FASHION FRIDAY: FITTED LEATHER JACKETS FOR FALL

26 Jul FASHION FRIDAY: FITTED LEATHER JACKETS FOR FALL

Editor’s Note: In Kristin’s absence, Telluride local Daisy Barth is assisting with her weekly blog. 

All too soon, we ladies will be putting will be putting our straw hats back on the shelf. But for the chill of the autumn days to come, we might want something more than a sweater over our tank top. A leather jacket is just the ticket. In fact, the right leather jacket is the, well, the bomb.

Heroic World War I pilots wore leather aviator jackets to keep themselves warm in their open cockpits. World War II bomber jackets were admired by women, who had to borrow them because they were not yet made for ladies. Nineteen-fifties pop culture doted on men on motorcycles wearing tough-looking black leather jackets. Think James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause.” Fast forward to Tom Cruise in “Top Gun” (1986), or the young handsome Brad Pitt of “Fight Club” (1999). But it was designer Vivienne Westwood’s punk studded-leather jacket that made women adopt the bomber as their own.

Recently, this “bad-ass” look has become high fashion again. Designers from Marc Jacobs to Alice and Olivia have created beautifully crafted leather jackets in black, the traditional classic, and shades of brown. These small, fitted jackets with large lapels fall right above the hips. Most chic is the jacket with an off-center vertical zipper. Place this model near the front of your closet to wear on cooler summer nights if you live in the mountains like we at Two Skirts do. Otherwise, keep it for fall when it will go well with matching boots, jeans, and a bright scarf to pull the outfit together.

Ladies, a tough, edgy look is what walked off the fall runways and is heading for the street for the fashion forward in the crowd.