If you accidentally purchased leather would you wear it?

Irish Guitarist

I go for long walks by the river and if I go early in the morning my feet get soaked from walking in dew covered grass. A few days ago I decided to look for some non-leather waterproof shoes. I saw a pair of Regatta shoes which were synthetic so I purchased them.

After walking a few miles in them I discovered they weren't as waterproof as they claimed to be and my feet were only marginally less wet than they would have been with my runners. The next day I returned them and got a refund. I then had a look for a different pair in another shop. I saw some Karrimor shoes. They didn't look any better than the ones I had returned but they were cheaper so I bought two pairs, so if one got wet I could wear the others while the first pair dried out.

I walked about ten miles in one pair and it wasn't until the next day when I put on the second pair that I noticed the box said that the shoes were suede. I had misread the label and hadn't seen that there was a leather symbol.

It was too late to return the first pair of shoes and I couldn't think of an excuse for returning the second pair. I thought about donating them to a charity shop but then I would have wasted €70 just so a charity could get about €10. In the end I decided to keep them.

At first I thought "I've already bought them now, I might as well just hang onto them until I wear them out". However any time I think about what I'm wearing I just don't feel right about it. I feel like taking them off and throwing them in the bin but I don't have €70 to waste.

Just wondering would anyone else have kept the shoes, given them away or done something else with them. I'm still probably going to hang onto them for a while longer so I'm looking for opinions more than advice.

JamJamJamJam

I'd hang onto them because you've purchased them now, so the demand has been created, kinda thing. Throwing them away won't reverse that. But that's okay. It doesn't sound like you'll be doing it again any time soon. So I'd say keep them, and keep your feet dry.

My parents bought me a watch with a leather strap for my birthday, and I own some leather belts and shoes that I bought before I stopped buying leather. I still wear them. It sounds like you're less 'cold' than me, so you might not be so comfortable with this, but for me it's an economical thing. I try to minimise the demand I create, but my minimum doesn't have to mean 0 if I make a genuine error or whatever. Does that make sense?

Just regarding footwear, I've found it very difficult to find nice formal shoes as well as boots which are vegan. All the 'best' brands use leather :-(

Tar.Aldarion

try http://wills-vegan-shoes.com/ for formal shoes.


OP I would just wear them, it was an accident and they can't be returned. You are not increasing or decreasing use of animal products at this stage, just have to be careful in future. I am not going to throw out my wool suit because I became vegan after either. Just replace products as you need them.

endacl

Cattle will be slaughtered whether people wear leather shoes or not. Leather is a byproduct of the industry. I'd favour using all the animal if any is to be used. Wearing canvas shoes is, in real terms, a gesture at best.

Also, leather is comfy and feet don't get as smelly.

BMJD

endacl wrote: »

Cattle will be slaughtered whether people wear leather shoes or not. Leather is a byproduct of the industry. I'd favour using all the animal if any is to be used. Wearing canvas shoes is, in real terms, a gesture at best.

Also, leather is comfy and feet don't get as smelly.

http://peta.vg/1i54

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

I'd definitely keep them. I also buy leather and wool clothes second hand (I do say to everyone not to buy me leather or wool first hand as presents) because they last a seriously long time and reduce the amount of clothes that I have to buy overall. If it's a choice between buying a pair of doc martens from a charity shop and wearing them for the next five years or having a pair of mass produced rubber boots shipped half way around the world and having them fall apart in a year, to be honest I'm going with the docs.

--LOS--

Huey I deleted your post, please don't post here again without reading the charter first.

JamJamJamJam

Brylee Deafening Tapeworm wrote: »

I'd definitely keep them. I also buy leather and wool clothes second hand (I do say to everyone not to buy me leather or wool first hand as presents) because they last a seriously long time and reduce the amount of clothes that I have to buy overall. If it's a choice between buying a pair of doc martens from a charity shop and wearing them for the next five years or having a pair of mass produced rubber boots shipped half way around the world and having them fall apart in a year, to be honest I'm going with the docs.

That's interesting I normally feel like I should never purchase leather, but if it's maybe the lesser of two (seemingly) necessary evils, then perhaps it could be preferable!

Oldtree

Depending on my need at the time I would wear them and try to replace them as soon as I could, then donate the shoes.

A_Sober_Paddy

So people in here are promoting a "vegan when it suits kinda of attitude", seems very un-vegan if you ask me...

Tar.Aldarion

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

So people in here are promoting a "vegan when it suits kinda of attitude", seems very un-vegan if you ask me...

More a vegan when it matters attitude, care to expand on that?