This jacket is more or less a classic double rider jacket. It’s meant for the road.
with Leopard Lining
the contrast lining
My client is a real long distance rider, and she’s had the same, pretty standard, custom made jacket for many, many years.
She’s always dreamed of getting a more feminine jacket -and decided that now’s the time. She wanted a real riding jacket, but one that reflected her personality. It had to be protective and stylish. It had to be presentable in the all settings she might find herself while on the road. She wanted a jacket that she could wear for the rest of her life.
So she came to me with her favorite jacket. The jacket has held up beautifully over many years, and has served her well. But it’s a jacket that was cut off of a double rider jacket pattern that was created for men – by a well known, old school and now retired, Master Maker in Canada.
There were many things she loved about her original jacket, the weight of the leather, the back vents, extra elbow padding, and a lining that had a nice interlining that adds extra padding and insulation both. Like any well worn and loved leather jackets – there were certain things she did not want to give up but could be improved.
And she also wanted to improve on a few fit issues that she’s had with her original jacket. Particularly, the sleeve length – which she stressed was her original decision, but she’s found in practice that it’s just not ideal.
In addition to bringing me her original custom double rider jacket, she brought along a second jacket that stylistically was sort of a cross between a double rider jacket and a café racer jacket.
She hadn’t worn the second jacket yet – it was made in a much lighter weight leather – and it was still pretty cold out. But, this jacket had some extra details that she really liked. Mainly, there were additional front vents, and a hip-belt detail. On this second jacket the hip detail was futzy and overdone, but there was a good basic concept there.
She specifically wanted NO armor, which was perfect- since I am not set up to work with armor. (Plus, she’s petite, so frankly I don’t even know where you would put armor!)
It’s made in a very supple, but heavyweight, pebbly grained, cowhide called ‘Gonzalo’ and lined with a wonderful, abstract leopard print in shades of grey and white. The lining is a beautiful, heavyweight stretch cotton sateen, with maybe 3% elastane (aka lycra or spandex) that won’t affect breathability. It also has a very thin interlining which serves double duty- adding both a layer of insulation and a little added protection.
It’s a very heavy and substantial jacket, built to be protective as well as stylishly reflecting the wearer’s personality – and that of her motorcycle, which I understand is a pretty classic old school style bike of black and silver…
So while I’ve made a lot of Motorcycle style leather jackets, whether Double Rider or Café Racer this is the first one I have done in ages that was really created for fashion & true functionality.