I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting ways in which artisans are upcycling and retasking new clothes and accessories from old. A great place to find this sort of stuff is the online marketplace Etsy. You need to treat the site in the same way that you'd treat any craft fair or market. 90 per cent of what you'll find is rubbish. But every so often you'll come up with a real gem.
Leather-worker Scott Rawlings, working out of Salt Lake City, Utah, has a rather cool Etsy shop, Fullgive. He makes and sells beautifully designed and finished satchels, iPad cases and guitar straps. The item that concerns me, however, has a bit more history behind it.
Scott makes leather cuffs that have been upcycled from old belts. They're weathered, beautifully soft and more importantly, each one is unique. There's interesting details and embossing carried across from the old leatherwork, and an element of potluck when you place an order. You can pick black, brown, or more edgy skate/surf designs, but that's all the choice you get. You're never quite sure what you're going to end up with in terms of detailing. I like that. Sometimes it's good to embrace the unexpected.
Scott's cuffs aren't pricy--in the UK you can pick up one for just over a tenner. I don't think that's bad for an accessory that's pretty much guaranteed to be unique.
Check the cuffs, and Scott's other accessories, out at his Etsy shop, Fullgive.
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