Jacket Collecting - Ever ask why?

[TLW '90]

If you really like crosszip then you would apply your wool plaid jacket thirst to crosszip, you would see all the differences and find excusses why you need another.

You only need 1 crosszip if you don't actually like it as an object but somehow you find yourself looking good wearing it.
I feel exactly that way, i hate everything about asymetrical details, I like center zip with 2 chest pockets like truckers or cafe racers, however... no truckers nor racers could make me look cooler than me in a cross zip.. so i got to tolerate it and just accept the fact.

I'm not really sure if the cross zip style is for me, not something I'm particularly interested in nor a style I'm really after.
There's a lot of jacket types I enjoy looking at but might not actually want to own and wear.
When it comes to wool I tend to prefer longer bodied types to keep my rear end warm when I'm walking the dog or out exploring and plinking in the dry creekbed, so I need to dip my toes in the water of waist length wool jackets first.

 

[BB1239]

So I purchased a jacket today. Shocking...right? To probably nobody on this forum who has been around any length of time.
What did I buy? Well just another black cross-zip, made of leather, that likely will fit pretty well. Was a decent deal.

No big deal right - well that's what I thought, until I drove home from the gym this evening, and just very frankly asked myself "Dude, why did you do it...?" "What deficiency within yourself are you seeking to fill, by adding yet another cross-zip to your 7-8 jacket cross-zip collection?" "Is there some deeper underlying reason you are seeking to own this?" "Or are you just having flashbacks to some other time in life and feeling the need to keep searching out the perfect jacket...and something else?" Like I said this was quite a conversation I was having in my own mind.

After all this, I realized, yes, I may need to be a little more balanced. There may be a few more jackets showing up in the classifieds soon. However I do not think the purchase had anything to do with insecurity, or an inflated sense of self, or image management. In fact, I just wanted to check it out here. If it does not work out, I will sell it along. Not an issue.

Still that gnawing little voice keeps coming along. Maybe I have more to think about here!

Anyone else ever deal with this...?

I feel like I'm already dealing with that and I'm sure I have less jackets. For me, it seems jackets are like most other products out there...there are a lot of "almosts". Very good for this, but not for that. If I had knowledge and access, maybe if I designed my own jacket I'd be perfectly happy with it. Probably not though, I'd likely F that up too Just seems once we get interested in leather for leather sake, the search quenches the longing for a while, but the process must continue. Certainly none of us are addicted. Nah. Lol.

 

[BB1239]

View attachment 649598

I went the Leather Route as I wanted something "different" than the milk toast Vanilla outerwear I saw around me at my job. I worked 32 years for the State of New York in it's capital Albany. In the early 80's the place was chock -a - block full of men in grey flannel suits with grey flannel brains. I was/am.... different. I was a veteran who, sang and played bass guitar in RnB bands in local dens of iniquity. I'd been playing for pay off and on since Nixon was President. My clothing was another way for me to inform them, quietly, that my life was and never would be their life. Some people assume that their way of life is the ONLY way of life and make assumptions. A leather jacket thick enough to stop a knife or a .22 is another way.

Now I'm retired, but the jackets aren't.

Worf

Great looking jacket! That's a good look for sure. Looks tough and yet sophisticated.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

I collect jackets because it's fun.

 

[LeatherHunter]

No

 

[Pandemic]

I love clothes. I also love changing my style. Luckily, I realized that piling up on clothes that make up one certain style doesn't work for me as tomorrow, I'll wake up as someone else. Right now I'm at the end of the road and the fog is thick.

How often do you change styles? Is it more of a daily think or yearly?

I seem to have ‘eras’. I’ll deep dive into a style for a few years and then move on, eventually coming back to it a decade later.

 

[tamoko]

Collecting is a Toy, Investment or Seeking. Some time all in the same time. I am happy for my is a just a first two.

 

[AeroFan_07]

Well, that voice in my head came back over the weekend. In a different manner. This time, it's a perspective of "look around - who else do you actually see in any of your travels wearing any type of leather jacket at all?"

This thought got a good reprieve at "BootCamp 2025" in Chicago. Plenty of folks wearing leather - jackets, boots, even a few nice hats. However, walk out and...crickets in the rest of real life. For the most part. Maybe an old Wilson's or Reed on someone who still remembers when you could just pick those up in your local mall. Maybe a newer lambskin "motorcycle jacket" in your local Dillards store. Or "fake leather" vinyl jackets tagged for $200 in a department store, marked down to $79.95. Then I walked into Portillos in Skokie, IL yesterday and here was a young fellow wearing a very nice D-pocket cross-zip. I didn't have the opportunity to ask him about as I was with my aunt, but I still appreciated seeing "one" of these out there in the wild.

So...What did the dot say to the line? Oh yeah: "Come to the point." Here is the point for me now. When I wear the Vanson that Ron Peck had made for his shop, all that crazy White, Black and even a little red Competition weight, people turn and notice it. I've had complete strangers in restaurants reach out and ask me about it. Young folks at my gym really like it and literally say they wish they could get one like that jacket. To me, this is meaningful. I hope to inspire, encourage and just give folks a little lift in their day if at all possible.

So, am I saying that a leather jacket, if made & worn right, could be a help to the mental health of others? Well, not that I would go quite that far, the Lord knows my own mind and how it works likely needs a team of therapists to sort it out. However, if conversations can ensue, and people can reminisce, and recall a more meaningful time, or a relative's jacket, or active-duty military service, all these can have real benefits in my perspective.

That is a win in my book. How about yours?

 

[WolfofStateSt]

Well, that voice in my head came back over the weekend. In a different manner. This time, it's a perspective of "look around - who else do you actually see in any of your travels wearing any type of leather jacket at all?"

This thought got a good reprieve at "BootCamp 2025" in Chicago—plenty of folks wearing leather jackets, boots, even a few nice hats. However, walk out and...crickets in the rest of real life. For the most part. Maybe an old Wilson's or Reed on someone who still remembers when you could just pick those up in your local mall. Maybe a newer lambskin "motorcycle jacket" in your local Dillards store. Or "fake leather" vinyl jackets tagged for $200 in a department store, marked down to $79.95. Then I walked into Portillos in Skokie, IL yesterday and here was a young fellow wearing a very nice D-pocket cross-zip. I didn't have the opportunity to ask him about as I was with my aunt, but I still appreciated seeing "one" of these out there in the wild.

So...What did the dot say to the line? Oh yeah: "Come to the point." Here is the point for me now. When I wear the Vanson that Ron Peck had made for his shop, all that crazy White, Black and even a little red Competition weight, people turn and notice it. I've had complete strangers in restaurants reach out and ask me about it. Young folks at my gym really like it and literally say they wish they could get one like that jacket. To me, this is meaningful. I hope to inspire, encourage and just give folks a little lift in their day if at all possible.

So, am I saying that a leather jacket, if made & worn right, could be a help to the mental health of others? Well, not that I would go quite that far, the Lord knows my own mind and how it works likely needs a team of therapists to sort it out. However, if conversations can ensue, and people can reminisce, and recall a more meaningful time, or a relative's jacket, or active-duty military service, all these can have real benefits in my perspective.

That is a win in my book. How about yours?

Well I definitely used to engage in retail therapy. I don’t know, I don’t think it just has to be a leather jacket, so I guess it could just be a cool jacket in general. I definitely get a lot of compliments on my suede sheepskin jackets. I feel really cool when I walk around in my Ironheart deck jacket because that thing is a tank; it’s one of my few expensive jackets that I feel comfortable getting all rough and messy, and it’s just indestructible. I don’t think it really matters what you wear as long as you feel good in it. I get approached the same whether I’m in a tuxedo or a chore coat. The right parkas are cool: N3Bs, M1945s, or M1951s. A good denim jacket can do most people a lot more favors than leather, since most people have an easier time pulling off denim; anyone can do it.

As for your question, I see people, especially young men, in fake brown knock-off A2 or G1 jackets that look really baggy and ****py. And I know a lot of college-age women in really baggy, ugly, black knock-off motorcycle cross zips.

Nothing is lamer than a bad leather jacket imo, except maybe those black puffy Michelin Man jackets everyone is wearing now.

A good leather jacket that fits properly is almost unbeatable, but a cheap one that is baggy is not.

A leather jacket should fit you well, man or woman. I would say, especially, I prefer women to have theirs fitted and cropped. I do think women can pull leather off better if I actually saw one who wasn't wearing one that was four sizes too big.

The cropped look of flight jackets is a little trickier for men to pull off, but it can be done. I still get the best feedback and feel the most confident in jackets that cover the seat of my pants: pea coats, chore coats, mac coats, and ranchers.

After experiment I have found every leather jacket I own, A2, G1, B3 all look best with only a short sleeve underneath. I would not recommend layering leather, maybe a fine gauge sweater if you must but otherwise you are trying to hard imo and leather doesn't need it. A leather jacket goes best with the simplest boring outfit, which is why is should be somewhat fitted. If I have to layer I through on an N-1 deck jacket or an N3B parka. One of the biggest mistakes I made when I got into jackets was the idea that every piece of outwear should be designed to layer. Not true. Most of the jackets I own fit best over a T or an oxford and that’s it.

This is my rant, that and if you are young, toned and in good shape—your wasting your gifts with baggy trends, wear clothes that accentuate your physique. If you are older or not in the best shape, then I think a baggie boxier fit actually looks much better. Neither if objectively better, but you should try to match your jackets to your body honestly, and not buy things no matter how cool they are if they don't work for you.