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When you purchase leather clothing online or at a store, what exactly are you getting? We've been selling leather for a long time online. Time and time again, many people want to know more about leather types and quality to make sure they are receiving value for their dollar. This article is a brief rundown on leather types and qualities found in stores and online, plus some prudent advice.
First, when we think of leather, each of us may have a different idea of what leather is. We can think of the leather furniture, a fine pair of leather shoes, or a simple black motorcycle jacket. We will stick with leather clothing in this article and leave furniture and shoes to those who know it better.
First of all, the size of the leather piece(s) used to make the garment and the prominence of the grain. Your best quality leather apparel is made using large pieces of leather. The fewer seams in your garment the better. When you purchase a cotton shirt, you don't expect to see seams on the arms or running down the back, do you?
Since leather is so expensive, oftentimes two smaller pieces are sewn together to make a large panel, for instance, on the back of a jacket. The quality of the jacket is best without a seam or seams on the back, but a center seam is not unheard of even in a quality leather jacket.
Second, the grain of the leather is very important. Normally, in standard leather jackets, the leather exhibits a natural grain, or small bumps all across the top. This is a natural appearance and virtually all pieces of leather are slightly different in grain pattern. Hence, no two top grain leather items are really identical.
If the leather looks too perfect in grain pattern, it probably is. A grain pattern can be embedded with machinery on smooth leather to make it appear to be top grain. This leather is too uniform and does not look natural. Also, this leather is less expensive than graded top grain leather.
A grader looks at pieces of leather to determine what pieces will go into large cuts or cut into smaller sections to make sleeves and collars, etc. The pieces that are cut into smaller pieces have defects such as scars or blemishes in the leather that make the look non-uniform. We have a motorcycle jacket that has the Branding Iron mark right on the back. Obviously, the grader missed this and it got through and into a jacket.
Different leathers have different grain patterns. Cowhide, the most popular leather for motorcycle gear, has relatively large bumps. Buffalo Leather also has large lumps and is also frequently used in motorcycle apparel. Lambskin has a much smoother appearance and finer grain and is desired the most in quality fashion items. Goat Skin is also used and looks very similar to lambskin in appearance but does not have the "depth" in appearance of lamb. Pigskin also has a very fine grain and appears to be smooth, but if looked at closely, small bumps can be seen.
The most popular leather sold on line is "patched leather." This leather is dirt cheap and readily available. It is often brand named "stone design" or "diamond plate," but what is it? Patched leather clothing and purses that are made from small pieces of leather, primarily leather scraps from the cutting room of manufacturers that are making better quality leather items from large uniform pieces of leather.
Most of the patched leather is made in China and is primarily pigskin. However, a manufacturer may use any type of leather to create the patchwork. The items made from this type of leather are of general good quality in craftsmanship but, if you are paying for leather, you are not getting quality leather. Because the leather is small patches sewn together, you have many, many seams. The value of the sewing is more than the value of the leather.
Many stores and mail order advertisements offer this type of leather clothing also and the prices are incredibly low. However most people looking for leather clothing, aren't looking for patched leather, but are buying based on price rather than quality. Many are surprised when they receive their patched leather items in the mail, but the cost of shipping the item back plus restocking fees may make it worthwhile to keep the patched item and get rid of it at a garage sale.
"Buyer beware" is a very appropriate term. Many, if not most of the largest leather suppliers sell patched leather as well as more premium cuts of leather. Price is a good indication of quality, but don't be fooled by price alone, check out customer testimonials on the website, as well as reviews from shopping opinion polls, like those on shopping.com, pricegrabber.com and amazon.com. Stores that sell on these sites normally get reviews.
If the store doesn't have any reviews or testimonials, beware. When it comes down to it, you need to use a store you can trust, and finding that trust may take some looking.
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Some of
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There is some great looking motorcycle clothing on the market these days, but believe me not all of the motorcycle clothing offers as much protection as you think. In Europe, for motorcycle clothing to be lawfully sold as “safety clothing, it has to pass a series of European standards, which are pretty lengthy but are available on my website. The standards cover the clothing's performance in abrasion, tearing and impact tests, and when they have passed; they are sold with the CE mark. However, no such regulation is available in the USA, so what should you look for?
The leather jacket is perhaps one of the biggest wardrobe staples for a motorcycle enthusiast. After all, who can picture a Harley rider without a great jacket? But there's more to biker gear than just looks.
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Most motorcyclists put their bikes away sometime around October or November, and leave them tucked up in the garage until March or April. Some of us are more foolish and ride all year round. Keeping the motorbike in good order through the winter requires work and I hope to write about this soon.
Keeping warm is the other problem. I have been riding through 15 winters now, and I have learnt an awful lot, mostly the hard way. It is a cold and fresh November day as I write this and I've been out on the bike. I would like to
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Quality motorcycle gear combines comfort, style, fit, durability, weather protection, and armor. The bottom line with equipment is, you WILL eventually fall, and when you do, you will most likely become very close friends with the pavement. So you need the "maximum impact and abrasion resistance" as possible.
Armor is extra padding sewn into the jacket or pants to cushion likely spots of impact. Road rash is the not so fun part about riding a motorcycle. It is painful and bloody, but impacts can cause serious and sometimes fatal internal damage. So shoulders, elbows, buttocks, and knees are spots that you
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