copy+paste 03

leather on leather

Apr 04, 2024

copy+paste is a series of attempts to either digitally or physically recreate an outfit I saw and admired IRL. (You can find all previous installments here!) I love seeing street style photos, but ethically, I feel uncomfortable including my iPhone creep shots in a public newsletter unless I’ve explicitly asked someone for permission to share. So the actual photo will remain on my phone, but you will still be able to share in the essence and hopefully appreciate the outfit as much as I did!

I saw her on my way out of the laundromat, a brisk apparition on her phone—this was a woman who knew exactly where she was headed and what she was doing. Unfortunately, both of those things remain a mystery, because I would love to know where she was going in this outfit. She had on a pair of classic red Adidas track pants, maybe the men’s version, loose-fitting with the classic three stripes down the sides. On her feet were a pair of Nike Air Force Ones—a bold combo of competing sportswear logos just on her bottom half! On top, she was enveloped in a deeply weathered leather jacket, a weathering that looked like it had been achieved naturally rather than the depressingly uniform striations you might see on a newly made item marketed as “distressed.” A structured black leather bag sat on her shoulder, pressed tightly to her body with the arm that also held the phone. I was so taken aback by the successful mixing of leathers (brown and black! weathered and structured!) that I didn’t even catch the color of her sneakers, so I’ve included pairs in several different colors that feel like they match the general vibe.

Some secondhand options for each element below:

Vintage leather jacket, $68; Eddie Bauer leather barn coat (L), $130; 1990s leather bomber jacket (M), $111; distressed motorcycle jacket (XL), $145

Adidas men’s striped pants (L), $40; Adidas men’s red zip track pants (L), $23; Prospirit 90s track pants (S), $40; Adidas Firebird track pants (M), $72

Nike cream & red AF1s (7), $63, Nike tan & brown AF1s (9.5), $150; Nike AF1s (7), $70; Nike brown AF1s (6.5), $90

Vintage Coach shoulder bag, $133; vintage Coach half moon bag, $79 (also lots of those APC demi-lune bags on every secondhand site right now); Uniqlo leather bag, $93; The Row half moon bag (really weird how many of these are on Depop for under $200 now… feels scammy but idk?); Staud leather and suede bag, $167

My own attempt at recreation is below… this was more of a “vibe” attempt than an actual recreation (the vibe being sweatpants with sneakers, a leather jacket, and a more structured tote bag.) I also don’t have the key piece, which (colorwise, at least) I see as the red sweatpants. What else feels off about my outfit that worked in hers? There’s hardware on both of my leather items (the jacket has silver, the bag has gold)—her leather jacket had minimal hardware, if any, and the bag was noticeably free of it.

Something I think I’ll take from this outfit is the leather jacket/sweatpants/sneakers combo. I tend to shy away from wearing sweatpants and sneakers together—if I wear sweatpants outside of the house, it’s either with boots or loafers. But with the leather jacket, those two items feel less casual and more intentional. Will I wear this exact outfit? Without the bag, probably!