Our leather selection rotates; please see our leather catalogue for current offerings.

Nicks Leather Styles

Nicks uses leather thicker than most commercial leathers used. Our boot leathers are between 6–8oz with each ounce of leather translating to roughly 0.4mm thickness. While it means that a pair of Nicks boots will take longer to break it, it also means that they can last a lifetime when properly maintained. Each pair of Nicks Handmade Boots is constructed out of the same hide. While different drums of the same color may vary slightly due to the tanning process, each boot will stay true to its color. Nicks offers a variety of leather options, some exclusive to us, others not.

Nicks offers a variety of leathers, including exclusive options, and we are always looking for more interesting options to create unique boots for our customers.

Roughout Leather

Roughout leather is the side of the hide from the inside of the animal. It has a rougher, textured appearance and feel. It is more abrasion resistant and less likely to show scratches. Additionally, roughout is a lower maintenance leather. Due to this, it is often the preferred choice for professional Work Boots.

Waxed Flesh leather is a style of leather that has been finished on the roughout side. With wear it will look like traditional roughout until being rewaxed.

Some boots are offered build as smooth over roughout. This is both an aesthetic and functional choice. The smooth uppers are often covered and protected by pants while the lower part of the boot that encounters an abrasive environment features roughout leather.

Smooth Leather

Smooth leather is the side of the hide originally on the outside of the animal. It has a smooth appearance to varying degrees depending on its tannage. Smooth leathers are

more susceptible to picking up and showing scratches, many of which can be buffed to conceal or add to the patina’s character. It is often the preferred choice for Heritage boots.

Some boots are offered build as smooth over roughout. This is both an aesthetic and functional choice. The smooth uppers are often covered and protected by pants while the lower part of the boot that encounters an abrasive environment features roughout leather.

Free Range LeatherFree Range Leather

Free Range Leather

Boots sold as Free Range leather are made from a hide that contains blemishes or cosmetic imperfections. These markings are usually from an animal living an animal’s life: bug bites, minor scarring, stretch marks, etc. Free Range leathers have the same quality and integrity that has come to be expected with all Nicks Handmade Boots. While some think these add character and additional beauty to a boot, others may not so they are sold as their own thing for full transparency. They are sold at a discount so we can create a more sustainable business model, avoiding excess waste.

Pull Up vs PatinaPull Up vs Patina

Pull Up vs Patina

Different leather tannages and even different colors within the same tannage offer varying amounts of pull up and patina potential. 

Pull Up

Variation of surface color when stretched or folded revealing lighter colors from beneath the waxy surface. Pull up is the temporary displacement of oils and waxes causing a lightening of the leather’s top color. The amount of pull up varies due to the finishing technique when tanning a hide and is a sliding scale; some leathers have virtually no pull up while others can be extreme. Even within a specific tanning method some colors, usually lighter colors, will show more pull up. Both veg tanned and chrome tanned leathers can have pull up. 

Once lasted, pull up can be seen on the vamp and heel of a boot where the leather has been stretched tight over the last as well as through manipulating the leather with your hands. The allure of pull up is the character it adds to a boot through tonal variance as it ages. A leather with lots of pull up will look aged showing a rich depth of color enhanced through scratches, stress lines, and rolls based on your particular wear and use. This means your boot will highlight scratches and wear instead of hiding those marks like a rough-out boot will as the oils and waxes settle into their final look.

Patina

Patina is wear pattern developed on the surface of leather providing character and a thin sheen. It forms through normal use, contact with various environmental elements, exposure to sun, and maintenance. The unique look and feel patina gives is often a desired beauty and can change the look of a boot drastically.

Boots with pull up create a custom rich patina over time, often sooner than with a leather having less pull up. Boots without pull up will also patina over time often due to scratches and crease marks. Teacore leathers are often considered patina monsters as the natural leather color underneath shows through the colored finish. 

To see various patinas of a particular leather, please see the Patina Project app or our Reddit for a variety of examples.

TanningTanning

Tanning

Treating an animal hide to stop its decomposing making a more durable material; to turn it into leather. The new leather is then finished by being waxed, oiled, shaved, and dyed to produce the final material for boots and goods.

Vegetable Tan (aka Veg Tan)

A laborious “old fashioned” method of tanning using natural plant extracts to prepare a raw hide. The tannins found in the natural ingredients used, like barks, bond to the collagen molecules essentially sealing them. This makes the hide far less water soluble, less susceptible to bacterial damage, and prevents future decay. The vegetable tanning process results in a durable, stiffer leather that ages beautifully acquiring a unique patina as it molds to your foot.

Chromium Tan (aka Chrome Tan)

A method of tanning using chromium salts, and other compounds, on a wet blue hide. The compounds pass through fibers replacing the water in the hide’s collagen achieving the same preservative effect as veg tanning. It tends to yield a softer, less durable, product which aids comfort and workability and often is more resistant to water marks and scratches. The faster tanning method is conducive to quicker turnaround and lower cost but is much less environmentally friendly even though it uses less water. A chrome tanned leather with a top or full grain from an established tannery produces high quality leather for boots and goods once tanning is completed and Nicks stands behind all leather we source.

Combination Tan

Also known as re-tanning, combination tanned leather is first chrome tanned and then tanned again using the traditional veg tanning process. Combination tanning creates a leather that is supple and pliable to work with but with increased durability and rigidity of a veg tannage. It can also be veg tanned first and then chrome tanned, but this is rarely done.

Struck Through and Teacore Leather

Struck Through Leather

Struck through leather has been drum dyed and left in the drum long enough for the color to penetrate fully through the leather. The layers underneath match the leather’s surface color which can be seen on a boot by looking at the edges where leather is cut. If only color is seen, no natural tan or brown, the leather is struck through. Struck through leather will not show any tan when scratched or in its patina. The same struck through side can be used to build smooth or roughout boots and goods aiding in availability and limiting waste if a smooth side has blemishes.

Teacore Leathers

Leather that is not fully struck through, referred to as teacore leather, has colored dye applied to the surface of only one side, to varying depths. This depth of color determines how long it will take for the natural tan to show through. Most Nicks work leathers are struck through, most heritage leathers are not.

Teacore LeathersTeacore Leathers

Extras