History of the "Cafe Racer" jacket.

[lina]

The recent thread on Buco posted by @MemphisBlues and the conversation there, especially the comments by @Monitor (see here: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/buco-jacket-restoration.100580/), made me think more about the history of what is now so commonly called the "cafe racer" style jacket -- basically, a short cut leather riding jacket with a mandarin collar. The designation is so common now, and the association with cafe racer motorcycles so strong, that I never really thought to question either one. But it seems like the jacket has a more complicated history, and as @Monitor suggests some of what we take as a given about the jacket are fairly recent developments. So, figured I'd start a new thread on the history of the jacket, not seeing one already in existence. I've got a bit of information to get started, but I know there are others here who will know much more than me, and perhaps this thread will prove useful.

It seems like there are really two distinct but related issues here: One is the history of this particular style of jacket. And the second is the designation of this style as a "cafe racer."

With regard to the history of the jacket itself, it seems to be rooted in the leather racing shirts and full leather one-piece suits as far back as the 19-teens and 1920s. Here's a few pics from Paul D'Orleans' new book Ton Up, on cafe racer culture, of these early leather racing kits with mandarin collar:





Looks like what we think of as the classic cafe racer jacket form (two pockets, mandarin collar) is pretty firmly set by the 1950s, as seen in two pics here, from Rin Tanaka's book, of Buco and Bates advertisements, but they seem to be typically identified as "racing shirts."



Harley Davidson is also making their one-pocket version, called "The Sportster," in the 50s, and probably lots of others are being made at this point... other folks can chime in on this I hope. @ton312 mentioned Cal-Leather as an early CR for example.

So, the form as we know it seems set by the 1950s, but the name and association with cafe racers is much later. In the first place, I think most people would say that the cafe racer motorcycle doesn't really emerge until the early 1960s in England, when guys and gals started cutting weight from their bikes, installing rear set foot controls and clip on handlebars, hot-rodding their engines, and ripping around in street races. BUT, in the pictures from this period, they seem mostly to be wearing Brando style cross zips, esp Lewis Leathers jackets apparently (see Paul D'Orleans on this). I'm not saying we can't find some of those folks wearing collar-less versions, but it certainly does not seem to be the uniform of choice. Here are a few pics from the period, with the typical collars and /or cross zips:









So even once we have what we now think of as "cafe racer" culture, there is no sign as far as I can tell that the "cafe racer" jacket style is a significant part of that culture. In D'Orleans' book, the first pic I see of cafe racer motorcycle riders wearing cafe racer style jackets is a picture from the US in the 1980s:



But even then, in the 1980s, I haven't seen any evidence that these jackets are being identified as "cafe racers." But they may have been, and perhaps others can fill things in here. I did ask Paul D'Orleans about this, and he thinks the jacket style may not be designated as cafe racers until the 2000s.

So, this has turned into a long post! If you've kept reading until now, then I assume you're interested in cafe racer jackets and/or bikes, and you may know more than me about the history of the two. Happy to get more info into this thread, so feel free to post. I think the main question for me at this point remains: When and how did the mandarin collar riding jacket start getting called a "cafe racer"?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I bought my first MC in 1973 after returning from two years in the Army and had a Cafe style leather MC jacket. Can't remember just where I bought it here locally in Indiana. As I recall it was called a Cafe MC jacket rather than ' Cafe Racer '..but could be wrong since that was a long time ago. However, that style was available here in the '70s.
HD

 

[Monitor]

This is a brilliant post! When you first asked the question in the Buco thread, I realized I too don't actually have a clue as to how the term Cafe Racer actually came to be. There's this legend how it was worn by the bikers in the UK as they'd go from one cafe to another on their kaff racers but that's just that - a legend, because, well, simply put, UK bikers wore either cross zips or Luftwaffe's.

I believe @rocketeer could contribute a lot to this subject, though!

But yeah, I still firmly believe that the Cafe Racer jacket hadn't really been a very influential style and the reason for this is the lack of endorsement in the celebrity/pop culture, thus its significance isn't really comparable to some other jackets. If at all. Same for the leather trucker. That's a recent thing.

That has however changed in the 2020's which for the first time saw the jacket as a go to style for almost every male actor in the showbiz. It is only now that the style has its first proper peak in popularity and indeed, influence that could be regarded as that of the A-2 or the cross zip. I mean, everyone wanted to have the WotW jacket, the Wolverine jacket, the Mission Impossible jacket, etc.
Buco, the Japanese repro makers, Tanaka all helped, too.

Would the cross zip be what it is without Brando? Simple answer - no.

But anyway, even during the 60's and the 70's, the CR didn't see much use with the UK bikers, cross zips being their preferred riding leather (mostly due to the significance of the style, clearly, rather than the protective properties which aren't superior to that of the CR).

Not saying it wasn't worn, the CR style was always there and so many companies produced it for a reason; Brooks, Cal, Beck, Schott, Bates, Vanson, Fidelity, etc., etc. and I believe it actually saw more use in the USA than in the country it is most commonly associated with nowadays.

So it's hard to say... UK bikers didn't wear it much, it wasn't a go to jacket in the US early in the days, too, other than early in the century for the sports events though it transformed into a full body suit since... It went through somewhat of a popularity during the 70's, even appearing in several movies but never approaching the level of its more famous brethren.

 

[Seb Lucas]

They were never called cafe racers (pronounced "caff") here until the internet. The bike shops I bought jackets from 35 years ago called them racing shirts or racing jackets. They still made unlined ones then as per the 1930's originals. Back in 1982 if you wore a collarless jacket people would chuckle and ask "What happened to your collar?" My sense of this style here is that they didn't take off until internet photos of celebrities made them ubiquitous - especially the J100. I thought they were more of an English thing because of the English pronunciation, "caff".

 

[navetsea]

so they make it long to be able to be tucked into pants... creepy...

 

[Carlos840]

I think the oldest branded cafe racer style jacket i can think off is the Lewis Universal Racer mk1.
That came out in 1926 and had all the characteristics of a modern cafe racer jacket:

https://www.lewisleathers.com/productinfo.html?code=UVR1-jak

Like you i have never understood why that style is called a cafe racer, it seems it was never really worn by the people actually doing the cafe racing. It seems in that period the mandarin collar wasn't that fashionable in the UK.
To me the 50s Buco racing shirt is a very American style, at that time people in the UK mostly wore cross zips or Dominator style jackets.
It would be great to figure out exactly when and where the "Cafe racer jacket" designation started.

 

[navetsea]

since that night

 

[Seb Lucas]

Names are often wrongly applied to things. Take the French Quarter of New Orleans, which doesn't feature French buildings and should actually be called the Spanish Quarter because it features Spanish buildings. The Cafe Racer may well be a name applied to a jacket wrongly attributed to the cafe racing kids of the 1950's.

 

[lina]

I bought my first MC in 1973 after returning from two years in the Army and had a Cafe style leather MC jacket. Can't remember just where I bought it here locally in Indiana. As I recall it was called a Cafe MC jacket rather than ' Cafe Racer '..but could be wrong since that was a long time ago. However, that style was available here in the '70s.
HD

No chance you still have it I guess..?

That has however changed in the 2020's which for the first time saw the jacket as a go to style for almost every male actor in the showbiz. It is only now that the style has its first proper peak in popularity and indeed, influence that could be regarded as that of the A-2 or the cross zip. I mean, everyone wanted to have the WotW jacket, the Wolverine jacket, the Mission Impossible jacket, etc.
.

I think celebrities tend to help styles go big but tend not to generate the styles in the first place. People like Tom Cruise, Mamoa, etc, as well as stylists for the movies they are in, pick up styles from the "cool" kids and use them I think, rather than originating them. Speaking of which, both House and Dennis Leary in the firefighter show (which I never watched and the name of which I forget) probably did a lot to popularize the style. Leary wore a brown vintage Brooks acc to the pics I've seen. Those shows must be at least 10 years old..? Not sure though.

so they make it long to be able to be tucked into pants... creepy...

Right! But it shows that the "jacket" is still being largely understood as a genuine leather "shirt," rooted as we've seen in the leather racing kit that would have included shirt and pants or would have been a one-piece. At some point the shirt becomes a jacket

since that night

I don't think we'd identify that as a cafe racer though right? Still a leather racing suit, rather than street wear.

Names are often wrongly applied to things. Take the French Quarter of New Orleans, which doesn't feature French buildings and should actually be called the Spanish Quarter because it features Spanish buildings. The Cafe Racer may well be a name applied to a jacket wrongly attributed to the cafe racing kids of the 1950's.

Absolutely. And I think what we're trying to find out at this point is when and where and how that association took place.

Anyway, I am very glad for all this feedback! By the time we're through here we will have sorted and solved this very important issue, and then we can move on to solving other of the world's burning issues...

 

[Carlos840]

Names are often wrongly applied to things. Take the French Quarter of New Orleans, which doesn't feature French buildings and should actually be called the Spanish Quarter because it features Spanish buildings. The Cafe Racer may well be a name applied to a jacket wrongly attributed to the cafe racing kids of the 1950's.

This doesn't seem right, the French quarter was already known as the french quarter (Barrio Francés) in the 18th century when all the Spanish buildings were built.
The name isn't linked to the later built architecture but to the French man (Adrien de Pauger,) who founded the quarter originally.
It wouldn't really make sens to rename it "the spanish quarter" 100 years later just because the french gave control of Louisiana to the Spanish for fourty years.

 

[navetsea]

Peter Fonda obviously wore it but he rode chopper

 

[lina]

Peter Fonda obviously wore it but he rode chopper

Ah right, a good point. So by 1969 the collarless "racing shirt" has become unattached from racing and associated with cool, anti-establishment bikers. There were lots of other, less famous and less well-made "1%-er" biker movies from the mid-60s. I just looked up Fonda in the 1966 movie "Wild Angels," and he's wearing a collared MC jacket. But, looks like Bruce Dern is wearing something like an older style button up racing shirt, with buckle collar. Presumably these "costumes" were inspired by what CA bikers were wearing at the time. So I am thinking that sometime in the early/mid 60s those dudes in the clubs started wearing the "racing shirts" for street/desert riding, which started to make them cool off the track. And then at some point the spread beyond chopper/1%-er culture and eventually got associated with cool cafe racer culture. Or not...

 

[handymike]

Dern’s looks more like a Trailmaster style.

 

[Carlos840]

Dern’s looks more like a Trailmaster style.

Agreed, it even has the angled left side chest pocket... well spotted.

 

[lina]

Dern’s looks more like a Trailmaster style.

Agreed, it even has the angled left side chest pocket... well spotted.

Sure enough!

 

[lina]

Have spent some thoroughly enjoyable time this morning looking up Bill Ray's CA Hells Angels pics and Danny Lyon's mid-west "Bikeriders" pics, both from the mid 1960s. I can't see any mandarin collars in the Bill Ray pics -- the Hells Angels seem at the time to prefer denim jackets and vests. Of course, they are riding in the desert. BUT, in Danny Lyon's pics, we definitely see "cafe racer" style jackets, maybe even identifiable Brooks! (See below.) But no one would call these guys "kaff racers," and I don't imagine the jackets are being called that yet either. But the pics help trace the style as it becomes untethered from track racing and associated with motorcycle bad boys.

Also makes me wonder about regional differences. Pre-1980 or so there was still quite a bit of local or regional culture (music, fashion, food, etc) in the US, that tends to get flattened out in the decades to come. Could the CR style have taken off in the US midwest? Esp with Brooks, Buco, and Kehoe all in Michigan? And with weather chilly enough even in early summer for a thin leather jacket, in a way it wouldn't have been in Socal? Hmmm, all gets interesting, and nice to have an excuse to look at all these cool old pics..

 

[tmitchell59]

Great effort by all here to define this species of leather wear!

Interestingly there are no "cafe racer" style jackets in the Sears catalogs in the 1950s. They were defiantly selling cross zipp MC jackets through out this decade, including selling Buco products for about 3 years.

The Oakbrook label replaced the Hercules label in the early 60s. You begin to see Cafe Racer style jackets with the Oakbrook label. I don't have all the Sears 60s catalog pics. What I have there are no Cafe style jackets pictured.

from the 1973 Brooks catalog

Durable HH from 1954. Cafe Racer?

 

[Seb Lucas]

This doesn't seem right, the French quarter was already known as the french quarter (Barrio Francés) in the 18th century when all the Spanish buildings were built.
The name isn't linked to the later built architecture but to the French man (Adrien de Pauger,) who founded the quarter originally.
It wouldn't really make sens to rename it "the spanish quarter" 100 years later just because the french gave control of Louisiana to the Spanish for fourty years.

Probably not the best example but maybe you're being too concrete. I'm simply making the point that names are not always what they seem. I have lost count of the numbers of people who have told me about the beautiful French architecture of New Orleans when they mean Spanish. Nevertheless, things get erroneously associated with a name in a process that is more elusive than people think. That's all.

 

[lina]

.. I'm simply making the point that names are not always what they seem... Nevertheless, things get erroneously associated with a name in a process that is more elusive than people think. That's all.

So I think the question at this point is, Can we find evidence of when this style of jacket begins to be called and/or marketed as a “cafe racer” jacket? How did that connection initially get made?

 

[dudewuttheheck]

So I think the question at this point is, Can we find evidence of when this style of jacket begins to be called and/or marketed as a “cafe racer” jacket? How did that connection initially get made?

That would be interesting to pinpoint.

At the same time, I don't think there would be an exact date, especially with the style clearly existing well before the name was given.