Like Wested Horsehide (well maybe I should say premium leathers and not just expensive leathers), Horween Chromexcel horsehide etc.
With the Wested standard Raiders jacket in lambskin, it was super, super smooth-soft when running my fingers across it. No texture at all really. It's also really soft when I squeeze it or fold it. It drapes etc.
With a super cheap jacket I've tried, it was super pebbly and feels terrible when I run my fingers across it. Like it has a ton of small raised bumps.
I'd like to get more premium leathers, but I think I'd be really bummed if it felt all textured and pebbly. I don't mind if it's really thick and stiff though.
What does expensive leather feel like?
Moderators: Indiana Jeff, Mike, Indydawg
Re: What does expensive leather feel like?
This is a really hard question to answer, as leather can be so different even when it's, broadly, called the same generic thing.
That's confusing I know, so let me give an example. I have a Wested horsehide. One of the first they ever made, if not the first (it came from their first batch).
Within a year (and here we're talking 20-odd years ago), the Wested horsehides being sold were totally different to mine... yet they were still horsehide jackets from Wested.
So I could describe mine... but that's in the knowledge it was nothing like later Westeds and, over 20-odd years, I'm sure the look and feel of Wested horsehide has changed again. And probably again and again.
And you see it with other vendors, too. Steele & Jones make a 'cowhide' jacket, but they can source a really thin cowhide that drapes more like lamb. So while you can describe it as cowhide it's not just 'cowhide', and the description of its actual look and feel will be different to the cowhide that Wested uses, or that other vendors use. Am I describing this well, or just muddying the water further?
For another example, although I never had a washed or striated lamb jacket, just reading the many descriptions of those reveals to me how different batches of hides could be, too
That's confusing I know, so let me give an example. I have a Wested horsehide. One of the first they ever made, if not the first (it came from their first batch).
Within a year (and here we're talking 20-odd years ago), the Wested horsehides being sold were totally different to mine... yet they were still horsehide jackets from Wested.
So I could describe mine... but that's in the knowledge it was nothing like later Westeds and, over 20-odd years, I'm sure the look and feel of Wested horsehide has changed again. And probably again and again.
And you see it with other vendors, too. Steele & Jones make a 'cowhide' jacket, but they can source a really thin cowhide that drapes more like lamb. So while you can describe it as cowhide it's not just 'cowhide', and the description of its actual look and feel will be different to the cowhide that Wested uses, or that other vendors use. Am I describing this well, or just muddying the water further?
For another example, although I never had a washed or striated lamb jacket, just reading the many descriptions of those reveals to me how different batches of hides could be, too
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Indiana Jeff
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Re: What does expensive leather feel like?
The quality of the hide definitely matters, but the tanning process plays a big factor as well. Chrome vs. vegetable tanned will leave the leather feeling very different. That’s not saying one process produces a higher quality leather.
Regards,
Indiana Jeff
Regards,
Indiana Jeff