When I first went (mostly) raw-vegan it was about health. Then over time I woke up to the environmental reasons, and then to the cause of animal-rights. Even with this awareness it wasn’t until I watched Earthlings that I fully realized the cruelty involved (and massive environmental pollution) in the leather industry. I read somewhere that Alexis Stewart (daughter of Martha) is vegan but still wears leather for she maintains it’s a by-product of the meat industry, so as long as people are eating meat she’ll wear leather. Le sigh. First, that’s not the case and second, it really doesn’t help the cause to support worldwide demand for leather goods. Anyway.

I’m not much of a shopper, but I’ve had guidance from my friend Chloe Jo Berman (who knows everything there is to know about cruelty-free fashion and writes about it on her site) and if you’re a guy, Joshua Katcher’s The Discerning Brute is your best resource. Also, given what I do, sometimes I’m the beneficiary of awesome gifts. So, here are a few of my all time favorite things that are normally made with leather but are not:

Matt & Nat: make incredibly cool and useful bags and more. One of my favorites is the “Charlie” bag for $26 which I use to hold my makeup. My other favorite is the Vera wallet, and they make really classy bags for guys too (or females like me that usually end up preferring the guy stuff) like the Soren. They’re always introducing new lines and they have serious bargains in the “outlet” section, so good to keep checking there.

Olsenhaus: Is it just me or is a lot of “vegan” fashion just not cool at all. Olsenhaus is the screaming exception to that. I love her stuff, her shoes, and these very cool bags and wallets. Also, I want these shoes, and these flats, and I kind of really want the men’s blue suede shoes. (I think there’s a guy lurking inside of me). There’s even really cute shoes for kids.

All Cork: I was lucky enough to get this City Tote in black as a gift a while back and I use it all the time and worship it. It’s the perfect size for work stuff, with handy pockets. While I’m partial to my One Lucky Duck tote, sometimes you need a classier bag. All Cork also makes really classy belts. Simple design, for men, or females who like guy stuff like me.

Cornelia Guest: If you like fancy things, this fancy lovely lady recently introduced her own line of “cruelty free” bags, and here’s a summary on her site.

OKAY! So that’s what I got. As always, for great vegan shoes and more in NYC or online, go to MooShoes. They have really cool boots, particularly if you like clunky man-boots like I do. If I’ve missed anything particularly great feel free to post in comments.

Finally… I can’t post anything about shopping without mentioning the fact that Hurricane Sandy has left a lot of people in need, and the people of Occupy Sandy have made this wishlist on Amazon, a very efficient way to get them the supplies they actually need. In case you want to shop for them too, it’s here.

Olsenhaus!

Happy pre-holidays.

The post AVOIDING LEATHER? MY FAVORITE VEGAN NOT LEATHER STUFF! appeared first on Sarma Raw.