A WALLET MAKES THE MAN

18 February Pattern And Style

Pattern And Style, Yoliswa Dube

I DESPERATELY needed 50c the other day.

Never mind what for but I didn’t have it and had to ask a friend.

When I did, he took out his wallet and I haven’t fully recovered from the sight of it.

The wallet was in tatters, literally, I couldn’t believe it.

I laughed so hard at the wallet and couldn’t believe the confidence he had to even bring it out!

He definitely won’t be hearing the end of this anytime soon.

Well, at least until he gets a new one.

After I was done laughing at him, I asked why he hadn’t bought a new wallet and his answer was quite simple.

He said while he needed a new one, he didn’t necessarily want one. The one he has quite perfectly still serves its purpose.

He said a lot of men don’t really own wallets. They would just rather just shove their money directly into their pockets.

I see this quite a lot actually. A lot of men would rather keep their driver’s licence and bank cards in the glove compartment of their cars and shove their money directly into their pocket.

Apparently men don’t like how wallets make their pockets bulge. It’s not quite the pretty sight I must say.

A thick wallet makes an asymmetrical bulge under your clothes. It looks like some sort of tumor. Not stylish.

A heavy wallet in one jacket pocket makes the whole thing sit slightly lopsided. Your shoulders will look uneven and a little hunched.

Using the same thick wallet day in and day out will eventually create faded creases in whatever pocket you use, in the shape of the wallet, shortening your clothes’ lifespans.

If it’s really overfilled you look bad when you pull it out, too. There should never be fringes of tattered paper or badly bent plastic cards sticking out when you produce your wallet in public.

A wallet is not just nice to have but it’s also useful.

It shows that you’re organised and it would quite frankly make your life so much easier.

You wouldn’t have the headache of where to keep your important and frequently used cards such as identification and banks cards.

You also wouldn’t have to worry about losing track of your money or forgetting it in your pants’ pockets.

It will either get washed with your laundry or the lady that does your laundry will have a very good day when she finds it in your pocket that weekend.

Wouldn’t it be nice to feel confident about getting money or anything else out of your wallet though?

There are five things to look for when choosing a new wallet. The first thing to check is the quality of the leather.

A lot of leather these days is sanded to remove imperfections and then coated in resin, which makes it feel plastic. This is called top-grain and should be avoided. Instead, look for wallets made of full-grain leather. Full-grain has not been “corrected” making it stronger and more durable. Most important of all, it has more character because you can see each pore and crease that makes the leather unique.

Next you should look at how the wallet is made. There are two main types of wallet construction: turned or cut edge.

Cut edge is where the leather is cut and stitched together leaving the raw edge visible. The edge is usually coated in black resin but will eventually degrade and deteriorate. Turned edge is where the edge of the leather is thinned and then turned before being stitched in place. Always buy a quality turned edge wallet.

It’s important to check the craftsmanship that’s gone in to making a wallet. A good test is the width of the turnover and position of the stitching.

A well-crafted wallet should have a narrow turnover with the stitching positioned centrally. A poorly crafted wallet will have a wider turnover, allowing a greater margin of error, and often crooked stitching.

The corners are another key test of craftsmanship. When properly crafted, they are thinned down, pleated in to a rounded corner and then stitched in place. No cuts are made to the leather as it weakens the wallet as a whole. Any wallet with right-angled corners is a sure sign of poor craftsmanship. If you can see a diagonal cut then the wallet has been made on the cheap.

Any quality wallet should have creases made by a hot iron alongside the turned edge stitching, on the credit card slots and the note dividers. It is purely aesthetic and accentuates the clean lines of the wallet, but it’s the kind of attention to detail usually missed or poorly executed on a badly crafted wallet.

Until next week, flaunt your pattern and style and don’t forget to catch up with me on Twitter handle @Yolisswa, visit my blog, www.stayera247.blogspot.com or like my Facebook page Pattern & Style.

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