Oh, the
leather jacket. Never before has one piece garnered so much attention in the "save or splurge" category. You know the pros and cons of each by now, so let's jump ahead to a much more exciting debate: real vs. faux leather. Faux leather is usually easy to distinguish from real, and a faux jacket can run you anywhere from $40 at
Forever 21 to almost $200 at
Urban Outfitters. While there are gems to be found, my guess is you're giving up either quality fabric (not that good faux leather doesn't exist) or quality construction-- two things that can make or break your purchase. Real leather jackets, while often considerably more expensive, are generally going to be of a higher overall quality, regardless of the material, so if you plan on wearing your jacket regularly for more than one season, you may want to invest in the real deal. I've found several real leather jackets that retail for less than $250, and if you can dig up a coupon code or are brave enough to play the game known as "I'll wait 'til it goes on sale," you can snap one of these up for quite the steal. The trick is to look in places you may not normally frequent! So-called "mom brands" like
Ann Taylor, Eddie Bauer, and Jones New York happen to have gorgeous leather jackets that easily rival the trend pieces you'd see in any high-end shop-- at about a third of the price. Click on the slideshow to see them all!
