The Lee Storm Rider is a denim jacket with a corduroy collar and a striped blanket lining, built for cold days in the saddle and later worn by Paul Newman in Hud. Lee made it for decades, so most of the ones for sale are from the 1970s and later, and Lee and several Japanese makers have reissued it since. This guide is about telling which one you're looking at. We didn't find good evidence of outright fakes being common, so it covers what you'll actually meet, which is later Lee production, Lee's own reissues and close reproductions.
Where the Storm Rider came from
H.D. Lee started as a wholesale business in Salina, Kansas, in 1889 and moved into workwear when its suppliers couldn't keep up. In the 1930s it made the 101J, a cowboy jacket closer in shape to a Levi's Type I, and a lined version called the 101LJ. Heddels, citing the US trademark office, says Lee first used the name Lee Riders in 1935.
The jacket people mean today arrived in 1948 as the New Lee Rider Jacket, still called the 101J, with a slanted yoke and a zigzag stitch down the front. The Real McCoy's describes it as fitted and waist length, with a pocket on each side of the chest. Heddels points out it came out well before Levi's Type III, the jacket it's most often compared with today. In 1949 Lee added a lined version with a corduroy collar and a saddle blanket lining, and that's the Storm Rider in all but name.
The date of the name is where sources split. Heddels' Storm Rider history says Lee first used the Storm Rider name and artwork on November 11, 1953, and filed the trademark in February 1954, and both Denimhunters and a later Heddels piece give 1953. An older Heddels brand history says 1933, and Heddels notes some historians say 1956. We go with 1953 because it rests on the trademark record. Lined jackets from 1949 to 1953 with no Storm Rider branding and a small black label under the collar would be the rarest of all, but Heddels hadn't found a genuine one online.
Dating an original
Ask the seller for photos of the inside as well as the outside. Most of the dating is in the lining and the labels.
- Trademark mark. The small Lee label on the right breast pocket should carry an R or TM. Heddels says every New Lee Rider has one, though it can be faded or hidden under a line of stitching. A jacket with no mark at all is probably a reproduction.
- Lining at the hem. On 1950s jackets the blanket lining is finished with a strip of denim and hangs separately from the shell. From the 1960s the lining is tucked in and sewn into the waistband.
- Stripes. Most linings are grey, blue and yellow. Red stripes point to about 1960–1965. Horizontal stripes mean a wool blanket, and vertical stripes usually mean the later acrylic and polyester lining, which Heddels thinks came in after about 1975.
- The Storm Rider label. Through the 1960s the label inside is embroidered, with the cowboy riding through a storm and no size or care tags hanging off it. After that it's printed on fabric and drops the size and the 101LJ designation.
- Country line. Jackets from after 1971 state where they were made, partly because of the 1971 care labeling rule. Union Made in U.S.A. points to about 1971–1975, and plain Made in U.S.A. to after 1975.
- Pockets. Hand-warmer pockets mean after 1986. A faux-wool lining with nylon-lined sleeves points to the 1990s or early 2000s.
Storm Rider or Rider jacket
The Storm Rider is the lined 101LJ. The unlined 101J Rider jacket uses the same pattern, and sellers sometimes call any Lee Rider a Storm Rider. If the listing has no photo of a blanket lining and a corduroy collar, ask for one before you go further. Our Storm Rider page covers the lined jacket, and the Lee 101 Riders page covers the jeans that were sold alongside it.
Lee's own reissues
Lee keeps the jacket going. Heddels says Lee regularly releases Storm Riders under its Lee 101 label, often made in Japan from Japanese selvedge denim, and the example it showed used Kaihara denim. These are good jackets. They just aren't vintage, and a Made in Japan label or a modern care tag gives them away straight off.
Later Lee production is the other common mix-up. A 1980s or 1990s Storm Rider is still a real Lee jacket, so the brand labels look right. Hand-warmer pockets, a printed label, vertical stripes and a care tag that says Made in U.S.A. without Union Made together point to a later jacket, whatever the listing says.
Japanese reproductions
Several Japanese makers have built their own versions, usually to a high standard. The Real McCoy's made its Lot 002LJ, a blanket-lined Rider jacket in 14.5 oz sanforized denim with custom shank buttons. Iron Heart made an 18 oz selvedge Storm Rider with a cotton and wool blanket lining, corduroy-lined hand pockets and satin-lined sleeves. TCB's Storm Cats Drive jacket uses 14.6 oz left-hand twill selvedge denim and a recycled wool lining, and The Flat Head has made a blanket-lined denim jacket too.
All of these carry their maker's own labels and buttons and a Made in Japan tag, so they're easy to identify when the photos are complete. Trouble starts when a listing hides the labels. Hand pockets on a jacket sold as 1950s Lee are a giveaway, since Lee didn't add them until after 1986.
Sizing and condition
Rider jackets are cut fitted and short, so the tag helps less than the measurements. Ask for pit to pit, back length from the collar seam to the hem, and sleeve length measured along the outside of the arm, and compare them with a jacket you already own. Our measuring guide covers jackets as well as jeans.
Then look hard at the lining photos. The lining is what dates the jacket and what makes it a Storm Rider, so a jacket with a torn-out or replaced lining has lost most of what collectors pay for. A worn shell with a sound original lining is usually the better buy. If you're weighing it against a Levi's jacket, our Type II and Big E Type III pages cover the Levi's side.
