Your High School Jacket - if you could go back

We had to wear uniforms at school, so nothing I can change there. Otherwise, I bought a black perfecto with an eagle drawn on the back and "easy rider" written under when I was 14 more or less. I think it was a HD jacket in cowhide, it got stolen when I was in my early twenties.

Not sure I can top that jacket for the time, tbh. Ironically, was geeky back then, definitely not even cool, but the jacket was lol

Edward said:

If I were back in secondary education today, I'd be wearing this jacket:

....obviously with the rest of the proscribed uniform. (Uniform is still now, as was the case back then, completely standard in UK schools, at least to the age of sixteen. In my day at least in NI we wore uniform until we left at eighteen. I have absolutely no complaints about that.) Had the 'honours' system been rolled out beyond mere sport in my day, it's possible I could also have ended up in a maroon 'honours' version of the blazer. I was awarded "colours" for my role in the school musical (a production of South Pacific) during my final year, but as these awards were always made retrospectively at the start of the following year, I never had the chance to wear an honours tie as was the case in my day.

The above is not my original school blazer (I'll never be a 38" chest again!), but a newer one I bought some years ago to wear as a form of boating blazer. IT's much, much nicer than the blazer was in my day - back they they were a very ordinary, navy blued with plain silver buttons affair, the sort you could buy in any department store, none of the class of this one.

On the rare "non-uniform" day (once, or very occasionally if there was a big charity event on, twice per year), I generally wore a pair of whatever jeans I had at the time, a t-shirt or a West German military surplus shirt, and whatever coat I wore socially at the time (as opposed to my regulation, plain navy blue school coat). The casual coats I remember wearing to school on those days were a knee-length, navy Crombie I had from about 16-18, a 60s or earlier, blanket-lined West German Navy peacoat (which I would dearly love to have in my size now; I did have another in the late 90s, but outgrew it and have never been able to find the same one again since - usually now they're all quilted liner, the ones I had were lined in the same wool as the outer shell was made from), and a Perfecto-style jacket of a brand I no longer recall, but it had "New York City" on the label along side the "Naked Cowhide" demarcation. The leather was bought new in late December 1990 for £72 (£168 in today's money). Cracking jacket, I wore it every chance I got until I grew out of it two years later. That was probably the coolest one I had in that era. I never dreamed of wearing any other leather at that age, because as far as I was concerned that was the only type of leather jacket there was.

Click to expand...

That photo looks like it was taken at the annual “Chap Olympics” in London…?

Salmosalar said:

That photo looks like it was taken at the annual “Chap Olympics” in London…?

Click to expand...

It was indeed. 2015, I think - my second Gold Cravat year.

Edward said:

It was indeed. 2015, I think - my second Gold Cravat year.

Click to expand...

Splendid! I was there too - I have been to three of these over the years plus a New Year ball they laid on - cannot remember the other years, but one was on Hampstead Heath many moons ago. No gold cravat for me though - so congratulations for your momentous achievements, which rather puts Tokyo 2021 in the shade I must say!

welp.. would love to imagine a highschool leather jacket, but in my country we wear uniform and during school hours we can't wear stuff over it.
my life outside school was mostly video gaming, playing tamiya mini 4wd slot car racing toy, board games, and cycling on mountain bike with friends, was a super dorky kid in baggy clothes... I don't think leather jacket has any place in my highschool days. I didn't even have a denim jacket, maybe a denim jacket, just a type 3 would do as starter.

I wore something like this the entire high school. Found it earlier this year and threw it away immediately.

Monitor said:

I wore something like this the entire high school. Found it earlier this year and threw it away immediately.

Click to expand...

Wow! That's a real horror! Good job on binning it!

Salmosalar said:

Splendid! I was there too - I have been to three of these over the years plus a New Year ball they laid on - cannot remember the other years, but one was on Hampstead Heath many moons ago. No gold cravat for me though - so congratulations for your momentous achievements, which rather puts Tokyo 2021 in the shade I must say!

Click to expand...

Hampstead Heath might have been the spot of the first Olympiad in 2004 when there were only about a dozen people there.... the last one that was on Hampstead was in 2008, the year when there was a treasure hunt on Jermyn Street to find the location... First one I went to was 2009. Always a great day. The last one we did, outside London this time, at Thirle Vintage Fair in 2019, was my first "proper" Olympiad (as distinct from our cut-down 'exhibition' appearances at Goodwood Revival) in the role of commentator. Fingers crossed we'll get a chance to do more at some point in the future, when The Plague has fully passed.

Might not have been with all UK schools, but my school had a weird rule against wearing leather jackets. Obviously most UK schools have us in uniforms, but our jackets were our way of adding a bit of "flavour". But leather jackets were not allowed. Back in the day, I probably would've played it safe as to not stand out too much, but if I could go back, I would rock a sherpa for the dry days.

Edward said:

Hampstead Heath might have been the spot of the first Olympiad in 2004 when there were only about a dozen people there.... the last one that was on Hampstead was in 2008, the year when there was a treasure hunt on Jermyn Street to find the location... First one I went to was 2009. Always a great day. The last one we did, outside London this time, at Thirle Vintage Fair in 2019, was my first "proper" Olympiad (as distinct from our cut-down 'exhibition' appearances at Goodwood Revival) in the role of commentator. Fingers crossed we'll get a chance to do more at some point in the future, when The Plague has fully passed.

Click to expand...

Ah - yes, I remember the Jermyn St treasure hunt so my first one must have been 2008 - I was also there the following year when it was in central London (Bedford Square?) - looking forward to catching up for the post-Plague 2022 Olympiad!

Salmosalar said:

Ah - yes, I remember the Jermyn St treasure hunt so my first one must have been 2008 - I was also there the following year when it was in central London (Bedford Square?) - looking forward to catching up for the post-Plague 2022 Olympiad!

Click to expand...

Hopefully we'll have one.... no idea where, though I don't think it's likely to return to central London. Thirle I have fingers crossed for. Bedford Square was the location for 2009-2018; I believe Bourne & Hollingsworth still run a "Cocktails in the City" event there on what would traditionally have been "our" weekend, but that's obviously going to be a very different event shorn of the Chap crowd.

I was in high school in the 90s. Not many students wore leather jackets where I went. The trend was mostly baggy fleeces. I have a couple jackets that I would have made my daily regulars if I could.

Levi's Sherpa Trucker
I always wanted one of these jackets. My mom, for whatever reason, put her foot down and said absolutely not. At least now I have something similar: a Brave Star I got from @ton312.


Coach's Jacket/Windbreaker
My dad was a cop and had an off-duty jacket like the one shown below. Had the city PD and his name embroidered on the front. A lot of kids in my HS wore these "vintage" jackets. I remember him wearing it all the time and then it just vanished one day. Lucky me: found it boxed up in the basement and I moved it to my closet. Wore it to HS a few times.


Uniform Jacket
The final one would be this one. A few of the other guys in HS wore them. My dad had one tucked away in the back of his closest that fit me. Should have moved to to my closet.

I wore a black Dickies mechanics jacket all through high school in SoCal , it was just right.

For most of my HS years in the 60’s I wore a short suede jacket with fur collar (similar to a G-1). I liked it so much I literally wore it until it came apart.

Many guys wore the cloth athletic or “Letter” jackets (they did have leather sleeves, I think), and others wore the FFA jackets mentioned earlier in this thread. I also remember 4-H and other “club” jackets. Our school did have one or two older Senior-class guys wearing leather cross-zips (they also had motorcycles), but otherwise no leather jackets. No one wore any military-style jackets, not even the cloth ones.

In the very warm months of spring we all wore Barracuda-style jackets.

Our school didn’t have a formal written dress code, but there was some type of informal understanding. If you went “over the line”, the Principal would call you aside for a “chat”. It wasn’t until my last year that we were allowed to wear blue denim jeans (some tan jeans did sneak through a year earlier). And the ladies could not wear pants.

If I could go back and do it again, I would wear a real G-1.

seres said:

Many guys wore the cloth athletic or “Letter” jackets (they did have leather sleeves, I think)

Click to expand...

That’s a jacket I wish I had in high school too. I did sports (frosh, JV, and varsity), earned the letters, but never got the jacket. I know it has a short time to be worn, but would have been cool to keep it all these years! At least I still have the patches.

I remember when I was thirteen, in my second form, coming up to the annual non-uniform day, which was the last day of term before the Christmas break, our then close-to-retirement Headmaster (I'm sure long passed over by now) announced one morning in assembly that there were to be "no jeans", only to retract that the following morning, having been "reminded that we changed that rule a few years ago". I remember a mix of relief and being pleased, and an element of respect that he'd been big enough to correct himself and own it publicly, many wouldn't. Some years later I went on a non-uniform theatre trip to Dublin, prior to which we were told to dress sensibly or some such. The female games teacher (often known as "the most feared and hated teacher in the school", at least by the girls) announced "NO all-black!". A lot of folsk in those days, including my parents, had a weird hang-up about dressing all in black. My mother kept muttering darkly about "Satanists" any time I wanted to wear all-black. (Apparently this also applied to my not wanting to prematurely age my skin in the sun or run about in shorts like a child - "Satanists cover themselves up from the Sun." If it had been a scent it would have been Theology by McCarthy).

Non-uniform days were widely hated by many kids at our school, given how vicious many could be if you got it "wrong". Not everyone shared the contempt for mainstream fashion my clique did, and there were plenty who feared long-lasting mockery because they didn't meet fashion-standards. Unsurprisingly (to me as I look back now), the most label-obsessed, nastiest attitudes came from those who really were hard-up at home.

Rawky said:

Might not have been with all UK schools, but my school had a weird rule against wearing leather jackets. Obviously most UK schools have us in uniforms, but our jackets were our way of adding a bit of "flavour". But leather jackets were not allowed. Back in the day, I probably would've played it safe as to not stand out too much, but if I could go back, I would rock a sherpa for the dry days.

Click to expand...

That attitude died hard. Black leather jackets developed a "hoodlum" image largely thanks to Hollywood from the early 50s onwards; a lot of schools took a long time to back away from getting caught up in that. We didn't have a uniform coat at school as such, but there was a strict requirement that all coats were plain, navy blue. For scarves we had a choice of plain, navy blue or the school scarf (for no reason I ever knew, the latter became widely, if informally, considered to be the preserve of the girls). That I believe was to keep football scarves out (mostly because those were often connected to sectarian symbolism, though the concern there would have been more over appearance to the outside world, the school being in effect monocultural in the main, as education was still de facto segregated in NI in those days, changed times now). I remember it being policed pretty solidly.

Corky Corcovado said:

I wore a black Dickies mechanics jacket all through high school in SoCal , it was just right.

Click to expand...

A timeless classic, those. I've been wearing the 874 trouser a lot in the last couple of years. Pricier over here in the UK as they've been imported as a fashion thing among the skate kids, but plenty hard-wearing, I think I've gotten generally two years of pretty hefty wear out of a pair. More of those and possibly a jacket are on my shopping list for when I'm next in the US, whenever that may be. Had hoped to get over long before now, but the Plague...

Edward said:

I remember when I was thirteen, in my second form, coming up to the annual non-uniform day, which was the last day of term before the Christmas break, our then close-to-retirement Headmaster (I'm sure long passed over by now) announced one morning in assembly that there were to be "no jeans", only to retract that the following morning, having been "reminded that we changed that rule a few years ago". I remember a mix of relief and being pleased, and an element of respect that he'd been big enough to correct himself and own it publicly, many wouldn't. Some years later I went on a non-uniform theatre trip to Dublin, prior to which we were told to dress sensibly or some such. The female games teacher (often known as "the most feared and hated teacher in the school", at least by the girls) announced "NO all-black!". A lot of folsk in those days, including my parents, had a weird hang-up about dressing all in black. My mother kept muttering darkly about "Satanists" any time I wanted to wear all-black. (Apparently this also applied to my not wanting to prematurely age my skin in the sun or run about in shorts like a child - "Satanists cover themselves up from the Sun." If it had been a scent it would have been Theology by McCarthy).

Non-uniform days were widely hated by many kids at our school, given how vicious many could be if you got it "wrong". Not everyone shared the contempt for mainstream fashion my clique did, and there were plenty who feared long-lasting mockery because they didn't meet fashion-standards. Unsurprisingly (to me as I look back now), the most label-obsessed, nastiest attitudes came from those who really were hard-up at home.



That attitude died hard. Black leather jackets developed a "hoodlum" image largely thanks to Hollywood from the early 50s onwards; a lot of schools took a long time to back away from getting caught up in that. We didn't have a uniform coat at school as such, but there was a strict requirement that all coats were plain, navy blue. For scarves we had a choice of plain, navy blue or the school scarf (for no reason I ever knew, the latter became widely, if informally, considered to be the preserve of the girls). That I believe was to keep football scarves out (mostly because those were often connected to sectarian symbolism, though the concern there would have been more over appearance to the outside world, the school being in effect monocultural in the main, as education was still de facto segregated in NI in those days, changed times now). I remember it being policed pretty solidly.



A timeless classic, those. I've been wearing the 874 trouser a lot in the last couple of years. Pricier over here in the UK as they've been imported as a fashion thing among the skate kids, but plenty hard-wearing, I think I've gotten generally two years of pretty hefty wear out of a pair. More of those and possibly a jacket are on my shopping list for when I'm next in the US, whenever that may be. Had hoped to get over long before now, but the Plague...

Click to expand...

My school also had weirdly eclectic rules on all sorts of things, but strangely if it was not actually written down that something was forbidden then it was pretty much tolerated (albeit through gritted teeth). We had to wear formal uniform until 16 - including the school tie etc in the proscribed colours - officially called “honeygold yellow and chocolate brown” but less affectionately known to the pupils by other more biological and human effluvia based vernacular terms! Jackets were not specified though, so pretty much anything went on that front - I largely lived in an old Levis Type 3 blue denim jacket and a black leather no-name mall jacket. I deliberatley avoided the prevailing ice-wash and snow-wash denim trend, luckily, which was also typically complemented by the “designer” skijacket (Brugi or C&A!) style most kids wore in the winter - in horrific 80s pastels….I recall lots of greys and pinks! From 16-18 we studied for our A levels in the 6th form, where the rules were more relaxed - day to day uniform simply had to be in whites, yellows or browns. Of course, this led to a lot of pretty dire baggy big-shouldered 80s linen jackets a la Rick Astley / Don Johnson among the more preppy kids. The rest of us stuck more to denim, leather or exmilitary jackets. I also recall that, like Edward, only the girls ever wore the school scarf - weird! I don't think there was any rule forbidding boys from doing so, but it was seemingly considered beyond the pale. There was also the same inchoate fear of Satanism or anything viewed as subversive/radical by the school - listening to Black Sabbath, Anthrax or the Dead Kennedys in the common room being top of the list! I was still able to get away with a mohawk and an earring (in the left ear, never the right - another “rule” that evolved somewhere back in the day) as neither were expressly forbidden in the written rules…but luckily I think pretty much all photographic evidence of that questionable phase has now been expunged!

I'm eternally grateful to have grown up in the era when nobody had a camera on them at all times and pictures couldn't be shared with the world at the touch of a button!! I have had friends in England who went to schools where they had a dress code rather than a uniform for sixth form. One really interesting instance was a colleague's school where (this back in the early eighties) the sixth formers could go non-uniform (subject to a professional dress code), but it was an earned privilege which could be taken away and them busted back into uniform. I'd have liked that. I do still believe though, the reason I'm as comfortable in a suit and tie as I am now has a lot to do with wearing a collar and tie at school from five to eighteen, and a blazer from twelve to eighteen.

Edward said:

I'm eternally grateful to have grown up in the era when nobody had a camera on them at all times and pictures couldn't be shared with the world at the touch of a button!! I have had friends in England who went to schools where they had a dress code rather than a uniform for sixth form. One really interesting instance was a colleague's school where (this back in the early eighties) the sixth formers could go non-uniform (subject to a professional dress code), but it was an earned privilege which could be taken away and them busted back into uniform. I'd have liked that. I do still believe though, the reason I'm as comfortable in a suit and tie as I am now has a lot to do with wearing a collar and tie at school from five to eighteen, and a blazer from twelve to eighteen.

Click to expand...

Amen to that - I'm also glad I got most of my hard-living years out of the way before smartphones came on the scene - otherwise I would have probably had to fake my own death and start over…more than once….! I thank my lucky stars I was not born a generation later, with all those daft antics and sartorial sins captured for posterity for all to see - I pity the poor devils who have grown up in the Facebook/Instagram era….not much room to learn from your mistakes these days. Mind you, not sure I have learned all that much from mine anyway!