A reader recently wrote in with some questions...

...so I was wondering what your stance on leather is. You're not a vegan, correct?
Correct.

Just a non-meat-eater-
You know, lact-ovo-whatever it is, was always a mouthful for me, basically I eat everything except full fledged furry animals and birds and more or less rule out reptiles and bugs. I have found "vegaquarian" to be the term I like best. I have managed to still be able to eat sea creatures and actually surprised myself by hunting octopus one summer while sailing in the Med. The tenderizing via beating on the rocks was a bit more than I was up for, however. Luckily others obliged and he made a tasty addition to our paella. There is something satisfying about growing or catching your own food, a feeling of being more closely connected I suppose. Lately I barely find time to cook food, let alone grow it. And I hardly ever cook seafood at home. In general, I try to look for wild fish and also avoid species that have been overfished, but in no way profess to be doing this with any amount of perfection. It would be nice to just make it to the farmer's market to at least meet the people who grew my food, if unable to actually grow any myself. Anyway, I believe I digress, as you wanted to talk about your vintage shoes right?

so I was curious as to whether you support ethically gained/organic leather, vintage leather, or all leather and you don't have any personal bans against it?
There are a lot of people eating meat and a lot of hides from that industry, so I don't really have a problem with them being used as leather. That said, I would like to see the meat industry change. Were I to eat animals and birds, I would definitely go for free-range and organic. Afterall, you have seen the meatrix, haven't you? So, I have been talking about doing leather products derived from hides of organically raised animals that are tanned with vegetables. That would be great wouldn't it? Well, of course, now somebody is doing it, but there is always room for more.

My only concern is that the conventional meat industry probably would be affected very little. I was recently told that a majority of the hides get thrown away, but have not been able to find any statistics on that. However, I suppose they do biodegrade, which is more than I can say for pleather.

So, I don't have a problem with leather. First of all, if you buy vintage, you are reusing something that already exists. Second, if you buy new, you can look for vegetable tanned products. Often it is the labor we may need to be more concerned about. I wrote about my shoe dilemma here and so now I typically look for shoes that I can trust were likely not made by Chinese children. Some of my favorite shoes are Chie Mihara, Cydwoq and Terrra Plana. It seems I either reuse inexpensive or moderately priced vintage leather, such as these...

or I spend more on a nice newly made product that is designed well aesthetically and ethically, like these...
And there are even some products out there that use scrap leather from other industries or recycle old leather, like these (which I will post about in detail soon)...


And also your stance on shearling then?
I honestly have not formulated a stance on shearling and will not to pretend to know too much about it. I did recently repost a piece I had written earlier about my mongolian lamb fur.

Also...I've been wondering...what does Fiftyrx3 stand for? I have a bit of a slow uptake on things...
Oh dear, you are not alone. As it is likely obvious, this blog/project was not an entirely planned concept from the get-go. I did, however, think my project to attempt in 2006 to have 50% of what I wear be sustainable (reused, reduced, recycled) translated neatly into fiftyRx3, but, alas, nobody else really understands it. Why fifty? Nobody is perfect, and if they are, who wants to read about it.