Leather: Jeans, Pants, and Breeches

Leather jeans, pants, and breeches are numerous in my leather gear inventory. I wear them often. After a vest and chaps, leather for my legs was something I had always wanted to try out, and when I got my first custom pair of leather jeans, I wore them so much that they actually wore out, so I got more over the years.

Here's today's snippet from my Complete Guide to Leather Gear on Leather Jeans, Pants, and Breeches:

Leather pants are a good idea if indeed you will wear leather more than once-a-year at a weekend leather event. (If you will wear leather only once a year, it's not worth spending the money on it. Leather is a serious investment, and should be worn more regularly for enjoyment as well as to get a return on your investment.)

The differences among leather pants, jeans, and breeches: Leather pants are cut like regular men's slacks. They usually have a straight leg, snap or zipper fly, and pockets. Leather jeans are pretty much the same, but are cut in a style like denim blue jeans. There may be rivets at stress points like you find on denim jeans. They always have pockets, and have straight legs.

Leather breeches are designed to fit tightly on the man wearing them. The legs usually are cut shorter than leather jeans, because they are made to be worn inside boots and not go so far down as to rub against the ankle bone. The legs are tapered and often have a zipped closure to ensure they remain snug and low on the legs. Don't even think about wearing breeches and short boots, combat boots, or even worse, shoes or sneakers. Breeches are made to be worn inside tall black patrol-style or equestrian boots. Breeches usually have four pockets, plus sometimes a "billy pocket" (designed for a cop's "billy club" but leather fetishists often use to carry cigars.) They also may have flares (sometimes called baloons) on the sides of the legs. What's the deal about flares? Breeches originated from being worn while riding a horse. Ample room around the hips and legs was needed in old-style, wool breeches, so a flare was created on the side of each leg to accommodate the comfort of a horse rider. These days, you don't need flares on breeches to ride a horse -- or even an iron horse. Leather breeches are not usually made with flares any more unless specifically requested.

Most guys wear leather jeans or pants over boots. If you want to wear leather jeans inside boots, you can do that by pulling the end of the jeans down, rolling a sock up over the end of the jeans, and then carefully pulling the boot on. If the boot shaft is too tight, the jeans will bunch up around the knees and look bad. If your boots are already tight on your legs and you still want to wear leather inside them, either buy boots with a wider calf width, or get leather breeches instead of leather pants.

Features to look for

The Fit: It is rare that off-the-shelf leather jeans or pants fit right. Often they are baggy at the legs, knees, or butt. It's really best to have leather jeans made custom to your size, and to accommodate your height and the boots you will wear with them.

Style: Quality leather pants, jeans, or breeches will be made of one solid piece of leather on the front and the back. The seams will be straight on the inside and outside of the legs. There will not be additional seams at the knees. Seams there indicate piece-meal construction, a sure sign of poor quality. Good leather pants will also be made of top-grain leather, and will have a natural shine to them. Some leather pants may have a pebble-grain finish. As long as the pants themselves are top-grain leather, that's okay. Good leather jeans will have double-stitching at all stress points -- side seams, waist, and around the fly. Quality leather pants, jeans, or breeches are usually lined from the waist to the knee. This makes them more comfortable to wear as well as easier to put on. Some leather pants are called "naked leather" meaning that they are not lined so you feel the leather against your skin. I have both types of leather pants (lined and unlined) and find them both enjoyable.

Leather breeches may also have an extra layer of leather on the inside of both legs, and across the butt. This style is a hold-over from horseback riding, as well. However, these added layers of leather can make the breeches more comfortable if they are worn while riding a motorcycle on a long ride.

Pockets on leather pants or jeans is purely a personal choice. Many "five-pocket leather jeans" are styled like denim jeans, including a coin pocket which some guys use to hold a cigarette lighter.

Stripes and Piping: It is very common to find or be offered a colored stripe or colored piping (small strips of leather) on the side seams of leather jeans or breeches. I have been asked if the colors of the stripes have anything to do with the hanky code colors. For example, red means fisting and white means j/o. The color of stripes on leather gear has nothing to do with hanky code colors. I have reflective stripes on my LAPD Leather Breeches and some other leather jeans and chaps with piping or stripes of other colors. I just like how the gear looks that way. Get what you want. Stripes make the gear interesting but do not mean anything else.

What to avoid: Most leather pants, jeans, or breeches come with a snap fly. Usually this works fine, but if you may be wearing them while riding a motorcycle, you may find paying an extra US$25 for a zipper fly to be better. A zipper blocks the wind better and isn't as likely for the fly to pop open when you don't want it to. Don't get a button fly. The buttons holes will enlarge with use and after just a few times wearing them, the buttons may pop open just with normal activities, like getting up from a seated position or throwing your leg over a motorcycle saddle. Unless you want your fly to pop open unannounced, get snaps or a zipper.

If you're serious about leather, and want to enjoy a comfortable leather lifestyle, whether you ride a motorcycle or not, get yourself some leather jeans, to start. You'll enjoy them. If you want to wear leather with tall boots, then go for breeches. If you want to go out on the town with a date in leather, then leather pants will fit the bill. In all cases, have fun!

Check back tomorrow for information about leather shirts.