Nothing is more Fall like to me than the first time I get to break out my leather jacket. I don’t know what it is about leather jackets, but it just makes me feel so….me. Is there anything like that for you guys? I can’t describe it, but I’ve worn a leather jacket for years. Also to be clear, when I say leather jacket I definitely mean faux. I try to be more thoughtful towards sustainability but also be super thoughtful to my bank account.
About two years ago, my favorite old leather jacket finally bit the dust. I mean it was literally falling apart and I was like but maybe just one more wear? There were no more wears left. It was dunzo.
I tried everything last year to find a new leather jacket. I literally ordered 17 leather jackets and none of them worked. I also tried on tons at different stores. Everyone kept talking about this leather jacket and how it was the best ever. I immediately was like oh ok well that was easy.
Well…. not so much.
I ordered my first one, a medium and it was too small in the shoulders. Which was fine, I should have known because the brand is notorious for running a size small in everything. So I popped in to Nordstrom to return it and they had a large in stock. The large was also tiny, I mean we’re talking I could maybe wear a thin t-shirt under it and not suffocate. So I tried on the XL and it was… ok. I mean it didn’t look great, it didn’t look bad. I was also already kind of on the fence about this jacket because it had silver hardware everywhere. Which is pretty typical so I had come to terms with the idea that I may never get a gold hardware jacket in my price range. I ended up just saying no to the jacket.
I didn’t love the fit and I was sort of annoyed with the idea I was buying an XL. It wasn’t so much because what it said about me, but what it said about that brand’s accessibility. If I am wearing an XL at a size 6-8, then what are other women wearing? I just thought that sucked.
So I went an entire year without a leather jacket. The days were long and the nights not nearly as warm or badass in my blazer fit coat. By the end of this summer I had sort of forgotten about leather jackets. I had just mentally written it off that when the time was right, I’d find one. Just a few weeks later, I was shopping on Nordstrom and stumbled across the jacket from last year, but with gold hardware. I was getting my hopes up, it looked perfect, the price was just under $100, and Nordstrom is my church.
I quickly remembered my ordeal from last year and just ordered a medium, large, and XL right then. The day they showed up, I was so pleasantly surprised that the fit was much better this year. I hadn’t changed my body significantly in the past year, so it definitely had to be the cut. I ended up going with the Large so I would have plenty of room for a sweater underneath.
So the moral of this long, pointless story is that when it comes to shopping for your staple pieces, don’t waste your money on something that isn’t exactly right.
Does anyone else have a piece in their closet that’s just so hard to get right? I felt sort of stupid for mentally making such an ordeal out of finding a jacket. But when it’s a piece that makes you more confident or gets you excited to get dressed and get out of the house in the morning, it’s worth it to put the energy into finding the right thing even if it’s just trying to find a leather jacket on a budget.
I included all my favorite faux leather jackets under $100 plus outfit details below.
XO – Tracy
photos by Rachel McGrew
