The Perfect Black Biker Jacket For The Office

I used to believe that no biker jacket should ever even sniff the inside of an office. Too many studs, too much rebel without a cause. Not business-appropriate attitude for a Tuesday afternoon finance meeting or so I thought until I wore mine with a simple cotton tee to pitch to clients in Leeds, got complimented by a woman from procurement who actually thinks she knows a jacket when she sees it and never looked back. Ditched that opinion from my life months ago. Set the old beliefs down in a grave and buried it myself.
Think of a black biker jacket as wearable armour for your work life rather than letting your work life wear you down. What makes it work is less about the aesthetic and more about fit. Give yourself enough room in the crop that it actually rests on your hip instead of pooching over your trousers, and make sure the shoulder seams aren’t somewhere near your elbow. Should, according to your jacket, actually mean shoulder. Invest in real leather or high quality faux that won’t crease from crawling onto chairs and public transport all day, only to unleash itself into something that’s been slept in by lunchtime. Pleather is for leggings worn at home, not bike jackets meant to survive your commute.
I learned that the hard way when I bought one that busted at the elbow after eight weeks of commuting. It started to peel off like a dried up pond in_parts of England.

Keeping the outfitwork-worthy comes down to toning everything else around it. Pairing it with a silk or fine knit will keep your top half looking intentional vs reactive, tailored trousers or a pencil skirt do the same on the bottom, and keeping your heels low or going with a leather loafer are the difference between finishing off a weekend look and sticking to work-appropriate outfits.
Leave the ankle boots and the distressed jeans for after work. Your jacket is edgy enough on its own. Let your pants breathe.

It’s especially great for those days where you just need to look fierce, without trying too hard. Meetings, presentations, that Monday where you’ve got back-to-back calls and zero time to psyche yourself up in the morning. Put simply; it’s office-ready without feeling overwhelmingly stuffy. The jacket oozes capable without screaming corporate; which honestly is what every workplace is going for these days. Doesn’t my coworker Priya, who owns about four blazers and zero biker jackets, know that? She borrowed mine to preach at a conference last year and afterwards couldn’t stop telling me how much “power” she felt wearing it. How she walked into that auditorium feeling like she could fire someone.
She didn’t fire anyone. That’s not her job. But she could’ve.