Leather is one of the most durable, comfortable, and cozy materials out there. It can be crafted into any clothing item and leather outfits you desire with better than expected results. Despite these universal properties, however, most women’s exposure to leather is only limited to their handbags and shoes. If they are particularly well versed in leather fashion, then they will also own a leather jacket; that is it.
What To Expect In This Article?
The World of Leather Outfits
Leather jackets are a great addition to every wardrobe and a must-have for almost everyone. However, these jackets are not where the world of leather fashion ends, far from it.
In fact, there is still a whole genre of leather-based women’s fashion out there, waiting to hit the mainstream. Not to mention the crazy amounts of design and color choice available in faux leather outfits.
What Makes Leather Such A Good Material for Clothing?
Before we dive deeper into women’s leather fashion and discover ways to successfully rock these outfits in our day-to-day lives, we have to ask the question; what makes leather so good?
Durability
One of the biggest benefits of investing in leather clothing is its durability. As long as you bought stuff made from real leather, it will last years before it shows any signs of wear. A leather jacket, for example, can last for over a decade if you take care of it properly.
Yes, there are some fabrics like denim that also have extreme lifespans, but nothing else comes close to leather as far as raw numbers are concerned.
Aesthetics
Whether we’re talking about a shiny semi-aniline finish or the matt suede look, leather has a very distinct look to it. You might not be able to tell the difference between two different fabrics from a dozen or so feet away, but you will recognize the shine of leather no matter how far you are.
This distinct texture and overall aesthetic draw attention to otherwise mundane clothing items and elevate their style to a whole new level.
Coziness
Leather can be made completely water and windproof. This impervious property means that leather clothing is incredibly cozy. Everything from leather bomber jackets to leather boots provides a strong sense of protection from the elements of nature, which is reassuring to us humans at an instinctive level.
Its windproof surface also means that it is fantastic for winter. Lined with quality fur, a leather garment can provide excellent heat retention without adding much bulk to your outfits.
Leather Clothing and How to Wear It
Now that you have a better idea of what makes leather so great, it is time to look at your available options. Here is a comprehensive guide on some of the finest leather clothing items and how you can rock them in your professional life.
Leather Jacket
Leather jackets are the only element of this list that needs no introduction. They are one of the most popular pieces of women’s outerwear, and it is easy to see why. From a functional perspective, leather jackets provide unmatched warmth and wind protection in a sleek package.
Even if you don’t care much about the cold protection and just want something stylish to wear as the outermost layer of your outfits, leather jackets are a perfect choice. Shiny biker jackets paired with white tank tops, black cropped jeans, and leather high-heels create a flawless black and white urban casual outfit. Even a brown leather outfit as simple as a brown leather jacket on top of a plain black dress is worthy of being in a fashion magazine.
Leather Blazers
You can wear leather jackets almost everywhere, except your office. Most leather jackets are not appropriate for an office environment as they fail to meet the workplace dress code. Luckily, your desire to wear leather outerwear can still be realized with a leather blazer. You can even find white leather blazers that are an even better fit for professional situations.
Integrating these into your outfits isn’t much different than regular blazers either. You can simply wear them on top of your regular office shirt or dress, and it will work just fine.
Alternatively, you can make the leather blazer the center point of your outfit by designing the rest of the ensemble around it. Pairing the white lather blazer with a white western shirt and dark blue jeans will result in a jaw-dropping merge of fashion and professionalism.
Leather Shirts
Women’s fashion is filled to the brim with all kinds of shirts with unique designs, varied color schemes, and dives intended purposes. However, none of them are as visually and functionally distinct as the leather shirt. Yes, you read that correctly, a leather shirt, and it is as glamorous as you think.
The only thing to keep in mind when styling this shirt is to stay modest. It is very easy to go overboard with leather, especially when something as uncommon as the leather shirt is involved. So, a black leather outfit with blue jeans, black high-top sneakers, and a loose-fit black leather button-up is more than enough for you to look stunning.
Leather Pants
For both men and women, denim is the king of legwear. No pair of pants is as popular or influential as jeans. However, this domination is not without competition, and leather pants are bridging the gap quickly with their unexpected levels of comfort, especially in winter.
The ideal way of experimenting with leather pants is to take a regular outfit with a pair of jeans and swap them with leather pants. For example, a gray turtleneck with a blue denim jacket looks amazing alongside a pair of matching blue jeans. Switching out the jeans for black leather pants set turns this wholesome everyday outfit into a ravishing attire for a nighttime party.
You can also pair red pants with leather fall jackets to create a really unusual yet oddly stylish red leather two piece set outfit. Just keep the finish of the pants and the jacket the same and should be able to successfully pull off all kinds of shirts in between.
Leather Skirts
Even though they are not that common, leather shirts and pants still make sense to most women. Leather skirts, on the other hand, are something that doesn’t even seem real, much less something that you should actually consider buying.
Skirts, in general, are fairly comfortable for women. A woman can wear a box pleated skirt all day without experiencing any discomfort. So, what happens when you take an already comfortable garment and make it out of the coziest material? Well, you get skirts that feel like warm weighted blankets tied to your waist.
Styling these skirts isn’t an issue either, as they work with every outfit that works with regular skirts. Plus, these have additional connections you should know about, like knee-high leather boots and other leather accessories. Lastly, leather skirts come in almost all skirt designs and colors. You can easily find everything from black mini leather skirts to neon pink accordion skirts.
Vegan Leather
Humans have been using leather (animal hide) for clothing for tens of thousands of years. For the longest time in history, we had no other choice to protect ourselves from the elements of nature.
Things have changed a lot since then, and we have hundreds of unique fabrics at our disposal, each with its own pros and cons. Despite this much innovation, however, leather is still one of the best clothing materials out there.
A lot of people are no longer okay with wearing finished animal hide or using it for accessories etc. The issue here is that many of these people still want the benefits that come with leather.
Luckily, a solution already exists for this problem, and it is called vegan leather. Despite having leather in its name, this material is completely synthetic, with its main ingredient being polyurethane.
Is Vegan Leather Good?
In short, vegan leather is good enough for what it is supposed to do, but it’s not even close to real animal hide leather. That said, there is also a lot of variation in its quality.
The vegan leather from one manufacturer is indistinguishable from real leather to an untrained eye, while the material produced by some other manufacturer just feels like fancy plastic. This inconsistency is what makes vegan leather so problematic to recommend.
However, if you do know that the stuff you’re getting is made from high-quality vegan leather, then it is a totally acceptable substitute to real leather. It will still fall short in durability and lifespan, but it’ll be good enough for most women.
FAQs – Leather Outfits
A leather outfit can mean two things. The first is an outfit that contains a leather garment as the centerpiece. For example, if you’re wearing an all-black outfit with a maroon leather jacket on top, that leather jacket is the center of attention, and your outfit is now a leather outfit. The other definition of the leather outfit could be outfits with leather as the primary material. The outfit doesn’t have to be 100% made from leather, but it does need to be in the majority. An example of this definition would be a pair of leather pants with a white turtleneck that is then topped by a black leather jacket.
Yes, leather is still in style in 2022. In fact, leather is coming back into style. There was a time in the past couple of decades when leather female outfits were just associated with weird skin-tight onesies and nothing else. This notion is changing back quickly, and leather is emerging once again as a primary clothing material.
The answer to this depends a lot on the fitting of the dress. After all, a dress that is three sizes too big will not look flattering, regardless of the material. But, if we’re talking about leather dresses, in general, then then, yes, leather dresses are more flattering. Their thick composition combined with the weight of the leather accentuates your natural body curves resulting in your whole outfit looking more flattering.
No, they are not. Yes, their popularity graph has flattened a bit over the last couple of years, but they are still gaining plenty of traction every day. So, don’t worry, skinny jeans are not going anywhere any time soon.
Final Words
For the last few decades, the popularity of leather outside of jackets and accessories has been on a decline. It has gotten to a point where many women don’t even know about leather pants, shirts, dresses, and skirts.
But things are changing, and leather set outfits are becoming more and more mainstream with every passing day. It won’t be long before you start seeing a-list celebrities rocking leather like the next big trend. So, why not get ahead of the curve and familiarize yourself with leather outfits before they explode in popularity?
