Layering OVER a leather?

[Dinerman]

I've seen a blanket lined denim chore jacket over a half-belt in a number of '30s-'40s photos.

 

[tonypaj]

It's winter here I always wear a gabardine overcoat or waxed cotton field jacket over my leathers.

Yep, I do that, and when it gets cold, I skip the dusters, and wear a bit oversized wool overcoat over the leather jacket.

 

[ButteMT61]

I saw an episode of "Hell On Wheels" last night where the main character (Anson Mount) had his leather vest on under a big, wool sort of jacket. It looked 100% badass. Of course that guy would look good in a potato sack. There's a lot of stuff that can be layered, but I've see some epic fails too...

 

[tonypaj]

I saw an episode of "Hell On Wheels" last night where the main character (Anson Mount) had his leather vest on under a big, wool sort of jacket. It looked 100% badass. Of course that guy would look good in a potato sack. There's a lot of stuff that can be layered, but I've see some epic fails too...

Pretty much anything can be layered under a charcoal overcoat. A jacket, a jeans jacket, a leather jacket, a sweater, you name it. I do not touch leather vests, I leave that to others that have earned the look. With two shorter jackets I leave leather as the outer layer.

 

[bn1966]

I wear an ELC C-3 vest both as a gillet over a sweat shirt and over the top of my A-2 Roughwear.

 

[pauleway]

I have a Woolrich, wool vest that I'm going to try that just might do the job!

 

[Monitor]

Are you guys talking about riding? 'cause layering over a leather jacket didn't do anything for me - at least not when I was on a motorcycle. I used to ride in this large shearling coat stuffed under an even larger leather jacket and the combo worked like a charm. But once I switched to Vanson (which by itself is the warmest leather jacket I've owned), I couldn't squeeze the shearling coat under it so one particularly cold day I felt particularly clever and went riding with that shearling coat OVER a Vanson and I nearly froze!

Jacketjunkie is spot on. Leather jackets get cold on the outside so there's nothing to warm up the overcoat you're wearing over the jacket. You'll only get as warm as the air between whatever you put over your leather jacket - which isn't a whole lot at all since there's nothing to heat it up.

 

[Dinerman]

Fun fact- Leather linings as windproofing on heavy wool coats was popular in the 1910s-early 1930s.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Dinerman, what kind of leather was usd to achieve this - was it thick cow or a lighter more delicate hide?

 

[StichInTime]

Some great contributions, thanks everyone. Not my style but A2's with lined vests over the top, like the C-3 Vest, are awesome.

I was thinking more about where you cant layer up underneath any more (eg you have a Tee or Shirt/thermal or whatever) but want something to help with lower temps - talking winter in UK cities not Siberia, so generally lows that struggle to get past -2c, but where you might get on a train to work where you would sweat in just a Tee so want something removable.

Also aesthetically motivated - I think the OP with the vests over leathers look cool, but does anything other than a high quality leather vest cheapen the good leather jacket under it? I'm not sure a Nylon vest (eg Rocky Mountain featherbed) even with a leather yoke wouldn't look cheap.

 

[Seb Lucas]

The qualities of leather garments resemble what they call "outer shell" in moderen outer wear; windproof, waterproof and most importantly, it has little breathability. And this last point is why it is more effective to layer under the leather, than over the leather. Wearing something over leather will warm the air between your leather jacket and the overcoat but since your leather jacket has little breathability, only little of that warm air will reach you, hence the effect of the layer on top of the leather is only small or in other words, it's not very effective to layer on top of leather.

I think most people know this already JJ - but I disagree about its effectiveness. What you're forgetting is that a short leather jacket lacks coverage and is worn too closely while an overcoat or long waxed cotton jacket will provide coverage (right down to your legs) and air pockets. I also find that the air trapped between leather and overcoat is plenty warm. But it may not work as well where you are, where it is really cold not just 6-12 degrees as it is here. I would not wear leather at all in genuine cold for precisely the reasons you have mentioned.

 

[IXL]

My leather B-3 seems to work well in genuine Oklahoma winters.

 

[nick123]

Layering under leather is like putting on makeup to cover a zit.
Layering over leather is like putting a zit over your makeup. lol

 

[CBI]

I'm pretty warm blooded so it needs to get pretty cold (below freezing) before I break out my ELC B-3.

 

[Hal]

There is a thread about this very point in the dim-and-distant past which I remember but have failed to find.
The point is - what is meant by a leather jacket? Many of those featured in this forum are thick, shearling-lined outerwear/overcoat substitutes; but some are really jacket-substitutes (i.e. worn in the place of a suit jacket or sports jacket) and an overcoat can certainly be worn over one of these. The quotations below illustrate this point.

It's winter here I always wear a gabardine overcoat or waxed cotton field jacket over my leathers.

...a short leather jacket lacks coverage and is worn too closely while an overcoat or long waxed cotton jacket will provide coverage (right down to your legs) and air pockets. I also find that the air trapped between leather and overcoat is plenty warm.

...isn't there a part at the beginning of Twelve O'Clock High where the soon to be replaced squadron commander goes for a night meeting with Greg Peck. He wears an officers overcoat over his A-2.

...when it gets cold, I skip the dusters, and wear a bit oversized wool overcoat over the leather jacket.

Pretty much anything can be layered under a charcoal overcoat.

 

[Hal]

There is a thread about this very point in the dim-and-distant past which I remember but have failed to find.

I've found it.
"What to wear over my flight jacket", started on 30th November 2006

 

[nick123]

There's a hilarious locked "layering hoodies UNDER leather jackets post" somewhere back in the archives too...

 

[Monitor]

There's a hilarious locked "layering hoodies UNDER leather jackets post" somewhere back in the archives too...

Guilty...

 

[Seb Lucas]

The take home message I get from these discussions is how leather jackets aren't always practical in the cold.

 

[Dinerman]

Dinerman, what kind of leather was usd to achieve this - was it thick cow or a lighter more delicate hide?

Generally capeskin, sometimes other hides. It's easy to forget in the discussions of seven pound reproductions, that in the 1920s-1940s, many leather jackets filled the role a nylon windbreaker does today, of a lightweight jacket made for wind blocking, not for warmth.