So why should you buy a leather jacket, or any other type of leather product? With all the new synthetic fabrics and even fake “leather” shouldn’t you be able to buy stuff that looks better and wears better than leather? The answer quite simply is, no!
You have to think about what leather is. Leather is skin, from an animal. It was a membrane that at one time was alive, growing and forming. Leather is treated organic matter, not some stuff made from heated vats of chemicals. You just can’t improve on real living cells.
Because leather was alive, it can breath, at least to some extent. It was made to protect the cow, or buffalo, or whatever animal it came from. Protect it from the cold, wind, thorns, scratches and other stuff. Once you wear it, it then protects you as it did the animal.
Synthetic fabrics don’t breath, or if they do need to be made of several layers. Synthetic fabrics, when cut, tend to keep ripping or cutting at that spot. Because leather is cells, it tends to heal itself, and not keep ripping from one cut or tear. Plus it is very repairable, unlike synthetics.
Leather is also very soft and flexible, when properly treated. A quality leather jacket should last a lifetime, or if heavily used, at least 15 to 20 years. Leather is very easy to work with, which lends itself to quality zippers, studs and decorations that stay on and does not weaken the fabric.
As for looks, you just can’t beat the way a leather jacket looks on you. A leather jacket says “damn nice man”. A synthetic jacket says “cheap”! No other material can make that great smell of a fine leather jacket. It’s like that new car smell that never goes away!
You can dye leather any color you want and it does not affect the quality. You can add studs, fur, hoods, liners that can be removable, you can do just about anything. By choosing different leathers you can make a sleek, lightweight leather fashion jacket. Or choose a buffalo leather and make a leather biker duster that wears like iron.
Leather is used for shoes, boots, jackets, shirts, gloves, vest, tool bags, saddle bags, duffel bags, belts, wallets, purses, hats, seats, furniture, heck I could go on and on. Name one fabric that can do all that and do it all well! So it’s easy to see that leather just has no equal for what it is made for.
Now that you know how great leather is, you can start learning the different types of leather, what to look for, how much leather should cost, and avoid cheap leather. But not in this post, I’m beat! Hope you enjoyed it, catch my next post soon.