Before I give you the basics about construction, I want to digress momentarily (okay, for this whole column) into the world of commercial leather garments. By commercial, I mean mass-produced – you can find more than one or two of the same item – jackets, chaps, pants, shirts, hats, gloves, and any other softline goods made of leather. You can find these goods in leather shops, motorcycle dealers, mall stores, mega-marts, and online. Here’s a warning, in the form of an agonizing cliché: you get what you pay for. If you aren’t sure what quality garment leather should look and feel like, I recommend you check out two places, neither of which am I, or the Four Lakes Bears, suggesting you do or don’t do your shopping at. Think of it as research.

The first place is Wilson Leather. You know them; they are in most malls. Say what you want about chains, but when you want to see and feel leather that ranges in quality from good to excellent, and at fair prices, you’d be hard pressed to find more of the goods they sell in one place. It’s unlikely, though, that you will find much there to build your leatherman collection. Ask the young lady behind the counter for assless chaps, and watch her face (then RUN)! Yes, they will let your nelly ass into The Barracks in a Wilson Leather jacket, but it generally is not the look you are seeking. The other place: your local Harley-Davidson dealer. Harley leathers are simply the finest they can be, and made to be tough as well as tough-looking. Biker gear is the foundation, also, of the look leathermen are going for, but that’s another article.

Now, can you buy a leather jacket for under $50, chaps for less than $100, and assorted other goods at equally WILD FABULOUS PRICES? Of course you can, especially online, and in mega-stores. Here’s what you will get: leather that is as thin as a sheet of paper, and heavily lined with fabric, or heavier leather that is, well, kinda hard, and, hmm, not…quite…black, but more of a…charcoal. Or, maybe it’s a little too black, and all chemically-smelling. Look for odd cuts, like chaps that are cut from differing types of leather. Maybe a section is much softer and a bit thicker than the others, and sort of wrinkly. Watch for pigskin, employing the help of a friend if you aren’t sure what it looks like. Look for parts like edging, trim, or piping that isn’t actually leather, but naugahyde or vinyl. If you’ve ordered even one piece of TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR BLOWOUT PRICES leather online, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

It isn’t a bad thing to buy inexpensive leather (although maybe we could go into the environmental and sweatshop ethics, among other things). I own some. We can’t all afford to wander down to the local leath-O-rama and cover our substantial bods in the highest quality gear. It would not be hard to spend a couple large to make oneself presentable enough to be in the audience at International Mr. Leather. We make do. We buy a nice vest, and maybe a hat. A harness – ooo, I’m making myself hot – or a studded belt. Chaps? Well, the ones I want are $450, or I could order the ones online for $45. But wait! I saw those chaps downtown for $125… The point, my little bearfriends, is to know what you are buying. All in all, I’d rather see you in one good, or even mediocre, pair of chaps or a vest, instead of fully decked out in ultra-cheap gear that smells like a napalm factory and looks like it was dipped in black paint.

Next month: hmm, which harness should I buy? Are you really charging $100 for these cuffs?

Tags: Leather Care