The leather accessories most men actually use come down to six: a full-grain wallet, a card holder, a belt, a weekender bag, a dopp kit, and a brass toothpick. Each earns its place by doing one job and wearing in instead of wearing out. Here is what each one carries or does, the leather it is cut from, and how it ages.
A full-grain wallet
A wallet is the accessory you reach for most, so it should be the one cut from the toughest leather. The Cash Fold holds up to thirty bills against the front of the pocket and carries no metal clip and no sharp edge, so it stays flat and quiet where a money clip digs. It is cut from Horween Chromexcel, a full-grain leather stuffed with waxes and oils, which is what lets a scratch rub out under a thumb instead of staying a mark. The leather darkens into a patina, the deeper sheen leather earns from oil, hand, and light, fastest at the fold and the bill mouth where it works every day.
A card holder
A card holder is the wallet for the man who carries three cards and a folded bill, not a stack. The Classic Card Holder runs three pockets cut from a single piece of Italian Horsehide: the two outer pockets sit tight against credit and ID, and the middle pocket tapers wider to thumb through business cards or tuck a few bills. There is no lining and no glue. The leather is stitched directly to itself with bonded polyester thread, so the only thing between your cards and your pocket is one hide and its own seam. It is made in Phoenix, Arizona, and it darkens at the spine where the case folds and where fingers reach for the cards.
A belt
One good belt outlasts a drawer of cheap ones because the failure point on a belt is the leather, not the buckle. The Classic Buckle Belt is cut from Horween Illini Latigo, a hot-stuffed vegetable-tanned hide that feels waxy in the hand and softens through wear rather than cracking. The buckle is sand-cast from solid brass, so it has weight and no plating to flake off. The strap carries seven holes, which gives three holes of room either way when you fasten on the middle one, so a heavy lunch or a winter layer does not leave you between sizes. For the strap width and color worth starting with, the belt is offered at 35mm in black, brown, and tan.
A weekender bag
For travel, the one bag that covers a two- or three-night trip is a leather duffle, sized to a carry-on. The Frontier Duffle holds a long body with twin top handles and a detachable crossbody strap, so it carries in the hand through a terminal or off the shoulder up a stair. It is cut from American Steer, a chrome-tanned hide sourced from Minnesota, in tan, brown, or black. Chrome-tanned leather takes the weight and the scuffs of a thrown bag and keeps moving; the hide creases at the handles and softens along the body, which is the bag recording the trips rather than the trips wearing it out.
A dopp kit
A dopp kit is the leather case that keeps a razor, a brush, and a toothbrush in one place that survives a bag being dropped on a bathroom floor. The Flat Folio opens flat along two sides on six brass snaps, so you see everything at once instead of digging through a zippered pouch, and it hangs from one of three rivets across the top when the counter has no room. It is cut from the same Horween Chromexcel as the wallet, full-grain and oil-stuffed, so a splash of water beads and wipes off. It works as a compact alternative to a zip bag, or for art supplies and charger cables when you are not packing a razor.
A brass toothpick
The smallest accessory worth carrying is a brass toothpick, because it is the one you actually keep on you and never throw away. It is turned on a lathe from solid, lead-free brass, sized to a standard wood pick; the alloy is lead-free for the plain reason that it goes in your mouth. An optional Italian Horsehide sleeve, hand-stitched in Phoenix, keeps it from rattling loose in a pocket. Brass takes a fingerprint and brightens again with a wipe, so it shows use and cleans up in turn.
Which to buy first
Start with the wallet and the belt; they get used every day and set the standard for the rest. Add the card holder if you carry few cards, the duffle and dopp kit before a trip, and the brass pick when you want a small thing made well. Full-grain and vegetable-tanned leather both work the same way over years: they darken, soften, and hold the shape of use instead of wearing through. For how to wear these together, see how to pair leather accessories with different outfits. To see the full range, browse all of our leather goods.