Earning Your Leather

by Lord Suttle

One does not often hear stories of earned leather. For many the whole process is an intensely personal experience, for others family guidelines demand privacy surrounding the family traditions. Many families, groups and individuals have created there own traditions and meanings when it comes to earning pieces of leather. Some involve play, others involve the process of learning, some involve serving. I am not stating that these are the only ways to earn leathers but they seem to be the standard.

For myself, earning my leather was not only a personal experience but family tradition demanded that not only was the earning process to be kept secret but the actual presentation process as well. My original leather family is gone, I was young, they were old, things happen. I have grown and enriched my life and have my own leather family now. The secret aspect of earning leather is perhaps the only tradition of my original family that I have not kept. All other aspects of the earning process I strictly adhere to.

Earned Leather, what does it all mean. For us, earned leather means much more than the cowhide vest draped across someone's back. Not only does this process make you a lifetime member of our family but it means you have earned the right to be there. Its a graduation of sorts, you are no longer the novice bottom or junior top. You have reached the stage in your training where you can now represent the family and its values. This doesn't mean the training stops, as we all know the learning process never ends.

Our way of earning leather was through education and personal growth. All began by learning the basic guidelines of the leather lifestyle, protocol, manners, toy care and toy usage etc. From there the holder of the leather would carefully note the areas which needed improvement. Guidelines would be set in the designated area and your quest would begin. It was not always important to have a timeline, the important thing was the knowledge you gained in the process.

Other ways of earning leather are by participating in a very intense scene, enduring whatever has been negotiated between the two parties. Such as a 100 strokes of a flogger may earn you, your vest or 50 paddle hits earn you, your chaps. Many people have earned in one way or another each piece of leather they wear, right down to their boots. None of these are standardized, each is tailored to the individual and particular goal they wish to reach. This type of earned leathers is very similar to earning hankies. This of course involved participating in whatever activity the hanky represented.

It is difficult for me to describe the effects of putting on a piece of leather you have earned. The feeling of accomplishment and confidence is simply to overwhelming to put into words. But I can say this, should it ever happen to you, it is not a feeling you will ever forget.

If you would like to see an example of a leather earning process please visit The Colors Project

(Personal Note: Please keep in mind that these are the teachings of my family only and do not necessarily represent the views of all leather families, groups or organizations)

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