Perseverance, dedication, courage, and devotion—these four words describe Jennifer Chaffin, who created Leather amp; Lace women’s motorcycle club in 1983 and remains at the helm as the club’s president today. This year the club is celebrating a big milestone—30 years and still going strong!
Jennifer is passionate about motorcycling. After enduring years of being stuck in the back of the men’s pack, totally ignored and not taken seriously as a motorcyclist, she decided it was time to create a club that combined her passions: women’s and children’s issues and the freedom of the road.
She put ads in various motorcycling magazines across the United States. After a few weeks, her mailbox was chock full of letters from women from every part of the country wanting to be a part of her dream. Over the past 30 years, that seed of an idea has grown into an international women’s motorcycle club that’s broken barriers and changed attitudes about women riders.
Jennifer founded Leather & Lace MC as a way to bring together women who share a common interest in motorcycling and in helping others.“We are a rare and unique breed in that we’re not only women, we are family women,” Jennifer said. “We share the feel of the wind in our face and the excitement of the thunder and power beneath us as we ride. As our name depicts, ‘leather’ is for the inner strength as well as the physical strength we share to be able to handle our machines. ‘lace’ is for our femininity, which is important to each of us.”
 |
 |
These fun photos show members of Leather & Lace during its first decade in existence. The club has grown to include chapters in Pennsylvania, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, and California, as well as a presence in Canada and England.
The members of Leather & Lace are a strong, united group of passionate women that work hard to keep Jennifer’s vision alive. Each month the club raises money for nonprofit organizations across the country, including a fund-raiser held every October benefitting the Johns Hopkins Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
“We do enjoy each other’s company,” said Blythe Joslin, a club member in Alabama. “We find ourselves trying to figure out how to work in a trip here and there to go see each other. Being a few hours’ ride from each other is nothing really; it gives us a chance to blow some wind through our brain and get back to feeling like ourselves once we get to our destination. It is a monumental feeling akin to a religious high when we do all ride together—it still sends shivers through me!”
The women of Leather & Lace are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, grandmothers, and great grandmothers. They are paramedics, designers, accountants, managers, business owners, and web designers. Every Leather & Lace event is full of laughter, smiles, encouragement, and chocolate!
“It took a year to be sure I had found the right club for me,” said Sharon Long a club member from North Carolina. “Today, there is no doubt I made the right choice. Lace is my family. The wind builds strong bonds, unbreakable bonds. It is amazing every day those bonds become stronger. Thirty years of women coming together, building each other, helping their communities, and showing that we are as strong, as powerful, as the machines we ride.”
For more information on becoming a member of Leather amp; Lace, visit LeatherandLaceMC.com or "like" the Leather & Lace Facebook page.
View our list ofNational & Regional Riding Clubsto find a women-only riding club in your area.
Related Articles
Club Profile: Guilty Girlz Riding Club Invades Michigan
Hello! I’m 63, a proud mother of 4 grown children and 7 amazing grandchildren. I’m a empty nester so to speak. I proudly work for veterans affairs in Milwaukee. I absolutely love to ride, although I’ve always been a passenger. I have been following Leather and Lace and I just can’t say enough about you all! I would love to know more about you and how I could possibly be a member. I just can’t put it off any longer.
Hi Karen. Please get in touch with someone from Leather and Lace directly by clicking the link in the story, or on our women’s riding clubs page here.Best of luck!
Great presentation, great work, and motorcycle club as well.
The Ladies of Leather & Lace are spectacular. I got to know some of them back in the late 80s and 90s. From the Twin State chapter. They were very caring, friendly, and giving. They made me feel like family. They are one of the biggest influences in my life. Some of what Liz of the Twin State chapter said to me has stuck with me through the years and is part of the reason I’m trying to start a business Rock Steady Custom Handcrafted Jewelry/Belt-buckles and Engraving. They are very wonderful ladies.
I really love this idea. What a different name — Lather and Lace.
Thank you so much for running this article…you made a great choice, as did I when I joined the club.
Thank you very much for posting our 30th anniversary story. This is a great group of women who always ride strong and proud…on and off our bikes. I’m very proud to stand and ride amongst them.
Excellent presentation! Thank you WRN!
Thank you for the article on Leather and Lace MC. We are very proud of our club and the good work we do in our communities, supporting women riders and motorcycle safety. It is so very nice to see someone get the story out there. Again, thank you very much!
Thank you for publishing this wonderful article about LLMC. I am a proud member of this historic women’s motorcycle club. We are 30 years strong and growing. If you think you have what it takes to become a sister then please contact us. We would love to meet you.
Big thanks to Women Riders Now for getting women rider news out there. Love this article. I am very proud to be a member of Leather & Lace MC.
Thank you so much for the wonderful article on Leather and Lace MC. I have been in quite a few years, and it was the best decision I have ever made. Now I have “family” close by no matter where I travel.
I am a proud full patch member of Leather & Lace MC. Thanks so much for getting the word out to the many thousands of women who ride and may not have found a club to join or a sisterhood to belong to. Lace has opened up my life to so many new possibilities, found the family I didn’t know I needed and a bond with like-minded women who love their motorcycles, riding together and making a positive difference for others through their charitable work.
Thank you for this beautiful article about an amazing and wonderful group. I am grateful to be a part of “The Best Sisterhood” in the world.
Thank you so much for including the great article of Leather & Lace MC in your e-zine. I am a member of this great club and the impact that it has had on my life has been overwhelming at times. Thank you for including us. I continue to enjoy WRN. I have subscribed for many years.
Thank you for this awesome article on Leather and Lace MC. I am very honored and proud to be a member of Leather and Lace MC. It is truly an amazing group of women to be around.
Thank you for the wonderful article. I am a member of Leather and Lace MC and it’s an awesome sisterhood filled with so many different types of women but all are strong and independent and love to ride.
Thank you for posting this story. I so enjoyed reading about the dedication, along with the purpose of the club. A gal I met through the Internet, I believe, is a member of Leather & Lace — Lynn Brooks. Way to go ladies. Wish I could join ya’ll.
Thanks Genevieve! Awesome article about Leather & Lace MC ,Still rocking it after 30 years. Congrats!
As a proud member of Leather & Lace MC and a proud subscriber of WRN I want to thank you for your wonderful article. A big thanks for all your great articles.
Thank you so very much for the wonderful article sharing Leather and Lace MC’s story. I can say as a member, that I am nothing but proud to be a part of it.
Leather and Lace stands for everything that women riders have been working towards for the past 30 years.
Thank you for the story. It was wonderful.
Thanks so much for this wonderful article about Leather & Lace MC. I enjoyed reading this aritcle and am a longtime member of Lace. I have been a member for about 30 years now and have enjoyed every minute of it. We are truly a nation of spirited sisters.
Thank you so much for posting the story of Leather & Lace MC. I am a member as well and am very proud to be one. Leather & Lace MC is full of very strong and independent women who rock this worldwide nation.
Proud member of Leather and Lace MC Forming Lightning Winds chapter in NC! I have the best sisters any one person could ask for and I am so thankful to have had them in my life for the past three years. I cant wait to see what the next 30 years will bring for us in Lace!
Thank you so much for your excellent article on Leather and Lace MC. We share a bond that cannot be broken and are privileged to have such an insightful leader. We are a Lace family dedicated to each other and to doing good for others! Thank you so much!
Great story. Thank you for supporting women who ride.
This proud member of Leather & Lace MC thanks you for a job well done on this article. You guys rock!
Thank you for supporting women riders and for sharing an LLMC’s amazing 30 year old story. I count it as an honor and privilege to be a member of this wonderful sisterhood!
Thank you for all the info on Leather & Lace. Really nice article.
This is an awesome read! Thank you so much for writing this article on Leather and Lace MC and 30 years of dedication and pride.
Thanks for such a great article. Nicely done!
Thank you so much for the continued support of women riders. This article on the club I am in makes me so proud to be a member. It’s just another example of your dedication to showing all women riders that it’s possible.
As a member of LLMC we appreciate you and your magazine for publishing the article. Thank you so much!
I personally know many of these fabulous ladies! They never cease to amaze me with their courage and tireless devotion to their club. There are many men’s clubs that should take a page from the Leather & Lace MC book.
Fantastic article on Leather & Lace MC. Thank you WRN!
LOVE, LOVE the article and all of the pics! The best womens motorcycle club in the world!
Thank you so much for putting in this article. I have been a subscriber for a while now and I am so happy you did this!
Love this!
Wonderful job covering Leather and Lace Motorcycle Club! I have been a member for one year now, and I must say it was the best decision. I only wish I had heard of them sooner.Thanks to stories like this one, other women have the opportunity to read about women just like themselves looking for more than just a riding club, but a sisterhood with the common bond of the love of being in the wind as well as being able to relate on a more personable and spiritual level. Thanks again for your awesome coverage of LLMC!
Wow, great article. So good to see women riders being represented in magazines these days. Things certainly have changed! Thanks!
Mahalo for the great article, it is a great read. Your support of women riders is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for the great article about Leather and Lace, and for supporting women riders!
As a member of Lace I am proud that you took the time to include this valuable information about our club. LLMC is the pinnacle of sisterhood, bonds, and women’s strength. Thank you so much for this article!
Thank you for your article on Leather and Lace, and for posting the photo link to it on your National and Regional Riding Clubs page. For those who might come here specifically looking for clubs, it is really nice to have the info right there in case they didn’t notice the article on the home page.You’ve got a great website. This will not be the last time I will visit!
Thank you so much for the wonderful story about Leather and Lace. As a member of LLMC I am so happy to see Women Riders Now helping to get the word out that women do have choices. Thank you!
Great story. Keep moving forward!
Thank you so very much for the article on Leather & Lace MC!
I am a proud member of Leather and Lace MC. Thank you for bringing the Lace Nation to the attention of other women riders. I thought long and hard about joining a MC and I am glad that I found Lace. It has taught me so much about myself, and my Lace sisters are my family.
Leather & Lace MC is an awesome sisterhood. I have been a member for 25 years.