Today's post is about one of current fashion's biggest trends, moto fashion. Before exploring the exciting fashion dope, my own background and interest in the subject should be explained. My boyfriend Steve owns a motorcycle, a Ducati. It wasn't just his handsome looks and expensive motorcycle that attracted me to him, his moto fashion flair caught my eye, too. So, combining my own interest in fashion, which couldn't ignore the moto influence, and Steve's enthusiasm for motorcycling, well, naturally that resulted in intensifying an already growing fascination.
So, back to the subject at large: what exactly is moto fashion? Well, it's a fashion trend that largely draws it's influence from the motorcycle sub culture. The motorcycle subculture can basically be divided into two or perhaps three different, dissimilar camps. The two basic camps are differentiated by the type, brand, or nationality  of the motorcycles. On one side is the traditional United-States-Harley-Davidson-Indian/British-Triumph camp, and on the other side is the Japanese-Kawasaki-Suzuki-Honda/Italian-Ducati camp. "So what do motorcycles have anything to do with fashion styles and styling besides being backdrops, Naomi?" You ask? Everything. Two very different styles of moto fashion were influenced by the two very different motorcycle subcultures. The way the bikes themselves fit in, is that the way the bikes are used and rode influenced the styling of the clothes. However, it would appear that when most people speak about moto fashion they're referring to the later of the two camps. But not so fast, since the Japanese/Italian style is in some ways a child of the Untited States/British camp, some of that US/British styling rubbed off on it. Here's some examples from the early years:

These photos from the late '60's to early '80's don't show much of a women's fashion movement; Bridgette Bardot could just as well be go-go dancing in her outfit as riding on her customized Triumph. To a certain extent Triumph is the missing link between the Harley Davidson and the Japanese/Italian subcultures. Fashionwise, stylings can go either way
because the bikes can go either way. Even though the photos above show only the germinal stages of a distinct fashion, you can see how the bikes influence the choice of clothing a bit: on the modified Harley Davidsons, the women's clothing is looser and less streamlined, Marianne Faithful, however, riding an unmodified Triumph, has a tighter more moto look. That's because in the old days, Triumphs were still being raced, and the racing outfits had and still have
a very direct influence on moto fashion. Here's some examples:

Even though everyone of these photos is of a guy on a motorcycle - can't think of a single woman motorcycle racer - it's obvious that Ms. Faithful's leather jumpsuit was influenced by what these guys are wearing. Actually, the jumpsuit gets its name from parachute jumping and the world of aircraft, I would suppose that because of the exposure motorcycle riders experience while riding, that the jumpsuit was adopted for motocrcycling. There are more insights to be gleamed from these photos: the traditional leather motorcycle jacket with it's cropping, wide collar, and integral, wide belt has been significantly streamlined. The length of the jacket remains though the collar has been all but eliminated, the wide belt replaced by numerous smaller belts and significant padding has been added. It's an obvious utilitarian decision based on
the danger of racing motorcycles. Incidentally, the traditional, wide collared motorcycle jacket started life as a policeman's uniform but became so embedded in a subcounterculture that it's original role as part of an authoritarian uniform has drifted into obscurity. Yet, that may be the reason the traditional moto jacket was adopted by the Harley/US
moto camp as much of this style of fashion is worn by people seeking to usurp authority by establishing an authority of their own. Movies like the Brando motorcycle movies, Born Losers, and real life motorcycle gangs exhibit such behavior.
The leather pants of the racing motorcyclist differ from the pedestrian versions in being a little tighter, but with padding in key areas. The leather pants from the old days were still boot cut sometimes with a zipper cuff. Today's moto pant has tightened things up considerably and the bulky padding of the motorcycle racing pant has been reduced and integrated as a style point. Instead of serving a functional role, the key features of the racing pants
have been highly stylized.
Finally, moto boots. In the early days, racing motorcyclists seemed to prefer a sort of Doc Martenish boot or a thick sole, low heeled - they were guys after all - Fry type boot. These boots evolved into boots that could pass as ski boots if you didn't look carefully. They don't seem to have had a very big influence on women's fashion except for a few boho styles. The modern ski type boots haven't had a very strong influence on day to day street fashion.
So, basically the moto look gets its influence from what men wear. Both the US/British and Japanese/Italian sides of the coin have slowly absorbed styles that guys wear and feminized them a bit. Now, I wrote earlier about a third version
of the moto look, and that's an image that motorcycle companies want to project. It's the look that appears in advertisements and at trade shows:

There's no obvious trend in the commercial moto girl look; it's a potpurri of a melange of different looks. Some articles of clothing obviously originated in the model's own wardrobe, others are part of a uniform. The moto girl look is very similar to the car girl look or other promo girls looks.
Finally, there's a moto girl dress up game. Well, it's not really a game, it's more like a virtual Barbie (hey guys I'm not playing with you). Check out these  shots:

There's no choice about the helmet in Street Bike Racer, safety first, even when you're not moving. Not many fashion choices either. Guess it serves its purpose.
So, I bet since you're smart you can figure out what's coming up later. And, since you're smart I know you're going to want to check back here again. That's all I'm going to say, and that's all for now.
Catchya later.
Ciao.