| Nearly as long as there have been motorcycles, there | | | | As time went on, the same look and feel of the |
| have been leather motorcycle jackets. The first | | | | leather jackets remained. You didn't put on the |
| motorcycle jackets evolved from the aviator jackets | | | | jacket to be warm; you put it on to be in style with |
| worn by the World War I and World War II fighter | | | | the biking crowd. If you were into biking, you wore a |
| pilots. The jackets had narrow collars and were | | | | motorcycle jacket. All motorcyclists who rode with |
| fastened down the front by buttons. At that time, all | | | | clubs sported the jacket to create a sense of |
| of the jackets were made of horsehide leather | | | | camaraderie and belonging. This same attitude |
| because there was an abundance of this material due | | | | toward motorcycle apparel still exists. |
| to the number of farmers who tended horses. | | | | Leather jackets eventually shed their outlaw image |
| Eventually, the buttons on the motorcycle jacket | | | | which created an opportunity for clothing |
| were replaced by a zipper. Following World War II, | | | | manufacturers to begin creating designs that catered |
| aviators commonly took to motorcycles as a way to | | | | to a more diverse biking population. Kids' motorcycle |
| recapture the exhilaration they experienced as pilots. | | | | jackets became common. Women, who once only |
| They continued to wear their same aviator jackets | | | | rode on the back, began piloting their own machines. |
| while riding motorcycles. | | | | Leather was still the apparel of choice, but women |
| Marlon Brando epitomized the leather motorcycle | | | | started donning leather outfits that aligned more with |
| jacket when he appeared in the 1953 movie "The | | | | their style and personalities. |
| Wild One" about two rival motorcycle gangs. Since | | | | The historical black leather jacket is still the most |
| then, leather jackets became synonymous with | | | | popular form of motorcycle apparel and is unlikely to |
| motorcycles. The leather jacket also became a | | | | go out of style. Still, leather jacket designs and |
| status symbol for the rough crowds who defied | | | | fashions are becoming more eclectic and individualistic. |
| societal conventions as depicted in many of the early | | | | Therefore, clothing and apparel designers are creating |
| movies featuring motorcycle gangs. Soon kids' | | | | more varieties in order to keep up with current |
| motorcycle jackets started showing up in schools. In | | | | fashion trends. But the historical sentiment derived |
| fact, because of what the jacket represented, most | | | | from the original aviator-jacket-turned-motorcycle |
| public schools prohibited students from wearing | | | | jacket will linger in the hearts of bikers for |
| motorcycle apparel on school campuses. | | | | generations. |