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Brief The Rocket 88 is loaded with quality and style for those who want a jacket made just for women. With soft armor, full ventilation, full sleeve liner and optional armor pockets, this jacket sacrifices nothing for its sleek and feminine design. The weighty leather is ventilated well and isn't overly warm even in summer weather and fits like a glove. Overview In the vast market of motorcycle accessories there is remarkable little attention paid to female customers. The majority of the products on the market are focused on male riders with virtually no awareness of female riders and passengers. As a result, finding gear made for women is difficult and often deeply buried among gear for men. Many women, in fact, end up wearing gear made for men with the unfortunate result of poor fit and lackluster appearance. Our recent experience shopping for a woman's riding jacket introduced us to the problems of finding gear made just for women. We found remarkably few products available to suit our needs. Our shopping criterion was pretty basic: we were looking for a leather jacket that had 1) a full sleeve liner, 2) armor, 3) vents 4) and perhaps most importantly, one that looked like it was made for a woman. The result of our shopping yielded the perfect jacket, the Joe Rocket Woman's Rocket 88. Joe Rocket has an extensive catalog of cycle gear for men and women. Luckily, their website actually has a category for women's jackets so it was easy to find. The Rocket 88 retails for a hefty $399, but many distributors are selling them for quite a bit less than the actual retail price. We found last year's 2001 jackets for as low as $175. Details The Rocket 88 is a retro styled jacket with a distressed look to the leather and a shapely waistline. It is primarily black with a stripe of color across the shoulders and down the inside of the arm. The 2001 Rocket 88 was available in many colors: Black/Yellow, Black/Red, Black/Orange, Black/Cream, but the 2002 is only available in Black/Black and Black/Cream Piping. Many online distributors still have the colorful 2001 jackets in their inventories at reduced prices. The waist is adjustable with snaps that are covered with a decorative strap and antiqued brass buckle. The sides at the hip unzip for added roominess and ventilation and the underarms are perforated to provide additional ventilation. The jacket comes with soft armor from the elbow to forearm and has optional shoulder armor pockets. Pockets are in a little short supply compared to other jackets with 1 small one on the chest and one on either hip. The leather is of substantial weight and has a full nylon, perforated lining. The sleeves have a zipper at the wrist and a snap at the cuff and there is also a zip out, full sleeve liner for warmth, making this an excellent winter jacket. What we cannot stress enough is exactly how well this jacket fits. When you get this jacket on it feels as if someone had taken my measurements and custom sewn this jacket just for you. The jacket felt great on and seemed very well made. Although we purchased this jacket in the summer, it was ventilated well enough that it was not overly hot. The design was thoughtful and fun and the result is a fabulous product we purchase again.
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