What will black leather look like when distressed and worn in?

[Mr Knight]

It’ll be interesting how the ‘newer’ leathers such as Vicenza will behave in comparison to the classics, unfortunately the key word being ‘new’ and only time will tell how they naturally age, though the general consensus seems to be this leather definitely resists giving away how many birthday candles it has seen.

On the other hand I’ve seen a few black CXL jackets with insane wear on them in a very short space of time.

 

[Peter Bowden]

Nice Route 66, rarely seen one. Is this Horween’s chromexcel?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hi
It is this one,in Horween's Chromexcel.Built like the proverbial.I was surprised how quickly the "tea core" effect showed through but it has stabilised as in the pictures.

 

[iknowleather]

I know that brown leather usually turns slightly lighter, but black leather?
What color does it change into? Brownish? Greyish?

Having redyed a lot of black leather jackets (at Leather Care Specialists) I have seen black turn not only grey and brown, but greenish and blueish. Lamb tends to change colors more so than cow, horse, goat, or sheep. I can't tell you why the color change. I'm guessing it has to do with the different chemicals used in the tanning process.

 

[AeroFan_07]

^^ Hello Dena! Glad you have joined us here!

 

[iknowleather]

Thank you

 

[iknowleather]

Having redyed a lot of black leather jackets (at Leather Care Specialists) I have seen black turn not only grey and brown, but greenish and blueish. Lamb tends to change colors more so than cow, horse, goat, or sheep. I can't tell you why the color change. I'm guessing it has to do with the different chemicals used in the tanning process.

I should add that if you keep moisture in it it holds it's color much longer. I like Tenderly for straight moisture, matte finish, and Urad for a little waxy look. (You can buy them both on my website.) https://greatleather.com/

 

[JamesF]

1) First time poster, long time reader. Learned a lot over the years here.

2) Sorry to necro-bump an old thread but it seemed the most appropriate (instead of starting a new thread):

I bought a vintage 90s Gucci blazer that was listed as black. But there are these brown-ish/bronze-y areas under the lapels, pocket flaps, and spots on the body that confuse me.

NOTE: it looks more exaggerated under fluorescent lights. It's subtler to the naked eye.

Is this something black leather does? Is this "tea core" (which I learned about in this thread)?

Or do you think it was dyed black by someone after the fact?

I'd love any insight. Maybe this is a particular thing with high end Gucci tanning process or something. But my gut says it was dyed after the fact and is fading.

 

[AeroFan_07]

^^ Hum, that's a good question there. Welcome (officially) to Fedora Lounge!!

I would have likely expected the "opposite" from something being exposed to years of light, such as if the jacket was sitting in a store window with direct sun much of eveyday. This would logically lead to the black fading to brown. However here we see the opposite -- the areas that would have been exposed to light have faded to black, whereas the under-pocket flaps and lapels and collar are in fact showing as brown here. This appears to be a farily light-weight leather, so I am suspecting you are correct. It had likely been dyed after the fact and for some reason only the exposed areas were dyed.

If you care to have it re-dyed, reach out to Dena at Great Leather, (https://www.greatleather.com/) she is on here at @iknowleather as well.

 

[sweetfights]

I do believe the jacket naturally fade/ sueding, but I don't believe Ralph Lauren himself do that through his daily wear, probably need years of riding in the sun through the dessert to get sun exposure and blasted by sandy wind to that that result I guess

Ralph definitely acquired his used too!

 

[navetsea]

Ralph definitely acquired his used too!

I think from that photo he has replaced the lining and installed some shoulder padding or at least fused something to make the shoulder line crisp and square, for such a well worn/ worn through jacket like that the shoulder fits square again like a brand new jacket on that picture.

 

[Will Zach]

I think from that photo he has replaced the lining and installed some shoulder padding or at least fused something to make the shoulder line crisp and square, for such a well worn/ worn through jacket like that the shoulder fits square again like a brand new jacket on that picture.

I think the padding you see there is original, and keeps the shoulder square. Ralph's jacket is also a good example how different batches of "the same leather" age differently. One shoulder pad is markedly darker than the rest of the jacket. I bet it is the same age, just coated slightly differently, and the coating did not come off with time like on the rest of the piece. Nice jacket.