Distressed Leather Jacket

"Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit."

Well, that is probably true, but there is one such fashion piece that I think even George Santayana, the Spanish-American poet and essayist, would thank the barbaric, unreasonable and thankfully, imitable, world of fashion for coming up with is the wonderfully gorgeous idea of distressed leather jackets! Sure, it may sound like a crazy idea to buy new leather and then treat it to make it look like worn out and old, but then that is the reason fashion is perennially accursed with the tag of being completely impractical. Distressed leather is used to create many different leather clothing items, like gloves, belts and jackets. Most consumers tend to find distressed leather more appealing than new leather. Distressed leather jackets for women and men are one of those fashion trends that tend to never die down. If you cannot find a distressed leather jacket for yourself, then what you could do is buy a new jacket and then treat it yourself.

How to Distress a Leather Jacket

If you have been eying that distressed leather motorcycle jacket that your friend owns for eons now, then you can style your own jacket too. All you need is a jacket made from leather, sandpaper, wire brush, spray bottles, rubbing alcohol, water and a rag. Given below are the instructions to treat a jacket to make distressed leather jackets for men and women.

• Take both the spray bottles. Fill one with rubbing alcohol and the other with water.
• Now take the jacket and spray the area that you want to distress with rubbing alcohol. Make sure that the area is completely soaked in the alcohol.
• Now take the wire brush and start brushing the area that you just sprayed alcohol on. Decide how distressed you want the jacket to look. If you want a very slightly distressed jacket, then rough up the jacket for a very small period of time. Remember it will be difficult to change the way an area looks once it has been distressed completely.
• If you desire that the leather jacket should have a smoother distressed look, then use a sandpaper on the distressed areas.
• Repeat this procedure for all the other areas that you want to treat.
• Once you have distressed the leather jacket completely, you can use the second spray bottle filled with water to wash off the rubbing alcohol. Finally wipe the jacket with a piece of rag.

While I will not vouch for the following method of distressing leather, there are people who seem to swear about how well it works on leather jackets. There are people who claim that crumpling and then kicking the jacket around at the neighborhood baseball field and then wiping off the excess dust will give you a distressed brown leather jacket, which will look like it is straight out of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones collection. But test this at your own risk. I would still go in for the rubbing alcohol and wire brush method to treat my leather jacket. Reviews of leather jackets always harp about the care that they need. Distressed leather jackets, though they look worn out and old need the same care. If you own a leather jacket, it is important that you know how to clean leather jacket. Always hang your leather jacket on a hanger, preferably a wooden one and avoid folding it as it may cause creases. Remember to never wash or dry clean a leather jacket but to first wipe it with a rough towel and then wipes to clean it.

Leather jackets are a favorite with most men and even women. It spells casual style without being overbearing. Distressed leather jackets add to the look by giving it a more toned down, yet worn look that just enhances the style quotient.