Monthly Archives: May 2011

Red and Black Leather

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While I was in San Francisco in March, I had a couple hours free, so I decided to stop by the Mr S Leather store in the SOMA (South of Market) district. Over many years, I have purchased a lot of my leather gear from them. They make good stuff, and have quality leather. They do good tailoring as well.

I remember my first visit to that store back in 1991, some 20 years ago. The store was in a different location then. It was small and dark, and crowded too. (Actually, there were probably 3 or 4 people in the store, but it felt crowded.) Scared the bejeebers out of this curious guy. I don’t know why I was so afraid. I did not buy anything on my first visit.

However, I saw some things that I liked, so my next trip to San Francisco, I screwed up my courage and went back to Mr S. This time, I was there by myself with one employee. The guy greeted me nicely and asked what I was looking for. I told him that I wanted to look around. He let me explore.

I spotted what I was looking for: a pair of leather jeans and a leather shirt. Back then, all the leather garments that they sold were black. I picked out what I liked, and tried it on. The shirt fit fine but the jeans were too long. The store employee was very helpful — he measured my legs and asked me to give him the jeans to have them hemmed. A short while later, the jeans were returned (the person doing the hemming worked on an upper floor). I put the garments in a bag and left.

I wore those leather jeans and shirt a lot. I loved how they felt and how they looked. Subsequently, as I both became more mature and self-confident, I returned to Mr S a lot — and bought a lot of leather gear!

Since I have so much leather gear now (most of it is custom made), I didn’t think that I would see anything that I would want to buy when I visited Mr S again. But it didn’t hurt to look, and admire the gear. They carry a lot of rubber and alternative types of clothing, too, as well as tons of sex toys, and some boots. Hmmm, boots — last thing I needed (’cause I have everything that they sell and didn’t need expensive duplicates). And the sex toys — I tell ‘ya, if I weren’t the confident man that I am, I probably would have run out of there screaming. Gosh some of that stuff looks intimidating and painful. But there I go again — being judgmental about stuff that other people are interested in; just not me.

The store staff were friendly as usual, and were laid back and let me explore some more. Nowadays, Mr S carries a lot of leather gear with colorful accents, or made completely from leather in colors other than black — red, white, blue, hunter green. Their adjustment to offering colorful leather reflects both the times, and their accurate perception that some of us older guys already have all the black leather we will ever want or need, so to entice us to make a new purchase, they have to offer something different.

Then I spotted just the thing: a black short-sleeved leather shirt with red pocket flaps, epaulets, and collar, with a red stripe accent on the end of each sleeve. Wow, cool! Very different, and to me, very interesting.

Thankfully, they have different sizes of their various garments, and I found one — the only one — that was my size. I tried it on. It fit fine. Perhaps a little tight, but I know that as I exercise more this Spring, I’ll loose a little weight in the middle and also I know that leather stretches slightly when it is worn.

The shirt was marked down a little bit — I didn’t know why. The price was right. So despite having to pay humongous sales tax, I bought it. Okay, so I’ll help the local economy. (I could have avoided paying the sales tax if I bought it on-line and had it shipped to my home which is not in California.)

Now, before you go asking about signals that I may be giving, the answer is “no.” Red leather has nothing to do with the Canonical Hanky Code, where red-on-the-left means doing something sexually with a fist (maintaining my G-rated status of this blog … you can figure it out.) I’m not into that. But I do like the contrast of red leather with black leather.

To complete the look, I got a very good quality red leather tie from 665 Leather in West Hollywood, California (on-line). I’m not sure where I will wear this outfit, since I don’t hang out at leather-oriented runs or fashion shows any more. But I’ll enjoy the shirt, and wear it when I ride my Harley. I’ll also wear it on occasion when I go about my daily personal business. For example, I had this shirt on when I went to a local building supplies retailer last week. Two customers saw me and said, “cool shirt, dude!” LOL!

Life is short: enjoy leather!

Vendor Website Expectations

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Let’s face it, most sales these days are conducted on-line.  There are so many resources available, especially for comparison-shopping of pricey products. That includes (from this blogger’s perspective): boots and leather gear.

When one goes on-line to look for a product, one expects:

1. The website to have a working search tool. Being able to narrow down the list by a product number, product name, etc., is very helpful and sort of expected these days. Unfortunately, there are some product vendors who do not have a working search tool available.

2. A method to narrow down choices. If the vendor offers a large variety of styles, sizes, colors, heights, etc., of boots (for example,), then one should be able to narrow down the assortment by various key components, such as gender, manufacturer, color, style, etc. Lacking that, it becomes almost overwhelming.

3. The website to work across major browser platforms. Nothing drives me more bats than to have a vendor’s website only work on Internet Explorer and not Firefox or Chrome. Sheplers is a prime example of a poor performer on this criterion: their website only displays properly on I.E. and not others. It’s a pain in the ass to switch browsers just to accommodate the vendor web designer’s coding problems. (And if I am having problems accessing vendor websites with traditional web browsers on a p.c., I can only imagine that this problem is worse for those who use web-enabled smart phones. Just because I am smart-phoneless doesn’t mean that I do not recognize that many other people use them for on-line shopping.)

4. Web pages to load quickly and efficiently. Some vendors go nuts with Flash, which when done well makes a pretty display, but takes forever to load sometimes. While I love Northbound Leather for the quality of their products, I hate their website for its display — Flash is used way too much. The site is too fancy and frilled, and looses some of its functionality and consumer-friendliness in how it was designed.

5. Being able to tell who you’re dealing with. I want to know if the company I am dealing with is in the U.S., Canada, the E.U., China, Pakistan, or India (for example.) Most U.S., Canadian, and European web sites are fairly easy to confirm where the company is located. I have found, though, that most in China, Pakistan, or India, are not. I have to “whois” the domain of the website to find out where it was registered. And if a registration comes back as an anonymous holder, I run for the hills. (That is, I surf elsewhere. If a vendor will not tell me who they are and where their products originate, I will not do business with them.)

6. Being able to reach a human being by phone if one has questions. Some orders are complex, and some may require custom work. Having a telephone number to call as well as the hours the number is answered is very helpful. (This is another way to tell if you are dealing with a reputable vendor — you should be able to reach them by phone if you have questions.)

7. Being able to cut-and-paste text. This isn’t thought of sometimes, but from my perspective, there are times when I want to take the exact text from a website to do some research — such as the product or style number, exact product description, and so forth. Yes, I admit, I may then use an internet search engine to look up the product number to do comparison shopping. But I also compile a running list of things that I have found that have caught my eye, but for one reason or another, I will not want to order now. I get annoyed with websites that display information in a manner that prevents or blocks grabbing text from a page.

8. That shipping options and cost information are available BEFORE requiring confirmation of a purchase. Some vendors charge an outrageous fee for shipping anyway. Other vendors offer various shipping choices and options — anywhere from next-day delivery of in-stock items to ground methods (usually free to the buyer). What I want to know is what shipping options are offered and how much shipping will cost. If a vendor will charge for shipping, then I add the shipping cost into the product price so when I do comparison shopping, I can compare “apples-to-apples” (that is, what the final price to me would be.) If a vendor will not allow me to estimate shipping costs before purchase, I shop elsewhere.

9. Secure payment processing. These days, one can never be too careful when shopping on-line. A vendor must use a secure payment processing method. I know it’s not cheap to offer that service, but I will not give credit card details via the internet unless I know for certain that those details will be safe. (This website provides helpful information on how to determine if you’re using a secure site.)

10. Functional payment processing. Okay, after I enter my credit card information and other details and click “confirm my order,” I want it to work. Lately, Metboots has lost business from me because their system continued to fail and they would not answer email nor could I reach anyone on the phone who could resolve my problem. (Well, they were happy to take an order by phone, but they would not accept an on-line-only coupon. If their system is messed up and they won’t help me, then their lost business is their problem, not mine!)

11. Acknowledgment via email. Yeah, I want to know my order number and have my order information confirmed, in writing. It’s also a great idea to send a tracking number when the order is shipped, so I can confirm on my own when a package is coming and make arrangements to receive it — especially if it requires someone to sign for it. Again, nothing drives me more crazy than to place an order and have no way of knowing the order was received and processed correctly, or when it will arrive.

These are some of my thoughts — and these days, are not (IMHO) unrealistic to expect. Vendors that offer on-line sales but who do not offer the features described above have to catch up and meanwhile, not expect business from me.

Life is short: buy on-line responsibly and intelligently!

Tall Sendra Boots

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I have seen these boots for years — 18″ tall Sendra cowboy boots, made of all leather.  They have harness straps which are removable (an interesting feature.) These boots, like all other Sendras, are made in Spain from quality leather and materials with great craftsmanship in bootmaking.

Unlike most Sendra boots that have a low heel (about 3/4″ [2cm]), these boots have “normal” heels — 1-1/2″ (4cm) cowboy “walking” heels, which are a typical style and heel height of their American counterparts.

However, Sendra boots generally run small, and the boot shaft even on their shorter boots is tight. I didn’t think that I could wear them, even though I liked the style a lot, as well as the craftsmanship.

I saw them on sale, though — for about half the usual price. A good buy — if they would fit. Before buying them, I asked the store to send me the calf circumference measurement. I explained that my experience was that Sendra boots have smaller calf circumferences that other tall boots, and I wouldn’t order them if the shafts wouldn’t fit me.

The store owner responded rather quickly, and gave me the measurement. Turns out that the calf circumference was exactly equal to the circumference on both legs. I explained that problem, and the store offered to stretch the boots for me, at no additional charge. So I bought them.

The boots arrived, and they fit fine. The right boot was still a little tight, so I used my own calf stretcher and stretched that boot for a few days, and now it fits better.

I have worn the boots to work already and while kickin’ around. I have learned, regretfully, that the boots make my feet tired and sore after a few hours. I do not know why, but it seems that Sendra boots are all like that — or at least those that I own. I like the boots and how they look, but to improve their comfort, I have had to install another insole.

Despite the height of the boots and their nice stitching design, I do not wear them with jeans tucked into them. The calf circumference is still rather close. I can get my jeans into them, but the bulk of the fabric makes my legs feel squeezed — so I don’t wear them with jeans tucked into them. I like how the boots feel on my legs and do not have a “need” or reason to wear them showing the full shaft. I know how tall the boots are. 🙂

Some guys swear by Sendra boots, and others are more like me — they like the style but find them not as comfortable to wear as other boots are.

More photos of these boots are on my website.

Life is short: admire style yet remain practical.

Thanks, Bro

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Guest blog by BHD’s twin brother, J

Thanks, bro, for letting me stay at your home while I had to attend meetings in Washington, DC, this past week. As usual, your hospitality was very much appreciated — though we really didn’t see much of each other!

I would arrive home about 8pm and you and your partner went to bed at 8:30 or 9 at the latest. Fortunately, I could spend time with you in the morning before I left for my meetings. Thanks for cooking breakfast for me each morning.

Despite as busy as we both are, I appreciated what time I did have with you. You’re still “doing your thing” — caring for your senior friends, your partner, and dealing with those community affairs while working more than full time. I don’t know how you do it all.

I enjoyed seeing the family for the usual Friday night family dinner. It was great. Man, our little ones are growing up so fast! I am very happy that most made a special effort to come since I was visiting. It’s not often I get to see 70 members of our family in one place for a happy reason.

Well, that’s it for this post. Keeping it short, as I have plane to catch which will bring me back home to Paris by the time this post appears on your blog.

Thanks again — see you in August when I have month to spend with you!

Ore e sempre,

J