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Given a choice, and all other things being equal, I would always prefer to work with veg or chrome free leathers...simply for the sake of the health of the customer and, peripherally, my own.
But in all fairness chrome will stretch better than veg and is stronger than veg. It also...at least until recent times...is better able to accept dyes and finishes.
That said, there are tannages that are purportedly the equivalent of chromes which have no chrome. and advances in veg tannages are renewing interest in the possibilities of finish and strength. And to complicate matters even further some of the best leathers I've worked with...in my opinion...are retans--a combination of veg and chrome.
Comfort is in the skin of the wearer/eye of the beholder...but personally I would not wear any shoe that wasn't lined for anything but lounging around the house--a controlled and clean environment, IOW. And even there...always with socks. But that's just me. And down to my, perhaps, too intimate knowledge of leather and feet.
But in all fairness chrome will stretch better than veg and is stronger than veg. It also...at least until recent times...is better able to accept dyes and finishes.
That said, there are tannages that are purportedly the equivalent of chromes which have no chrome. and advances in veg tannages are renewing interest in the possibilities of finish and strength. And to complicate matters even further some of the best leathers I've worked with...in my opinion...are retans--a combination of veg and chrome.
Comfort is in the skin of the wearer/eye of the beholder...but personally I would not wear any shoe that wasn't lined for anything but lounging around the house--a controlled and clean environment, IOW. And even there...always with socks. But that's just me. And down to my, perhaps, too intimate knowledge of leather and feet.