Thoughts on wearing old leather products?

I understand what you're going through and I have the same dilemma BUT there are ways around it.

1. If you throw them out then that animals life would be for no reason, and wasteful.

2. You can recycle them as you go, when you purchase new things to replace the leather items you can give your goods to a charity. There are companies that recycle old leather too ... check out here http://www.rosenbergshoes.com.au/avoid-landfill-shoe-recycling-charities-in-australia/w1/i1140923/

Just remember that you purchased those goods when you were not AWARE, now you are AWARE so moving forward your actions will be positive for our furry friends.

Like above stated, I've had the same dilemma but now I've decided that although I do own animal products in clothes and wear it, I certainly will not buy it again. I think the recycling idea is fantastic and when I have a clean up of my wardrobe that's where the bulk of it will end up.
You will probably feel better once you make your decision, remember though it is your decision alone, no one has the right to mock you for it. If people question you about it, make sure you are happy with your decision so you can inform them with sincerity why you have chosen what ever you decided, people tend to back off if you are confident and respectful, despite possibly differing views.

i think if you cannot give them away to another family member who might wear leather or other animal products, then you should wear it until it is unable to be used anymore (if they are shoes, if they have split (and are talking) then i would say chuck em because they have done their purpose, i had the problem too but i decided that i would rather use the animals body rather then throw it away

As you can see, there are two mind sets on this subject.

Many Vegans will continue to wear their old animal based items until they have worn out or can replace them with Vegan items.

Then there is the view that you are still promoting silk/leather etc by wearing these items, so in a sense you are still connected with the past.

Honestly its up to you, what does your heart honestly say?

My rationale behind the issue is this:
I don't consider it wasteful to give away the product, however the resources going into replacing something I already had would be.

For example, I purchased leather Doc Martens about a week before I wised up to the ways of the world and found out how leather was produced. They were already worn in a lot so I couldn't take them back (my ankles knobble together so there was already wearing on the boots after just a week!) and I have teeny little feet (size 2) so there was no one I could give them away too and to give them to charity may mean there's only a CHANCE they'll even SEE another pair of feet.

I digress. While I'm aware there are vegan docs now, even if I WERE to throw out my shoes, I'd be getting them replaced automatically anyway. "THE ENVIRONMENT!" is a pretty solid dot point on the "why should you become vegan?" checklist. So to turn around and throw something out (that has already had the money put back in the industry and giving away won't change) only to replace it straight away and use MORE resources just... Seems... A bit weird and illogical. Not to mention the tapes that will need to be used to break in the new pair.

I keep wearing them and pledge that my next pair will be vegan, when it is necessary to get new shoes. (Even if that means waiting, I have another pair of docs that have lasted me 13 years and are still going!)

Some people however, will give them away because the thought of having dead things on their feet is a bit of a turn off and they don't exactly want to walk around feeling like Ed Gein, and that's totally fine too if that's your way of thinking. Being vegan is meant to make you feel GOOD about yourself!

Hopefully this helps... Sorry... There I go on another rant :3

I bought new non-leather school shoes but I still wear my Doc Martens. I must admit, it took me a couple of months to start wearing them again after going vegan but the only other shoes I had were converse so technically there is animal products in them too (glue) and so I figured, I already have them, I already supported the business by buying them, no point in going to buy new ones.

If you wear ANY leather, you may come to love it and buy it AGAIN and AGAIN. Also, it's gross that you would wear a dead animal's skin. Ditch leather.

Thanks everyone for your input. It's really nice to have a safe place to come with questions without there being judgement. In real life I've found due to how compassionate they are, a lot of vegans/vegetarians/activists are very quick to judge if you don't do/say as they believe. And quite often without meaning to, put people off their cause and scare people away from asking questions again.
Like many of you said, it's a personal choice and decision to make.
I've come to the conclusion that (for me) it would be wasteful to just dispose of them. And considering I don't have the money at the moment to replace them all at once, I think I'll slowly faze them out of my wardrobe as I can afford to and either recycle the leather as Sparkle Vegangrl suggested or hand them on to others.
Operator, I had no idea you could get vegan docs. Thanks for that, I'll defiantly look into them. But like you said they last so well that it probably won't be for another 10+ years till my pair wear out and I need new ones.

There are vegan Dr Martens you can get.