Bomber Jackets

A short body finishing at the waist, ribbed knit cuffs, hem and usually collar, a zip front and a relaxed cut through the body. The shape came from military flight jackets, which needed to be short enough to sit in a cockpit. Everything else about it has changed. That silhouette has not.

It depends entirely on the sett. Weathered and hunting colourways read as a dark check from any distance and pass unremarked. Modern colourways in strong red are genuinely loud, which for a bomber is often the point. Choose on how visible you want to be rather than on whether tartan works, because it does.

Plain everything else. A solid tee or knit, dark jeans or plain trousers, and trainers or boots. The jacket is the outfit. Pull the colour of your trousers from one of the darker tones in the sett rather than contrasting. Avoid a tartan shirt underneath, which is one sett too many.

Relaxed through the body with the ribbed hem sitting at the top of the hip, and the cuffs reaching the wrist bone. It should close comfortably over a knit, since a bomber worn over just a tee is a summer garment. Send chest and sleeve length, measured over a shirt rather than over outerwear.

The silhouette will not, since it has been essentially unchanged since the forties. The sett decides it. Weathered and muted colourways read as an ordinary check and stay wearable indefinitely. Bright modern colourways in a bomber cut are more of a moment. Choose accordingly if you want it in five years.

Check the lining first, since a lined jacket usually wants spot cleaning or professional cleaning rather than a machine. Ribbed cuffs and hems lose their stretch in hot water and in a tumble dryer, which is the failure most people cause themselves. Air it after wear and wash it rarely. For a smarter shoulder in the same weight, see Harrington jackets.