How to Wear a Leather Coat: Trench, Car Coat and Blazer Outfits

Wear a leather coat over simple layers: a shirt or knit, jeans or trousers, and leather boots. Let the coat be the only statement piece. Buffalo Jackson gives the same "keep it simple underneath" advice for leather jackets, and Real Men Real Style pairs a leather blazer with a shirt, jeans and matching boots. The cut you own decides the rest: length, belt and how dressy you can go.

This tutorial covers the three common leather coat cuts for men and women. For more outfit ideas across every jacket, see the jacket styling guide.

Key takeaways- Know your cut: a car coat sits just below the seat; a trench is longer.- Keep the layers under it plain, with one pattern at most.- If your trench has a belt, use it, says designer Lyndsey Butler.- Style writers disagree on the leather trench itself. We show both views.

What you need

• Your leather coat
• A plain shirt (oxford or button-down) and a fine knit or crewneck
• Dark jeans and one pair of trousers or chinos
• Leather boots in a color close to the coat
• For a dressier or women's version: a pencil or midi skirt, or a simple dress
• A full-length mirror

Step 1: Identify your coat's cut and length

The cut tells you how far you can dress the coat up and what goes under it. Definitions of every leather coat type are in types of leather coats and how they differ; here is what each means for styling.

If you are on the shorter side, The Modest Man says most short men do not look good in coats past the knee and suggests mid-thigh instead. That makes the car coat the easier cut to wear.

The "hip, like a sport coat" length for the blazer is our description, not a sourced spec.

Step 2: Decide how dressy you want to go

Leather is a casual material in most style guides. Real Men Real Style's dress-code advice is written for leather jackets: fine for smart casual and business casual, worn only for the commute with business formal, never with black tie. We apply the same limits to leather coats; that is our suggestion.

Gentleman's Gazette suggests bringing a suit when you try coats on and checking them with and without the suit jacket. Do this with a car coat or trench you plan to wear to work.

Step 3: Layer simple pieces underneath

Start plain. Buffalo Jackson's base for leather is a plain tee or henley, with one patterned piece at most. For a coat, step it up:

• Shirt. Real Men Real Style's leather-blazer formula starts with a shirt.
• Knitwear. Buffalo Jackson suggests a wool crewneck in charcoal, oatmeal or olive for warmth without bulk.
• Tailoring or a dress. Lyndsey Butler of VEDA, quoted by The Zoe Report, says a leather trench works over a power-suit piece or a cocktail dress.

Step 4: Choose the trousers, jeans or skirt

Jeans are the easy answer for every cut. Real Men Real Style pairs a leather blazer with jeans, and Gentleman's Gazette says a trench can be worn over casual trousers such as jeans.

For women's outfits, The Zoe Report suggests a sleek leather trench with a check pencil skirt and simple sneakers, or a brown trench with wide-cuff jeans. It also shows full leather: a trench with leather pants and utilitarian boots.

Step 5: Belt it or wear it open

For a belted trench, Lyndsey Butler's advice is short: "If your trench has a belt, use it". The Zoe Report's brown-trench outfit is shown belted.

Car coats and blazers have no belt. We suggest wearing them buttoned for a clean line over a shirt, and open over a knit. That is our suggestion, not a sourced rule.

Step 6: Finish with shoes

Real Men Real Style finishes a leather blazer with matching leather boots. The Zoe Report's trench outfits use simple sneakers, cowboy boots and utilitarian boots.

To match the coat, Buffalo Jackson's rule for leather jackets is to keep boots and belt in the same color family as the leather, close rather than identical.

The leather trench: two views

Style writers do not agree on the leather trench. Gentleman's Gazette says it is "best avoided", because of its Second World War associations and its use as a villain's costume, and suggests a bomber jacket instead. The Zoe Report takes the opposite view and builds seven outfits around one, with a designer's buying tips.

The two pieces were written for different readers. Gentleman's Gazette writes classic menswear; The Zoe Report article (2019) is women's fashion. If you are a man after a classic look and the trench worries you, the car coat is the lower-risk cut. Whether the men's trench is in style now is covered in are men's leather trench coats in style.

Common mistakes

• A coat that is too long for you. Past the knee is hard for shorter men, says The Modest Man.
• A boxy fit. Real Men Real Style prefers slim or tailored cuts for car coats and blazers.
• Planning to tailor it later. Most tailors lack the tools to work with leather, so buy one that fits, says Real Men Real Style.
• Too many patterns under it. One patterned piece at most.
• Wearing it with black tie. Leather does not belong there, says Real Men Real Style.

Leather coat outfit card

Rows combine the sourced outfits above; the knit under the women's trench is our suggestion.

For shorter leather pieces, see what to wear with a black leather jacket for men and what to wear with a brown jacket.

Having a leather coat made

Fit matters more on a long coat, and leather is hard to alter. Leather Collection men's leather coats come in full-length trench, duster, car coat and blazer cuts. The store says they are hand-stitched to order in cowhide, sheepskin or goatskin, in black, brown and navy among other colors, with a custom size option.

Related guides

• Not sure a coat is what you need? See what separates a jacket from a coat.

FAQ

What kind of tops should I wear under a leather coat?

Plain ones: a shirt, a fine knit or a wool crewneck, with one pattern at most. A leather trench can also go over tailoring or a cocktail dress, says Lyndsey Butler.

Is a leather jacket smart-casual?

Yes, says Real Men Real Style: smart casual and business casual are fine; with business formal, wear it only for the commute.

How do you make a leather coat look more feminine?

The Zoe Report pairs a leather trench with a check pencil skirt and sneakers, or belts a brown trench over wide-cuff jeans. Lyndsey Butler's advice is to use the belt if your trench has one.

Are leather coats out of style?

That depends on which source you read; we cover the evidence in are leather coats out of style.