Men's Black Washed Leather Biker Style Jacket With Blue Arm Stripes

I wanted a black jacket that did not look like every other black jacket, and the combination here does it. The wash has greyed the leather unevenly so it reads more charcoal than black, and the blue bands on the sleeves give it a detail that only shows up when someone is close. Four months of steady wear and the finish has not changed at all, which suits a jacket that arrived already looking worn.

This has become the jacket I put on without deciding to. Driving, the shops, the pub, one evening out where I left it unzipped over a shirt. The washed black is why it works, because it reads as dark and neutral from any distance while still having texture up close. Six months in and the only change is the elbows creasing the way leather should.

Slate blue against a washed black is a quieter combination than white would have been. That is exactly why I picked this one over the others. It sits close at a medium.

My partner had been describing this jacket for about a year, right down to wanting a coloured stripe that was not white. He has barely taken it off since it arrived. The detail he keeps mentioning is that the blue bands are set into the sleeve as panels rather than stitched on top, which he says is what separates this from the cheap versions.

Came two days ahead of the estimate, packed flat with tissue in each sleeve and every zip taped shut. No creasing and nothing that smelled chemical. I checked where the blue meets the black on both arms and the stitching is neat on each side.

The leather was soft enough to wear straight away, which surprised me since washed finishes are sometimes stiff. There was no break in at all. My husband put it on the afternoon it arrived and went out in it that same evening.

I am broad through the chest and narrow at the waist, which is the exact shape this cut is drafted for. It fits me without any alteration. The quilted panels add a bit of width up top that happens to suit me rather than looking bulky.

Washed black that has greyed unevenly, so it reads more charcoal than jet. Nothing about it is a solid colour anywhere. Came in four days properly packed inside a box.