A Buffalo hide vest is an unusual request,
being that this is NYC and I don’t think there are too many buffalo hunters here!
Our gentleman came to us with his own hide, which we were able to accommodate, even though it was tanned for use as a rug. It’s not the ideal finish for a garment, but it seemed like it would work for a vest. Skins with a stiff hand like this are limited and this one would not have been ideal for much else. A coat, or robe for example, probably would have come out like a wall.
After some discussion, the client was presented with 2 design variations. He chose the 2nd one in full fur.
Because the buffalo hide was not an A grade hide, we had to cut around a lot of Scars, bald spots, holes, etc. As a result the matching is not as perfect as it would be with a grade A garment tanned hide. But, a happy consequence of this slight mismatching, is that it adds great depth to the earthiness of the finished vest. It feels closer to the natural source, and we feel that’s important when working with a hunter’s individually sourced skins.
The finished buffalo hide vest has both exterior and interior pockets in addition to the super warm, flannel back satin lining chosen by the client.
We love bringing your unusual requests to life. If you are a hunter with tanned hides that you’ve dreamed of making into something, we are here to help. Please see our contact page for detailed information.