It goes without saying that the bomber jacket is one of the most versatile pieces in a modern wardrobe. The classic military heritage in a masculine cropped blouson silhouette just seems to be able to go with everything. It can be dressed up with a smart fine-gauge rollneck and pleat trousers or dressed down with a simple tee and jeans. Best of all is its trans-seasonality, able to be worn in all but the most extreme weather conditions. But what if you took the DNA of the bomber and transposed it on the double helix of the Harrington jacket, that other icon of mens' short jackets? That's exactly what we've done to create one of this season's key pieces at Oliver Spencer - the Ryde bomber jacket.
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RYDE BOMBER JACKET |
Referencing the silhouette the classic MA-1 bomber jacket of old, the Ryde bomber's design is also deftly wrapped up in the nuances of the traditional Harrington jacket, thanks to the button-down front and soft collar construction. Whereas the classic Harrington has a fold-down collar, the Ryde has a softer pop-up style for a very relaxed finish. We've constructed it in five different lightweight fabrics, from a soft Italian cotton-mix seersucker to a 100% linen fabric perfect for transitional layering. From now until March or so, the Ryde works really well as a lightweight layering option beneath your heavier coats, then as the weather improves, ditch the outer layers as wear the Ryde as a versatile blouson for summer evenings, right the way through to the transition into autumn.
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RYDE BOMBER JACKET |
In all, we've made five different fabric iterations of the Ryde - an Italian organic cotton seersucker, together with a cotton-mix seersucker; a herringbone-striped organic cotton; a lightweight Portuguese cotton and linen blend; and finally a crisp linen check cloth for high summer. The duo of seersuckers are perfect for anyone who likes an interesting textural finish to their clothes and they're great at keeping you cool, too, since the tiny dimples allow air to flow between your layers.
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RYDE BOMBER JACKET |
The cotton and linen blend and the straight-up linen style are you go-to options for high summer, feeling more like an overshirt in terms of weigh, but still affording you the structure of a bomber jacket. Whichever one you choose, you'll find it's super easy to amalgamate into your wardrobe, as we've chosen a muted colour palette for added versatility. If there's only one summer jacket you buy this year, we think you'll get no end of stylish ensembles out of our Ryde bomber.