The All-Inclusive Shoe & Boot Thread

I'm absolutely in favour of all the things happening in the shoe world currently, no matter if in Europe or Asia. The Brits can definitely use a kick up their spoiled asses. It just makes me wonder if the market is big enough to support all these new brands.
Hear hear.
 
Lobbster said:
would be interesting learn about the politics behind this one, also with regard to the Chinese fellow who is in bed with Vass

Indeed. Vass has already made changes to their website and are more guarded with the info they give out. Seems like the Hong Kong fellow has some influence over the firm. All of them seem so lost and confused.
 
Balint closing was a shame for sure.

Found this on the website:

Shipments originating from within the European Union (EU), are noted in the product description, to addresses located within the EU are subject to VAT, which is included in the price.

I'm afraid I don't get your point. As you're in Canada you would have to pay 700€, within the EU VAT isn't deductable so 890€ for me, but I'm sure you knew this already.


Have your Reiters arrived yet?
 
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Do you use exotics?

What are your thoughts on using stingray leather for shoes, how does it crease and feel? Someone warned me against it.
I have only worked the capybara in boots. But other exotics never in shoes, lizard for wallets, cufflinks, straps watches ...
 
Baker’s 15% off sale is still running. I wear these White’s Bounty Hunters ever day now - the arch support is so damn comfortable for long days of standing.

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I'm absolutely in favour of all the things happening in the shoe world currently, no matter if in Europe or Asia. The Brits can definitely use a kick up their spoiled asses. It just makes me wonder if the market is big enough to support all these new brands.

They look absolutely superbly made shoes, but how different from the herd? Not really.

Balint closing was a shame for sure.

Found this on the website:

Shipments originating from within the European Union (EU), are noted in the product description, to addresses located within the EU are subject to VAT, which is included in the price.

That'll be 21%, more or less.
 
Wow this is really informative. Great video. Nicholas is hilarious.

yes, and when l think about it, it might explain why the soles of the handmades are more flexible than the goodyear shoes. For eg, the double soles of my Vass flex with no resistance (almost like a sneaker) where-as the double soles on my goodyear pairs are stiffer with more resistance. It could be the bottom thread of the stitched sole causing that resistance. Over time the soles of the factory mades still offer resistance where-as the handmades never have. All my handmades lack the resistance and go with the foot where-as none of the goodyears do to the same degree. Hmm, l think l am onto something here.
 
Dear RM Williams,

I still love a lot of your core Craftsman boots, though their retail price is overinflated. your moleskins are nice and the rest of the clothes ok I guess for some. But for the love of God stop with all these attempts to reinvent the brand and make it hip. That 360 boot is disgusting and now this:

 
The blurb on the RM Williams' website says that it has been "supplying" sneakers since 1940, which seems like some sort of historical reinvention to me.

I suppose that it's possible that, at some stage in the 1940s, they briefly made sandshoes/plimsolls but it would certainly have been a departure from their usual products of elastic-sided boots, moleskin trousers, jeans and flannel shirts. It's certainly the case that RMW hasn't made sneakers for decades as I don't recall them ever making sneakers at any stage from the early 1980s until last year.
 
Dear RM Williams,

I still love a lot of your core Craftsman boots, though their retail price is overinflated. your moleskins are nice and the rest of the clothes ok I guess for some. But for the love of God stop with all these attempts to reinvent the brand and make it hip. That 360 boot is disgusting and now this:

Anytime you get the marketing business speak of "traditional with a modern twist" - you know it will be shit.

Not for a minute suggesting all traditional is OK.
 
Dear RM Williams,

I still love a lot of your core Craftsman boots, though their retail price is overinflated. your moleskins are nice and the rest of the clothes ok I guess for some. But for the love of God stop with all these attempts to reinvent the brand and make it hip. That 360 boot is disgusting and now this:


The company is an embarrassment. They have deviated from their traditions a lot when it comes to the types of shoes, and now some of the boots are made cheaper. It is a big shame that they have gone from their roots so much, BUT they know they must keep a link to their tradition (having bushman's boots made in Oz) or else the company will die. Why? Because as soon as R.M.Williams stop making old style bushman's boots in Oz the market niche' disappears and the link to it's traditions is cut and then R.M.W becomes a normal company. See....R.M.W is one of the most unique companies in the world, it has a market niche' no-one else has in the footwear market. People all around the world buy R.M.W because of the aussie outback image, AND the bushman were their best customers, they bought truckloads of the stuff each year and stocked up. But to an old RMW man like myself l am embarrassed because l clearly see what they are doing, and l am sure Reg would be turning in his grave at what the company has become, BUT R.M.W have been smart enough to not go full fashion because they would have been told over and over and OVER again how important it is for the company to have that special niche'.

10 years ago the promise was made to NEVER stop making boots in Oz. To manufacture anywhere else would be there downfall. They pay a big wage bill to make those boots here.

I have had some extensive catalogues over the years and visited the RMW museum. I have seen dog shoes etc, but l never saw sneakers.

I will say that some of their clothes are still good, nice tough bushman's pants. Sadly some things like shirts are made overseas because it is impossible to find aussie shirts now.
 
R.M.W still don't build their boots like real shoos. It's only a single brick house, and the lasts made for those boots was a typical aussie last, big and bulky that lead to baggy boots. Few RMW look good on people because the lasts are made to fit no-one.

Average build quality. O.K for dress boots, but the goodyear are no good for the bush because they aren't build right.
R.M.Williams - cut open 1.jpg


R.M.W 33 years ago with a bevelled waist. My first pair. They were a different boot back then...better finished and really tough leather. Proper bushman's boots, and built for the bush.
R.M.Williams waist.jpg
 
Is that a pegged waist? On RMW boots? Did they come from the factory that way?
 
Mundane junior shooman tasks; I needed a new pair of rubber boots. Something with better traction on ice, snow and muck in Spring, which is rapid, wet and messy. My Baffin (made in Canada) industrial steel toes are almost 15 years old and have always been slippery but they are bulletproof but not the most comfortable wellies.

Got a pair of Aigle's on discount. Retail in Canada is stupid, like almost $300 CDN after taxes but I got these for the price of a pair of Muck Boots and they only last 1 year for me.

This model is still made in France (probably by murroquiens). The natural rubber construction is soft and less rigid than Canadian and US made rubber boots. Matte vs shiny. And I've never had a more comfortable rubber wellington in my life. Hunter is shite in comparison. It has an anti-fatigue construction. First impressions are very favourable. Quality has slipped across all of the luxury rubber wellie makers.

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Personally l would never play the role of a junior shoomen myself, but l can understand why some people of lesser caliber in the shoo world do. Most will never be at high positions in the shoo world, so their understanding and actions they take will always fall short of those with the pure pedigree. The real deal shoomen (shoomen who have shoos in their blood) ALWAYS know the pretenders and johnny come lately types.

@Truth Naturally a man like yourself with an extremely high pedigree can be forgiven for playing a junior role. Why? Because you own a tractor and do manly things, and sometimes a man with a farm and tractor needs to play junior roles in the shoo world, it is how things need to be sometimes.

Thanks for posting Truth, it is sometimes good to see what big daddies do when they step off from their perch.

Late edit: eventhough some men play a junior shoo role, if they own a tractor they are still going to get top respect in my eyes. A man with a tractor will always be a BIG daddy.

regards,
The Shooman.
 
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Here is a man who gives great advice on shoe care imo. So many talk about moisterising shoes, but they never get to the heart of the matter. At long last a man teaches people how to moisterise a shoe properly.

My experience is the same as his, but when it came to reptile shoes he taught me a few things about moisterising, to use a brush.

To me, a proper moisterising takes a number of layers done over time. An upper needs that special gooey feeling before it is done properly. Too often men moisterise the surface on the shoe and it doesn't go deep.

He also has excellent videos on identifying exotics leathers. Highly recommended.
 
^Wouldn't the upper be the wrong shape? Or do they manage to shape the upper so as to conform to the shape of the spade sole?
 
^Wouldn't the upper be the wrong shape? Or do they manage to shape the upper so as to conform to the shape of the spade sole?

The upper wouldn't change, and there lies the problem. The upper has those big perforations and that big heavy stitching and broguing that isn't elegant or refined, nor is the last in the typical style used on spade soles, so the result looks ridiculous. The shoe looks like a mutt, but this is what happens when igents try to make artistic decisions.

The one good decision that was made is that the soles were stitched to 10 spi and the welting was reduced from 360 to 270. At least that is more in character with the spade soles, but sadly the upper doesn't suit the bottom of the shoe. It looked much better how it was originally before igents started their funny ideas.


My 1930's- 1940's spades
You don't see leather like this anymore. The sole leather is like iron and tougher than anything today from Bakers or Rendenbach. I recently had shoes reheeled with 1950's aussie leather, it is similar this the stuff on these shoes; the cobbler tells me it is so tough that doing channeled soles would be impossible, he can only do them stitched aloft. The leather can only be cut by a machine because a knife can't slice it.

Double stitched soles from welt to slipsole to outsole, no shoes are made that way today.
Spade soles 4.jpg



Only found these the other day after searching for years.
Spade soles 1.jpg Spade soles 3.jpg
 
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I've only got one pair of vintage spades and they are very restrained - but look more spade then that pair in the video. I got them from meister. Hes THE man for spades
 
I've only got one pair of vintage spades and they are very restrained - but look more spade then that pair in the video. I got them from meister. Hes THE man for spades

Meister got me this pair too, years ago. Meister loves his spades, but l am not such a big fan.
 
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When you say Russia calf, do you mean the leather recovered from the wreck of the Metta Catharina barque, or simply tanned calf leather that has then been saturated with birch oil in the manner used in Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries?
 
Enrile Enrile Love those beveled soles, fabulous!




Really nice hand stitching on that, so artistic and hard to do. Is that draw sitting correctly, it looks like it has uneven gaps (see bottom draw at bottom left and top right), is this true? .
thank you very much it was sewn on my addler machine it was not hand sewn. excuse me over the gaps but don't understand
 
When you say Russia calf, do you mean the leather recovered from the wreck of the Metta Catharina barque, or simply tanned calf leather that has then been saturated with birch oil in the manner used in Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries?

Yes, the old ship wreck stuff.


This bloke Justin Fitzpatrick really understands the shoe market, he is a very clever businessman. He understands that the traditional shoe market is very small and is saturated already, and he has carved out a great niche' of attractive and adventurous nicely priced shoes. He has done what l would have done if l had started a shoo company. He offers lots of colours and fancy designs based on the classics, he is right on the money, and he plans to promote himself through trunk shows etc. Think whatever you like about him, but he really knows his stuff and is very good at what he does.

 
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Yes, the old ship wreck stuff.

Interesting - I thought that only Cleverley were able to use the Metta Catharina leather to make shoes.

The Bemer shoes are unusually light in colour, too. Normally the Russia calf from the shipwreck is a darker, reddish-brown colour.

I had a credit-card holder made from the Metta Catharina leather some years ago, given to me as a wedding gift by a friend. The leather had a bit of a pungent smell and was not particularly hard-wearing. My card wallet last 4-5 years before it basically fell apart, and it had been wearing badly at the corners for a while beforehand. If I had a pair of shoes made from the leather, I'd be reluctant to wear them because of the cost and the lack of durability.
 
Interesting - I thought that only Cleverley were able to use the Metta Catharina leather to make shoes.

The Bemer shoes are unusually light in colour, too. Normally the Russia calf from the shipwreck is a darker, reddish-brown colour.

It is obviously coloured differently. See this one and the one behind it, both Russia calf but in different colours.
Stefano Bemer - russia calf bespoke 2.jpg
Stefano Bemer - russia calf bespoke 3.jpg



Journeyman said:
I had a credit-card holder made from the Metta Catharina leather some years ago, given to me as a wedding gift by a friend. The leather had a bit of a pungent smell and was not particularly hard-wearing. My card wallet last 4-5 years before it basically fell apart, and it had been wearing badly at the corners for a while beforehand. If I had a pair of shoes made from the leather, I'd be reluctant to wear them because of the cost and the lack of durability.

Yes, l was going to have a pair made from the leather but had read that it wasn't the most durable. Nearly bought a wallet made from it too. After reading your post l am glad l didn't.

New & Lingwood have used the leather for years. Cleverley has the bulk of it though.


However it looks like they are no longer using it because they have run out.


Crompton's Russia calf monks
 
New & Lingwood have used the leather for years.

I think that all of N&L's shoes and leathergoods are made for them by others. I'm pretty sure that C&J made shoes for N&L previously, for example. So Cleverley or another place may have made the Russia calf stuff for N&L.
 
Yes, the old ship wreck stuff.


This bloke Justin Fitzpatrick really understands the shoe market, he is a very clever businessman. He understands that the traditional shoe market is very small and is saturated already, and he has carved out a great niche' of attractive and adventurous nicely priced shoes. He has done what l would have done if l had started a shoo company. He offers lots of colours and fancy designs based on the classics, he is right on the money, and he plans to promote himself through trunk shows etc. Think whatever you like about him, but he really knows his stuff and is very good at what he does.

He ran into financial difficulties and nearly went bust. Split between USA and UK. He had to pull out of UK and get another financial partner.

His shoes are fine but a bit fancy for my taste and the button boot thing is pretty much costume nowadays.
 
I’ve noticed a lot of new Indonesian stitch-down boot makers popping up. Nice pics, but it seems like a huge gamble. Of course, I still remember trips to Bali in the 1980s, buying ratshit quality knock-off clothes and watches.

 

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