“The colour is awesome the stitching is top-notch and it holds everything and more I could ever want. The team at Ashland was very responsive and quick to deliver my Fat Herbie I’d recommend buying from them to anyone.”
“TLDR; This wallet is freaking awesome. It is not as large as it appears in the photos and is actually quite manageable even in my women’s jeans pockets. The scattered pocket design makes it so that the wallet always closes thin and flat, reducing the bulging that usually occurs with traditional bifold wallets. Additionally, Phil and Co. provide amazing customer service and are always such a pleasure to work with. The only downside? You might develop a Fat Herbie collecting habit, like me!
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I am a huge leather geek and have owned wallets from all sorts of makers since developing my hobby of collecting handmade leather goods a few years ago. That said, I have to say that the Fat Herbie design might just be my favorite design of them all.
When I was introduced to Ashland Leather in 2016, I was a bit intimidated by the Fat Herbie. I had just started my love affair with leatherwork and had tried several ultra-minimalist designs which I absolutely loved. Because of this, when I came across the Fat Herbie and all its cordovan goodness, I was in awe of the design... but a tad unsure I could rock its larger footprint in the pocket. How was I going to go from the card holders and minimalist bifolds I was used to, to something nearly twice as tall? After deliberating on it for almost a year, I finally took a leap of faith and wow am I glad I did.
I contacted Phil who had always been incredibly helpful with all my wallet inquiries and purchases and he graciously began working on a custom Fat Herbie for me with a navy shell exterior and a whiskey shell interior. About three weeks after placing the initial order, the wallet arrived at my doorstep and I was in love.
The color combination was amazing. The blue-green tone of the reverse navy complimented the golden hue of the whiskey interior incredibly well... but what got me straight away was the design and feel of the wallet. It was not nearly as large as it seemed in photographs which was a huge relief—the size was manageable in my hands and fit comfortably in the front and back pockets of my women’s jeans. The wallet was also not as thick as I was afraid it would be thanks to the unique layout and overall size which made it so my cards were dispersed across four pockets as opposed to being stacked on top of each other. While some minimalist wallets forced me to stack all my cards on top of each other all at once, this wallet scattered them evenly across a wider surface, making for a much slimmer profile. This meant that the wallet, even when fully loaded with 10 cards, remained perfectly slim and flat in my back pocket. So, while the wallet was definitely taller than the traditional minimalist, it was incredibly slim no matter how much I packed into it. The layers of gorgeous shell of course only improved the design, the leather’s firmness adding stability to the wallet and making it feel very durable while never making it feel too thick.
The only real downside to this wallet is that it’s inspired yet another collection *within* my leather goods collection! Since purchasing my first Herbie I have already acquired another in this gorgeous ultraviolet shell cordovan (shown above) and am already planning on purchasing one in natural shell in the next few months! So, while this wallet might be the very last wallet you will ever need… it may not be the last of its kind you will ever own. ;)”
