Bomber, Windbreaker or Varsity: Which 80s Jacket Is Actually Yours?

Three jackets carry the 80s look. One was built for fighter pilots, one for people who might get rained on, and one for teenagers who were good at sport. They are not interchangeable, and most guides describe them one at a time, which is no use when you are trying to pick.

So here they are side by side.

The bomber

Elasticated waist and cuffs, zip front, no hood, cut short so the hem lands at the hip. The MA-1 is the ancestor of nearly all of them, designed for pilots in unpressurised cockpits and adopted by everyone else the moment it hit surplus stores. Top Gun did the rest of the marketing in 1986, free of charge.

The waistband is the whole story. It pulls the jacket in at the bottom, which rounds the torso and widens the shoulders. If you are slim, this is the jacket that gives you the most shape. If you already carry weight around the middle, that same elastic will draw a line exactly where you do not want one, and a straight hem jacket will serve you better.

Warmth is entirely about the lining. A lined bomber such as the New Retro Bomber Jacket at $69.99 handles autumn and a mild winter. An unlined cotton bomber is a spring jacket that looks like a winter one, which is a distinction you learn once and never forget. Ours start at $39.89 for the Spring New Retro Bomber and run past $130 for the heavier builds.

The windbreaker

Lightweight shell, nylon or polyester, hood that usually packs into the collar, and frequently colour blocked in panels. Those panels are what date it precisely to the mid 80s and early 90s, and they are the reason it looks like it belongs in a music video rather than on a hiking trail.

A windbreaker stops wind and light rain and does essentially nothing about cold. That sounds like a flaw and it is the entire purpose: it is the layer for the six weeks in spring and the six weeks in autumn when a coat is absurd and a shirt is optimistic. It also packs down to nothing, which none of the others manage.

This is the most forgiving of the three on body shape, because it hangs straight instead of gathering at the waist. It is the least forgiving on fabric quality. A cheap one sounds like a crisp packet every time you move your arms, and you will quietly stop wearing it. We have written about styling them separately.

The varsity

Wool or cotton body, contrast leather or vinyl sleeves, ribbed collar and cuffs, snaps instead of a zip. Heavier than both of the others and dramatically more visible. The letterman jacket was American school sportswear that everyone learned to recognise, largely through films where the person wearing it was rarely the protagonist.

This is the loudest jacket in the comparison. Two tone construction, contrast sleeves and a ribbed collar read from across a street. Buy it if you want the jacket to be the outfit. Do not buy it as a general purpose jacket for four days a week, because it refuses to disappear into anything.

Straight comparison

Pick by the problem you have

You want one jacket for most of the year. Bomber, black or navy, lined. The most neutral of the three and it goes over everything.

You are permanently slightly too warm or slightly too cold. Windbreaker. It solves the in between weather and you can stuff it in a bag when the weather changes its mind.

You own three black jackets and you are bored. Varsity. It is the one people comment on.

You want the synthwave night look specifically. None of these. That is a leather jacket, and ours start with the Synthwave Leather Jacket 1984 at $89.99. Different piece, different rules, and we have covered why it became an icon elsewhere.

Questions we get

Can I wear a bomber over a suit? Technically yes and it has been fashionable more than once. It is a deliberate look, not a default one.

Is a varsity jacket too young for me? The honest answer is that it reads younger than the other two. If that bothers you at all, it will keep bothering you every time you put it on.

What about denim? A fourth option we left out because it behaves differently from all three. The Retro Denim Jacket 1981 is $69.89 and there is a separate guide for it.

Before you order

Check sleeve length and layering room. All three were originally cut to go over a shirt, not a thick hoodie. If you layer heavily in winter, take the next size up and read the sleeve measurement rather than assuming, as covered in our sizing guide. A jacket that fits everywhere except the arms is a jacket you will not wear.

Explore the collections: 80s Jackets & Windbreakers · Jackets · New Retro Denim Jacket