How to Choose a Wallet

It’s a really personal decision to choose a wallet. It’s something that is always with you. It holds your valuable possessions, identity, and money. It is also a statement about your fashion sense and personality. I’d wager that there aren’t too many fortune 500 company executives carrying Spiderman wallets from Walmart. 

In an effort to help you choose a wallet, more specifically – the perfect wallet for you, here are a few tips that should point you in the right direction. 

1. DON’T BUY GENUINE LEATHER! – Genuine leather is a clever term used by companies looking to deceive you into buying an inferior product. I’ve written a whole article on this garbage leather. It’s a waste of money and you’ll just need a new wallet in a year or two. Save your money. Choose a wallet that you aren’t going to need to replace annually – go with full grain leather. 
2. Choose a Wallet that Fulfills Your Needs – Think about what you are carrying around in your wallet. Do you carry a lot of cash with you? How many cards do you carry in your wallet? How many of those cards do you actually need to carry? All of these questions can help you determine if you need to carry a bifold wallet, a simple cardholder, a long wallet or even a trifold.
3. Consider the Season – More specifically, consider what you’ll be wearing. Nobody wants to carry around a giant beefy wallet in the front pocket if their shorts mid summer. As such, if it’s winter and you’re wearing pants and jackets with ample pocket space, you pretty much have license to choose any wallet you want.
4. Spend More Now, Save More in the Long Run – There’s this growing trend where people opt to cheap out on items that they use every day because they can find cheap versions of them at department stores. Although a high quality item is absolutely more expensive, you actually save money in the long term as items such as hand-stitched, full grain leather wallets can last a lifetime if not longer. Your average department store wallet gets replaced each year. There are actually online communities pushing the idea of buying high quality items once. Check out the Subreddit: r/buyitforlife. 
5. A Wallet is a Great Gift – If you do your homework. If you have to choose a wallet for someone else, make sure you try to get a look at their current wallet to get an understanding of what they like. Go through the questions on tip 2 and determine the best wallet for them. They’re going to love how thoughtful it is, especially if you’re replacing a sub-par wallet with a high quality one. 
6. Not All Wallets are Black – Don’t be afraid to stray away from the classic black leather wallet. Yeah, a black wallet looks great, but so does, say, a blue one. Check out my current favourite wallet. It’s a variation on my Teach Bifold Wallet – a Horween Blue Steel bifold with SB Foot Tawny interior and white stitching:

This is by no means an exhaustive list. As a leather nerd, I can go on and on about leather, but this is a good start. Think about these things when you choose a wallet for yourself or someone else and above all else: don’t buy genuine leather!