A Sustainable Nod to the West

“I want to find a way to use the tiniest bits of my leather scraps…,” I said to my mother.

As a leather worker, I feel it’s my utmost duty to not let a bit of leather go to waste, as much as I can help it. After all, the leather that I work with every day was once protecting and sheltering a life, functioning as that life’s main organ. It would be a shame to that animal to let part of its life go to waste. So I had to come up with a way to use the little scraps of leather left over from cutting out bags and belt pouches.

“Well…you know, in my day, we would wear bandana slides around our scarves or bandanas…,” my mother replied. “It was the hip thing back then.”

She found an old picture of her wearing a bandana with one of these slides perfectly clasping the cloth loosely at the front of her neck. “Kind of like this…,” she said.

Perfect.

In so many ways.

Her brilliant suggestion three years ago not only saved an incredible amount of leather from the waste bin, but the little bandana slides quickly became my best sellers at craftsman markets and in my online Etsy shop. Drawing from the nostalgic past, with a slight nod to the rugged culture of the Southwest, these very affordable, handcrafted leather bandana slides help folks add an extra spice to their already impeccable style. Whether it’s sprucing up a silk scarf or an old, well-worn paisley bandana, you can’t go wrong with a bandana slide; especially one that intentionally keeps leather out of the landfills.

To find this bandana slide and the rest of the collection, feel free to visit my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/NightjarTradeCompany

or follow me on Instagram at @nightjartradecompany