The short jacket thread

[Gamma68]

Lately, there's been some discussion about the short length of vintage leather jackets compared to today's offerings. I thought it would be fun to dedicate a thread to them.

Show us your short vintage jackets and how you rock 'em. Tell us what you wear with them so they appear in-proportion with your body type. Let's see some vintage photos of short jackets and how they were worn back in the day. What defines a "short" jacket for you?

To start, here are a few vintage photos:

And here's a photo of member @Michael A who is absolutely rocking the look. I hope he doesn't mind that I've re-posted this image.

 

[Gamma68]

A few others that have popped up recently:

The guy on the left:

And this guy:

 

[Monitor]

Yeah, I'm sure this guy must've been laughed off the highway every time he sat on his bike. . .

 

[barnabus]

Yeah, I'm sure this guy must've been laughed off the highway every time he sat on his bike. . .

He is cool AF without a doubt.

 

[Monitor]

US

UK

 

[ton312]

Yeah, I'm sure this guy must've been laughed off the highway every time he sat on his bike. . .

Lol. He does look cool. But I bet he’s all of 5’6”. LOL. I will say the old photos do make the shorter jackets look natural. But I know from my own experience. They just don’t work in technicolor.
Gamma, I sense a desire to convince yourself about a short jacket. Believe me... We’ve ALL tried. It never works.

 

[willyto]

I just read your PM and I'll get back to you!

I'm a huge fan of the short jacket and high waisted trousers. I just love the look and it's a look that I love rocking around.

For original jackets worn today just check Wilhelm's feed: https://www.instagram.com/wilhelmzeppelin/

These european jackets were short! No problem with high waisted trousers but not wearable with a low or regular rise.

For reference I'm 179cm aprox 5' 11" . A german example of mine that is 22" but because it's worn blousy fits more like a 20-21" back:

[

An american Monarch (Milwaukee) in wool with a 21" back:

Some original shots:

 

[zebedee]

My shortest jacket is a cafe racer at 24.5 inches at the back; the front is shorter and that is where the problem is. I did inform Aero that I'd look odd in a jacket shorter than a Highwayman and was reassured that the cafe racer jacket would be long enough, but it isn't at the front. The way that I compensate for it is by yoinking my jeans up so that the length looks tolerable and it sorta works. Oddly, some people have complimented me on it, but most tell me it's a bit short. I'd not buy a cafe racer jacket from Aero again, although the other styles that I bought from them have all been great. The cafe racer is more of an effort to make 'look right' than any other item of clothing I own- it's both too short and too tight, even if I've lost significant weight due to rowing, swimming, etc., and is mainly worn in warmer weather (although I feel embarrassed about it after a day of wearing it...). It just about covers my belt in the morning and hits it by about 2 PM. Jackets that are shorter would need to be that way for a definite industrial function, and I'd only wear them for that function- much above the belt and people look jammed into the jackets, like those cartoons where someone is wearing a short cardboard box after losing clothing.

 

[ton312]

A short back is best complimented by a dropped front.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Seen many of those photos before. Cool to see again.

It's a look (with a few exceptions) I find really ugly but I know many here like.

To me it's a reminder that I like period style but not a slavish copying of the look.

Isn't it great that we have the freedom to wear what we like?

 

[ton312]

Seen many of those photos before. Cool to see again.

It's a look (with a few exceptions) I find really ugly but I know many here like.

To me it's a reminder that I like period style but not a slavish copying of the look.

Isn't it great that we have the freedom to wear what we like?

Indeed. I like the vintage inspiration matched with modern accommodations.

 

[Superfluous]

A short jacket can work

 

[zebedee]

You really wouldn't want to see our lot in the south west of England trying to do that.

 

[Gamma68]

Regardless of whether I keep that jacket or not, this should be an interesting thread about wearing vintage in comparison to modern jackets.

 

[ton312]

The key for me is that the vintage style still work in a modern sense (unless your wardrobe goal is to fully emerge into a period). For me that becomes a bit too cosplay and impossible in everyday life. There’s plenty of very cool vintage jackets that are just not good looking when worn. I personally have never felt comfortable with a jacket that sits at or above my belt. It just feels and looks odd to me. I can wear a short rear length only if the front drops enough to cover my belt and adequately balance the upper/lower body proportions. Many vintage leather jackets look like bullfighter/matador gear to me. I suspect even in 1950 I would have felt the same. If I were alive. One of the nicest jackets I’ve encountered through the years was a vintage penny’s biker jacket. Such a cool piece, amazing leather and a 22” back, sat above my belly button and I looked like a fool in it. It fit like a leather brazier. I hated it, despite how much I admired it in some ways.
I guess short jackets just aren’t my thing.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Yeah, I'm sure this guy must've been laughed off the highway every time he sat on his bike. . .

Seems that you are mocking and gleefully distorting my earlier post..and I don't appreciated it . This was a photo taken in the 1950s or earlier when gas was 15 1/2 cents a gallon. Varying lengths were in style then coming out of the '40s when very short lengths were more in fashion. Again..in the 'mid '60s', as I began riding, anyone wearing an above the belt MC jacket would certainly have been 'a laughing stock' among every rider I know just as a hick wearing their pants legs up above their socks. You weren't even born yet. I most often don't get personal and some can call your remarks just very passionate, but I'm beginning to think you are a jerk...and 'anyone who says different is wrong'.
HD

 

[Superfluous]

 

[zebedee]

Short, collarless jackets are usually better with a thin t-shirt for me- anything thicker and I am in "Where's the rest of that jacket?" territory.

In addition to the LHB and the SB, I can see the cafe racer jacket being moved on fairly soon to the classifieds...

 

[Seb Lucas]

It's a good thing I won't wear a jacket shorter than 26.5 at back. I almost never see a jacket I like in my measurements (unless I go custom which I won't any more) if I did there's been many a half-belt or bootlegger I might have purchased and now I'd be sitting festering that I needed to let some of them go.

incidentally I think ton's idea of three styles and done, is great. That's still a lot of jacket. In my case I think it would be a cafe racer, a half-belt and a long half-belt. Or maybe a Highwayman and a Bootlegger and a... oh crap...

 

[zebedee]

Yeah, I wish I'd stopped at the Highwayman in terms of Aeros. The only other one that really fits is a 1950's HB.