Wested Novapelle and Pre-Distressed Cowhide

[drewgarcia618]

Hey guys and gals, TLDR upfront: I need help picking a skin for my next jacket!

I’m looking for a new Wested, don’t know if it’ll be an Indy or something else. What I do know however, is that I’m liking the looks of their Novapelle hides. From what I’ve seen, I REALLY like the red/orange/tan/copper undertones of the Copper variant, but I like the dark brown top of the Dark variant. Another option would be the Pre-Distressed, as it seems to be the best of both of those. That said, it sounds to me like it’s lighter weight and all the pictures I’ve seen on their site makes it seem like has a marbled look to it that I’m not quite a fan of.

For those who have the Novapelle skins, how quickly do they show wear? Is there any amount of pull-up to the leather?

For those with Copper Novapelle, how dark does Pecards make the hide look and how does the lighter undertone look with an application?

For those with Pre-Distessed, is the marbling as pronounced as it seems and could it be corrected?

Thanks in advance!

[Tibor]

Pre-distressed is really nice, good heft, but also really nice drape, but it can be quite a bit too light in color as this one I had:


I’ve never been a fan of the Novapelles as they seemed dry, but that may be the look you’re after. My favorite is the washed lamb, with the shrunken lamb second. I like the pre-distressed, and I’d ask if they have darker shades these days.

[Kokopelli]

That jacket can easily be re-darkened with some leather dye, like Leather Magic sells.

[Forrest For the Trees]

Novapelle will soak up Pecard leather dressing, and might give you the effect you are after.

[Illinois_Jones]

They changed the pre-distressed a few years ago in part to get away from the heavily marbled look of the previous pre-distressed hide they used. The new stuff actually looks sort of like the novapelle but is stiffer albeit somewhat lighter in weight than novapelle but also not as stiff and glossy as the old pre-distressed.

The novapelle will show wear right away pretty much. It comes with almost a peach fuzz kind of feeling that quickly goes away. It drapes like lambskin but has a lot of heft to it, so the wearing experience is different from a lot of jackets even of the same weight. And it's probably not as water resistant as the pre-distressed; the novapelle can seem almost like a sponge. But also I think the copper novapelle isn't always available, though you'd have to check with them.

All things considered there's not a ton of difference between them visually, and I think unless you're going for the dusty look that novapelle gives it's often not totally worth the extra cost and the pre-distressed *might* be slightly more durable though I have no complaints about novapelle's durability, it's just that a lot of something in the tanning process had to happen to make it that pliable. And the other consideration might be that novapelle is generally darker than the pre-distressed.

I have both hides and like them both. No complaints.

[drewgarcia618]

Thank y’all for all the help and advice!