What to wear with...Cropped Leather Jackets!

So our lovely, esteemed reader Lena recently bought a cropped leather jacket and was wondering what sort of feminine things she could wear with it. Danielle would be a better source of wisdom on this one, but she is busy breaking hearts and kicking ass all over the West Coast, so I'm going to do my best. Lena, I couldn't get that link to work, but I looked around the F21 website and found a pic of this model wearing a jacket that looked close to what you described. I hope it's not too different from the one you bought.


I started by looking up some celeb examples, such as Anne Hathaway. She looks sort of pale and sickly in this photo, but the outfit is very cute-- sort of a "ballerina with a biker boyfriend" look. This J.Crew silk chiffon Abigail dress, $89.99, would recreate it nicely.







Kate Walsh rocks her leather jacket in both casual and formal situations. You really cannot go wrong with a white shirt, jeans, leather jacket and killer heels. But I think it would be awesome to have your white tee be really girly and sweet, like this Hazel Crochet and Lace Blouse, $98, from Dilliard's. I love the vintage-like neckline, and the extra lace trim on the bottom hem.




















Here's Ellen Pompeo and Kate Mara in the same combo:

































While I'm usually not a fan of leopard, I like Kate's idea of wearing a bold print on her shoes. When your outfit is such a tried and true classic, you can really go wild on the accessories and wear those cherry red pumps or pink floral clutch.


As for the white dress, I like the J.Crew Eyelet Zoey dress, $99. I think the all over eyelet will contrast excellently with the leather, and the cropped shape of the jacket will accentuate your waist, which can get a little lost in shift dresses.














How adorably flirty would this dress be with a fitted leather jacket? From Jovovich-Hawk, the Emily dress, $205, has a layer of white silk over a nude slip dress (hopefully you're tan enough to prevent people mistaking the under layer for your skin). It's such a damsel dress, but the leather jacket says that you can rescue yourself, thank you very much. (Also, true story, it's been so long since I've been on shopbop.com that I couldn't remember the name and kept saying to myself, "I know it isn't hop stop, but it's close...")
















For fall, you might try mixing the leather with a cozy knit dress. Cashmere and leather? Will make you want to die of softness. J.Crew has a wool/cashmere Kelsey Tank Dress, $89, that is begging to be toughened up with a fierce jacket.













I want you to ignore the bottom half of this girl's outfit, because I will never, ever, under any circumstances tell you to wear shiny pleather leggings. Concentrate on the top: the soft, fuzzy scarf framed by the leather jacket. So practical for when the weather gets cooler! Sidenote: this model is totally rocking the fringe bangs, and I'm impressed.



One last celebrity photo: Jessica Alba looks effortlessly cool in her Stones tee and jacket. The vintage concert tee isn't easy to pull off these days, due to Urban Outfitters and other stores that mass produce $30 shirts designed to look like you bought them for $4 at a consignment store. So if you're going to attempt this look, don't go buy one of those shirts, and don't buy a shirt for a band you don't actually listen to just because you like the logo.