Leather jacket
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- A leatherjacket is a type of crane fly.
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A leather jacket is a stereotypical piece of outerwear, often brown, dark grey or black, worn by bikers, military aviators, some police, and teenagers trying to look intimidating and "cool".
Frequently called motorcycle jackets, they were in vogue with North American teenagers during the 1950s, made popular by the Marlon Brando character in the film, The Wild One (1953) and by James Dean in 1955's Rebel Without A Cause.
An example from the entertainment industry later depicting that era is the one worn by "The Fonz" in the television series Happy Days whose black leather jacket is now in the Smithsonian Institution. As well, leather jackets can be seen being worn by the "T-Birds" in the Grease movies that likewise depicted teenagers in the 1950s and in the 1974 film, The Lords of Flatbush.
The leather jackets worn by aviators and members of the military were brown in color and frequently called "Bomber jackets" as seen on numerous stars in the 1940s and 1950s such as Jimmy Stewart in the 1957 film, Night Passage. While the black leather jacket fad ended in the early 1960s, bomber jackets, often with sheepskin collars, were popular for many decades and can be seen in the 1986 film, Top Gun.
Leather jackets can now be often see mainly worn by Metalheads and Punks.
See also: Motorcycle safety clothing