How a black leather jacket changed my life
As I’m sure it was for many of you, purchasing my first ever leather jacket as young woman was something of a rite of fashion passage. I had lusted over a buttery soft, licorice-black, cropped and fitted and fabulously studded jacket for months but when the moment of truth came, I remember finding myself suddenly unsure.
Francoise Hardy, Madonna, Debbie Harry
What made me hesitate at the counter wasn’t that I didn’t have enough money – I’d worked hard to save enough to finally buy it – but that I worried I didn’t have the necessary chutzpah to pull off what I saw to be such an glamorously edgy item of clothing. Is there anything that adds sexy drama, mysterious chic, or devil-may-care insouciance to an outfit – or to the person wearing the outfit – more than a black leather jacket?! Was I that girl? Could I be that girl? I wanted to throw my jacket on over a pretty lace dress like Madonna. I wanted to wear it with all the casual effortlessness of Francoise Hardy. I wanted to rock it like Debbie Harry.
That jacket offered up all this possibility and excitement – it could transform not just my wardrobe, but my very identity – look what happened to Sandra Dee in Grease!
No wonder I had a moment of existential crisis! But it lasted only a moment as the sales girl – who must have detected my angst - looked me in the eye and gave me some advice I’ll never forget – “remember”, she said “it’s not the jacket that makes the woman, it’s the woman that makes the jacket.”
Helena Christensen, Olivia Newton John, Madonna
One of the things I enjoyed most about it is that rather than making me feel less feminine, the black leather jacket – once strictly the property of guys only – only added to my feminity. Its ruggedness and boxy shape and padded shoulders (yes, padded shoulders!) served as the perfect foil to all my pretty florals, lace and broderie, pintucks and crochet. I never felt so feminine as when I was wearing that roughed up, studded leather jacket over a gauzy frock. And it’s a look that never seems to date (padded shoulders aside!) as women continue to make the leather jacket an absolute staple of their every look and guise.
So you can imagine how thrilled I am to have the stunning Mia jacket included in this new season collection – our first to feature leather but I think certainly not our last. It has just the right amount of chic elegance combined with tough luxe to make it a versatile must have. There’s no better way to own your look and rock your style than with a black leather jacket. I hope you enjoy this one!
