What You Need To Know About Leather
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When you shop for leather items, you often face a bewildering array of choices. Heck, leather's complexity even scared me off for many years. To help you out, I've put together a little guide. Read on to learn about the different types of leather, leather tanning, leather clothes, and how to match these garments with each other and with your existing wardrobe.types of leather
Leather is any tanned, toughened (yet pliable), dried, and dyed skin of an animal. Thanks to modern dyeing processes, most types of leather can be found in nearly any color. Some leathers, however, are best known for particular colors.Buckskin: Pliable leather with a smooth finish from wild stag (deer, elk or antelope).
Chamois: Leather originally made from the Alpine chamois, a goat-like animal. Nowadays, it's culled from sheepskin. Chamois is well regarded for its supreme softness, absorbency and light tan color. It is pronounced SHAM-wa, or parochially, SHAM-ee.
Calfskin: Leather from young cows. It's a smoother leather, but it can be roughened to create "velour leather," or embossed with patterns and other textures. It is considered dressy and is usually found in darker shades (blacks and browns).
Cowhide: Leather from full-grown cows that is used for shoes, boots and jackets. Tough and durable, it can have a smooth or rough finish. You'll find it in all colors, but mostly shades of brown and black.
Lizard skins: Crocodile, alligator and other lizard skins are usually limited to belts, luggage or shoes. They sport a scaly texture and a nice sheen, and can be had in shades of green, grey, red, and brown.
Pigskin: Pigskin is more commonly used in South America. It has little nap (fuzz) and is generally smooth to the touch and tan in color.
Ostrich: An "exotic" leather found on belts or shoes. Ostrich resembles a plucked chicken, and as such, has a "goose bump" appearance.
Suede: Suede is created when the reverse side of calfskin is roughened to the point of extreme softness. The resultant nap almost resembles velvet. Suede goods can be had in all major colors.
The different tanning processes, types of leather clothes, and how to match leather...
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