Going vegan conciously?

[Monica]

I went to a job interview today and needed nice shoes and saw my old new pair of leather shoes. I was like should I wear these skins of cows, I already bought them...? Heh
(I wore them, but next time I'll try not to kill a cow for a pair of shoes)

Ah, I've been in that exact same situation! For many years after I quit eating animals, I still wore them on my feet. I rationalized that leather was "just a by-product" of the meat industry and therefore "not as bad." And, I told myself, it was very difficult to find good quality leather shoes and purses! Which it was, before the age of internet!

I was embarrassed whenever I was around vegans, and made a point to wear non-leather sandals or running shoes on those occasions.

Eventually, I faced the contradiction and vowed to quit buying leather. By this time, there were finally better quality non-leather purses available, but good non-leather shoes were still difficult to find! I now buy only vinyl purses. There are some that look really nice! Quite different from the tacky-looking stuff they had 30 years ago! I don't even try to find any that look realistic. I don't want anyone to think I have a real-leather purse, with so many great non-leather options available!

I continued to wear the old shoes for awhile. I reasoned, "well hell, those cows are long dead anyway...what does it matter?" But I was less and less comfortable doing so, no matter how many years those old shoes had been in my closet.

Fortunately, I now work at home and can wear whatever I want. I still have a few pairs of dressy leather shoes that I almost never wear, so I see no point in getting rid of them, until I find good replacements...which I am now actively working on.

I long ago got rid of my old leather jackets. That feels like wearing a corpse...yuck!