Patently Irresistible
I do like patent leather. It’s so pretty and shiny and delicious looking. Looking at an array of patent leathergoods I feel like a kid standing before an ice cream counter, mouth slavering over all the scrumptious flavours. The only trouble is deciding which one. It’s hard to believe at first it came only in licorice.
Patent leather is a type of lacquered fine-grained leather that has a high gloss. Sometimes it’s smooth, sometimes it has a delightful crackle finish. Waterproof and easy to clean, patent leather needs only to be wiped with a damp cloth to restore its lustre.
The process was first invented in the late eighteenth century in Belgium, and was afterwards taken to the United States by the inventor Seth Boyden of New Jersey. He improved upon the process, applying the linseed oil base as a lacquer coating. Commercial production began in 1819. Ironically, Boyden never got round to patenting his process.
Ironically, Boyden never got round to patenting his process.
Originally patent leather came in black only because lampblack was mixed into the lacquer, and the glossy leather was advocated for formal dress, particularly for men’s shoes. It didn’t take long for women to claim this wonderful material for their own though.
Today patent leather is plastic coated. The simplified, cheaper method has made mass production possible – and of course today, happily, it comes in every colour of the rainbow.
My two favourite colours are here rendered in patent leather. The first is a red handbag, bought on eBay from the UK (as noted in a recent post, red patent leather handbags seem so hard to come by), and the second, a pair of Tiffany blue strappy heels – heaven on a platform! I haven’t quite decided, but I think they are my favourite summer shoes. I also own large and small patent black handbags, and numerous pairs of shoes in hot pink, cobalt, black, red, teal … One day I would love to own a 60s style pea coat or short trench in black crackle patent leather. Patently I cannot resist this tactile leather!