A leather jacket is definitely one of the most essential and fundamental components in our wardrobes. It is a versatile clothing item that can be styled in multiple ways to level up the fashion sense. From a casual day out to a sophisticated night party, it can never go wrong anywhere and always gives a classy and elegant look regardless of the season and reason to carry it.
Another amazing factor about it is the different options of cafe racer leather jackets available that can roughly be categorized as follows-
- The Shearling Jacket: These are made from sheepskin and are meant to be worn in cold weather.
- The Bomber Jacket: These are primarily based on old military and air force designs.
- The Café Racer Jacket: It is popular as ‘Biker Jacket’ and associated with riders of fancy bikes.
In this article, the core focus shall be upon the café racer jacket.
WHY THE NAME “CAFÉ RACER”?
Café Racer is the term popularly used for bikers in Britain during 1960s. At that time bikes were symbolized with speed and rebellion. People used torace between the cafes due to which the manufacturers started making lighter bikes by removing extra unnecessary bits. This was an indirect approach to enhance the speed of the bike as lighter vehicle shallautomatically be faster. With this, there was a trend for quick and agile bikes.
The jackets worn by these or similar bikers came to be known as Café Racer Jackets as they were simplistic without extra details.
However, the craze for these jackets is not limited to motor heads only and these are greatly admired by all people for their versatility and decentdesign.
HISTORY OF EMERGENCE:
Café Racer has been a highly popular jacket forever since it’s emergence in the 1960s.Due to a long period of their existence, a number of stories are linked to the emergence of these jackets. Initially, they can be traced back to the time of World War 2 when the British soldiers used to wear these while riding bikes back in England when they visited their hometown. These were generally made of horse leather with a well-built and secure zipper to support the strength of the material.The objective was to add a simple protective layering to cope up with the speed of racing. This style of leather jackets became a fashion inspiration for posterity.
CURRENT DESIGN OF CAFÉ RACER JACKETS:
As per the name suggests these jackets were designed to facilitate bikers with comfort throughout their rides but they can be styled in other ways too.The general design is quite minimalistic compared to other types of leather jackets. The peculiarities of Café Racer Leather Jackets are:
- Simple and minimal design
- Flat Collar
- Straight Zipper
These features have been intact for always but today the material used for these jackets is lambskin and cowhide as horse leather is highly expensive. They offer a similar kind of durability in a comparatively cheaper price. There is also great emphasis on the fitting of the jacket to provide extreme comfort and easy movement. These basic features offer functionality of jacket to the café racers as something that provides a second layer of skin without much details that can hinder the racing abilities.
In terms of designs it comes with two types namely,
Classic- It is simple and authentic with regular black and brown colors.
Detailed- It has some extra features with funky colors.
Therefore, it depends on the choice of the wearer if he wants a simple classic look or a more stylish one.
QUALITIES OF CAFÉ RACER LEATHER JACKETS:
As mentioned earlier the basic qualities of Café Racer Leather Jackets are designed for the riders and hence all the features are given accordingly:
- Comfort- Utmost primacy is given to comfort since the basic peculiarity is relaxation while riding the bike.
- Material- Durability is also an important aspect to look for, so a top grain leather is preferred.
- Strength- Leather of lambskin, cowhide or sometimes sheepskin is used to provide staying power and resistance to wear and tear.
- Alignment- A good fit with proper shoulder alignment is highly admired for free movement of hands and an overall classy look.
WAYS TO STYLE A CAFÉ RACER BIKER JACKET-
- Casual look- It can be layered over a plain shirt or a t-shirt on top of a regular blue or black denim.
- Semi-formal look- A combination of white shirt, black pant and a denim jacket is a great choice for any semi-formal event.
- Cool look- Layering a leather jacket on top of a hoodie is a new trend hugely admired among youngsters.
- Sassy look- It is a monochrome look with a plain black t-shirt, black skinny denim and a well- fitted black leather jacket.
- Stylish look- Any outfit with a leather jacket can be enhanced by wearing a scarf over the neck along with a pair of sunglasses.
TOP 4 CAFÉ RACER LEATHER JACKETS AND THEIR FEATURES-
- Landon Falgoust Sport Style Max Leather Jacket:
– Made of100% genuine leather
– Priced at $299
– Brown in Color
– Sporty look
– Snap tab style collar
– Aesthetic stitching details
– Soft Viscose lining inside
– Front Zipper Closure
- Cameron Dallas Biker Style Men’s Leather Jacket:
– Racer style
– Priced at $199
– Brown in Color
– Lapel Style Collar
– Double Breasted Zipper Collar
– Fitted Sleeves
– Slant flap pocket at left chest side
– Aligned zipper pockets at both sides of waist
- Lucas Men’s Lambskin Leather Jacket:
- Racer style
- Priced at $189
- Round neck collar
- Black in color
- Waist Length
- Zip up front closure
- Two side pockets with zips
- Zippered chest pockets on both sides
- Willy Cartier Men’s Moto Leather Jacket:
- Racer Style
- Priced at $219
- Brown in color
- Snap tab style collar
- Perfect body fit
- Rusty texture
- Impeccable finishing
- Full Sleeves with zippered cuffs
