Shearling Coats
It was movie rebels of the ’50s who hipped the fashion world to the style choices of the shearling coat. The likes of Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront) and James Dean (Giant) made the rugged workmanlike coverings fashioned from inverted sheepskins with suede outer linings and cozy inner linings seem cool. When Bob Dylan donned them in the ’60s the burgeoning youth music scene took notice and made them even shaggier. Sonny Bono even turned his inside-out as a vest. The look has never really left us as the Marlboro Man and Bruce Springsteen would take up the mantle. Today, the likes of Ewan McGregor, Tom Hardy, Tyler Hoechlin and much of the cast of TV’s “Yellowstone” wear it to great effect.
But one needs to go back to the earliest days of flying to find the roots of sheepskin as a happening look. Shearling clothing had been available in crude form at least since sheep were first domesticated and shepherds sought protection from the cold. But it was a time beginning around World War I, when planes had open cockpits with nothing shielding the elements, that turned shearling into a well-tailored option. Aviators needed a jacket that would keep them warm at increasingly high altitudes and allow them to maneuver easily in cramped quarters. It was aviation equipment designers who first created such slim options as the B-3 bomber jacket and the Irvin jacket. Not being in the fashion industry, Leslie Irvin, the originator, went back to designing his aviation-only devices like the parachute rip cord.
Today, shearling comes in many forms from jacket to trench-coat length as well as peacoat silhouettes. You can opt for finished leather (as in the photo) in place of suede outers or simply go with a sheepskin collar. Color choices are many, but it’s probably best to stick with natural or brown tones. If animal fabrics are a concern, imitations are available in cotton outers with inners made of something called “sherpa.” Whatever side you fall on, the shearling look is about as close to wearing fur as a man should get (unless you’re Joe Namath).
