Don't Tempt Me, Urban

Ok, so I tried to put these pieces into a Polyvore set, but I couldn't quite make it work. So instead, I'm bringing you 4 covetable things from Urban Outfitters in a lazy list form.

Silence and Noise Faux Leather Biker Jacket, $128
How long have I been wanting a leather jacket? A really long time. The other weekend I borrowed my friend's badass leather motorcycle jacket, and I felt totally unstoppable all night. If there had been a bar fight, or a particularly competitive dance battle, I would have jumped right in. I love the asymmetrical zipper on this jacket, and that the leather is a little broken in.

Kimchi Blue Suede Boot, $88
It's strange--when it comes to leather boots, I can't stay away from cognac brown, but when it comes to suede boots, I'm all about grey.

Chain Knot Cloche, $28
A girl would need a certain amount of joie de vivre to pull this off--the saturated blue, the gold rope, the old-fashioned cloche shape--but I'd like to think I'm up to the challenge. The color would look killer with my blonde hair, too.

byCorpus Long Sleeve Wrap Dress, $39.99
I've always wanted to be a ballerina! This veers a little close to American Apparel, but I think with some classic accessories (and no lame leggings) you can avoid looking like a victim of corporate hipsterism.

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.

Leather Jackets

So spring might not seem like the most obvious time to be wearing a leather jacket. But that's exactly why you should! On those days when there's still a bit of a chill in the air, or the nights when you need a little extra warmth over your little spring dress, a leather jacket will keep you just warm enough. And you'll look like a bad ass!

In the past, I haven't bought a leather jacket because I was too scared I couldn't pull it off. I'm a bit of a Bambi, so I thought there was a big chance that wearing leather would make me look like this. But then the combined good influences of my roommate in Prague and Gossip Girl convinced me otherwise. From the first five minutes of the GG pilot, I wanted to find my own vintage tan leather jacket (and not only so I can recreate this outfit and go as Serena for Halloween). And then how awesome is this leather jacket? I covet it beyond all belief, and when this episode airs (this is a promo pic for a future ep) someone better tell me where it's from. See the buckle in front at her waist? Perfect.


Also, am I the only one who wishes she had to wear a school uniform so she could copy Serena's plaid skirts and loose ties? And those of you who had to wear uniforms, don't burst my bubble with reality by saying that you could never get away with Serena's outfits at their school.

I think this Short Trench by Guess, $179, could maybe find its way into Serena's wardrobe. Great color, fun buttons, and I love the buckles at the wrists. On the other hand, I find that coats with belts are hard to wear open, because the belt kind of falls all over the place and looks sloppy. And for spring, you gotta wear your jacket open so as to better show off what you're wearing underneath.



This Scuba Jacket, also by Guess and $179, would be great for that. I like how non-butch this jacket is, with the deep brown color and vertical seams. And it's nice and fitted so you won't get lost in it.


Speaking of feminine, this Generra Cropped Leather Jacket, way out of my price range at $695, makes leather sweet enough for lunch with your mom. Also, have I talked about how I have severe issues with this particular ShopBop model? She has such fantastic hair, but such an awful bitchface! I'm equally drawn and repelled by every thing she models.







Let's talk about price. Leather is expensive, because cows are so rare and so highly valued in our society. You're lucky to find a cute jacket under $100, and I definitely found more jackets costing a month's rent (in some town other than Manhattan). But here's a pretty cute Short Zipper Jacket in a fun shade of burgandy that's just $59.95. Ignore the Fake Housewife of Orange County inside the cute jacket. I also like this Waist Length Honey Colored Leather Jacket, also $59.95.




This one is cheaper than most because it's not a full leather jacket; Dillard's calls it a Zippered Cardigan with a metallic leather front, $69. I guess the front and part of the sleeves are leather and the rest is rayon. But that's good for warmer weather, and t's definitely a unique design. The cutout embroidery is just the icing on the cake.


So all the jackets I've shown so far have been colors other than black, because I think brown and tan leather and like are easier to pull off when you're sort of a wuss. But through my extensive research, I'm beginning to become convinced otherwise. Just look at these Ashley Olsen and Natalie Portman, two petite women not known for their ass-kicking toughness.



Let's start slow with some cropped jackets. You know, I'm always kind of impressed when magazines or websites do a splurge and save feature, since it seems hard to find items that are practically interchangeable from very different price points. But guess what? I have a splurge and save for you. The first, the Twenty9Twelve Yves Leather Jacket from Shopbop, is $690...











...and the second, the Halogen Zip Front Leather Jacket at Nordstrom, is $148 and 50% off!

The first has the full length sleeves, really cool pintucking at the waist and in the back, but I'm not crazy about the weird ruching on the bottom of the sleeves. The second has the sleek zipper, and doesn't it just look ridiculously soft? Also, it has four pockets in the front, so you would hardly need a purse.

I have just one more super expensive jacket, and then I promise I'll go back to under $200. I like this Vince Leather Motorcycle Jacket, $775, because it's not overly fashion-y. With the right outfit, you might be able to convince someone you actually know how to ride a motorcycle. It's pretty basic, but the slightly distressed look of the leather and the snap closure at the neck are badass.






This Leather Moto Jacket from Arden B, $128, is a bit simple, too, but the gold zippers make it just bling-y enough that you could wear it to a nicer bar or restaurant.










Also from Arden B is this Leather Pintuck Moto Jacket, $168. Pintucks are usually so prim and reserved, making them totally bomb on a leather jacket.





Remember, at the beginning, when I said how awesome a leather jacket would look over a light spring dress? Well, I would be remiss if I didn't give you some options for dresses also. The first is the Cut-Out Shift Dress from Old Navy, $17.70. You can't really see the detail on the front in the photo of the white, so I'm including the black version too.











I'm completely obsessed with next dress from Alice + Olivia, who always makes great frocks. The Ombre Rosette Tube dress, $297, is like the sky in dress form. Yes, it's a little shapeless, but a highly structured dress would be wrong when trying to capture essence of sky, right? Just think about how fierce those chiffon rosettes will look peaking out from underneath your leather jacket. I'm including three photos because I think it's just that fantastic.