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After my divorce about two years ago, there were several things that I had always wanted, and first on my list was a leather jacket. For some reason, I had always found an excuse not to get one. One morning I got up, on a particularly cold winter day, and decided to change that. A local store was having a sale, and I walked out with the first of a series of purchases. I hated the "newness" of store bought jackets, and finally found a solution to that problem. The Salvation Army outlet down the street from my apartment. My first purchase there was this vintage brown leather motorcycle jacket, it's colour faded to a light brown. I decided to see what would happen if I put some work into it. For about 15 dollars, there was little to lose. The main thing is to find a dry cleaner that knows a leather cleaning professional. I was lucky enough to find one nearby. After cleaning, the next step was to condition the leather. To do that is actually quite simple. I purchased some mink oil, and walked out to the local park on a nice hot summer day. Mink oil is actually more like a grease, and it's been used for centuries to restore and protect leather. One just has to apply it by hand, and work it into the leather's surface. The heat from your hand will begin the process of restoration. One has to be patient, and it will take a few days for the leather to assume it's new patina. One never should use anything synthetic on leather, and mink oil is the perfect solution. It is often used in cosmetics, and will soften your skin as equally well as it softens leather. Those second hand vintage leather jackets have a character unlike any one can find in a store. They have a style and cut that is unmatchable. The leather itself has aged and softened, and they are like fine wood in the grain and texture they offer. My faded jacket turned into a deep rich luxurious brown, and the brittle leather became as soft and supple as a glove's. It turned out to be a quite successful experiment. I am now a bit like one of those people that finds and restores old cars. My wardrobe now contains about seven different jackets, and they are the first thing I reach for when the weather turns cold and windy. If you can learn a lot about a man by walking a mile in his shoes, just think what can happen when you walk a mile in his jacket