Where are the ladies?

[Big J]

TFL has many female members, but they never seem to post in the outerwear section. I wonder why. Don't they wear jackets or coats?
I know ladies ride bikes, and I've seen photos of transport corps ladies wearing men's flight jackets (some makers make ladies versions), and while I appreciate that vintage leather flight jackets aren't a style that maybe many women are interested in, there's plenty of other styles.

In the golden era, women wore leather jackets and coats. Are there not enough repro/vintage styles out there to attract a following, or is there some other reason why 'the scene' is catering for men so much?
I'd love for my wife to appreciate and enjoy some of the styles women used to wear, they were really glamorous.
Sometimes ladies post here for ideas for the men they want to buy for, and sometimes we post about our partners, but I don't see a lot of interest by ladies for ladies, which seems like a lost opportunity for the manufacturers, the scene, and the ladies themselves.

 

[Carlos840]

TFL has many female members, but they never seem to post in the outerwear section. I wonder why. Don't they wear jackets or coats?
I know ladies ride bikes, and I've seen photos of transport corps ladies wearing men's flight jackets (some makers make ladies versions), and while I appreciate that vintage leather flight jackets aren't a style that maybe many women are interested in, there's plenty of other styles.

In the golden era, women wore leather jackets and coats. Are there not enough repro/vintage styles out there to attract a following, or is there some other reason why 'the scene' is catering for men so much?
I'd love for my wife to appreciate and enjoy some of the styles women used to wear, they were really glamorous.
Sometimes ladies post here for ideas for the men they want to buy for, and sometimes we post about our partners, but I don't see a lot of interest by ladies for ladies, which seems like a lost opportunity for the manufacturers, the scene, and the ladies themselves.

My girlfriend has a Lewis Leathers and an Aero, loves them both and wears them all the time.
Although she has had a quick look at TFL over my shoulder a few times, she finds us quite weird...
Asking "What's new on leather daddies?" is usually as involed as she gets.

Are we weird?

She does agree with you that it is much harder for women to find the same quality of clothing. I knows she wishes she she could get quality denim and more leather jacket models available for women.

 

[nick123]

My girlfriend wore MA-1s in high school before they were cool. Much cooler than me. She gave me permission to post pics of her in her old Made in USA Alpha but I just can't do that to her. Too salacious of a combination. Oh my I sound creepy. It's not as weird as it sounds.

 

[BobJ]

Why, was that ALL she was wearing?

 

[Big J]

@nick123, yeah, that could sound kinda creepy if you hadn't posted right after Carlos used the expression 'leather daddies', which I'm finding way more creepy!

So, I can't really see what's going on. Is it that demand isn't there so people don't make the jackets/coats, or is the choice not there, so ladies aren't interested?

I know that John Chapman has made a Pancho Barnes jacket before, I think I remember someone making an Amelia Earhart jacket, Eastman did (maybe still do?) a 'ladies cut' B-15, and there must be a fair few moto jackets out there, but not much by way of other styles. Aero does a couple of styles, but nothing especially glamorous. No ladies car coats, 3/4 length styles, that sort of thing?

There must have been plenty of golden era ladies who drove around in open cars with leather helmets, goggles and long leather coats back in the day- starlets and debutantes, and aristocracy.

Have all those ladies styles totally disappeared?

 

[Gamma68]

I would also enjoy seeing the women members contribute their photos of jackets/coats.

Is there a thread for vintage photos of women in leather jackets? I'll contribute a couple here now:

 

[Big J]

Hmm, something else. My wife just said she wants a black nylon flight jacket, and my first thought was BR's William Gibson MA-1.
BUT...
IIRC the book Pattern Recognition's female protagonist wears an MA-1 that's only described as being a black Buzz Rickson's repro coz Gibson mistakenly thought that's what they made.
A woman would likely have to size-up to get into an MA-1 in order to zip it up over her bust.
But the WG BR's MA-1s are cut slimmer and longer (aren't they), meaning that by the time my wife sized up for her bust, it'd be way too long.

 

[Big J]

@Gamma68, well, there's this thread;

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/womens-leather-jackets.82092/

Which we both commented on! (Oops, that's my Alzheimer's kicking in!). But it mainly focuses on more modern styles, not real Golden Era stuff.

By all means, making this a kind of 'inspirational thread' for posting pics of 20's and 30's ladies leather would be awesome! Maybe someone will see something they like!

 

[Tiki Tom]

On the other hand, lately I've been noticing a lot of ladies wearing Humphrey Bogart style trench coats, tailored for women. Very stylish and sophisticated, with a nod to the golden era.
I may have to ask my wife if she would like one for Christmas.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Two comments:

First, it seems like so many military classics - trench coats, MA-1s, M-65s (sometimes with earlier, M-43 or M-51 details), N-3Bs, pea coats, etc. - are always available in a huge range of accurate/non-accurate-loosely-inspired versions for woman, across all kinds of stores and sites. There are far more ladies trench coats on the market, at all price points, than mens. Green "army jackets" too. So it's not like they have to go through a learning curve or look for authenticity - like we do - because so many military style jackets are already out there in the stores, and if they like the way they look in them, they buy them.

One of my sister's oldest friends stayed in my guestroom for a couple of nights last week, and being someone with some style and fashion consciousness... she was fascinated as we went through my flight jackets and military jackets (my hats too). She was actually interested in my explaining the evolution of the designs, and the construction details... in a way that I'm quite unused to. Since most of my family and friends think my interest in this stuff is a crazy affectation, it was a pleasure!

 

[Big J]

@Tiki Tom, yeah that's a good look for ladies I think. It's very stylish and definitely more sophisticated than a lot of the military inspired styles.

@Doctor Strange, good points. My wife definitely thinks about clothes more than I do, but still considers me a nerd about jackets and stuff. I think that 'most' woman are (like 'most men') happy to get 'the look' without worrying about the expensive little details. But what I don't get is why all the golden era enthusiast ladies that post on the lounge never seem to be interested in outerwear. That's a mystery to me. Don't they go out? They just wear vintage at home?

Anyway, here's a link to Amelia Earhart wearing a 'car coat' style instead of that cute little flying jacket;

https://anniecardi.com/2016/03/08/international-womens-day-and-the-chance-you-wont-return-giveaway/

 

[HPA Rep]

Hmm, something else. My wife just said she wants a black nylon flight jacket, and my first thought was BR's William Gibson MA-1.
BUT...
IIRC the book Pattern Recognition's female protagonist wears an MA-1 that's only described as being a black Buzz Rickson's repro coz Gibson mistakenly thought that's what they made.
A woman would likely have to size-up to get into an MA-1 in order to zip it up over her bust.
But the WG BR's MA-1s are cut slimmer and longer (aren't they), meaning that by the time my wife sized up for her bust, it'd be way too long.

Actually, sizing up isn't a forgone conclusion for the female buyer, Big J. We sell more BRWG MA-1's to women than any other style, and at least in the early years after the Gibson novel premiered, these were very evidently those who loved Gibson's work and, perhaps, were fans of Cayce Pollard.

The BRWG still comes in your choice of a regular or long-body length and we always direct women to the regulars because it is a pattern more in keeping with the higher waist typical of the female body type. Of course, the upper body/bust dictates a huge part of what size to get and measuring over the bust is best to get the right fit. Typically, and depending on the woman's bust size, we sell 34-38 to women, but I'm sure we've sold every size over the years.

If you're still in Japan, your wife would be best directed to trying on regulars in the nearest store, but if doing mail order, I'm happy to help in figuring out the size. The one thing all women need to accept is that this is a not a female design, thus the shoulders will always be wider for them

Good luck!

 

[Mark]

The girls have got their own forum here that us guys are not allowed to post/comment on. I say lets keep it chaps only, after all there is so few places for us to go these days.

 

[oneterrifichog]

Hmmm I'm thinking there are several women on TFL that have posted over the years. You Guys need to look up and down the postings. My wife and daughter have specific interest in leather jackets and have picked up a lot of knowledge over the years from all of us. I have shown my daughter several of SpeedRacrX's jackets as possible ideas; in particular the Himel Kensington and her B-3 is awesome.

 

[Big J]

@HPA Rep, I didn't know that it was available in two styles! My bad! Apologies and thanks for pointing that out. My wife can order one and see how it fits her!

@oneterrifichog, you're right, ladies do indeed post sometimes, but I think there is a real lack of true vintage outerwear styles for them. And it's a bit 'chicken or egg' conundrum for me. In the golden era there was surely a lot more styles for ladies, but there doesn't seem to be the interest, the 'scene', the discussion and collection of original jackets and coats, the sharing of period photos, and reproductions.
That all seems to be missing, which I find strange.