The Dictionary of Fabrics & Fashion Terms in Shakespeare

Leather (noun): 1: animal skin dressed for use; 2: the flap of the ear of a dog— see DOG ILLUSTRATION; 3: something wholly or partly made of leather

Leather (verb): 1: to cover with leather; 2: to beat with a strap : THRASH

Who would have thought that “in the buff” referred to leather? In The Fabric’s The Thing: Literal and Figurative References to Textiles in Selected Plays of William Shakespeare, Nancy J. Owens and Alan C. Harris tell us: “Buff(alo) leather, or a similar strong and unyielding leather made of oxhide dressed with oil and having a characteristically fuzzy surface and a dull, whitish-yellow color, was typically a material used in the garb of military persons and jailers. Hence, the association for a fellow in buff was to a policeman or to jail personnel. Hence, the association for a fellow in buff was to a policeman or to jail personnel. In the lines above, we are to be sympathetic toward Dromio, who has been arrested and who is now in the pitiless and rough hands of a jailor dressed in buff who keeps Dromio in the ‘worse than hell’ of prison.”

Sandra Clark’s Shakespeare and Domestic Life: A Dictionary defines leather as “the skin of an animal, commonly cattle.” Tanned leather was a luxury item. Shoes made of Spanish leather were thought to be overly luxurious and were sporadically banned.

“History of Leather” tells us that leather “is one of man’s earliest and most useful discoveries. Our ancestors used leather to protect themselves from the elements. Primitive man hunted wild animals for food, then made clothing, footwear and crude tents from the hides. Like then, hides used today are a by-product.” People continue to make use out of leather, though like fur, it is protested by animal rights activists. “History of Leather” continues, “Due to its durability and comfort, leather has been used for seating throughout the history of transportation and furniture. It has always been the ideal material for making saddles and tack, as well as footwear. During the Middle Ages, leather became the cover of choice for dining chairs, because it was easy to maintain and did not absorb the odor of food.” This tells us that humans have been making use of leather in many ways for centuries.

In September 2019, PETA protestors staged a “dirty” leather protest. In the article titled “PETA Supporters Stage ‘Dirty’ Leather Protest at London Fashion Week,” we learn that “The protest reminded people that the leather industry is poisoning the living world. Because of the massive amounts of manure and slaughter waste, intensive water use, deforestation, and greenhouse-gas emissions involved in its production, leather is the most environmentally damaging material, as confirmed by the 2017 ‘Pulse of the Fashion Industry’ report.” The article goes on to tell us how animals like cows suffer immensely from the leather industry, and argues that the best way to help the planet is to adopt a vegan lifestyle.

Leather is hugely important to the queer community. In an article titled “Why is the gay leather scene dying?” Edward Siddons writes, “Leather as a gay subculture traces its roots back to the appearance of US biker gangs in the 1940s and 50s. Leathers were practical, but the rugged masculinity of biker culture imbued the material with an allure that spoke to men interested in men. Among gay men, leather was also a rejection of the tropes of effeminacy and passivity that homosexuality had accrued since the mid 19th century, a disavowal of the “sweater queens” – well-to-do, preppy gay men – of the time. ‘Leather was everything that the self-consciously effeminate homosexuals weren’t. They were some of the first gay men to reclaim masculinity,’ says Eric Chaline, author and historian of gay sadomasochism.” The ties between the queer community, BDSM and leather, especially in Shakespeare’s works, are well worth examining.

“LEATHER” ALSO APPEARS IN THE FOLLOWING TEXTS:

AS YOU LIKE IT
To the which place a poor sequest'red stag,
That from the hunter's aim had ta'en a hurt,
Did come to languish; and, indeed, my lord,
The wretched animal heav'd forth such groans
That their discharge did stretch his leathern coat
Almost to bursting; and the big round tears
Cours'd one another down his innocent nose
In piteous chase; and thus the hairy fool,
Much marked of the melancholy Jaques,
Stood on th' extremest verge of the swift brook,
Augmenting it with tears.

AS YOU LIKE IT

What shall he have that kill'd the deer?
His leather skin and horns to wear.
[The rest shall hear this burden:]
Then sing him home.
Take thou no scorn to wear the horn;
It was a crest ere thou wast born.
Thy father's father wore it;
And thy father bore it.
The horn, the horn, the lusty horn,
Is not a thing to laugh to scorn. Exeunt

AS YOU LIKE IT

Come, come, you are a fool,
And turn'd into the extremity of love.
I saw her hand; she has a leathern hand,
A freestone-colour'd hand; I verily did think
That her old gloves were on, but 'twas her hands;
She has a huswife's hand- but that's no matter.
I say she never did invent this letter:
This is a man's invention, and his hand.

COMEDY OF ERRORS

Am I so round with you as you with me,
That like a football you do spurn me thus?
You spurn me hence, and he will spurn me hither:
If I last in this service, you must case me in leather.

COMEDY OF ERRORS

Am I so round with you as you with me,
That like a football you do spurn me thus?
You spurn me hence, and he will spurn me hither:
If I last in this service, you must case me in leather.

COMEDY OF ERRORS

No? why, 'tis a plain case: he that went, like a
bass-viol, in a case of leather; the man, sir,
that, when gentlemen are tired, gives them a sob
and 'rests them; he, sir, that takes pity on decayed
men and gives them suits of durance; he that sets up
his rest to do more exploits with his mace than a
morris-pike.

TAMING OF THE SHREW

I am Christophero Sly; call not me 'honour' nor 'lordship.' I
ne'er drank sack in my life; and if you give me any conserves,
give me conserves of beef. Ne'er ask me what raiment I'll wear,
for I have no more doublets than backs, no more stockings than
legs, nor no more shoes than feet- nay, sometime more feet than
shoes, or such shoes as my toes look through the overleather.

TAMING OF THE SHREW

Why, Petruchio is coming- in a new hat and an old
jerkin; a pair of old breeches thrice turn'd; a pair of boots
that have been candle-cases, one buckled, another lac'd; an old
rusty sword ta'en out of the town armoury, with a broken hilt,
and chapeless; with two broken points; his horse hipp'd, with an
old motley saddle and stirrups of no kindred; besides, possess'd
with the glanders and like to mose in the chine, troubled with
the lampass, infected with the fashions, full of windgalls, sped
with spavins, rayed with the yellows, past cure of the fives,
stark spoil'd with the staggers, begnawn with the bots, sway'd in
the back and shoulder-shotten, near-legg'd before, and with a
half-cheek'd bit, and a head-stall of sheep's leather which,
being restrained to keep him from stumbling, hath been often
burst, and now repaired with knots; one girth six times piec'd,
and a woman's crupper of velure, which hath two letters for her
name fairly set down in studs, and here and there piec'd with
pack-thread.