Leather Jacket Size Guide

Grab a tape measure before you grab your credit card. Chest, shoulders, sleeve, body length, that's the whole job, whether you're buying for yourself or picking a gift size for someone else. Leather isn't forgiving like a cotton hoodie. It won't stretch out over a weekend of wear the way you're hoping it will, so the fit you order is roughly the fit you're stuck with.

Below: how to take each measurement, plus the men's and women's charts.

Why Your Usual Size Doesn't Always Carry Over

Here's the thing nobody tells you at checkout. A Large in your closet right now could mean three different things depending on the brand, and none of that translates cleanly to leather. Knit fabric gives. Woven cotton gives a little. Leather gives almost nothing.

Cut matters too, and not just a little. A men's biker jacket or a women's biker jacket is built to sit close, almost like a second skin, because that's the whole point of the silhouette. A men's bomber jacket or women's bomber jacket is cut with room to spare, room for a flannel or a hoodie underneath. Same size label. Different amount of jacket.

So we don't ask you to trust the label. We ask you to measure.

How to Measure Yourself

You need two things: a soft tailor's tape (not the metal kind from your garage toolbox) and either a second pair of hands or a decent mirror. Wear a fitted shirt while you do this, not a baggy one, or your numbers will run wide and you'll end up in a jacket that swims on you.

Chest or bust. 

Wrap the tape around the fullest part, under your arms, across your shoulder blades. Level all the way around. Snug enough to sit against you, not so tight it digs in. Take the reading on a normal, relaxed breath, not after you've sucked in.

Shoulder width. 

Edge of one shoulder bone to the edge of the other, straight across your back. Honestly, this is the hardest one to eyeball alone. Get a second person if you can. People consistently measure their own shoulders short.

Sleeve length. 

Start at the center of the back of your neck. Run the tape across the top of your shoulder, then straight down the outside of your arm to the wrist bone. Bend your arm slightly while you do it, the way it naturally rests when you're actually wearing a jacket, not stretched out straight.

Body length. 

From the base of your neck, where a collar would sit, straight down to wherever you want the hem to hit. Biker styles usually land right at the hip. Bombers tend to sit a little higher.

Men's Leather Jacket Size Chart

Women's Leather Jacket Size Chart

One note on the numbers above: they're body measurements, not jacket measurements. We build in roughly 1 to 2 inches of ease over your bare chest or bust so there's room for a shirt underneath. Planning to wear a hoodie or a heavier sweater under yours? Bump up a size.

Stuck Between Two Sizes?

Go bigger, not smaller. Every time. A jacket with a little extra room breaks in over a few weeks and starts moving with you. A jacket that's tight in the chest or shoulders on day one is tight forever. Leather just doesn't give in that direction, no matter how much wear you put on it.

And if your chest or bust number sits right between two sizes but your shoulders read smaller, go with the shoulder. A roomy body with a shoulder seam that lands correctly reads as a relaxed fit. A snug body with the shoulder seam sitting wrong reads as a jacket that doesn't fit, full stop.

Still Not Sure? Email Us First

Send your chest or bust, shoulder, sleeve, and body length numbers to support@leatherjacketmens.com before you check out. Our team will match you to a size directly. Takes a couple minutes, and it beats waiting on a return or exchange two weeks from now.

If it does arrive wrong despite all this, our return and exchange policy covers size claims within 5 days of delivery. You'll just need to send photos of the jacket's actual measurements, tape and all.