The New (And Old) Shearling

Shearling has kept men and women warm since the stone age. This history exercise, however, goes back only as far as to the Victorian era.

Victorians invented coats as we know them. Most styles haven’t even changed much since. Back then, shearling coats were purely practical items made to perform – keeping the wearer warm without making much of a fashion statement.

Still purely functional, in the 1940s shearling was the lining material of American Pilots’ bomber jackets. Then, in the 1950s, Hollywood embraced the material for its appealing textural look. That was when, from military to bad-boy uniform, shearling found life beyond function. The most iconic looks of the era included Marlon Brando’s shearling bomber in the 1954 film On the Waterfront and James Dean’s ranch coat in 1956.

Even Marilyn Monroe, an icon as feminine as it gets, sported shearling in utterly masculine bombers and boyish coats.