Tiffany (00:01)
Hello.  How are you? 

Kat (00:02)
hello, Tiffany. You know, we just took a little break between recording and I had to teach Ada, my dog, that she needs to eat again. Had to remind her how to eat. So she's eating, I hope. We took her to the vet yesterday and she's traumatized. Yeah, she just had to get shots. Whatever. She wouldn't. She only got one shot. Archie got three.

No problem. He was a champ yesterday. Of course, I know he was really good at the vet yesterday. It was impressive. But she wailed when they tried to put she only got one shot. She was good, too. So we have to take her back in a couple of weeks. She goes, you know, she screams. All they did was like pinch her skin to put the needle in and she just was like, she's such a and she just stood there and was kind of like, OK. I mean, they're both on drugs.

Tiffany (00:32)
That's shocking.

Wow, that's awesome.

She like actually wailed.

⁓ my god.

Kat (00:58)
I have to drug my dogs, them to the vet. But But yeah, Archie was.

Tiffany (01:01)
⁓ my

That is so funny. Ruby was

like the opposite where she never showed any sort of like pain or anything. She was so stoic that it was actually kind of scary because you're like, I know you're not doing well right now. Like, ⁓ but she would just sit there like, I'm fine.

Kat (01:14)
Terrifying. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Apparently, Pyrenees, which Archie is, are known for that. They have very high paid tolerances. But Ada, no. Absolutely not.

Tiffany (01:27)
Interesting. Okay.

Yeah, okay. Well, on that note, not really at all. This is, ⁓ I'm gonna start off with the most shocking statistic that I found and unfortunately it's really depressing. I know.

Kat (01:32)
Anyway, so yes.

Mm-hmm.

shoot, okay.

I wish I had a... I wish my boyfriend would bring me a beer or something, but... Just got water tonight, y'know. Mm-hmm.

Tiffany (01:51)
Right, know I'm apologies in advance

But we're talking about Leather today and so I kind of wanted to look a little bit at like lead the leather the sort of like traditional leather making process And I didn't look into it too much because it got a little bit too depressing. So According to the World Health Organization about 90 % of people in Bangladesh

Kat (02:07)
God, okay.

Tiffany (02:19)
who live or work in or near the tanneries. In the tanneries, tanneries are factories where leather is made. 90 % of these people die before the age of 50.

Kat (02:35)
Jesus Christ. Pardon my French everyone who cares about that, but Jesus Christ.

Tiffany (02:38)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. So the chemicals used to process clean and turn the animal hide into leather are released into the air, into the water, onto people's skin, all of the above. And this is hard. Children as young as eight are found to be working at these factories.

Kat (02:58)
No, it's 2026.

Tiffany (03:02)
To be fair, these statistics are about nine years old. But it ain't great. It's not a great look. It ain't great.

Kat (03:06)
Still. Okay. Now.

Okay. And is this where like most leather in the world is produced basically? Like if you buy a leather handbag from H is this where it comes from probably?

Tiffany (03:17)
That I don't know. That I don't know.

⁓

maybe, yeah. I don't know, I actually don't know. That's a really good question.

It's certainly possible.

And yeah, this was sort of like a bombshell study that was released, you know, nine, eight or nine years ago. So maybe something has been done in the meantime, but like, that's kind of where we're starting with as far as like leather production. And that's like you said, like cheap leather production. So it's probably best to not let the leather that we do make go to waste, which is exactly what the founder of HYER GOODS HYER.

Kat (04:00)
Okay, fair.

Tiffany (04:04)
goods, it's spelled H-Y-E-R, goods, Dana Cohen is trying to do. Let's learn what makes her production process different, what their sustainability claims are, and whether or not a luxury leather handbag can be a sustainable option. Welcome to Greening Up My Act

Kat (04:07)
Okay.

Tiffany (04:41)
you

Kat (04:43)
I always have great dance moves in these interstitials.

Tiffany (04:44)
Yes.

Yes. So yeah, that's where we're at. Who, a little bit about us. We are two professionals with marketing backgrounds who also, I'm I'm laid off. What do I call myself? It's true. It's But yeah, we're also just normal people trying to figure this shit out and like figure out.

Kat (04:59)
There you go.

Ah, you're still a writer. You'll always be a writer.

Tiffany (05:13)
What is good? And what is not? What is not worth our time?

Kat (05:17)
Good to do. Yes. Yes. Mostly what to...

What is worth trying and what is worth avoiding? Yeah.

Tiffany (05:25)
Mm-hmm.

And what's kind of full of green hooey, as we call it, which is sadly a lot of things. But a little bit about my sources. I didn't have very many because HYER GOODS they were founded in 2019, but there weren't like a ton of reviews on them. So yeah, that's kind of, I feel like it's the same idea. There was a Guardian article. Yeah, 2019, rough.

Kat (05:43)
I think I felt that about last week with Hope for Flowers.

It's like COVID hit in the world. What happened to these? They're still

functioning, but-

Tiffany (05:54)
Yeah,

yeah, yeah. So I use their website, obviously. The Guardian had an article about them that was actually written last year about the company. The Guardian also, I use them to get the statistics about the Bangladesh tanneries. Reddit, I looked at a Reddit thread that was really interesting about HYER GOODS And earth.org.

Kat (06:10)
Okay.

Tiffany (06:21)
They talked about the pros and cons of vegan leather, which I talk about a little bit.

Okay. So what are we talking about today? Higher goods. The company was founded by Dana Cohen. She is a white woman. Last time we said that the founder was a black woman. So I'm like, we really should specify that with every race, right?

Kat (06:45)
I

guess so. Yeah, it's probably worth noting. mean, because you were talking about there were Irish women for the... But in America, yes, when a black woman founds a company, or when any woman founds a company in our country, but there are different things that it means if a black woman does it versus a white woman, especially when it comes to sustainability claims and things. I feel like that's such a white space so often.

Tiffany (06:51)
Right? Like, I don't know.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, and I think just, and maybe I'm totally wrong about this, but it's just like

Kat (07:15)
that, yeah.

Tiffany (07:21)
The reason I'm calling it out, like that I'm saying she's a white woman is because that's like the assumption and it shouldn't be. You know what I mean? So yeah.

Kat (07:30)
Agreed. Like I just said, it seems like such a white space, but I

agree with you that there are so many black creators doing so much work in sustainability and it just, yeah, it's again, yeah. It's yeah. Well, that's kind of an American thing is the white assumption. Anyway, we are, even though it's rarely true, you know,

Tiffany (07:38)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and I'm talking about like broadly, you know, people are like, yeah, it's just crazy.

Mm-hmm.

Kat (07:59)
in terms of what work is actually getting done. But there is a white assumption that happens that is just kind of hmm, wherever that came from. Anyway.

Tiffany (08:10)
so Dana Cohen, she spent over a decade in the corporate fashion world and she saw how much leftover fabric and leather and textiles there were after, a run. So they would make all these clothes for this run and the rest of the fabric would just get tossed.

which is, for her, was like pretty upsetting.

Kat (08:37)
yeah, especially when, yeah, okay. I can see that in a lot of ways, yes.

Tiffany (08:40)
Yeah. So the company was launched in November 2019 and they HYER GOODS creates, this gets interesting, Italian leather handbags using premium dead stock materials. Dead stock is what you can imagine. Stock.

Kat (08:55)
Okay.

It's yeah, discarded.

Yeah.

Tiffany (09:05)
yeah,

stock that's got no life left in it, basically. Like it's not gonna be used for anything else. Leftover from luxury fashion houses that includes Hermes, Chanel, Valentino. So the leather that we're talking about for this is not the same leather made in like Bangladesh. It's made...

Kat (09:09)
Yeah.

in Italy.

Tiffany (09:30)
in.

Yeah. Yeah. So what she says is they're not scraps. It's not like scraps of fabric that they're using to make these handbags. And they have more than just handbags, but their main product is a handbag. Yeah, I do. They are high grade leather sourced from top tier tanneries that supply the world's most respected brands.

Kat (09:46)
I'm gonna look on the website while you talk, okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Tiffany (09:58)
So yeah, it's like leather in general can be problematic. These tanneries are not the same as those Bangladeshi- But it's still- leather still takes a lot of chemicals, it takes a lot of water, it takes a lot of shit to make.

So it's very labor intensive and also animals.

Kat (10:24)
Yes. Yeah. There's, there's, mean, again, if we, if we're worried about how, ⁓ eating beef affects the environment and obviously growing animals for leather would too. So interesting. Yeah.

Tiffany (10:33)
Right.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

yeah, there's like a lot know, inhumane cattle practices. And I was reading about alligators because people use alligator skin for purses or for whatever. And there is one, I think this was earth.org article that was saying that legally they're allowed to put like 350 live full

full-size alligators in one normal house-sized area, like 350. So...

Kat (11:09)
my God.

That's so...

yeah, okay. No, that's... bleh, okay.

Tiffany (11:18)
Yeah, so the conditions are not necessarily great. Yeah. So.

Kat (11:23)
Okay, yeah.

Tiffany (11:25)
Higher Goods is trying to use the leather that would otherwise not be used. And to do that, they make what they call small batch. It's small batch production. So they have basically like limited, kind of like hope for flowers, like limited runs of specific ⁓ bags.

Kat (11:41)
Okay.

Tiffany (11:51)
And they are crafted in Italy in family-owned factories with generations of expertise is what they say. they say that the craftsmanship is traditional because it's Italian families that have been doing this for generations. But their model of working is not.

So they produce limited quantities guided by available materials rather than aggressive growth targets, which I really appreciate. And then they said their collections are shaped by what's already in circulation. So that's cool. I like it.

Kat (12:27)
Yeah.

Tiffany (12:30)
That was their general...

thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So now we can talk about what eco-friendly claims they're making. I decided because really, it's sort of like your like hope for flowers where they aren't making a lot.

Kat (12:34)
411. Yeah, I don't know, yeah.

Tiffany (12:53)
claims. One that they're responsibly crafted, that their bags are responsibly crafted. And number two, that they're made for longevity. So we'll talk about the first one and then we'll get into vegan.

leather after we take a short break. So responsibly crafted. They say we embrace a different relationship with consumption, fewer better things. So they want their pieces to be worn often, repair when needed and passed on when their story with you is complete, which I appreciate.

The repair thing is interesting because they don't offer the repairs, but I guess with leather it can be a little bit easier to repair. We have a cobbler down the road that does shoes and bags and stuff.

Kat (13:32)
You can find her. Yeah.

Tiffany (13:41)
They use that one interesting thing is a lot of what they use has imperfections. So the leather originally had imperfections and they say that 12 to 15 percent of a production run can be wasted because of this. But what they do is they just cut around the imperfections. Isn't that interesting?

Kat (13:55)
Okay.

Okay,

It's like, well, okay. I guess if you're doing like a smaller run, you can do that. Cause you're making, but it feels like, come on Hermes, get your shit together. Like.

Tiffany (14:06)
Yeah.

Kind of. It's

so wasteful, like, financially for them too. Maybe it's not, I don't know.

Kat (14:14)
Yeah, I guess not. And

that's yikes. Okay. Uh-huh.

Tiffany (14:20)
Yeah, so yeah, they just cut around it and they do make other things like smaller things like. Yeah, well, yeah.

Kat (14:27)
I saw wallets and passport hold. I was just,

just like, maybe I needed a new pack.

Tiffany (14:31)
Yeah,

I know. It's so funny. so they use a lot. And she actually said that her sort of this idea spawned from this collaboration that she did with somebody in India. And They wanted to test out whether or not this would work.

where you use the scraps and make things and then they sold out like crazy. So people love them.

And this is where we run into some issues. I'm sort of trying to give them some leeway here, but we run into some issues because she says her estimate is that her model of production has kept around 7,000 pounds of leather in circulation and out of landfills over six years of operation.

Kat (15:21)
Okay.

OK, mean, I'd like that's a number, which is better than so many of these companies that we've looked at have had is some kind of number. It seems kind of paltry. But I mean, every little bit counts, I guess. But again, I guess she's just measuring, is that just like the final weight of the bags? I don't know where you get that from.

Tiffany (15:36)
Yeah.

Yeah, it is kind of interesting. I mean, if you think about it, that's like... You're right compared to like billions of tons or millions of tons or whatever, but...

Kat (15:53)
Mm-hmm.

Tiffany (15:57)
That's like 7,000 bags maybe. Maybe half that.

Kat (16:00)
Yeah, I guess, yeah.

Yeah, that might be it. She's like the average weight of a bag is well, depending on the size of a leather handbag. Yeah, two and a half pounds. So.

Tiffany (16:07)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I don't know where she, she didn't explain where she got that number, So again, the Guardian talked about issues with leather, which is like the connection to cattle ranching, which is linked to deforestation, mass water use, the emission of methane. Tanning is obviously pretty bad. So.

I looked into a little bit about vegan leather because I was just kind of curious about it. So we will take a quick break and then talk about vegan leather.

Kat (16:44)
Okay.

Okay, sounds good.

Tiffany (17:06)
Okay, sweet. So, do you know what vegan leather is?

Kat (17:11)
Plastic usually, isn't it?

Tiffany (17:13)
well that's what's interesting. There's three different kinds. I didn't know this, but yeah, there is one kind that's faux leather that is pure plastic, basically. Yes. Then there's a plant plastic hybrid, which I don't know like the sort of, you know, brand name of that, but you can guess it's a plant.

Kat (17:16)
Okay.

Okay.

That's like pleather kind of, yeah. Okay.

Tiffany (17:41)
hybrid like it's those two things together and then there's plastic free leather which is made from cork, rice, natural tree rubber or coconut waste.

Kat (17:42)
Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Tiffany (17:53)
So I found that kind of interesting. ⁓ Elizabeth Klein was interviewed by The Guardian She's the author of the book, The Conscious Closet. Do you know that one? Okay, well she's talked. No, I know there are so many books that I'm finding. There's one about silk, like a whole book about silk. And I'm like, I really should read that. But we'll get her back together one day. ⁓

Kat (18:04)
I haven't heard that one. Probably should have read that before the season, but okay.

Yeah, that's what this is about. We're greening up our act.

⁓

Tiffany (18:19)
Yes,

yes, exactly. She is an expert on fast fashion. So she writes a lot about fast fashion and sustainability. And she said that like there is no such thing as a perfect. Yeah, like a perfect textile. There just is no. Yeah, just in general.

Kat (18:33)
Substitute. Yeah. ⁓ OK. That makes sense.

Like even if you made it yourself at home. Yeah. Well, I mean, OK. Yeah.

Tiffany (18:41)
Yeah. Yeah.

⁓ God, imagine. Which some people may do. Anyway.

Kat (18:48)
Get your loom out, let's go. Raise

your own sheep.

Tiffany (18:54)
So she says, you know, it's better to use what's already created than to make new vegan leather.

Kat (19:01)
Yeah.

I believe that and I know that that.

So in a sense, okay, sorry, I'm like doing math in my head, I guess, of like the ethical implications. As a vegan, a lot of the time, I think it's like this replacement of just the, just we have to replace the animal component can actually cause more harm than good. You know, that ⁓ when we're talking about eating a vegan diet,

Tiffany (19:12)
No, I know.

Kat (19:37)
If it's just to like, you're just replacing processed food with processed food, it's not actually better for you. And it's kind of the same with, if you're just creating a new process to replace animal fibers that already exist. Yeah, you're probably, it's like, maybe we just do without leather style things. Kind of like, why do you need milk? You know, why do I need a milk replacement? You know, we've talked about that. Like, why do I need a leather

Tiffany (19:58)
You

Mm-hmm.

Kat (20:03)
And it's some kind of virtue signaling that I think happens a lot. ⁓ That I, yeah, I get that. I struggle with that too, because it's like, yeah, I don't believe in factory farming and I don't, but it's like, I also don't believe in vegan leather. So anyway, yes, go on.

Tiffany (20:06)
Yeah.

Yeah, and it's similar to what we were saying with, like that guy that said that he wears a fleece and people are like, ⁓ it creates microplastics. Yeah. Yeah. So it's the same idea. And you know, leather sucks in a lot of ways, but it is extremely durable and it's can last decades. So that has to weigh into the equation.

Kat (20:27)
Yes, it's plastic. Yeah, it's like, but it's the one I have. Yeah.

Right.

Tiffany (20:48)
I have a leather purse that I use every single day of my life, every day. And I have had it. I wish I knew the year. I can figure it out, but it's at least...

decade old. At least. Probably about a decade. I have boots that are about the same and I wear them all winter long. I've gotten them resold once and they're still going strong. So it's kind of, yeah, it's kind of funny and somebody complimented me on the boots the other day and I was like, sorry, you can't find them. It's like...

Kat (21:27)
Yeah, good luck. They've been out of print for 30 years or something.

Yeah. They're vintage.

Tiffany (21:31)
Yeah, they're not around anymore.

At this point, maybe. So yeah, it's like one of those sustainability just is, gain one thing, you lose another. mm-hmm. Okay, so the other interesting thing about them is...

Kat (21:39)
Yeah, there is that.

Yeah, it's a game of whack-a-mole.

Tiffany (21:58)
sort of in their responsibly crafted claim, they also say that because they're small and because they're growing, they don't conduct any third-party audits at this time.

Kat (22:15)
Okay, so that, again, we've talked about that with fair trade certification. It costs so much money, but it's like, okay, yeah. Boo, also like.

Tiffany (22:22)
Yeah, anytime.

Yeah, no,

I know. It's so, it's like, I totally feel like I get it because I do think some of these small businesses, like, what was the one, I don't even know how small they are, but what was the one that had the certification that was out of date? And now can't remember who we were even talking about.

Kat (22:50)
⁓ yeah,

this is like four or five episodes ago. It was one that you were talking about. Yeah. Who was that? Because I remember being like, ooh, you click on the button and it's out of date. Yeah.

Tiffany (22:53)
Yeah, I'll think of it.

Yeah, because I was so excited about them and now I can't even think of who the F. I'll think of it. It wasn't Silk, it was something, it was before Silk. Anyway.

Kat (23:06)
Yeah.

Yeah, I'll look it up while you keep talking, but yeah.

Tiffany (23:14)
Okay, yeah, it's like they weren't keeping up with their certifications that they originally launched. And so it's sort of like, what was it? You find it.

Kat (23:24)
It was

the, ⁓ mate, the label.

Tiffany (23:28)
Yes, that's right. Yes, yes, yes. So it's sort of like that didn't mean anything at the end of the day. They just had this annoying meaningless certification label on their website, but it meant nothing because they weren't keeping up with it. So in a way, I'm kind of like...

They've been around since 2019. They went through COVID. It's been about seven years that they've been.

Kat (24:01)
did that happen? Yeah.

Tiffany (24:02)
I know. Well, no, since 2019, but yeah, like six since COVID, which is insane. ⁓ You know, they've been around for seven years. Businesses don't really get going. They don't really hit the ground running and become sustainable until around year five, generally speaking. I, in a way, appreciate that they know their limits.

Kat (24:05)
I know, yeah. Yeah.

Tiffany (24:28)
They do say instead of these third party audits, they maintain close direct communication with their manufacturing partners and require written agreements outlining our social and environmental expectations. It's kind of like,

Kat (24:42)
Okay, so there's something.

Yeah, check the box.

Tiffany (24:47)
Yeah.

So I do, it's like on the one hand I do really understand because it is a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of things. and at the same time they are already doing a lot, in my opinion, by running their business and their manufacturing process in the way that they do. So, I don't know. I kinda wanna cut them some slack, but then I've also given other companies a lot of shit about it, so.

Kat (25:15)
You know what, it depends on

the night for us, and that's OK. We're not like an agency that decides these things. We're like two marketing professionals who write. Yeah, I know. We're in a good mood tonight. We're giving people higher granola ratings than usual, because we have to.

Tiffany (25:22)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. It's our feelings. And my feeling tonight is that I like them, so.

No,

No, to be fair, they are, I think, sort of just generally better. I don't know. And the fact that they can prove that this would be wasted otherwise just is generally like, OK, that just is better. Yeah, exactly. They have an emphasis on how they're growing and improving over time, which I fully appreciate.

Kat (25:46)
Right.

Yeah. You get a, you get a plus in the plus column. Yeah.

Tiffany (26:00)
Okay, so the second claim that their bags are designed for longevity. I have one sort of like, agree, I agree with this and then one I maybe disagree in certain aspects with this claim. I agree because they made it clear that they, that their bags are made, handmade, that

They say durability is built into every step. They use premium leather that's meant to fade beautifully over time. They have a reinforced construction. They have rigorous quality control because it is small batch production, so they can do that.

Kat (26:38)
Mm-hmm.

Tiffany (26:52)
which all is great. So I do think these bags would last a while. The problem I have with it is that they say they focus on creating wardrobe staples. So bags that you reach for daily, not just occasionally. They want them to... They sort of make them seem like they should be timeless.

Kat (27:18)
Mm-hmm.

Tiffany (27:20)
And their bags do not scream timeless to me.

Kat (27:23)
I'm looking at them, some of them do. mean, there's some of them that it's like, okay, yeah, but a lot of these are like pretty modern shapes.

Tiffany (27:31)
That's the thing. It's that crescent bag.

Kat (27:34)
Yeah, that ring bag they call it.

Tiffany (27:36)
Yeah,

so I think like most of them that I was trying to look for ones that weren't and it was hard to find the ones that weren't that crescent shape and that's like very trendy right now. It's so cute.

Kat (27:48)
Yeah, but I mean, it looks good. it does also,

it looks kind of 80s too. Okay, there are like these, the smaller ones that look kind of like the fanny pack thing that I think a lot of women, like, yeah, I don't know. I can see what you're saying about them being.

Tiffany (27:58)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

They're just a little too trendy, a little bit too stylish because my bag that I have is a square. It's very much just like leather bag. It's a purse, but it's also not luxury. mean, it was like 200 bucks. It wasn't cheap.

Kat (28:29)
Right. Yeah. Yeah,

I got one in Italy that I still have. yeah, it's a sack. And it's like, I haven't worn it in a while. But it's 12 years old, 14 years old. And there is something about like,

Tiffany (28:37)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (28:51)
all handbags have a certain timelessness. I don't know. Like, I could see those looking very 80s or very 70s, that style. You know, yeah. And like...

Tiffany (28:55)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm, which is in style again.

Kat (29:05)
I know, I guess I haven't, I don't follow handbag shapes.

Tiffany (29:09)
I don't either, but I do know that I've seen these everywhere right now currently in the current. I have kind of an eye for trends and how to avoid them. don't, it's like, yeah, it's like I see something and even if it's really cute, like ⁓ this is already a little bit outdated, but like the Hunter green walls. I almost painted my bedroom that and then I was like, wait, no, that is so.

Kat (29:21)
Yes, I can see that, yeah.

Tiffany (29:39)
trendy right now that in next year it's gonna be off trend and it already kind of is.

Kat (29:41)
It's going to be out.

Tiffany (29:46)
Yeah, I just, know that if you have this bag, I hate buying stuff that I know is going to be, look outdated. Yeah. Whereas if you buy like a brick, a brick bag like mine, it never was really in style per se. I mean, maybe it probably was when I bought it, but that was sort of when like leather goods, like people wore a lot of like leather boots and stuff.

Kat (29:53)
Noticeably, yes.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

Tiffany (30:17)
Yeah, I just, hate trends.

Kat (30:21)
No, I get it. And I agree. Yeah, the idea of like, it's kind of hard for fashion designers to be like, yeah, timeless because, you know, that's one of the things the big houses are always trying to like redefine the shape every three months, you know? And so if you buy a shape that is on trend right now, can that be timeless? You know, like a Birkin bag or whatever is always gonna be a certain way, but

Tiffany (30:31)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Kat (30:50)
Nobody gets to decide if that's the classic shape forever. And maybe that's the thing is that like, In my head, I'm like, they're trying to appeal to women who would buy a new handbag every three months because Hermes told them to. And when they're really trying to apply, you know, appeal to our people like you and me who.

Tiffany (30:54)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (31:07)
hate the idea of women who buy a new handbag every three months because they're missed at them till, you know, like this is a way to like feel better about yourself for not being that way, you know, ⁓ while still kind of buying into it in a way, you know, interesting. Okay.

Tiffany (31:12)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I wish I really what I wish they would do is have some of those. And then most of them like way more timeless. Like less trendy. It's just so many almost all of them were that freaking crescent shape. And it's so cute right now, but give it five years or four or three.

Kat (31:34)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, yeah,

the fanny pack's been in for like, that fanny pack thing has been in for.

eight years now and I'm like, ⁓ had upper scale because I had fanny packs when I was a kid for sure. These are like, you know, upscale. Yeah, upscale fanny packs. And yeah.

Tiffany (31:53)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. They're so different.

Yeah, and I mean, I think some version of the cross body bag will always exist, because that is kind of what these are. Or at least what a lot of people wear them. That's how people wear them right now. And maybe it's just they'll wear them differently. You'll have the same bag, but wear it on your shoulder.

Kat (32:09)
Yes. Yeah.

Yeah, so yeah. Okay,

so that's one thing that I was looking at was they have a lot of options for you to change the hardware and the strap and stuff. And so it's like, you I mean, the shape is going to be the same, but it you know, it can, you can change it, you know, they have these ones, they can be shaped like a little handbag or it be a cross by body bag or it can be, you know, like, I like that.

Tiffany (32:29)
Yeah, I did like that.

Yeah, but I don't think it's

like, I didn't see clips or anything. So I think it's like, you get it made in one way. And I don't think it's like interchangeable. Like the following year, maybe the ones that I was looking at looked like it was built in.

Kat (32:53)
and

Okay, some of these have.

Yeah.

Tiffany (33:02)
I mean, they can't be perfect, right? I'm just saying. I just wish they had more. Cause that crescent bag is not something I would buy, even though I do love it. And I think it's so cute. It's just, I wouldn't buy it. Cause I know it's going to go out of style in two years. So, especially with the cost. Okay, let's get into that.

Kat (33:04)
No.

Okay, let's get into that.

Tiffany (33:26)
Which actually, to be totally honest, compared to like Hermes, which never have even looked at their prices, because why bother? I just know that they're outrageous. They're not that bad.

Kat (33:38)
No, these bags are, I mean, even like just shopping handbags that like TJ Maxx, like these are clearly not TJ Maxx handbags, but they're what TJ Maxx handbags want to be. I think they're, it looks reasonable to me from a handbag buying perspective, just based on the amount of, you know, people I know who are like, yeah, was a thousand dollar handbag. And it's just like, what? Yeah.

Tiffany (33:43)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes, yes,

yeah. So yeah, in that context, it's not that bad. I looked at their best sellers and I just picked the first one and it's the ring bag. It's $465 free US shipping. So that's almost $500 for purse.

Kat (34:26)
Yeah, and if you kept it for 10 years, like you're saying, yeah, sure.

Tiffany (34:29)
Yeah, I mean, have,

yeah, mine was probably 200, 250 or something made by like a local leather person. Yeah. And yeah, it's been a decade and it's still in like pretty much new shape minus the little clasp is kind of broken. But I think I can get it fixed actually. I think the cobbler could help me out. I'm hoping fingers crossed. I've been meaning to take it in for like a year, but I'm like, ⁓ it works well enough. It's fine.

Kat (34:37)
Yeah, artisan, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, that's all.

Yeah.

I need to get mine fixed. I had my favorite TJ Maxx. was a Dooney and Burke patent leather yellow. I bought it three years ago in Boston and that just gave up the ghost. It was my perfect little.

Tiffany (35:11)
Ugh, bummer. Yeah, actually...

Kat (35:13)
Yeah, but it's,

the purse is fine. It's just one of the clasps came unhooked and I can't get it. I, yeah. Yeah.

Tiffany (35:19)
Yeah, it might be fixable. I have hope.

Oh, I have a wallet. Man, how old is that thing? I think I got it at either TJ Maxx or actually, I think it was DSW of all places. It was like a lucky brand leather wallet. And I've probably had that longer than the bag actually. So maybe like 12 years.

Kat (35:34)
Yeah.

Yep. I think about it. I haven't replaced my wallet and yeah. Might, yeah. Yeah. Little dirty maybe.

Tiffany (35:45)
because I haven't been in a DSW.

And it's still in really good shape. It's crazy.

Yeah, totally. There's probably a leather cleaner, but God knows that's not gonna happen.

Kat (35:58)
Right, I did that once to a bag I was very proud of. Cleaning my bag once, I think.

Tiffany (36:02)
Oh nice.

Nice. Yeah. No. No.

Kat (36:07)
I don't clean my handbags, I'm bad. Or my shoes, I'm so bad.

And that's the thing, okay, that's another thing about longevity is you have to take care of it.

Tiffany (36:16)
Yeah, I was gonna say my boots I do, but ⁓ my bag no. And I should, but it's still fine. It could use a condition for sure.

Kat (36:23)
Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I used to have saddle

soap and I would do it and I just, I don't leave the house. Yeah, now do all your shoes and your, and your bags. Yeah.

Tiffany (36:32)
Now that I'm laid off. We have all the time,

theoretically. So, okay. So does their earth-friendly message need to come back to earth? ⁓ They are still pretty small. So their review, at least from what I can tell. So their reviews are pretty minimal. I said, it's not like, ⁓ like even good on you, I don't think had a review.

of them. So, I don't know. It was hard to find. The good trade did, but we have learned that they're pretty useless.

Kat (37:05)
I was just looking at that. Yeah, they're not there.

Yeah. But they did. They did also have a resale section so you could resell your stuff. Okay. Yeah. I was wondering. It's really, it's small selection, obviously.

Tiffany (37:13)
They did, I was gonna say that, yeah. No, I meant to say that earlier, because, yes,

it's very slim pickings,

The reviews are minimal, but they, as far as like the sort of general feeling of the reviews from the internet population, they were highly praised for their quality. And that makes me, that makes my heart happy. There also was a Reddit thread that I looked at that was sort of asked, somebody was asking.

What's the quality like? And the founder went on and posted because there was something to do with some changes in the company. And she commented on them, not defensively, which I really appreciated. She fully explained herself and she said, I'm here to answer any questions. And she basically like answered every single person's questions. And I know, I know. And she was like, you know, somebody said I'm.

Kat (37:52)
wow.

Wow, that's cool.

Tiffany (38:16)
This has convinced me to buy from you guys and she's like, I am so grateful. Like, thank you so much.

Kat (38:21)
Okay,

it's kind of convinced me too, I might cry. Yeah.

Tiffany (38:23)
I know, I know. So they are doing something new, at least from what I understand. I don't think anybody else has tried this. Maybe they have and that would be cool. It's really, I'm impressed overall, even if there are, know, limited ways to research how they're actually making an impact, but I do wish they had outside auditors.

but I do also understand not getting too big for your britches.

Kat (39:01)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I, I, yeah.

Tiffany (39:01)
So that's kind of where I landed.

They didn't have a ton of green hooey. That was another thing. They really focused on like, is what we're doing. We're reusing this leather that otherwise would go in the trash.

take it or leave it, you know?

Kat (39:23)
And

I kind of think it's like we're solving a sustainability issue in an imperfect system and we're not trying to pull the wool over your eyes or the leather over your eyes to make you buy it because you feel guilty. Right? It's like we saw a problem, we solved it. You can still get a high quality thing you want, which is a leather handbag. You know, we're not doing it to convince the vegans. We're not doing it to convince the green hippie girls. We saw a problem and we're solving for it and

Tiffany (39:34)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Kat (39:52)
you can get the handbag you want, you know, and it's not about like, you know, and feel good about your sustainability contribution. Yeah.

Tiffany (40:01)
Yeah, you're not

safe. They're not saying you're saving the world, which a lot of people or lot of brands have said say.

Kat (40:05)
Right. A lot of, right.

They, and they, tell you without qualifying it because you'll, you're a certain type of, you know, person like us who would be like, okay, great. I'm to buy from quince. Cause they said, da da da da without looking into it. And this is like, yeah, we're not, you don't need to look into it. We're not claiming to save the world, you know? Yeah. That that's what green who is, is this. Yeah. Greenwashing that. Yeah. Yeah.

Tiffany (40:19)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Yes. Yeah, totally.

And it kind of proves it. you don't, brands think that you need to be all of the things. And I feel like you don't. Yes. Stay in your lane.

Kat (40:34)
No, I appreciate that.

Right. Pick one. Yeah.

just, we'll just be a modicum better than the mindless bad ones.

Tiffany (40:50)
Yes, it doesn't take much. The bar is really low.

Kat (40:52)
It's really not. It really is.

90 % of people living in around the Bangladesh tanneries die before they're 50. Bars not, bar's very low. Just, yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Tiffany (41:05)
Yeah.

Yeah.

So, granola rating. How crunchy are their claims, really, is what we sort of, our silly way of categorizing TLDR, these products that we look at. So, goes from soggy to mushy to chewy to crunchy to break your tooth off. Yes, you want it to be crunchy. ⁓

Kat (41:26)
Yeah.

Which is the good one.

Tiffany (41:37)
I said I was sort of like you with the last one in between chewy and crunchy So I think like three three point five I Could be convinced to give him a four I think it's pretty cool what they're doing and like chewy is good in our on our in our books like chewy is good, so

Kat (41:54)
Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yeah. If

you're not getting a soggy or a layer, you're probably or mushy. Yeah. You're better than most. You're not greenwashing. But yeah, like a three or four year you're hitting some marks. Nobody's perfect. I mean, our you know, break your tooth off. We haven't had one of those in

Tiffany (42:01)
Or mushy even, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, totally.

No, we've had very few.

Kat (42:19)
Yeah.

Well, I think we've gotten more skeptical too. And it's also a difference between like when we're rating DIY dishwasher detergent versus a brand. Yeah. But.

Tiffany (42:23)
Well, it could be.

True. Yeah, that's true. That

is true.

It's hard to greet.

Kat (42:40)
or recycling,

plastic recycling versus like, yeah, yeah.

Tiffany (42:43)
Hard to green wash ourselves,

Right, yeah, plastics recycling certainly was not break your tooth off. That was bad. ⁓ Yeah.

Kat (42:49)
Mm-mm. But my three or four is really good, especially in

fashion. I mean, the best couple episodes, we've just been like, meh. So.

Tiffany (42:56)
Right. Uh-huh. Yeah,

totally. I think this is, it's cool. I really, I really liked it. It's very cute. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that would be a cool gift.

Kat (43:02)
Yeah, I like their designs and I like, I'm looking at some of the, some of the resale stuff. was like, I might buy that for my sister. We'll see.

Yeah.

Tiffany (43:13)
I like that.

I didn't look up what you're talking about next week.

Kat (43:18)
Shall I do that or do you mind listening to me type here? Let's see.

Yeah, I'm I'm bright and I'm we're both brain dead. So we're back into mashed potato mode. It's not even the holidays.

Tiffany (43:25)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Kat (43:30)
Okay.

Tiffany (43:30)
Yeah, my

brain never really exited mashed potato mode after my mom died. It's like so ridiculous. Although I will say getting laid off is like way better than my mom dying. So there's that.

Kat (43:33)
No, I feel like no, no.

Yeah, I get it. OK, yeah, I was going to do on washable, sustainable shoes. So I was going to talk about I'm going to try and narrow down to one band. I've had Rothy's and that's the one I think I'm going to talk

Tiffany (43:46)
⁓ that's right.

Okay, this is another one of those big brands, so I think it's gonna be probably disappointing, but that's okay. Is what it is. No, I do too, actually. I get rid of them, because we'll talk about that, they were god-awful, but just for my wide-ass feet, that's all.

Kat (43:59)
Yeah.

I'd say, you know, I have a pair, so I'll find out.

Okay.

Overshoot. Okay.

Okay, Yep. So we're going to talk about Rothy's next week. Rothy's Shoes.

Tiffany (44:20)
Okay,

sweet, that sounds good.

Kat (44:23)
Awesome, alright.

Tiffany (44:24)
All right, well now that our brains are not working, if you haven't done it yet, go check us out on YouTube. We have faces and you can see them. And sometimes cats, yes. They've been like surprisingly absent today. So, ⁓ I didn't even notice. God. Bye.

Kat (44:31)
Yeah.

And sometimes cats and other things. Yeah, I saw one run behind you.

Unless it was a snake, I don't know. so. All right, cool. See you next week. Thank you.