago

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

You have a VERY specific shade of tomboy. For example you don't do suits and tuxes ala Janelle Monae.

https://www.google.com/search?.....38;bih=751

11 years ago

rae

(website)

Veteran

Rachy expressed what I feel pretty perfectly. I am not at all attracted to the look of men in leather jackets - therefore leather jackets fall into the feminine category within my particular style persona, and they have to be paired with masculine bottoms (bfs or wide leg). I agree that for others the jackets are more masculine, but not for me. Dusters and trenches are 'coats' in my book and have different connotations.

11 years ago

bj1111

Veteran

i wanted to be neo, not trinity. he got to kick major butt.

11 years ago

Anonymous

Keanu can get a date with me in ANY outfit.
Rae, I think your climate has a lot to do with it but we all love an epiphany, whichever one it is.

11 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

We'll leave Keanu for Zap

Rae, I'm not splitting hairs - just trying to understand! Something is not neccessrily feminine if you don't fancy it on a man. And men wear skinnies and tapered bottoms all the time. In fact, that's all Greg wears - straightlegs and skinnies. I do understand that you have *made* leather jackets a feminine item in your mind, and therefore your reasoning. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway! I like the thought process of course, and find these differing perceptions very interesting.

11 years ago

rae

(website)

Veteran

I don't think I'm arguing that leather jackets ARE feminine or that straight leg jeans ARE masculine. They feel that way to me simply because of my own ideals about what constitutes a "manly man."

In this case, I think it veers away from a purely Fashion-y discussion and into some weird psychological-cultural realm. It may possibly be similar to the different perspectives on men and long hair. Also, my cultural references for What a Man Looks Like are likely different that those of many other people.

As Anna said, I aspire to a very specific brand of tomboy, too. Granted, some of the styles that don't appeal to me personally don't appeal because they feel too dressy, business-y, etc. Somewhere along the way, though, somehow, leather jackets got associated with Pretty Boys in my head, and it's stuck all this time. Who knows how that happened!

11 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

That makes total sense. We ALL have our preconceived biases about certain things - and they just stick! Thanks for the explanation, almost b-day girl.

My Papa who will be here for Xmas - bless him - does NOT like women in trousers at all. This is something that has stuck with him since goodness knows when! Full stop. And his daughter is a HUGE trouser gal. Oh well

11 years ago

rae

(website)

Veteran

Angie, yes! That is just what I was trying to get across. Like a poisoned eye, I guess.

How lovely that your Papa will be here for the holiday!

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

I have to put one more argument out there for leather jackets as feminine: I usually think of James Dean, but even with Brando... we're talking the dawn of the "new man." The man who shows his feminine side and who is appreciated, acknowledged, and even encouraged in it. So even tho they're heart throbs and full of fight, they're very sensitive, emotional souls.

Not, as Seinfeld would say, there's anything wrong with that. And of course, a man is a man is a man, right? Who was it with that song?

Lady: "I'm an angel I'm a devil I'm a mother I'm a child..."
Man: "I'm a man I'm a man I'm a man"

Lol ;>

11 years ago

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

I just hope you can set aside your preconceptions and bias when it comes to clients. Not everyone wants to be an UWP.

11 years ago

Isabel

Veteran

Ah....Keanu...

I have loved him for about 25 years, the minute we met. Him on the big screen, me in my seat .

I wish he would marry Sandra Bullock. What is this thread about anyway ?

11 years ago

catgirl

Veteran

I'm confused too but I think all that matters is that it makes sense to you. Leather jackets - at least the ones I like - tend to have an androgynous or slightly butch feel (which as you know, I don't consider a bad thing). I have not seen anything feminine about your leather jackets, and if anything it's the bodycon looks like your Zella jacket I think of as fairly feminine.

Indiana Jones, feminine? I think not!

Interesting topic! Would like to see if you've found any leather jackets that meet your criteria as stand-alone pieces, or if it's just a matter of pairing them with the right items.

11 years ago

catgirl

Veteran

Wow, Keanu admirers - let me just say that he's every bit as hot in person!

11 years ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Maybe you just don't like leather jackets for yourself. I think it is fine to not like or want or wear leather jackets and I am sure you do appreciate the look on others. At least other women!

11 years ago

rae

(website)

Veteran

I would just like to say again that I am not, in any way, suggesting any of this as a blanket statement or overarching opinion about leather jackets. This epiphany was about my personal style alone.

Anna, I hope I never sound like I am pushing my style on anyone! If I have ever done so here I apologize - I certainly never try to dress my DFS clients or customers at work UWP, and would not unless someone specifically asked.

Una, you hit on part of the problem, which is that I really do prefer fitted tops for my hourglass shape. When I think of fitted jackets on men, I mostly think of boy bands. Thinking about it, my Allsaints jacket is not very fitted because of the elastic waist - it is more like the Indiana Jones jacket. Maybe I'll try it with shorts and tights sometime. I have these two open in my browser, trying to decide if I should pin.

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11 years ago

Anonymous

Rae, you've helped me a lot, and you've certainly never tried to push *me* in the UWP direction!

The picture of you in a brown leather jacket, zipped up (was it on the thread that you started this epiphany on?) Anyway, it was so feminine and alluring (I'm treading lightly with these adjectives so please take them with a grain of salt) because it was form-fitting and showed your curves that it couldn't have been masculine. So I understood what you mean about needing to pair this type of jacket with bottoms that make you feel masculine to get the correct juxtaposition for your style going on.

I think the important thing is how an item makes you feel. Shirts and blouses buttoned all the way up to the top make me *feel* masculine. You could argue that I don't *look* masculine like this until the cows come home, but that's not going to change the way I feel. I get you girl.

11 years ago

Anonymous

Side note: Una, don't start with this... You do not understand, I actually think I'm in love with the man LOL...

11 years ago

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