The Café Racer Jacket

  • Fall
  • Outerwear

As the temperature winds down, a classic leather racer jacket makes for a good transitional piece of outerwear, suitable across the cultural spectrum.

Brief History

A café racer is both the ride and the rider. Both originating in the 1960s British counterculture groups such as the Rockers, or the Ton-up boys1, although they were also common in Italy, Germany, and other European countries. The term ‘café racer’ refers to the young adults who lounged around in cafés and had a simple interest in going fast. They would frequently gather in these transport cafés and challenge other riders that passed by to a race.


                  Clip from classic 1964 British film The Leather Boys, depicting a typical café racer’s challenge.


        Vintage café racer in a full leather riding suit & thigh-high riding boots. (Image Source: DiscoveryTV)

Café racers strove to build their motorcycles to resemble the speed and grace of their British racing heroes the likes of Mike Hailwood and Geoff Duke. Crafting the ideal bike for the young, budget-minded racer, modified for speed and handling rather than comfort. Resembling the Grand Prix roadracers, dawning a set of low, narrow handlebars that gave the rider the ability to “tuck in”, reducing wind resistance increasing control.


Details

The Café Racer jacket has a simple silhouette, for what I would imagine matches the concept of the racer, which is function over form. This vintage piece features no side pockets which takes some getting used to, but the overall design is great. Not an owner of many leather items personally, but it goes without saying that a good leather jacket should last quite a long time. I appreciate it’s distressed look, and at risk of feeling a bit too ‘rock-n-roll’ for my nature, I opted for the caramel brown rather than black. Being a gearhead myself, I have no issue performing road-side maintenance in a durable jacket like this one.

“…One leather jacket solves the coat problem for many years…” – Albert Einstein


Keeping it simple as Fall becomes apparent, a heathered henley is a season favorite simply because of it’s detail and slim-fitting nature. A henley really is a great all-season item, and feels quite nice underneath a leather jacket. The pocket square I fashioned out of a pair of thrifted army camo surplus pants.


Going sockless is great, but it’s no secret that wearing a pair of boots will often call for some sort of foot protection. Boot socks are nice to have for such occasions. These pair of vintage monkstrap boots were a recent pickup while thrifting. Finds like these never get old and it’s up to anyone to make use of a local thrift shop and find those hidden gems. Finally, when looking for the right pair of pants, it’s always tough not being able to hold a fitting while shopping online. I am quite impressed with the fit of these vintage slim chino pants and the color is quite nice and I had to take advantage of the Fall savings.


If you’d like be a part of the journey here at Expressions Realia, I encourage you to follow either via email, facebook, twitter, or bloglovin’ – Unyime


Noteworthy
• Leather Café Racer Jacket – Foster & Sons, Vintage*
• Heathered Jersey Henley – J. Crew
• Leather Belt – Yves Saint Laurent, Vintage
• Vintage Slim Fit Chino – Land’s End Canvas
• Camp Socks – J. Crew
• Monkstrap Ankle Boot – Vintage, Thrift

1. Ton-up boys – Young men of the cafe racer subculture, who drove their bikes to “do the ton”, or reach 100 mph on the open roads.

9 Notes

  1. Tom
    September 24, 2011

    Brought here from AOM, and I have to say you style yourself well.

    Reply
  2. James
    September 24, 2011

    You have some great luck with thrifting. Another great post!

    Reply
  3. Jen
    September 24, 2011

    I love how I learn something new with every post you make. The whole outfit rocks. Those pants look great on youuu.
    Can’t wait for the next post :)

    Reply
  4. Marija from intwoo
    September 24, 2011

    Everything in this look goes just fine together, your leather jacket has character, it looks amazing!!

    Reply
  5. Tom
    September 24, 2011

    UJ, you once again give me a grand article. I not only love mandarin collars but also cafe racer apparel. It’s like you’re reading my mind; fantastic jacket by the way.

    Reply
  6. Anonymous
    September 24, 2011

    I appreciate your wholistic view towards menswear. It’s not just the clothing.

    Reply
  7. anthony
    September 24, 2011

    killer jacket my man!

    Reply
  8. D
    September 30, 2011

    Thanks for the visual on the LE chinos. I know the post is about the jacket but the BOOTS had my attention.

    Reply
  9. Cyrus
    December 4, 2011

    I bumped in to your blog via the “2010 The Art of Manliness”, as an African-British student I do admire your passion and dream. The Tommy hilfiger youtube post was very impressive and I wish you all the best. Nevertheless I’ve realised that you often fold your trousers, is this only for photographs? Because I find it odd to do this when wearing boots rather than moccas.

    Reply

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