With Spring very much upon us I had high hopes that my GoGo Trench would see me through spring and summer. Alas a 33C (91.4F) day quickly put a sweaty end to that idea. So, since I’m such a fan of the GoGo Gear LA brand I thought I’d check out their summer wear. Hello Ventilated Cafe Jacket, hello and thank you.
I’ve had the chance over the last three weeks to use it on some pretty darn hot days and it really hasn’t disappointed. The clever ladies at GoGo have thought long and hard about this jacket, I guess living in LA will do that to you. The coat has some serious ventilation mesh around the sides of your torso and cleverly underneath your arms. This means the bits of you that usually cop it the most ie your armpits get a darn fine breeze when you pick up speed. Something I’m glad this jacket has (which is missing with the Trench) is both a zipper and buttons which gives you the feeling that if you were unlucky enough to take a spill there’d be no button popping jacket being ripped off action. It also means you feel confident undoing the top couple of buttons and undoing the zipper a little to give yourself extra breathing room on a really hot day.
All importantly this baby comes in three colours: black, red and cream. The pockets like the Trench are really deep and are also zippered so your phone, wallet and keys will fit no problem. There’s also an extra secret pocket inside which is velcroed. The Cafe has very subtle reflective banding on the back and cuffs and there are also three buttons on the cuffs which can be undone to give you more ventilation, lets you roll up the sleeves or just gives you a nice trumpet cuff look.
I met a woman on the street who was wearing a red Cafe Jacket and she said she’d had compliments on the coat from people not realising it was a riding jacket, which is brilliant. Most importantly though is the safety factor. Like the Trench and unlike most other brands the Cafe has shoulder, elbow AND back armour. It’s also less bulky than the Trench so it leaves you even more room when you pop it in your helmet bay. Seriously I can’t rave about this enough, it’s a fantastic coat and if you buy the Trench you’ll be sorted all year round.
If you’re in Sydney get down to Scooteria 150 Paramatta Rd, Stanmore and try one on, you won’t be disappointed.
