How Long Should a Leather Jacket Be? Where the Hem Should Land

A leather jacket should be long enough to cover your trouser waistband when you stand with your arms relaxed, which for most styles puts the hem on your belt line or just below it, at the top of the hip. Cropped styles stop at the natural waist by design, and coats run from the hip down to the knee. Get it right before you order: a leather hem can be taken up, but there's almost never spare leather inside to let it down.

How long should a leather jacket be? Hem points by style

Use this when you try a jacket on or compare product pages. The third column shows lengths from our own product descriptions, so you can see how much styles really differ.

Each figure is one reference length, mostly measured down the back, and your size may run slightly shorter or longer, so use them to compare styles and check against a jacket you own. A traditional car coat ends at mid-thigh, while ours range from hip-covering to mid-length, so read the length line before you choose.

The test that matters most: no gap at the waistband

One complaint comes up again and again on leather jacket forums: the jacket fits the chest and shoulders, but an inch or two of shirt shows between the hem and the jeans. Some older riding jackets were cut as high as the navel so the leather wouldn't bunch in a riding crouch, which surprises people who wear them on foot.

Whether a length works depends on your trousers as much as the jacket. Low-rise jeans sit on the hip bone, a few inches below the natural waist, so a belt-length biker that looks right with mid-rise jeans can leave a strip of shirt showing with low-rise ones. High-rise trousers close that gap and make a cropped jacket look deliberate.

So judge length in the trousers you'll wear most, at the height you normally wear them. If you wear a long tee or untucked shirt underneath, check how much hangs below the hem: a little can look intentional, several inches usually doesn't.

Why sizing up won't fix a short jacket

When a jacket feels short, the instinct is to order the next size. That rarely works, because width changes much faster than length between sizes.

Look at the men's chart in our size guide. Back length goes from 26 inches at the smallest size to 29.5 inches at the largest, up half an inch per size, while the finished jacket chest goes up 2 inches per size. Say your chest measures 41 inches, which makes you a Medium, but you have a long torso. Jumping to XL gets you one extra inch of length and four extra inches around the body. The hem moves a little; everything else gets baggy.

Two other chart details matter:

• The chart's back length is a general guide. Individual styles are cut shorter or longer, which is why a cafe racer can be listed at 24 inches. When length matters, go by the product page.
• The women's chart has no length column. It lists bust, waist, hips and sleeve only, so compare the listed length with a jacket you own, or give us your number when you order made to measure.

How we set length in our workshop

It starts with the back panel

On most jackets, the back is the largest single piece of leather. In our workshop we cut it from the firm, even area of the hide on either side of the backbone, and lay the pattern so the jacket's length runs roughly head to tail, the way the grain of the skin runs. That keeps the back even in color and thickness from collar to hem. Softer areas toward the belly go to smaller, less visible pieces.

A longer piece needs a longer clean stretch of hide, and a single hide often can't give a flawless panel from collar to knee. That's why long leather coats usually have a back yoke, a waist seam or a center back seam. Those seams are normal on a well-made coat, not a shortcut.

The hem is turned, with little to spare

A leather hem is folded up and stitched or bonded with a narrow turn-up. Unlike wool, there's no deep allowance inside for a tailor to let down, and the old stitch line would leave a row of holes anyway.

The lining is cut slightly longer than the leather, with a small fold of spare cloth just above the hem. When you lift your arms, that fold opens and lets the lining move, so it doesn't drag the leather hem up with it. If a jacket rides up badly even though it looks long enough, a tight lining or low armholes are often the cause. Our guide to how armholes affect ride-up shows how to tell which.

Zips, pockets and belts move with the length

Changing length isn't just adding leather at the bottom. A front zip is cut to the body length, hand-warmer pockets need to sit where your hands fall, and a half belt should land at the small of your back. When we lengthen or shorten a pattern for a made-to-measure order, we check where each of those ends up, so the proportions still work on you.

Length changes a style more than you might expect. Here is the asymmetrical biker at two lengths, plus a mid-thigh coat:

Women's Black Lambskin Cropped Asymmetrical JacketWomen's Black Lambskin Long Moto JacketMen's Black Leather Overcoat

A six-step length check when your jacket arrives

Do this indoors with the tags on, so a standard size can still go back.

1. Dress for it. Wear the trousers and the layer you'll wear most often, belted as usual.
2. Stand relaxed. Close the jacket and let your arms hang. The hem should cover the waistband all the way around, with no shirt showing, unless the jacket is cropped by design.
3. Look from the side. The hem should run level from front to back. If the front lifts over your stomach or the back kicks out over your seat, the body is short or tight there.
4. Raise both arms overhead. Some lift is normal on every jacket. Note how far it goes. A hem that jumps several inches and stays up when you lower your arms points to a short body or low armholes.
5. Reach forward and sit down. Hold your hands out as if gripping a steering wheel, then sit in a dining chair. Your lower back shouldn't be left bare, and a longer jacket shouldn't bunch hard at your stomach or push the collar up.
6. Use the pockets. Put your hands in the hand-warmer pockets with your elbows relaxed. If you have to hike your hands up or reach down to them, the length is off for your proportions.

Height, torso and proportion

Two people with the same chest can need different lengths, because torso length varies more than chest size suggests.

• Long torso: standard lengths tend to ride high on you, especially bikers and cafe racers. A longer cut, or made to measure with your own length, solves it. Our guide for tall men covers body and sleeve length together.
• Short torso and long legs: a hip-length jacket can make your legs look shorter. A belt-length or cropped cut usually balances you better.
• Petite frames: a jacket that is hip length on a taller person can reach your upper thigh, so go by listed lengths, not style names. Our petite leather jacket guide has more.
• Fuller stomach: a stomach takes up front length, so the front hem rises while the back stays put. Check the side view in step three, and mention it when you order made to measure.

Too long or too short: what can be fixed

• Too long, plain hem: a leather tailor can usually shorten it. Pockets and seams near the hem limit how far it can go.
• Too long, zip front: the front zip has to be shortened or replaced along with the hem, so the job takes longer and costs more.
• Too long, knit waistband: the band is removed, the body is shortened and the band is sewn back on.
• Too short: there's no practical way to add length. Standard sizes (including made to order) can be returned within 30 days of delivery, unworn with tags attached, so exchange it or move to made to measure.

Before paying for an alteration, read our guide on what a tailor can change on a leather jacket.

How to order the length you need

The most reliable number comes from a jacket you already like. Lay it flat, smooth the back without stretching it, and measure from the base of the collar at center back straight down to the hem. On your body, stand straight in your usual trousers and have someone run the tape from the base of your collar to where you want the jacket to end.

1. Choose Customise Size (made to measure) on the product page and place your order.
2. Email info@whiteburaq.com with your order number and your chest, waist, hips, shoulder width, sleeve length and jacket length.
3. Add anything that affects length: the rise of the trousers you wear, a long torso, a fuller stomach, or riding in the jacket. For the sleeves, our sleeve length guide explains where the cuff should land.

Made-to-measure jackets take about 2 weeks, then express delivery takes 3 to 5 business days in the US and 5 to 8 elsewhere. We offer standard sizes, and made to measure goes up to 8XL. Because each one is cut for one person, made-to-measure pieces are final sale, so measure twice. Our made-to-measure page has the full details.

FAQ

How short is too short for a leather jacket?

If shirt shows between the hem and your waistband while you stand with your arms relaxed, it's too short for those trousers. Bikers, bombers and truckers should cover the belt or sit right on it; only cropped styles are meant to end above it. Some lift when you reach or sit is normal if it settles back.

Will a leather jacket get longer as it breaks in?

No. Leather softens and shapes itself around your shoulders, elbows and back, but the body doesn't gain any real length. Buy the length you need on day one.

What length leather jacket is the most versatile?

One that ends on the belt line or at the top of the hip works with the widest range of trousers, heights and occasions. Go shorter for high-rise outfits and longer to cover tailoring.

Once you know where you want the hem, choosing is easier. Browse our men's leather jackets, women's leather jackets or leather coats, and order made to measure if standard lengths never seem to reach.