How to Style a Bomber Jacket

Oct 24, 2022

By Icer Brands Intern

The bomber jacket is one of today’s most popular jacket styles and is the most famous piece of military clothing that the public embraced. The emerging youth movements specifically embraced this iconic style. The varsity bomber jacket was a status symbol for many athletes because it gave you a sense of belonging on a team, but now in the current day, it's such a fashion staple. Bomber jackets are returning this fall but styling them can be challenging, especially when they are varsity.

With bomber jackets, the styles are endless, and you could end up stuck deciding what to wear. Have no fear; Brooklyn Cloth is here! We want to be able to show you ways that you can express your style without having to compromise. Sometimes people think that you have to compromise with your style and wear bulky jackets or hoodies because it's starting to get colder. Here at Brooklyn Cloth, we're here to tell you that you don't have to. There are multiple ways to style varsity bomber jackets. Here are some styles that help you choose what works well with our bomber jackets! But first, what are bomber jackets, and how did they become famous for the fall?

Origin of the Bomber Jacket

Bomber jackets were initially known as ‘flight jackets’. The US Army Aviation Clothing Board created them in 1917 to keep World War I pilots warm in the uninsulated, open-air cockpits of the early fighter planes. Between the two World Wars, the design evolved alongside aviation advancements.

Every time there were new technological advances, new styles were introduced, such as the leather US Army Type A-1 in 1927. The A-1 had a knit waistband and cuffs that insulated the wearer from cold air and gave a very flattering fit. The A-1 laid the groundwork for our current bomber jackets.

The Varsity Bomber Jackets were born in the 1930s. Athletes were demanding heavier clothing to help combat the cold. They added leather sleeves and buttons to the wool jacket with the letter on the jacket’s chest to represent their universities. Not everyone could get the letter unless they performed well at the game. If you could get the letter, you would have to sew it on, which was very serious at the time.

How Did Bomber Jackets Become Popular?

The bomber jacket first took off in London as the youth fully adopted the jacket in the 1960s. Throughout the remainder of the 20th, they sustained a level of popularity, riding the wave of fashion movements such as the grunge and alternative waves of the 90s. Military wear completely took off during the 2000s as Kanye West started to sell them for tour merch. After that brands such as H&M, Zara, and Topman started to create their own versions for the general public. Even brands collaborating with the company made the military wear in the first place.

Now for the varsity bomber jacket trend, it was a little different. The varsity jacket exploded in the ‘80s thanks to American sports. Even pop and mainstream culture became acquainted with the varsity jacket. Because Michael Jackson wore a red and gold one with an “M”, it became a sought-after item. It also became such a staple item in hip hop/rap culture as artists such as Run-D.M.C and N.W.A often wore them.

Now that you understand how this jacket became popular, here are some ways you can style a bomber jacket.

Bomber Jacket with Jeans

This combo is such a classic look that you can never go wrong with any outfit you put together. But picking the right pair of jeans is important to make your outfit stand out. We think that when you wear a light-wash pair of jeans with our Friends Not Foes Woven Bomber you will make a statement this fall. Jeans already give off a casual look, but elevating it with a bomber jacket you the street style look you need for the fall. This varsity bomber jacket has an embroidered patch large tiger on the front and the back of the jacket.

Black and Sand Friends Not Foes Bomber Jacket

Here are some jeans that we would recommend with this jacket:

This bomber comes in these two colors:

Balsam Green
Black

Bomber Jacket with Pants

Pairing slim leg pants that are cropped at the ankle with a nice bomber jacket can really give a formal but casual look that can give you a preppy look with the intricate varsity designs on our Wasted Youth Woven Bomber Jacket. The charcoal color goes well with a pair of black or gray pants. It can also give you a classic look with a touch of street cred while keeping you warm for the chilly fall weather.

Charcoal Wasted Youth Woven Bomber Jacket

Here are some pants that will look go with our woven bomber jacket:

Bomber Jacket with a Dress Shirt

This is another preppy style that will look good when you go back to school or to a classy party. This style can really give you a dash of polish into your look while looking casual. The Goat Woven Bomber Jacket gives you the pop of color to really make the outfit stand out. This inspired high school bomber jacket is also super comfy and comes in multiple colors such as black, hunter green, red, and sand. So, if you don't like a big red bright statement jacket you can go for more subtle colors like sand, black or hunter green which will make your outfits a little more polished.

Red Goat Woven Bomber Jacket

Here are some dress shirts that will complete your preppy look:

Bomber Jacket with a Hoodie

This is so comfortable and easy to pull off for the fall. Layering is such a big part of keeping warm for the fall. The hoodie and bomber combo were always a go to because of the convenience of wearing the hoodie with the bomber. It was an easy thing to put on and it was a great look on celebrities as well. The hoodie and bomber combo are the go-to casual outfit to wear when hanging out with friends or going out to do an errand. But you must watch out for the volumes and lengths of your hoodies, so you don’t overheat in your outfit. Our Dark Teal Awake & Alive Fleece Bomber with a nice hoodie will keep you warm and stylish this fall. This hoodie also has some dope Chinese writing on the back and that translates to “be stronger.”

Dark Teal Awake & Alive Fleece Bomber

Here are some hoodies that we think you will enjoy:

Shoes Make the Outfit

Now we can’t forget about the most important part of an outfit, shoes! Shoes can either make or break an outfit if you wear them correctly or incorrectly. You are probably confused on what shoes will work best with our suggested outfit styles but don’t worry Brooklyn Cloth has got your back. We will be picking some of the trendiest shoes for fall this year that will complete your outfits.

Sneakers

Sneakers are a key for a street style outfit and give your feet absolute comfort. They add a coolness to any outfit because of how casual they are. The shoes that would look good with the Wasted Youth Fleece Bomber Jacket or any of our bomber jackets are the ASOS Design sneakers in stone with a chunky sole. Chunky soles are fall must-have shoe for the fall, so pairing that shoe with our warm fleece bomber jacket will make you feel like a model. You wouldn't even go wrong with a pair of Jordans or Air Force 1s. You can pair any sneaker with our varsity bomber jackets.

Chunky Boots

Street style isn’t just limited to sneakers. Since chunky soles are a trend in menswear, we think they will complete your outfit when you pair our Trust No One Fleece Varsity Bomber with Doc Martens Jadon 8-eye platform boots in black. If you want a certain edge, this boot will do just that. It gives off a chill vibe that is great for hanging out with friends or even an everyday look. This style will also look vintage considering that in the punk scene, bombers were paired with combat boots all the time and can even give a kind of military style.

Loafers

Loafers are a seriously underrated choice when it comes to streetwear and especially if you're going for a preppy look. Loafers are a classy but casual style to wear with a varsity jacket. It makes it look like you're from one of those 80s/90s sitcoms or maybe even a celebrity. These loafers from H&M would look good with any of our varsity jackets but in particular our Goat Woven Bomber Jacket would really compliment the shoes well. Maybe even wide leg pants would look good with these shoes as well.

Accessories

We think for the fall the best accessories that you could wear with our varsity jackets are beanies or baseball caps. These accessories help make the outfit a little more casual. So if you want to put your own spin on an outfit these are the perfect accessories to do so.

How to Take Care of Your Bomber Jacket

In order to keep your bomber jacket clean, we recommend that you get our jackets dry cleaned or wipe the stains with a damp cloth, so it stays in pristine shape. This is just so that the product will last for a really long time, and you can continue wearing it for years to come. Trends never seem to die so you never know when you might need to pull out that varsity bomber jacket again.

Whether it's poly twill or fleece it's very easy to take care of. You will never feel burdened when taking care of these materials.

Experimenting with Your Style

Fashion is always about experimenting with your style. You may be a person who doesn’t really care about what’s trending right now. You may value what you think looks good on you or you might be a person who needs advice on an outfit and thinks that you may not have a sense of style. But style is what you make it not what is deemed to be stylish. Most of our suggestions can easily be made into casual or more formal looks that you can wear out and about clubbing with friends or doing everyday things like skateboarding or doing simple errands.

We just want to give you options to either help with creating your own personal style or to express your current one. Sometimes it's hard to decide whether it's OK to wear a certain thing and sometimes you might need help. We're just here to extend that olive branch to make you feel comfortable in whatever you decide to wear. No matter who you are we hope that you feel at your best wearing our clothing. Remember that we enjoy seeing your outfits and how you style our pieces because it helps us create new pieces with #BKFam in mind.

We hope that our advice helped you decide what to wear with our bomber varsity jackets. We do all of this for you. You will definitely make a statement this fall! Send us your looks on Instagram by tagging us @brooklyncloth. We always love to see you wear our pieces, #BKFam!