How To Wear A Leather Jacket + Styling Tips & Outfit Ideas

A Faux Leather moto jacket has been a part of my Capsule Wardrobe for Fall for many years now. No matter your style, I think they should exist in every girl’s closet. If you are reading this post, I hope you already own one and learn how to wear a leather jacket with these 34 outfit ideas and styling tips I’m about to share with you.

It is my goal to help you shop smarter and inspire you to maximize every single piece you have in your closet. So, are you ready?

Let’s learn how to wear a leather jacket!

Care instructions for faux leather jackets

Faux leather jacket options for every budget
How many leather jackets do you need in your closet?
How to wear a leather jacket – Outfit Ideas
Bonus looks – How to wear a leather jacket? Think outside the box!

Which color should you get?
Faux Leather or real leather?
Which Capsule wardrobe are leather jackets part of?

Final thoughts about leather jackets
- Related style posts you may also like:

Estimated reading time: 16 minutes

This blog post was originally published in October 2021 and updated in October 2024.

Care instructions for faux leather jackets

A good thing about faux leather jackets is that you don’t have to wash them that often. If it only got dirty in one small spot, you can clean it with a wet cloth.

If you do need to wash it, then do it on delicate cycle, with cold water and let it air dry. That’s what I do with mine. If you can turn it inside out, even better.

If the idea of putting in the washer terrifies you, you can also wash it by hand. The important thing to remember here is to let it air dry. ALWAYS!

A pro-tip on how to keep all your faux leather pieces looking as good as new, is to use a soft cloth with a (very) small amount of baby or coconut oil and gently rub it over the leather jacket, especially where creases are more common. This will help prevent cracking. Just make sure to wait until it is completely dry before you do this step.

Gorgeous leather jacket options for every budget!

👉🏻 These are my favorite ones from Nordstrom (under $200)

👉🏻 These ones are a great sustainable option.

👉🏻 And these ones are a splurge, but WOW 🤩. (also sustainable)

Pro tip: Order a size up. This way you’ll be able to wear them with a thicker sweater underneath and use them during winter too!

How many leather jackets do you need in your closet?

Just one.

After you see it for yourself and learn all the different ways how to wear a leather jacket, you will realize you really only need one. Which color you choose depends on your personal style and how the rest of your closet looks like. I was very happy with just having a black one. I had it for over 7 years and it’s still in my parent’s closet in Chicago (I live out of a suitcase now in mostly Summer weather). I would never get rid of it, as long as it’s in good shape of course.

How to wear a leather jacket – Outfit Ideas

Side note: These are basically all the ways I styled my faux leather jacket in the past 7 years while living in Chicago. Right now I’m traveling the world full time with my husband and I live out of a suitcase. However, I kept my faux leather jacket in Chicago at my parents apartment. That’s how much of a staple it is! I didn’t keep many things and this leather jacket was one of them :)

Leather jacket outfits with skirts

You can wear your leather jacket with pretty much any skirt you have. It really doesn’t matter which color. It can be bright, black, printed, denim, etc. That’s why I got my faux leather jacket in black. It goes with everything!

I love pairing my leather jacket with skirts because it instantly makes the whole outfit look edgier. Try to mix it with feminine pieces like lace, ruffles, florals, etc. It creates a nice balance and elevates your whole outfit.

As you can see from the photos below, you can wear it with any type of skirt and it will look good.

How to wear a leather jacket with midi skirt

Leather jacket outfits with dresses

I wear my leather jacket almost all year round! Spring, Fall and Winter. It looks so cool with any type of dress.

You can dress all black, with a bold color, with neutrals or florals. Your leather jacket will go with most of the dresses you have in your closet. Again, if you have a super feminine dress don’t be afraid to style it with your faux leather jacket. It will make it look so different!

Leather jacket outfit ideas with maxi dresses

Maxi dresses and leather jackets are a match made in heaven!

It is one of the easiest ways on how to wear a leather jacket. Honestly, it’s so easy to mix just 2 pieces together and instantly look stylish. Often times, we forget about our maxi dresses after Spring and Summer, but remember that they are so easy to style for Fall. Simply add a leather jacket over it and wear your booties and that’s it! If it’s too cold you can always wear tights or/and a sweater over the dress too as an extra later. Just keep in mind that the dress will look like a maxi skirt if you do that (I always do this!).

Leather jacket outfit ideas with jeans

Don’t know what to wear? Wear jeans, ANY top and a leather jacket! You can’t go wrong. I promise, there’s nothing you can do that will make this outfit formula not work.

Here you have a few different examples of this; notice I’m wearing different shoes, different prints, different styles and it always works out.

Leather jacket outfit ideas with Spanx leggings

I never thought these 2 pieces would work together, but just look at the outfits below and see it for yourself.

How to wear a leather jacket with Spanx leggings it’s actually not that hard. You just have to keep in mind to keep things simple on top and with the shoes. Most of the looks you’ll create with the leather jacket and the leggings will be casual, unless you use the leggings as tights and wear a dress over it as shown below. Otherwise, you can style these 2 pieces together with a hoodie, as striped top or a T-shirt and simply wear sneakers. It’s very casual but super cute at the same time.

Also read: Spanx leggings Review // What to wear with leather leggings

Bonus looks – How to wear a leather jacket? Think outside the box!

With shorts

I had these Winter shorts for just one season and I loved them! It felt really good to wear shorts in the Fall lol.

I had to get rid of them after I lost some weight and they were too big on me and I never replaced them. However, I’m happy I have this photo to show you how to wear a leather jacket with shorts too. I wore tights and OTK boots and a T-shirt believe it or not. This is a great look to go out for dinner or even brunch with the girls.

If you have similar pieces, try to recreate it and let me know how it goes :)

With sweatpants

What a great way to dress up sweatpants!

I love being comfortable while looking good, so this is a great way to do it. This will also be a casual weekend look, but if you wear it with a cute sweater or try something like print mixing like I did with the look on the right, it elevates the outfit a little bit. I mean, it’ll still be casual, but you will look put together at the same time.

All black looks

All black looks are the best!

These 3 outfit might be some of my favorite ever because they are so simple and easy to recreate with basic pieces. This is one of the best ways to dress for the office and happy hour after. Don’t be afraid to try it with pants, black skinnies, skirts, dresses or even shorts. If you add a different texture with one of the pieces that’s a great way to make it look even better or an animal printed piece like a belt, scarf or booties.

Which color should you get?

As you can see I’m pretty sold on the black leather jacket, but you can get any color you prefer.

My advice is to either keep it neutral or a fun color if it works with the rest of your closet. It really just depends on how the rest of you wardrobe looks like. What color are most of you booties, pants, skirts, tights, etc? Take a good look at those, take them out of your closet and see them together.

This will help you decide what color you can make the most out of.

Faux Leather or real leather?

Mine is a faux leather jacket. I honestly don’t mind real leather because I eat red meat, but they are a lot more expensive and 7 years ago when I got this one, I couldn’t afford a real leather one. So, again, it’s up to you.

A faux leather jacket will still last you for a long time if you take good care of it and it is more ethical than the alternative. Keep in mind that a real leather moto jacket will range anywhere in between $300-$600, while a faux leather will be between $90 and $200.

Which Capsule wardrobe are leather jackets part of?

You can wear your leather jacket for Spring, Fall and Winter. I would say technically you can also wear it during some Chicago Summer days or nights, but I prefer to use my denim jacket or a sweater instead.

A leather jacket is one of those pieces that you will be able to wear many times a week if you wanted to. So in my opinion it is completely worth it to spend that money and use it almost all year round.

Final thoughts about leather jackets

I hope you learned how to wear a leather jacket today. They are so versatile and really do a good job at helping you look stylish and well put together with little to no effort.

They are comfortable and look good with most of the pieces you have in your closet. Just keep in mind that you really only need one. Think about which color will serve you better. Remember it’s all about investing in the right pieces and getting the most out of them. There shouldn’t be anything in your closet that you don’t wear every month, and there are always multiple pieces you wear every week, which is even better.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions. Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you have an amazing weekend!

XO,

Aimara

PS: here are some leather jacket options for every budget!