I’m 63, and I’ve spent much of my life feeling fairly invisible to women. A good friend recently suggested that the missing ingredient might be a leather jacket. After all these years, it would be quite something to discover the problem had a zipper.
According to my friend, women love them, and I’d look cool in one. I appreciate the confidence. It’s encouraging when someone looks at you and sees untapped potential, even if that potential apparently comes with special cleaning instructions.
The difficulty is that I’ve never been a leather-jacket person. They tend to look a little dorky to me, especially on men my age. I realize that’s a broad judgment about a perfectly innocent garment, but it does complicate the proposed transformation.
I’m trying to picture myself wearing one without feeling as though I’m waiting for someone to ask why I’m dressed like that. There’s a difference between liking how something looks and hoping other people like it enough to compensate for your own reservations.
Still, my friend means well, and I’m curious. Maybe I’ve dismissed something that could actually suit me. Maybe the jacket would look fine, and I’m making a major identity question out of outerwear.
Before I commit to looking cool on someone else’s recommendation, I’d like a second opinion: does a leather jacket work on an older man who has never wanted one?
