Every time I see a picture of it, I get a chill up my spine. It’s repulsive yet mesmerizing.

Ostrich leather is extremely durable. It is also extremely expensive. However, that durability plays second fiddle to its defining characteristic: a distinctive pattern of bumps.

These bumps are the former locations of quills. Immediately after slaughter, the bird is plucked of its quills. The resulting wounds swell and heal, producing the distinctive marks. If the plucking happens too long after death, the result is simply a bunch of holes.

Not all of the hide has these quill marks. Only the desirable “full quill” area is so adorned, with the rest of the body appearing much like cow leather.

I went on a quest to see something made from ostrich leather in real life. I thought that some shop somewhere in the Mall of America would carry an ostrich product; I was sadly mistaken. The high cost of full-quill ostrich leather seems to preclude its presence in such a plebeian shopping environment. It would seem that I would need to find a retailer carrying Prada to see the products in person, and I’m not about to do that.