How to wear a leather jacket: a women's guide

Pick the cut for the way you dress

The jacket should fit the wardrobe you already own, not the one you imagine. If most of your clothes are dresses and skirts, the biker's short, belted body balances them. If you live in jeans and knits, the café racer's clean front keeps things calm. If you want one piece that goes over everything, including evening wear, the leather trench does that.

• Rebel and Women's Phantom, bikers: lapels, belt, the asymmetric zip
• Women's Stripes, Urban Women's and Urban Edge, café racers: straight zip, band collar, fitted body
• Aviator Women's: the flight-jacket cut with a fold-down collar, for winter
• Trinity: a knee-length leather trench with a belted waist

Five outfits

Biker over a dress. The classic contrast: a soft dress, a hard jacket. Midi or knee length works better than mini, and the jacket's hem should sit at your natural waist so the dress shows below it. Ankle boots or plain trainers.

White T-shirt, straight jeans, café racer. The uniform. Keep the jeans high-waisted so the short jacket meets them, tuck the T-shirt, add one piece of jewellery.

Fine knit, midi skirt, biker open. Lapels snapped back, a roll neck or crew neck under it, a pleated or satin skirt. This is the version that works in an office that does not require a blazer.

Tailored trousers, silk shirt, café racer. The jacket replaces the blazer. It needs the quietest cut you own, closed or half-zipped, with the shirt tucked and the trousers full length.

Trench over everything. The Trinity goes over a dress, over jeans and a knit, over evening wear. Belt it for shape; leave it open over tailoring.

Proportions

Short jackets want longer bottoms: wide trousers, midi skirts, straight jeans with a high waist. The trench wants slim bottoms or bare legs so the length reads as intentional. Sleeves end at the wrist bone; a sleeve that covers the hand makes the whole jacket look oversized, even when the body fits. Between sizes, take the smaller for a close fit over T-shirts and the larger if you will layer knits; our size guide shows the body measurements behind each size.

Colour

Black is the safe answer and the right one for most first jackets. Brown is softer against the skin and pairs with cream, camel, denim and olive; it ages into something no new jacket can copy. Green (Rebel comes in it) is the surprising one and surprisingly easy: it behaves like a neutral next to black, white and denim. The colour guide goes through all of them, and the builder adds cognac and oxblood.

Underneath

Thin layers only; the jackets are cut close through the body. Fine knits, silk and cotton shirts, T-shirts, slip dresses. Save the chunky knit for the trench, which has room. A scarf inside the collar adds more warmth than a thicker jumper and does not fight the shoulders.

Seasons

Spring and autumn, every day. Winter with a quilted lining and a knit is fine to a few degrees; the Aviator Women's and the Trinity go further. In summer the jacket comes out at night, over a dress, when the temperature drops.

The mistakes

• A jacket that ends below the hip. Short jackets are short for a reason: they show the waist. If you want length, take the trench, not a longer biker.
• Everything hard. Leather jacket, leather trousers, heavy boots, black bag. Let one soft thing in.
• Zipped to the chin when it is not cold. Open, or half-zipped, is how the cut was drawn.
• Buying a size up for layering you will never do. Sheepskin relaxes about half a size in the first month.

Questions

Can I wear a leather jacket to work? A café racer or the trench over tailoring, yes. The biker depends on the office.

Biker or café racer for a first jacket? Biker if you wear dresses and skirts; café racer if you wear jeans and trousers.

Can I have it in my measurements? Yes: the builder cuts every women's style to nine measurements, in your colour, hardware and lining.