bringing an all saints leather jacket back from the dead

[DaisyBD]

I bought a (super expensive) all saints leather jacket a few years ago, and it's faded horribly. I don't know how as I don't leave it in the sun or anything. I got a quote to dye it back to solid black (it started out sort of vintage looking) for £180-190, which I'm sure is reasonable but more than I want to pay.

Has anyone done a diy repair/dye job on a leather jacket? I've found this and wondered if anyone had tried this and how it turned out. Also I'm confused by the finishes they offer - what's the difference between semi-matt and satin, for example?

I attach pics of what the jacket looked like on my wedding day (I'm on the left) and what it looks like now.

I'm not sure about the furniture polish because I've never used it but have you tried a tiny patch of the jacket with boot/shoe polish? If you rubbed it in very well? You might as well buy a new one rather than spend £200 on repairing the one you have. Do you think the polish might smell too strong?

I used Woly shoe cream on an old leather bag and it came up great. It costs about a fiver.

did the shoe cream dye the leather, pongo? I did wonder about this but I was told that shoe polish would make it stiff and crunchy. I'm a bit scared to try it...

Yes it did dye it but didn't make it crunchy at all - I left it on for a short while then buffed it and it is nice and soft. It's a dark brown bag and the corners had been worn and lost their colour, so it covered that up. It wasn't back to brand new condition but I was very happy with it. I was worried that it would stain my other clothes when I wore the bag but if you buff it enough it should be OK I think.I wish I had taken some before and after pics!

Have you asked All Saints? I know it's a few years old but I wouldn't have thought it should fade that badly. Even if they can't help, they may have some advice.

The one you've linked to sounds pretty good.
There's a whole load of dyes on eBay which I looked at for something but didn't end up using. I'll see if I can find them again. They were pretty cheap so could always get it and just try somewhere inconspicuous.

I actually really like the faded out look! Try all saints first to see what they say.

(lovely wedding photos btw!)

thanks Troll

I will try All Saints, hadn't thought of that. And maybe try a bit of black boot polish on the inside. I quite like the faded look too, except that I accidentally left it in a pub once and when I rang up to see if they'd still got it the next day, they asked me what colour it was and I said black, and they said, oh this one's brown. I don't want a brown leather jacket!

Thanks for the ebay suggestion too NewPants, I'll check that out.

Your wedding photos are AMAZING!!

Is it the Cargo? I have that one and I'm already worried it's not going to age well. It's sort of pre-distressed, and looks good at the mo, but I just feel like it's a bit fragile.

Thanks Laquila . That photo is a bit misleading, that's not my wife but my best woman. I actually married a man (no idea where he was then, hehe]. Anyway, no idea whether it's the cargo, can't remember. I bought it six years ago. I think I'm going to go for the furniture clinic kit, maybe the satin finish. Will come back and update...