NOTE: minor spoiler alert.
Captain America! America's new hope, God's righteous man, the man out of time, the star-spangled man with a plan, living proof that perfection is indeed attainable! We all love Captain America. We love his big heart, his excellent leadership, or, if you're weird like me, you love his snazzy leather jacket.Steve's jacket is a fairly iconic piece in Steve's everyday apparel; he wears it numerous times throughout the multiple Marvel movies he appears in. But, where exactly did he get his jacket? This is the mystery of Steve's leather jacket! *dun dun dun*
"Well Ary, ever think that maybe Steve got it at the store, like a normal person?" Ya see, that's the thing, we see Steve wear it in the 40s during WWII, and, if you know anything about WWII, you know that leather was heavily rationed during this time, so that jacket would either have not existed or have been extremely expensive. But, in Bucky's flashbacks in CATWS (Captain America: the Winter Soldier) we see that Steve lived in a shabby Brooklyn apartment, meaning Steve lived fairly modestly and probably couldn't afford a nice jacket like the one we see him wear all the time."Well Ary, maybe he got it in the 30s," Again, Steve lived very modestly and could not afford a jacket like that, and we have the Great Depression to consider. So every other average American citizen would have been struggling financially as well.
After pondering about how Steve could've acquired that jacket, given the state of the government in that era and Steve's waste-not-want-not way of living, I came to a dead end in my search. After thinking that questioning the origins of Captain America's leather jacket was a wild, fangirl goose chase, my brother pointed out that Steve's jacket looked like a WWI aviator's jacket. Then it hit me. You know who fought in WWI? Joseph Rogers, aka, Steven Grant Rogers's dad.
Here's my theory: we know that Steve's father, Joseph, died from a tear gas attack during WWI before Steve was born, as it is said in CATFA (Captain America: the First Avenger). It is very likely that Joseph's jacket was given to Sarah Rogers, Steve's mother, as a condolence from the military. Now knowing that Steve would never know, or even see his father, Sarah would've given the jacket to him so he would have something to know his father by. That would also explain why the jacket always looks new and clean, Steve would've take phenomenal care of his late father's jacket.
When I presented this theory to my friend Jori, the girl who got me into the MCU in the first place, she thought it was a very good theory. But, she also presented another theory; what of the jacket is Bucky's? We see that Steve only starts wearing the jacket after Bucky is drafted, so maybe it was a gift from Bucky to Steve, so Steve would have something to remember his best friend by while he was away. That would also explain why we never see pre-serum Steve wear the jacket. If Bucky didn't give Steve the jacket until right before he left, then Steve wouldn't even have the chance to wear it until the next day. But, the next day, Steve was transformed into Captain America, so again, Steve didn't really have the chance to wear the jacket. But, we see steve wear the jacket for the first time right after he performs his show for the 107th.
So, where do you think Steve got his leather jacket? Was it his dad's? Was it a goodbye present from Bucky? Or did Steve simply buy it himself? Tell me in the comments!
Over and Out!
<3 Ary
