Chester Mox Appreciation Thread -- Bespoke, Ready-Made, and MTO Leathergoods

[dieworkwear]



Yup, I was right.

I like the design you just posted, but would go for lighter shade of brown. Not navy.

Do you mean you don't like the idea of a navy folio in general, or just for that design?

The others I'm thinking about are the zip-around folio posted earlier and a folio version of this

FWIW, this is the navy swatch. I kind of wish there was a midnight navy option, but I don't think they have anything darker.

I do like tan better, but I already have a casual tan folio and was thinking about getting something in a non-brown color.

 

[coldinboston]



Giving this "card case design in a folio size" idea one more go.

Would this look bad? Mine would be in navy and not have the metal bits.

I like this one better for a folio size as opposed to the Hermes and Givency ones. The latter, in my mind at least, just dont look great for a 13 inch portofolio. This one would work better.
Again i am personally biased more towards the zipper type portofolios, but this envelope one you showed would also work if you like this design type.

Are you looking into a navy like the shrunken calf (dark navy) or navy like the waprolux (more blue navy).

 

[coldinboston]

I did recently receive a belt from Bellanie in golden barenia leather.
Overall nice quality and stiching.
From the look and feel of the belt I feel her style is a touch more casual than dressy, however this is in large to the fact that I requested a 37mm or so buckle. I am sure it would be more dressy in a 32mm size. Anyways some pics.

 

[coldinboston]

Also this nice small wallet in Annonay rusticalf. Very supple leather. Nice handywork. Would consider this leather for small portofolio. No sure how it would hold structure however.

 

[Jr Mouse]



Do you mean you don't like the idea of a navy folio in general, or just for that design?

The others I'm thinking about are the zip-around folio posted earlier and a folio version of this


FWIW, this is the navy swatch. I kind of wish there was a midnight navy option, but I don't think they have anything darker.


I do like tan better, but I already have a casual tan folio and was thinking about getting something in a non-brown color.

I just find shades of brown more interesting overall. They tend to patina better over time and there is a large variety of interesting shades to choose from. Having said all that, I might have missed the fact that you already have a tan folio and were specifically looking to go for something other then brown. In that case, Navy is a fine choice. It would pair better with browns and still be able to look somewhat formal. Maybe look into a shade of green too.

 

[ChetB]

Just placed an order for the #56 card case

except in green French Chevre with Au Chinois linen thread and clear foil logo

 

[dieworkwear]



I did recently receive a belt from Bellanie in golden barenia leather.
Overall nice quality and stiching.
From the look and feel of the belt I feel her style is a touch more casual than dressy, however this is in large to the fact that I requested a 37mm or so buckle. I am sure it would be more dressy in a 32mm size. Anyways some pics.

Also this nice small wallet in Annonay rusticalf. Very supple leather. Nice handywork. Would consider this leather for small portofolio. No sure how it would hold structure however.

Those look great. Have you found the belt patinas heavily? I have a Barenia leather card case that I really like, but wonder how it would age as a belt. I like the idea of a handstitched belt I can wear with sport coats, maybe in that 32mm size you mentioned.

I just find shades of brown more interesting overall. They tend to patina better over time and there is a large variety of interesting shades to choose from. Having said all that, I might have missed the fact that you already have a tan folio and were specifically looking to go for something other then brown. In that case, Navy is a fine choice. It would pair better with browns and still be able to look somewhat formal. Maybe look into a shade of green too.

Yea, I would have picked brown if it weren't for the fact that I already have a tan folio. Thinking about going for the navy, but still haven't settled on a design. Kind of thinking about doing that zip-around design @coldinboston mentioned earlier (but with some kind of outside pocket) or a copy of this Margiela folio I own. The flap secures with a hidden snap button.

Just placed an order for the #56 card case
except in green French Chevre with Au Chinois linen thread and clear foil logo

Awesome. Post pics when you get it!

 

[coldinboston]



Those look great. Have you found the belt patinas heavily? I have a Barenia leather card case that I really like, but wonder how it would age as a belt. I like the idea of a handstitched belt I can wear with sport coats, maybe in that 32mm size you mentioned.

@dieworkwear
In my experience Haas Barenia does patina and does so fairly quickly in a very nice way. Bellanie does also have 32mm nickel buckles in stock so you can certainly get one for that size if you want. I wanted a more casual belt for jeans so I ordered mine in a 38mm.
Here is picture of the belt maybe 20 days after i received and it has already started to patina. Underneath is a barenia sample from someone else which is older and has developed a nice patina.

Here is also a folio i commisioned from parker pierpont (@PierpontLeather here on SF that is on the way and i will post a few more when it gets here in an a couple of days on his thread. It is smaller than what you wanted and is 12x9 and i wanted it less than an inch. Basically a murse. Also barenia.lined in orange mysore with one internal pocket for wallet/phone/etc..
Pics below are his.

Also have something similar from bellanie in dark brown rusticalf (lined with orange rusticalf). Yes i know i have a problem but these little "murses" are my go tos.
Both zip on top and running down one side.

 

[dieworkwear]



@dieworkwear
In my experience Haas Barenia does patina and does so fairly quickly in a very nice way. Bellanie does also have 32mm nickel buckles in stock so you can certainly get one for that size if you want. I wanted a more casual belt for jeans so I ordered mine in a 38mm.
Here is picture of the belt maybe 20 days after i received and it has already started to patina. Underneath is a barenia sample from someone else which is older and has developed a nice patina.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Here is also a folio i commisioned from parker pierpont (@PierpontLeather here on SF that is on the way and i will post a few more when it gets here in an a couple of days on his thread. It is smaller than what you wanted and is 12x9 and i wanted it less than an inch. Basically a murse. Also barenia.lined in orange mysore with one internal pocket for wallet/phone/etc..
Pics below are his.

Also have something similar from bellanie in dark brown rusticalf (lined with orange rusticalf). Yes i know i have a problem but these little "murses" are my go tos.
Both zip on top and running down one side.

Funny enough, I was actually thinking about getting a CM version of this Valextra folio.

The price on the Valextra is crazy. $1800 for a machine stitched item, which seems ridiculous (even though I like some of their other cases). Thought maybe I could get a hand stitched version for half the price.

That belt looks nice. I might send them an email to see if they can do a dark brown version of a thinner, 32mm dress belt. Maybe something nicer than the Brooks Brothers belt I mostly use at the moment.

 

[coldinboston]



Funny enough, I was actually thinking about getting a CM version of this Valextra folio.

The price on the Valextra is crazy. $1800 for a machine stitched item, which seems ridiculous (even though I like some of their other cases). Thought maybe I could get a hand stitched version for half the price.

That belt looks nice. I might send them an email to see if they can do a dark brown version of a thinner, 32mm dress belt. Maybe something nicer than the Brooks Brothers belt I mostly use at the moment.

@@dieworkwear
That dark brown Annonay Rusticalf Bellanie has would probably make a nice dress belt in a 32mm size. Not sure which dark brown you had in mind.

That 1800USD is very steep for a machine made folio. That size folio from CM would be less than half that price depending on any specific extras you ask for

 

[dieworkwear]



@@dieworkwear
That dark brown Annonay Rusticalf Bellanie has would probably make a nice dress belt in a 32mm size. Not sure which dark brown you had in mind.

That 1800USD is very steep for a machine made folio. That size folio from CM would be less than half that price depending on any specific extras you ask for

Brown rusticalf sounds good. I'll see what she thinks of the idea.

 

[mktitsworth]

I wish I'd found this thread before I just started a wallet appreciation thread, though the two are sort of separate. Nevertheless, back when I was looking for a new wallet DWW put me in touch with Bellanie. It felt like an odd place to be in, because I wanted a vertical dress wallet that was not bifold.Instead, I wanted the two sides back to back. I also wanted to be able to leave the thing in my pocket as much as possible, so I wanted to be able to take all of the important stuff out without having to take the wallet out of my pocket.

The design was mine.

She implemented it beautifully. The leather I chose was the mandarina rusticalf.

That was back in September 2015 and it has since acquired an awesome patina.

Looking at it now, I am now really glad I did not go with the contrast stitching.

 

[dieworkwear]

That looks really good.

I still need to put in my navy folio order. Bellanie just got this new leather from du Puy -- Marocalf, which I'm told is similar to her boxcalf (a really nice, smooth leather that's flexible, but also has a bit of firmness to it).

Thinking about dropping the navy idea for this.

 

[mktitsworth]

This definitely seems more... conservative? It's a more traditional color for leather. Probably less wink and smirk, if that makes any sense.

Which is not to say that I don't like the leather, it's just a different direction and I'm curious if there's a reason you'd make the shift other than "I like this new leather better."

 

[dieworkwear]



This definitely seems more... conservative? It's a more traditional color for leather. Probably less wink and smirk, if that makes any sense.

Which is not to say that I don't like the leather, it's just a different direction and I'm curious if there's a reason you'd make the shift other than "I like this new leather better."

Yea, they seem like different cases.

I have a couple of brown folios, but they only hold a laptop and maybe some printed-out articles. Not enough room for a charger, which is what I often bring with me when I leave the house.

I use my black CM folio the most, since it can hold a lot more, but sometimes black feels a bit formal/ severe. Wouldn't mind a more casual case.

I can see liking a brown one a lot, but maybe navy might be fun for some color options.

If I get the brown one, it'd mostly be because I want something to hold my charger. And look good with tailored clothing. Navy also works, but that brown color looks super nice.