The Motorcycle Jacket Chronicles - A Century of Leather Design and Lightning Archives Leather Jacket

I've been spending a lot of time lately reading about vintage and reproduction motorcycle jackets, an interest that sparked after buying a Naked Schott Perfecto (pictured above) a few years ago. I have to admit, though, that getting up to speed hasn't been easy. Even in this day and age, with the internet being what it is, websites that catalogue and detail that kind of information are still relatively few and far between.

In English, there are really only a few: The Art of Vintage Leather Jackets, a blog previously updated until 2015 by David Himel of the now-legendary Himel Bros Leather Co., the Vintage Leather Jackets forum, and The Fedora Lounge, which despite it's neckbeard-evoking modern connotations is actually one of the best (and friendliest) places to learn about vintage and vintage-inspired clothing. But by now it may come as little surprise to many - especially those who have read Ametora - that the people who have painstakingly researched and written about the subject are Japanese.

Rin Tanaka, a man one might rightly describe as the Japanese Godfather of vintage Americana, wrote a series of books over the years about various forms of vintage clothing, including one on this subject titled "Motorcycle Jackets: A Century of Leather Design." It's frequently referenced in discussions involving vintage motorcycle jacket history and design. The book takes a journey through the 20th century from the initial development of the earliest jackets adopted for use on "motor bicycles" to the modern versions of today, stopping along the way to highlight various brands and features found on the jackets of each era. Pictures are professionally taken and wonderful in detail, and Tanaka manages to walk the difficult line of presenting a wealth of information while simultaneously laying it out in a manner that's easily digestible. He's also written entire books on companies like Schott and Harley-Davidson, so if you get the feeling upon finishing the book that he was just scratching the surface, it's because he was.

Lightning magazine, a long-running Japanese periodical dedicated to 20th century Americana, also published an archive named Leather Jacket: All About Vintage Leather Jacket (sic) that overlaps the much of the same period from the 1930s to 1970s - albeit with a focus on more pictures and less narrative. Like Tanaka's book, the photos are excellent, and you can easily follow the evolution of motorcycle jacket design over the arc of its lifetime.

The two books marry well - Tanaka's book a good foundation to establish a base for the history and characteristics of different eras, and Lightning Archive's book a second coat of paint, so to speak, for more complete coverage. I'd highly recommend picking up a copy of either book for yourself if you're looking for references to inform you on prospective purchases or simply interested in the history behind one of the most iconic articles of clothing ever made. I picked up my hardcover copy of A Century of Leather Design on Amazon for about $18, though it's quite a bit more expensive at the moment, so I might wait and see if you can get yourself a better price. Lightning Archive's book is available for around $28 at time of posting.