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Time for a grizzly?

Messages
17,477
Location
Chicago
To me the grizzly always looks a little adolescent, like a childs jacket:
1674139994594.png

Clearly the style was popular and marketed for all ages:
1674140064308.png

1674140100033.png

And this guy looks cool:
1674140126354.png

This guy does not:
1674140187718.png

For me the time for a grizzly is never. If worn right they can look cool. I would be very self conscious in one.
 

MrProper

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,293
Location
Europe
To me the grizzly always looks a little adolescent, like a childs jacket:
View attachment 481993
Clearly the style was popular and marketed for all ages:
View attachment 481995
View attachment 481997
And this guy looks cool:
View attachment 481998
This guy does not:
View attachment 481999
For me the time for a grizzly is never. If worn right they can look cool. I would be very self conscious in one.
Yes, it's not really for me either. I think it's cool to look at, but I didn't want to wear such a jacket.
 

red devil

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,948
Location
London
To me the grizzly always looks a little adolescent, like a childs jacket:
View attachment 481993
Clearly the style was popular and marketed for all ages:
View attachment 481995
View attachment 481997
And this guy looks cool:
View attachment 481998
This guy does not:
View attachment 481999
For me the time for a grizzly is never. If worn right they can look cool. I would be very self conscious in one.

Agreed, the first guy fits in his grizzly, the second guy is just posing. Difficult to looks natural when posing...
 

hughesovka

One of the Regulars
Messages
177
Location
NYC
One thing Shawn needs to fix on his grizzly is the mega long belt and off-center buckle. I didn't notice it when i commissioned mine, but it kinda drove me nuts after a while. Definitely something to note for anyone looking to get a 5* grizzly, which would probably be a good move if you're on the fence about getting one. I moved my two grizzlies along on the 'bay in pursuit of other jackets I'd wear more, but that fur definitely keeps you warm. Also i live in NYC so i am rarely the freakiest guy on the street at any given moment no matter what I'm wearing
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,074
Location
London, UK
Agreed, the first guy fits in his grizzly, the second guy is just posing. Difficult to looks natural when posing...

The essential difference in these photos, I think, is that the first is clearly a candid photo of two people who just happen to be wearing what they are; the second photo seems to have been taken specifically to model the jacket. That being so, the latter is very much more self-conscious, to the point where it may or may not be fair to compare the two in this way. It's a good illustration, nonetheless, of the difference between casually wearing any item of clothing, and being very much aware of it.


Wow, i had no idea! Was this functional or purely stylistic?

It's something I've also seen on a lot of MC jackets from that period too. On a British made MC jacket, I would have put it down to being set a bit more out of the way to avoid tank scratches, Brit bikes - and their riders - favouring a more crouched over the tank riding position than was the norm in the US. Maybe it stopped the buckle digging in somehow when seated in the more American, upright position? Or possible the idea was not to have two buckles (jacket plus trouserbelt) right on top of each other, tightened at the same place and pushing into the gut?

It could, of course, also be just a fashion thing. There was a young man's fashion - very popular among the rockabilly sort of set back in the day - to wear the trouser belt with the buckle off to one side; this may have been an extension of that? I know a lot of guitar players over the years have done the same to avoid scratching the back of their instrument (it has also, in some circles, become a bit of an affectation - "Oh, that's because I'm a musican, you see..."), though I don't think that was the origin of the style, and it was definitely seen more widely than guitar players.

There were, of course, other men's clothing designs that had off-centre buckles - the British Army Battle Dress tunic being a significant example, so possibly it was just a more common concept back then than the notion of centering it which appeals more to the modern eye.
 
Messages
10,607

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,074
Location
London, UK
I like Grizzlies and I like ties. I like Grizzlies with ties. I like any leather jacket with a tie.

Me too. There's a clear division here in Outerwear between those who are only interested in a leather jacket as something that gets worn with denim, and those of us who wear it elsewise. I suppose that reflects a split between mid-century ideas of casual, and modern notions of casual. Last time I remember ties being general fashionwear (as opposed to something for the office / "dress up occasions) in the mainstream was probably.... the eighties? Fortunately, though, it's not so hard to find nice, new ties which fit my aesthetic these days. A bonus, given the increasing rarity and thus rising prices of actual vintage.
 

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