Leather Goods

I love leather as a material, although I try to avoid it when possible since I'm a vegetarian. I'm not vegan though, which is why I still use leather for e.g. shoes because I think it's the only material that doesn't make my feet sweat/stink after a long and hot day 😀

I often find myself really tempted to buy leather products that I love, however I force myself to choose other materials just to have my consciousness clean. I know that most of the leather is actually a byproduct of the meat industry and they don't kill those cows and other animals for the leather itself, but still, it's probably the "woke" side of me (yeah, I have one too 🤣) that makes me search for alternatives. Which is why I've been recently obsessed with Alcantara. It's a synthetic suede which looks and feels great. It's an Italian product and they used to use it only on some of the most expensive sports cars in the past but since its manufacturing became cheaper, it's now available for many mainstream cars too and for other products. I had it in my previous car (a European budget brand called SEAT which is a Spanish brand that shares platforms with Volkswagen, you Americans certainly don't know it) and I have it now in my Alfa Romeo and IMO it looks and feels even better than the optional (and more expensive) leather that they demoed to me in the Alfa showroom. And I also ordered an Alcantara iPhone case and a wallet and am very happy with them. But I must admit that I used to love the leather iPhone cases I had before.

CyberGene I often find myself really tempted to buy leather products that I love, however I force myself to choose other materials just to have my consciousness clean.

Of course, I'm a vegetarian also, but not for moral or environmental reasons. I do it for my health. I guess it's moral in a sense because I don't want to pollute my body temple with unhealthy meat. However, since I'm not chewing on my bible cover, the leather products are kosher.

CyberGene Which is why I've been recently obsessed with Alcantara. It's a synthetic suede which looks and feels great.

I've felt some good synthetic leathers. Unfortunately, they are never as pleasing to me. They usually have an embossed grain pattern that seems fake. Kind of like Pianoteq. 😀

God Bless,
David

David B I've felt some good synthetic leathers. Unfortunately, they are never as pleasing to me. They usually have an embossed grain pattern that seems fake. Kind of like Pianoteq. 😀

The good thing about Alcantara is that it doesn't try to imitate leather. It's similar to suede but I don't think that was intentional, it's rather a coincidence. I might have read somewhere that they market it as a proudly synthetic material that is good in itself without trying to imitate leather, so it's not Pianoteq but is rather a nice Moog synth 😀 I remember when I owned a car with genuine leather interior. It was cold in the winter and required heated seats, and it was sticky in the summer, so it needed ventilation. The regular textile seats are ironically the best feeling ones in any temperature... But they look cheap and dull. Alcantara has a very luxury look and is more textile in feel.

But let's not digress, apologies 🙂

Wow, a thread about leather (a bit odd, if you ask me), and you two find a way to make it about how fake Pianoteq is!

But I digress (or do I?) 🤔

Pete14 Wow, a thread about leather (a bit odd, if you ask me)

Do you like, don't like, or are you indifferent toward leather products?

Pete14 and you two find a way make it about how fake Pianoteq is!

That's the low hanging fruit. 🙂

God Bless,
David

CyberGene Alcantara has a very luxury look and is more textile in feel.

Sounds interesting. Maybe there will be an Alcantara bible cover for me in the future. 📖

God Bless,
David

David B I've felt some good synthetic leathers. Unfortunately, they are never as pleasing to me. They usually have an embossed grain pattern that seems fake. Kind of like Pianoteq. 😀

easy there buddy😂 even in the leather discussion you find a way to hate on pianoteq that's just f''ing does it for me😂

i'm kidding… it's amusing

David B Do you like, don't like, or are you indifferent toward leather products?

I’ll be honest, I like the smell/look of leather, but not the way it feels (especially for a recliner); leather usually feels either too cold, or too hot/sticky to the touch; whereas, good old-fashioned “fabric” feels more neutral…IMHO!

BTW, I’ve seen some Jansen vinyl benches that look almost identical to the leather ones, so yes, some of these “synthetics” are getting close to replicating the real thing….

I beg thee, don’t distort my last line, “synthetics getting closer to the real thing,” into yet another pun at Pianoteq’s expense!

ClothEaredNincompoop How to incorporate that into a piano? Hmmm…
Pete14 Wow, a thread about leather (a bit odd, if you ask me)

IIRC the early pianos (fortepianos) had leather (rather than felt) covered hammers. So here you go!

Pete14 I’ll be honest, I like the smell/look of leather, but not the way it feels (especially for a recliner); leather usually feels either too cold, or too hot/sticky to the touch; whereas, good old-fashioned “fabric” feels more neutral…IMHO!

Agreed. In fact, in the rare occasions I buy a car, the first thing that I check is for ones that do not have leather seats (which is hard in the USA, because instead of offering individual options, most brands offer "option packets" and you can't cherrypick what you want like I could in Europe 🙁). I find leather seats in a car totally unacceptable for the reasons you mention.

RIP Agreed. In fact, in the rare occasions I buy a car, the first thing that I check is for ones that do not have leather seats

The best seats I ever had were leather seats in my 2004 Subaru Outback (L.L. Bean Edition). They were easy to clean and with the occasional leather conditioner they stayed supple until I sold the car in 2014.

God Bless,
David

CyberGene I love leather as a material, although I try to avoid it when possible since I'm a vegetarian.

I'm along these same lines. Vegetarian, using leather but only sparingly for those items where other materials just won't do (indeed, shoes).

The BBC has a fantastic program "The Repair Shop" where great craftspeople repair and restore heirlooms and other items with great sentimental value for their owners. One of the experts is a woman who is a saddle maker by trade but is magnificent in all kinds of leather work. It is an absolute joy to see how she revives and rejuvenates items and the leathers those are made of. In this sense, when owned and used with respect, leather is quite sustainable.

Cheers,

HZ

David B L.L. Bean Edition

Mr. Bean?!

😁

HZ

RIP leather seats

I've owned a '94 T-bird for about 20 years until it could go no more. It had a leather interior, which I wouldn't have opted for if possible, including for comfort reasons. However where I live Thunderbirds were nicher than niche, so only the most-LX model was imported. I did like the leather steering wheel and gear selector knob 🙂.

I once rented the exact same car in the US with textile seats and liked that a lot better.

As for the V8, I loved it to bits, however from feelings of environmental responsibility I found it hard to really utterly full-out love it. I started to divide my work travels between the Bird and train, to balance things out a bit.

Oh well. Nowadays I don't even own a car.

Cheers and happy nostalgia,

HZ

Nowadays they talk about "cruelty free" car interiors and everything is made of old plastic bottles and fishing nets.

But somebody could call fishing cruel. 😉

(Of course some leather is still used and also plant based materials.)

Ostrich seems to be divisive. Most leather gives a sufficiently "sanitised" picture of its origins, but ostrich really looks like the skin of an animal.

I'm a vegetarian too, but I think leather can be beautiful. I remember looking at Hermès bags once and I thought the leather was stunning. I bought a bag elsewhere that was 1,000th of the price. I'd prefer to spend the money on drugs, booze, and gamblin'-even though I'm too boring to do any of that. 🤣

Johnstaf Ostrich seems to be divisive. Most leather gives a sufficiently "sanitised" picture of its origins, but ostrich really looks like the skin of an animal.

I remember years ago I purchased a bible from one of my favorite Bible Publishers R.L. Allan (Glasgow, Scotland, now located in London, but still Scottish company). It was covered in "Highland Goatskin." It had a beautiful natural grain pattern, but I noticed a distinct mark in the leather that seemed out of place with the rest of the natural grain. I contacted R.L. Allan and was told that the natural hides sometimes show scars from where the animal got snagged on a barbwire fence.

I give a lot of bibles away as gifts and unfortunately I gave that one away. I wish I would have kept it because it had a very real uniqueness to it.

God Bless,
David

Bible Acquisition Syndrome?

QuasiUnaFantasia Bible Acquisition Syndrome?

I've had more Acquisition Syndromes than I'd care to admit. 😳

Found a nice man on Facebook that makes custom journal covers. He made this cover for my Moleskine Journal out of genuine ostrich leather. Matches my bible quite nicely.

The inside is made of lambskin just like my bible.

Love those bumps. 😎

God Bless,
David