Always in Style: Leather for Fall 2009
A year ago I was so smitten with an image from Vogue of a very stylish French woman wearing a very cropped, black motorcycle jacket, that I took my own old leather jackets and had them “shrunken” down to cropped style. My tailor cut off sleeves and cropped the length off so I could copy this sublimely stylish look. I love those two jackets (yes, I did it to two of them but they have slightly different looks to them, I swear!). I wear them over summer frocks for chilly evenings and over dressy dresses to “toughen” up the looks. And I am really looking foward to getting lots of wear out of them for quite a while.
This fall, lucky ladies, you don’t have to take your jacket to the tailor to get the look. These “shrunken” gems are all over the place and in multitudes of looks and colors (See my blog on adding color for Fall 2009 for a photo of a gorgeous red leather jacket). I still prefer the true motorcycle type in black, of course. But, there are some very cool and stylish looks in red, cream, brown and tan. And, in terms of your budget, you can find these jackets priced anywhere from under $200 (bebe.com)to well over a few thousand.
I am also loving some of the leather skirts this season. As a fashion consultant and stylist, I prefer the more a-line looks to the tight, straight leather skirts of the past. The cuter looks take the leather in a whole new direction, away from the vamp and more towards the lady of style and confidence. I plan to take an old leather skirt of mine that’s been sitting in my basement closet and have it converted into one of these looks. It’s already an a-line but I think I’m going to make it just a bit shorter to get that up-to-date look, like the Catherine Maladrino skirt, shown below on the left.
I’m not a lover of leather dresses or of leather suits. One piece is definitely enough in my style book. But, as I always say, there are no rules…so follow your own style and create your own look. And feel free to contact me with any style and fashion consulting questions about leather skirts or jackets and how you can get this look too!
