Earthy Leathers

A study in Un-Black!


This page was last updated on: December 30th, 2004
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     Many of my oldest photos of non-black leathers are missing or otherwise unavailable.   The Mahogany jeans from Wilson's Leathers were already quite experienced when I found their redwood vest "mate" at a flea market in Phoenix.  The boots were custom made by Grizzly Boot Company, I believe from Oregon.  The gloves, before someone lifted them from me, were Thurlow deerskin.   The Greek Fisherman's cap was an early and perennial favorite from Deerskin Trading Post, that I believe they still sell! Redwood and Mahogany Leathers
Grey CodPiece  Cargo Pockets      Grey is an earth color too!   These pants, I think my second pair in "faded black" (or is it, "dirty white"?), started out life as Sears jeans -- a cheap way to get basic pants foundations when I was more into modifications than original designs.  It had seemed to me that most codpieces were too small, not necessarily because of equipment room, as their proportion on the front of the pant.   This pouch has about fifteen snaps, and I even found matching grey paint at a hobby store to paint their faces!
        The shirt is what I call my "Elephant Tanker".   Tandy Leather had this stuff they called "elephant on cow", an embossed grey leather that was supposed to resemble elephant hide.   While not available for photo inspection, the tanktop feaures through the crotch straps to assure the "tucked in" look so prized by this leatherman!
     Another view of the same outfit.  My ponytail wasn't too puny in those days.  It appears that the Elephant Tanker might have had Western vest antecedents.   Yes, there were zippers installed down each leg of the Grey Codpiece CargoPocket pants -- I did need to be able to remove them at some time! Grey CodPiece Cargo Pockets Reversed
Woodlands Camouflage Suit      Another Leather store in Houston produced this great set of Woodlands Camouflage shorts and tanktop.   I know, cows don't grow this way, but I haven't seen any of them wearing shiny black leather, either! The rubber belt with the Harley Motor Oil bottle caps was a find at an Auburn, Alabama, Ladies' wear store:   There was no gender denotation on the belt label, however, and I thought that its use of a seat belt buckle was a neat effect, too!
     Both of these photos were taken in my study!  In case you noticed, there are stories behind both small statues visible in the background.  The Biker is a signed, numbered copy of a Wayne Hampton original.  The more colorful character is a Portuguese miner.   I rescued him from a shop on Terciera Island in the Azores.
     Incidentally, the gauntletted gloves were German Surplus, if memory serves. . . .
Another View of Woodlands Leather Wear
Antique Cordovan Jeans      These jeans were ancient and dry when I found them at Larsen's Leathers, but they just keep coming back for more!   I don't know their original color, but when freshly oiled, they're this very deep cordovan that is very hard to photograph.   Speaking of hard, this is probably one of the early, visible effects of a certain knuckled foam JockUp!
     Neither of these photos will win a lot of points for artistic merit, will they? Another View of Antique Cordovan Jeans
Golden Crocodile Jeans      The other day I was out hunting (at International Male), and I bagged this magnificent Golden Crocodile.   Pair of Jeans, that is.   Do you suppose that IM used the same leather processor as Tandy?  The cap was a Rocky Mountain Flea Market (Colorado Springs) find.  The seller said it was a "seventies" style.
      The boots are recreations of a Civil War-era military style, and would you belive that the very wide brown leather belt is East German surplus?
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