Women's Aviator Leather Jacket- What to Know Before You Buy

A omen's aviator leather jacket is a leather jacket with a warm fur or shearling collar, cut close to the body, based on the old WWII pilot jacket. 

It looks warm and tough without being bulky. That's the whole reason it's stuck around this long while so many other trends have come and gone.

What Makes an Aviator Jacket an Aviator Jacket

The collar gives it away every time. Real shearling fur around the neck, and sometimes down the front, is what turns a jacket into an aviator instead of a plain bomber. 

Cut the fur off and honestly, it's just a different jacket at that point. Under the fur, the leather is usually sheepskin or lambskin. 

Both soften up the more they're worn; a lambskin jacket after a few winters feels nothing like it did out of the box, softer and floppier in a good way, almost broken in like an old pair of boots.

The fit sits closer to the body than you'd guess from old military photos. Original flight jackets were baggy on purpose, because pilots wore them over thick layers in unheated cockpits. 

Nobody needs that much room anymore, so the women's version got tailored down somewhere along the way: a shaped waist, sleeves that actually fit, hem that stops around the hip instead of the thigh. 

Our women's aviator jacket collection keeps that fitted shape rather than the old boxy cut, since almost nobody's asking for boxy anymore.

Real Shearling or Faux Fur Collar?

Real shearling is genuinely the warmest thing you can put on your shoulders, no contest. It also ages well in a strange way, the fur flattens down a bit over time and somehow looks better for it, not worse. 

What nobody tells you upfront is the upkeep. You have to brush it out occasionally, let it air dry properly if it gets damp, and just generally treat it like it needs attention, because it does.

Faux fur skips basically all of that hassle. It's lighter on the shoulders, and you can toss it in for a normal wash instead of babying it. 

Honestly, if you're not the type who's going to wear leather three days a week, faux is the more sensible buy. Real shearling only really earns its price if you live somewhere brutally cold, somewhere the jacket has to actually earn its keep, not just look good for a photo.

How to Style an Aviator Jacket Every Day

Casual Looks

Jeans and boots. It's not an exciting answer but it's the right one most days. Where people mess it up is layering too much underneath, the jacket's already adding bulk at the shoulders and collar.

Therefore, a thin sweater or button-down does more for you than a chunky knit ever will.  If the sleeves run long, which happens a lot with shearling cuffs, one roll usually fixes it.

Dressing It Up

Thrown over a slip dress, it stops looking like an accident and starts looking like a choice, especially with the collar left open instead of zipped to the chin. 

If you tend toward more structured pieces anyway, try a women's leather blazer underneath, worn open so the collar still peeks through. Adds polish without sanding off the rougher edge the jacket's supposed to have.

Aviator Jacket or Shearling Coat- Which First?

This is really a weather question dressed up as a style question. An aviator jacket keeps you comfortable down to around freezing with a sweater underneath. 

Past that point, you actually need a full shearling coat, which covers more of your body and just runs longer. If you can only buy one, buy for the winters you actually have, not the milder one you wish you had.

Price tips the scales here too. Aviator jackets run cheaper than full shearling coats most of the time, since there's less material and less collar work going into them. 

Most shoppers start with the jacket and pick up a coat a year or two later once budget allows. That order just makes more sense for most people's wallets.

How to Care for an Aviator Leather Jacket

Hang it on a wide hanger, never wire; the shoulders will droop faster than you'd think. Brush the shearling collar every so often with something soft so the fur doesn't mat down into clumps. 

Condition the leather every few months if you're wearing it a lot. Skip the washing machine, obviously, and keep it out of strong sun for long stretches, since sun fades leather almost as fast as water damage does.

FAQs

Can you remove the shearling collar on most aviator jackets? 

Some can, most can't. Don't assume either way, check the actual product page, since it really does vary brand to brand more than people expect.

Can you wear an aviator leather jacket in the rain? 

A drizzle is usually fine on treated leather. A real downpour isn't. Too much water can stain the leather and mat the collar down, so this isn't the jacket to grab if you're somewhere it rains constantly.

What's the real difference between a bomber and an aviator jacket for women? 

Mostly the collar and how much warmth you're getting. A bomber has a ribbed knit collar and cuffs and runs lighter overall. An aviator brings fur or shearling into the mix and is built for colder weather. If you're torn between the two, it helps to look at them side by side, our women's bomber jackets make a decent comparison point before you commit to one or the other.