The All-Inclusive Shoe & Boot Thread

I know that they're well-liked amongst the SW&D community for being rustic and hand-made etc etc, but I'm really amazed that people are willing to pay that sort of money (and more, much more) for boots that look like they've been worn by Italian peasants.

Have a look at this pair from Mr Porter:

http://www.mrporter.com/en-au/mens/guidi/burnished-pebble-grain-leather-boots/518364

Guidi boots.webp


Guidi boots 01.webp


These are a brand-new pair of boots and yet the sole of one boot is quite clearly twisted and uneven, and you can see that has then affected the shaft of the boot, which is also twisted. The boots also look rather lumpy.

Despite that, it seems that people out there are willing to pay GBP 722 (USD $1050) for the rustic charm of a pair of poorly-made Guidi boots.
 
Journeyman you showed the 99x line of Guidi which are wider and lumpier than the 1x and slipper lines I prefer. You say peasants derogatorily but have you never been to a three or four star restaurant serving peasant dishes, whether labeled as such usually not. I've probably mentioned before I also see clothing on a spectrum similar to vernacular and classical music traditions. Speaking generally, figuratively the average CM igent is predominantly your modern opera lover unaware of pre-modern pinnacles of the art along with anything non-classical regardless of period. As an 'expert' on musicology I say definitively the majority of the best classically trained singers in recorded history preferred to perform the folk songs! Quite a few unhappy performing sterile (mostly metaphysical) opera numbers that only payed the bills. Not to say there weren't many soulful compositions, interpretations, where the artist transcends social boundaries, expectations. True with opposite side spectrum with black minstrelsy for example where artists didn't succumb to pseudo self-mockery for uncultured hicks. Digress a bit but even into 20th century there were KKK gatherings in full garb who hired black r&b artists for performance, this would be like Mararo commissioning Sarto to make him a shirt, or other way round.

Take Caruso, his technical ability is indisputably stunning and to most unsurpassed for tenors, but what wanting for any expression not exclusively designed for theater. So many forgotten tenors Caruso holds no candle to.

I dislike most Guidi offerings which are too distressed like the rough suede or the blobby lasts.
 
LelandJ said:
Journeyman you showed the 99x line of Guidi which are wider and lumpier than the 1x and slipper lines I prefer. You say peasants derogatorily but have you never been to a three or four star restaurant serving peasant dishes, whether labeled as such usually not. I've probably mentioned before I also see clothing on a spectrum similar to vernacular and classical music traditions. Speaking generally, figuratively the average CM igent is predominantly your modern opera lover unaware of pre-modern pinnacles of the art along with anything non-classical regardless of period. As an 'expert' on musicology I say definitively the majority of the best classically trained singers in recorded history preferred to perform the folk songs! Quite a few unhappy performing sterile (mostly metaphysical) opera numbers that only payed the bills. Not to say there weren't many soulful compositions, interpretations, where the artist transcends social boundaries, expectations. True with opposite side spectrum with black minstrelsy for example where artists didn't succumb to pseudo self-mockery for uncultured hicks. Digress a bit but even into 20th century there were KKK gatherings in full garb who hired black r&b artists for performance, this would be like Mararo commissioning Sarto to make him a shirt, or other way round.

Take Caruso, his technical ability is indisputably stunning and to most unsurpassed for tenors, but what wanting for any expression not exclusively designed for theater. So many forgotten tenors Caruso holds no candle to.

I dislike most Guidi offerings which are too distressed like the rough suede or the blobby lasts.
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LelandJ LelandJ - I think that you are over-thinking this.

I've been to restaurants that served "peasant food", and it's been great. In regard to music, one of my favourite violin pieces (coincidentally, one that my son is currently learning to play) is Czardas, by Vittorio Monti, which is based on Hungarian folk music. I have nothing against folk, or peasant culture.

However, the point that I was attempting to make above was that it is ridiculous for city dwellers, who have never tilled the land or been down a mine, to spend $1000 to $1500 on a pair of unevenly-made boots that are deliberately rustic in nature. It seems farcical to me.
 
Journeyman said:
LelandJ LelandJ
However, the point that I was attempting to make above was that it is ridiculous for city dwellers, who have never tilled the land or been down a mine, to spend $1000 to $1500 on a pair of unevenly-made boots that are deliberately rustic in nature. It seems farcical to me.
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I agree with this. Guidi don't really belong in any city, although would've been appropriate there in pre-modern times.
 
he is on hiatus from DW. i like this pic. you like it the grain?

DSC0713k.jpg
 
I think there are variations of pattern in the embossing of various grains: pin, country, scotch. I seem to recall that if used correctly, Scotch grain is corrected grain instead of calf. But I suspect that the terms have blended over the years. UK makers use the term "country" to indicated their calf grain leather. Edward green uses "country calf" and Crockett and Jones uses Scotch country grain and Scotch grain. Pretty sure they don't use corrected grain.
 
Thruth, mind explaining to this Venezooalien why pegged waist is better?
 
Leitmotif said:
Thruth, mind explaining to this Venezooalien why pegged waist is better?
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There are a few posts around the place about shoes with pegged waists and the reasons for the constructions.

From memory, there are a few advantages:

- It used to be (but probably not now, with machinery) cheaper to make shoes with pegged, rather than stitched, waists on the soles;
- With a pegged waist, I think that you can cut the sole closer to the upper through the waist of the shoes, so it can look aesthetically appealing; and
- A pegged waist on soles makes the waist of the shoe or boot very stiff, which is why it is good for riding boots (as it means that the part of the sole that sits on the stirrup is very stiff).

It can actually look nice, too, and of course it's not very common nowadays, so some people like it for aesthetic reasons or because it's rare.
 
Journeyman said:
There are a few posts around the place about shoes with pegged waists and the reasons for the constructions.

From memory, there are a few advantages:

- It used to be (but probably not now, with machinery) cheaper to make shoes with pegged, rather than stitched, waists on the soles;
- With a pegged waist, I think that you can cut the sole closer to the upper through the waist of the shoes, so it can look aesthetically appealing; and
- A pegged waist on soles makes the waist of the shoe or boot very stiff, which is why it is good for riding boots (as it means that the part of the sole that sits on the stirrup is very stiff).

It can actually look nice, too, and of course it's not very common nowadays, so some people like it for aesthetic reasons or because it's rare.
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Thank you for the explanation! I appreciate it.
 
What Journeyman Journeyman said. Some was discussed here:

Pegging, Shoe Construction | DressedWell

In terms of machine made shoes, pegging does allow for a more carved waist. In certain cases, it is ornamental (AE). It does lend rigidity versus welted.

It is traditional in AH shoemaking - so it is the way things continued to be done - and in cowboy boots - even with the advent of the steel shank, it is the hallmark of a custom bootmaker.

So one has to examine the context in which it is being done.
 
Pauly Chase said:
The middle three pairs need to be burnt. I dont understand contrast fabric on leather booths combo.
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To be pedantic, it's not fabric, it's suede leather.

Having a brown foot and a bright blue shaft in contrasting leathers (smooth calf and suede) is certainly a design that is not for the faint of heart. I dress pretty outrageously at times (cream suit with spectator shoes and bow tie) but I wouldn't wear a pair of boots like that.
 
it defeats the purpose of the formalness of the boot. but currently sellers are pushing balmoral boots like this to wear in more casual fits. even with denim.
 
Journeyman said:
To be pedantic, it's not fabric, it's suede leather.

Having a brown foot and a bright blue shaft in contrasting leathers (smooth calf and suede) is certainly a design that is not for the faint of heart. I dress pretty outrageously at times (cream suit with spectator shoes and bow tie) but I wouldn't wear a pair of boots like that.
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Such a mind fuck. Way to ruin both suede and leather in one stroke. I firmly believe less is more should be applied to footwear. There is a reason not has much change in terms of style and it should remain that way.

Those boots are neither fashion forward nor classic, just plain ugly. Whose boots are those? Their aesthetic interpretation should be dug up and rewired.
 
If the soles were darker I might seriously consider these although I don't know how distressed kangaroo looks irl:

11028754_4914611_1000.jpg
 
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