I ONCE owned a black leather motorcycle jacket. I loved it too. It was very rock ’n’ roll and, while wearing it, I read Mick Farren’s book, ‘The Black Leather Motorcycle Jacket’.

The book traced the history of the garment from the 1920s through the Elvis/Brando/Gene Vincent era to the one worn by George Michael for that great retro single ‘Faith’.

The black leather jacket stood for rebellion.

Later, in a pique of 80s’ madness, I bought a yellow leather jacket which did not exactly carry the same menace.

It was also an unwise purchase in the extreme because it seemed to antagonize a number of people.

Even so I continued to wear these jackets – and the suede one which followed – through my early stages of vegetarianism.

It just did not dawn on me that they could be a problem.

After all, I argued, they would have been a by-product. No animal would be raised solely for leather. That, though, is an argument that does not really stand up.

(Although, the level of vegetarianism is entirely up to you. Just by stopping eating meat, you will be saving the lives of many animals during your lifetime. That alone is a positive step).

The problem seems to be that, although it is relatively easy to stop eating meat these days, avoiding leather (and related products) can be rather tricky.

It’s not as bad at it used to be.

Indeed, there was a time when the only vegetarian shoes one could purchase happened to look like large Cornish pasties.

This was part of the generalisation that vegetarians all wore yellow corduroy trousers, pasty shoes and lived in Chorlton-cum-Hardy. (Often they did, but that is not the point).

There is a problem with leather. There are hardly any farm animals in Britain who reach the end of their natural lifespan and spend their latter years mooching around a pasture.

Most are killed in adolescence.

The best leather – that soft, lovely stuff used for expensive bags, shoes and wallets – comes from unborn cows whose mothers have been slaughtered.

I also did not realise that deer, alligators, ostriches, toads, snakes and seals, whether endangered or not, are used to make leather.

But this is not to preach.

As stated, every vegetarian finds his or her own level.

I no longer wear or read about leather jackets.

I do concede, however, that vegetarian shoes, Cornish pasty shaped or otherwise, will never be considered rebellious or sexy enough to be a subject of a rock ’n’ roll tome.