Do you remember the BBC TV show, Monarch of the Glen? It was about a restauranteur called Archie MacDonald who is called back to his childhood home in the Highlands and told he is now the Laird of Glenbogle. As a teenager it was always my favorite TV show. Mostly due to the men in kilts. And the Highlands, always the Highlands. I loved the idea that I too may be called upon by a Scottish castle and told that I am in fact the long lost Lady and I will now need to devote my life to upgrading the place and trying to fit in with the locals. OK, highly unlikely but a nice dream.
We drove past the very same castle used in Monarch of the Glen during the Fraser Balgowan Experience. It's more beautiful in real life than it is on tv.
So, what did you do the day after the deerstalking trip? I hear you cry. What happened next to the first time deer hunter? Well, the day - I like to call it 'fashion day' - began with another wonderful breakfast at The Gleneagles Hotel. I think I may have mentioned the breakfast a couple of posts ago, but really it bears mention again. I said to myself on the first day that there wouldn't be a repeat performance of three courses but of course, seeing the array of food and seeing those little haggii sitting on the silver tray, really, I was helpless (yes, that is the plural for haggis!) So after that veritable feast we headed along to find out more from Fiona Fraser, co-owner of Fraser Balgowan about what goes into making their beautiful bags.
An integral part of the Fraser Balgowan Experience is the opportunity to use the hide from the deer culled on the deerstalking part of the trip to make a bag designed exactly how the person wants it. Think about it. Your favorite leather shoes, where do they come from? We learned some not so palatable truths about the leather industry and conventional methods of providing skin hides for clothing and accessories.
As New York writer Cator Sparks mentioned in his interview; a store he recently visited boasted that the crocodiles, whose skins were used to make up a huge coat, were all brought up in the same cage. This was mentioned as a positive thing. Not the kind of 'selling point' that floats my boat. I mean, shamefully I don't think it ever occurred to me where the skin for a crocodile coat would come from. Perhaps because crocodile coats simply aren't big in Edinburgh but nevertheless now all I have are disturbing images of caged crocodiles, riding all over the place and eating each other. The fact is, many leather goods in whatever capacity, are made up of a patchwork of pieces from the skins of animals that are not wild and free to roam.
So to have just seen the day before where the deer to make a Fraser Balgowan bag came from was a huge contrast. The deer couldn't be more wild. Their habitat is the Highlands. There's no attempt to conceal the process. Each bag is completely unique, just as each deer is unique. There may be scratches on the leather where the deer scratched itself against a tree. There's no attempt to unnaturally perfect the aesthetic, just an all out creation of a bag that inherently captures the beauty of the Scottish landscape.
As part of the trip Fiona, also head designer, gives design consultations to find out how each person wants their bag to be. The leather can be smooth or rough, depending on the grade. The accompanying tweed is handpicked. Historically, the Lairds of the estate would've had the hide bags with a tweed lining whilst the workers would've had the tweed bags. And remember, the deer hides are not limitless, although a portion of the population need to be culled we're still talking relatively small numbers. Alongside the bags we also saw a delightful collection of silverware made by Scottish silversmiths Hamilton and Inches. There are plans for Fraser Balgowan and Hamilton and Inches to do an uber luxe range of bags with custom made hardwear.
The tweed for the bags is sourced from UK suppliers, all of whom have a tradition of local weavers. Tweed, to me, is a whole other post in itself, in fact it's a whole other blog. I love the stuff. My Mum, a 60s fashion queen in her day, always told me about a tweed herringbone jacket she wore on the evening of her wedding day - the first outfit of her honeymoon. Even though I never saw that jacket, it lives strong in my imagination.
And so, that concludes my latest Highland escapade. I have to say, thank you to Fiona for the most amazing, memorable trip and thank you also to Ewan, the most inspirational deer stalker I ever met. OK, the only deerstalker I ever met but still... It would be hard to meet more honorable and caring people anywhere in the world. PART I
PART II
To find out more continuing news about the story of Fraser Balgowan go to the website here: Fraser Balgowan
Read Stylelist article by Cator Sparks here
First photo from http://www.mummypinkwellies.com
Other photos from myself and Matt Brown
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