Biker, Cafe Racer, Bomber, Aviator: How to Tell Them Apart

Four names cover most leather jackets sold: biker, cafe racer, bomber, aviator. They are not interchangeable, and the difference is not taste. Each one was built for a job, and the details that did that job are still what tells them apart on a rail.

Here is what actually separates them, using the specifications from the jackets on this site rather than a general description.

Biker: the zip runs at an angle

One detail decides it. On a biker the zip is asymmetric, set off to one side rather than down the middle. Nine of ours are described exactly that way, another five as off-center.

The angle was practical. A rider leaning forward wants the closure away from the sternum and a flap of leather that folds across the chest against the wind. The notched lapels with snap studs come from the same idea: snap them down and the wind cannot get in; leave them open and the jacket reads as a jacket rather than a uniform.

Bikers here run hip length (26 of 32), slim or fitted through the chest and shoulders, with zipped cuffs that close over a glove. They carry the most hardware of the four, which is why a plain one in black reads quite differently from the same cut in oxblood.

Thirty-two here, across men’s biker jackets and women’s biker jackets.

Cafe racer: the zip runs straight

The cafe racer is the biker with the drama removed. The zip runs straight down the center, on eleven of the twenty-three here, and the lapels are gone. In their place sits a stand collar with a snap tab at the throat, which is on twelve of them and is the single most reliable way to recognise the style.

It came off British club racers in the sixties, where a low collar meant nothing flapping at speed and nothing catching on a helmet strap. The result is a jacket with almost no visible hardware, cut slim and ending at the hip, which is why it is the one of the four that goes under a coat and over a shirt without looking like a costume.

Twenty-three here, in men’s cafe racer jackets and women’s cafe racer jackets.

Bomber: knit at the collar, cuffs and hem

Forget the zip here. A bomber is identified by its knit: ribbed bands at the collar, the cuffs and the hem. That is the whole silhouette, because the knit is what pulls the body of the jacket in and gives it the blouson shape above the waist.

It came from flight jackets that needed to seal at the wrist and waist in an unpressurised cockpit without a stiff closure getting in the way. Ours are cut regular, straight or roomy rather than slim, and sit at the hip or the waist.

If you want one jacket that works over a sweater without looking tight, this is the cut. Eighteen here, in men’s bomber jackets and women’s bomber jackets.

Aviator: shearling at the collar

The aviator is the heavy one. Its marker is shearling or mouton at the collar, usually with shearling cuffs to match, and underneath it is normally a full shearling lining rather than a cloth one.

These are the B-3, A-2 and G-1 patterns, built for open and unheated cockpits, and the warmth is not decorative. Ours are cut roomy more often than anything else, which matters: the wool takes up room inside, so buy for the shoulders rather than sizing down.

The A-2 is the outlier in the family. It is the lightest of the three, with a pointed shirt collar with snap-down points instead of shearling and a storm flap over the zip, which is why it reads closer to a bomber than to a B-3.

Twenty-four here, in men’s aviator jackets and women’s aviator jackets.

Telling them apart in one look

• Zip at an angle, lapels with studs: biker.
• Zip straight down, small stand collar with a tab: cafe racer.
• Ribbed knit at collar, cuffs and hem: bomber.
• Shearling at the collar, heavy: aviator.

The overlaps are real, so two cases are worth naming. A bomber with a shearling collar is an aviator, because the lining decides it, not the knit. And a cafe racer with an off-center zip is still a cafe racer if the collar is a stand collar, because the collar is the harder signal.

Which one to buy

Pick for the shape you want to end up with rather than the story behind the cut.

A biker holds a hard line at the shoulder and reads assertive, which is exactly right on some people and fancy dress on others. A cafe racer is the quietest of the four and the easiest to wear to work. A bomber is the most forgiving over a sweater. An aviator is a winter coat that happens to be shaped like a jacket, and you will feel every ounce of it in October.

Fit is worth more than style here. All four are cut close through the chest and shoulders in some version and roomy in another, and a cafe racer that pulls across the back is worse than a biker that fits. Every product page carries the chest and sleeve figures, and made to measure is free on all four: send eight measurements at checkout and the pattern is drawn to your numbers instead of a standard size.