Vintage Leather Buying Guide: Bags, Coats, Skirts

Real vintage leather is one of the best buys in the entire second-hand market right now. New leather has gotten thinner, more chemically finished, and weirdly more expensive over the last decade. A well-kept vintage leather coat or bag is heavier, denser, more characterful, and usually costs less than its modern equivalent.

But "vintage leather" covers a wide range — from extraordinary lambskin coats made in 1970s Italian tanneries to bonded scrap leather coated in plastic and stamped to look like the real thing. Here's how I tell the difference, and what to check before you buy.

The types of leather you'll encounter

Lambskin

The softest of the standard leathers. Used for fitted coats, evening jackets, gloves, and supple skirts. Buttery in the hand, drapes close to the body, ages with a slight shine on high-wear areas.

Era peak: 1970s and 1980s European tailoring.

What to look for: a soft, almost rubbery hand-feel. Pinching the surface should leave a faint mark that fades within seconds. Lambskin in good condition feels like fine cashmere — light, soft, slightly cool.

Calfskin

Heavier and stiffer than lambskin, more durable, more structural. Used for handbags, structured coats, blazers, briefcases.

Era peak: classic European handbags from the 60s through 90s.

What to look for: a firm but pliable surface. Calfskin holds a shape — a calf bag stands up on its own; a lambskin one collapses. The grain (the natural pattern of pores) is fine and even.

Suede

The underside of the skin, brushed to raise a nap. Lighter, warmer to the touch, more sensitive to water and stains. Comes in lambskin, calf, or pigskin.

Era peak: 70s suede fringe jackets and 80s suede skirts.

What to look for: the nap should be uniform and dense. Patchy or shiny areas mean wear has flattened the nap. Pigskin suede shows visible follicle holes in groups of three — finer leathers don't.

Shearling

Sheepskin with the wool left attached. Used for coats, gilets, and trim on jackets.

Era peak: 70s aviator-style coats and 80s shearling-lined leather jackets.

What to look for: the wool should be soft, springy, and uniformly attached to the skin. If it's matted, smells musty, or comes away when you pull gently, the piece has been stored wrong.

Bonded leather (avoid)

Not really leather. It's leather scrap ground up and glued to a fabric backing. Common in cheap 80s and 90s pieces. Peels and cracks within five years.

What it looks like: a perfectly uniform "leather" surface with no natural variation. The back of the piece is fabric, not leather. Often labelled "genuine leather" or "leather composite" — both are red flags.

How to test if leather is real from photos

1. The grain pattern

Real leather has natural pores arranged irregularly. Fake leather has a perfectly repeating pattern — sometimes the same set of "pores" is visible on the same part of every piece in the listing.

Zoom into a photo until you can see the grain. If it looks like wallpaper, it's not real.

2. The back of the piece

Real leather has a leather underside — usually with a soft, slightly fuzzy texture (the suede underside) or a thin lining stitched directly to the skin. Faux leather has a woven fabric backing visible at the seam edges.

Ask for an inside photo. If the lining is loose or the underside is fabric, the piece isn't real leather.

3. The smell test (in person)

Real leather smells like leather — warm, slightly oily, faintly sweet. Faux leather smells like nothing or like plastic. If you're buying in person, smell it. If you're buying online, ask the seller to describe the smell honestly.

4. The weight

Real leather is heavier than people expect. A real lambskin coat weighs 1.5–2.5 kg depending on the cut. A faux leather coat at the same size weighs 600g–1kg.

Ask the seller for the weight if it's not obvious. A "leather" coat under a kilo is almost certainly not real.

The flaws to check for

1. Cracking and peeling

Older leather can develop fine cracks across the surface, especially at fold lines or in areas of repeated bending. Mild cracking is normal on pieces over forty years old. Heavy cracking or peeling is unfixable.

Where it shows: elbows, the front of a coat over the chest, the bottom of a bag where it sits.

2. Edge wear

The cut edges of a leather piece dry out and fray over time, especially on bags and belts. A worn edge can be re-dyed and re-sealed, but heavy fraying is a fixed cost.

3. Lining failure

The lining inside a leather coat often fails before the leather itself. Look for tears at the underarm and the bottom of the lining where it meets the hem. A failed lining can be replaced for €80–€150.

4. Smell

Smoke smell, mildew, and stored-too-long musty smell are all real risks with vintage leather. Smoke and mildew rarely come out fully. A faint musty smell usually airs out within a week or two of normal wear.

5. Hardware

Zips, buckles, snaps. On a vintage leather piece, these should be heavy metal — brass, nickel, or unbranded steel. Plastic hardware on a "leather" coat is a strong signal that the piece is bonded or faux.

How to care for the leather you buy

Three rules cover most pieces:

  1. Condition once a year. A small amount of leather conditioner (Lexol, Saphir, Bickmore) rubbed in with a soft cloth keeps leather flexible. Don't use shoe polish on garments — it leaves a hard finish.
  2. Store on a wide hanger, away from light. Light fades leather over time. Wire hangers leave permanent shoulder dents.
  3. Spot-clean only. Never put leather in a washing machine. Spot-clean with a damp cloth, then condition the spot. Anything bigger goes to a specialist leather cleaner.

The vintage leather worth seeking out

From my experience sourcing across Spain and Italy:

  • Spanish 70s and 80s lambskin coats — small Madrid and Barcelona tanneries produced extraordinary pieces with silk linings
  • Italian 80s calfskin handbags — Loewe, Furla, Coccinelle, and small unbranded houses
  • Massimo Dutti late 90s and early 2000s leather — under-recognised, often beautifully made
  • Pedro del Hierro leather handbags — Spanish, increasingly hard to find, excellent grain

Where leather shows up in the shop

Most of the vintage leather I stock comes from estate sales in northern Spain. Look in:

If a listing is missing a close-up of the grain, the lining, or a measurement, email hi@bohemefolk.com and I'll send it.

— Victoria

Regresar al blog