The All-Inclusive Shoe & Boot Thread

I’ve had these for 6-7 years. Nice boots, but the sandy colour is a bit light for dark denim and just a bit meh. Let’s try some medium brown!

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Oh shit. Well, I’m committed now - no turning back!

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The colour looks chocolate brown when wet.

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All done. I’ll give them a bit of silicon spray protectant before wearing them. The finish came out well. The colour is more red than I would have liked, but it’s still an improvement. I will probably wear these a lot more now.


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I’ve had these for 6-7 years. Nice boots, but the sandy colour is a bit light for dark denim and just a bit meh. Let’s try some medium brown!

View attachment 46207

Oh shit. Well, I’m committed now - no turning back!

View attachment 46208

The colour looks chocolate brown when wet.

View attachment 46209

All done. I’ll give them a bit of silicon spray protectant before wearing them. The finish came out well. The colour is more red than I would have liked, but it’s still an improvement. I will probably wear these a lot more now.


View attachment 46210View attachment 46211View attachment 46212

Now wear them in the rain and tell me what happens. 🥴 :lolguy:


















































































😉
 
I’ve had these for 6-7 years. Nice boots, but the sandy colour is a bit light for dark denim and just a bit meh. Let’s try some medium brown!

View attachment 46207

Oh shit. Well, I’m committed now - no turning back!

View attachment 46208

The colour looks chocolate brown when wet.

View attachment 46209

All done. I’ll give them a bit of silicon spray protectant before wearing them. The finish came out well. The colour is more red than I would have liked, but it’s still an improvement. I will probably wear these a lot more now.


View attachment 46210View attachment 46211View attachment 46212
Look very good.
 
Now wear them in the rain and tell me what happens. 🥴 :lolguy:


















































































😉

The dye is fixed and I just hit them with some Reshoevn8r protectant and repellent. I don’t believe in babying suede. It gets wet and it dries out, just like other leathers. It cleans up well with a good brushing.
 


The fact is, it is difficult to get skilled workers to do this type of stuff. Even getting people off the street to train them is difficult. People don't want to get their hands dirty, and they don't want to start off with low pay. Besides, who would want to do this work and get trained when there are limited work prospects.

Look at the cobblers in Oz. They can't get workers: the tech schools shut down in the 80's and manufacturing has gone overseas. The U.K has trouble getting these type of workers. Allen Edmonds also have lots of seconds due to a workforce not being highly experienced. Even China has trouble now and had to move many shoe factories inland because the tech industry paid twice as much and workers moved from footwear into I.T. You can't expect too much these days, hence the footwear being like it is.
 
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Some beautiful John Lobb half brogues. See, BIG John LObb can still make some wonderful styles for off the rack.
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The fact is, it is difficult to get skilled workers to do this type of stuff. Even getting people off the street to train them is difficult. People don't want to get their hands dirty, and they don't want to start off with low pay. Besides, who would want to do this work and get trained when there are limited work prospects.

Look at the cobblers in Oz. They can't get workers: the tech schools shut down in the 80's and manufacturing has gone overseas. The U.K has trouble getting these type of workers. Allen Edmonds also have lots of seconds due to a workforce not being highly experienced. Even China has trouble now and had to move many shoe factories inland because the tech industry paid twice as much and workers moved from footwear into I.T. You can't expect too much these days, hence the footwear being like it is.
All very true. In the North East of the US, there is a tradition of boot making and I’ve heard it pays fairly well. Getting an apprenticeship at White’s, Nick’s, Wesco’s, etc is very competitive. But that’s a small niche, while most firefighters and forestry workers are buying factory-made boots from China or Mexico.

Still, it’s surprising to see the lack of QC from a high end Japanese business like Rolling Dub. I don’t think their production levels are high and you’d think the owner would look over something as obvious as that stitching to catch it before shipping out and killing their reputation in a single Instagram post.
 
Here is a rare treat....there are no aussie born shoemakers anywhere except this bloke. All shoemakers in Oz immigrated here. Here is a pair from my mate from the private shoo world, multi generation aussie trained by the legendary master Bularian shoemaker George Koleff. No other aussie shoemaker had the extensive training that this man had, and he was George's assistant.

Only makes for the select few. Always hand welted. Sometimes he machine stitches the uppers, but he can also do 12 spi by hand on the uppers if requested. He also makes his own thread because he says that the thread sold is not strong enough.

These shoes are very simple, very typical Australian made. No fancy waist, and a big wide heel.

The private shoo world (Australia).
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^^^

It is different to what l see these days. I hardly see any proper shoes anymore. Often l am one of the only men in them. I don't know why men don't want to wear nice shoes.
 
Look at those heels


The heels, the quality clothes, collar stays on back of neck, and the quality of the furnishings. His shoos were also stitched properly and probably used excellent leather. See his top hat on the table.
 
Just getting home from a camping trip with the alligators. These old RMW Gardeners are ready for retirement, after 15 years and two soles. The elastic is shot and the leather itself is cracking deeply and flaking, so I’m not going to rebuild them.

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Sadly, they have gone from being a very good $250-$300 work boot to $550. Definitely not worth that price, but I still considered buying them again, because the last works for me and they are durable af.

For a quarter the price, I’m going to get these Rossi boots. They aren’t whole cut or even GYW, but they are on a wide last, made in Aus and should see me through another 10 years of (reduced) outdoor activity. I can’t find anyone who sells them in the US or will ship here, so I might owe my cousin a beer for taking a trot down to Australia Post for me.

 
I've been watching this Junioor shooman's shoo videos over the past few days. His video quality is decent, but like all shoo videos, he gets low views. Shoe videos don't make for good viewing, there is little interesting to talk about. I actually enjoy watching them, but what can you say that hasn't been said before.



This junioor shoomen has jumped on the bandwagon recently, has ordered lots of fancy shoos in shell cordovan. He needs to wise up fast. He is trying to progress too fast, but he is not ready yet. The Junioor shooman watches Kirby and read the forums. 🤮

I like to watch this enthusiasts shoo videos occasionally too, but he gets shockingly low views too.

If you are really desperate for a shoo hit you watch this guy, but he gets low views too despite huge content been released. At least we get a close up of some nice shoes.

Shoosnob has got some nice shoes he reviews, but he gets low views too.


What is the point of it all?
Who can be bothered. So much blah blah blah.

Wouldn't mind doing proper studio interviews of men from the private shoe world in Oz and release rare footage, but who would watch them? Who would appreciate all the great stories? Hardly anyone wears good shoes anyway.
 
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Wouldn't mind doing proper studio interviews of men from the private shoe world in Oz and release rare footage, but who would watch them? Who would appreciate all the great stories? Hardly anyone wears good shoes anyway.
You should give it a go. You could be the one that gets the hits.
 
It's funny how the Melbourne celebrities promoted them as always hurting your feet. Remember Graham saying something like, "these are great shoes, but they hurt your feet like crazy".
Kennedy would spruik them “ If your feet are hurtin, you know their Raul Merton”
 
Kennedy would spruik them “ If your feet are hurtin, you know their Raul Merton”

hehe, that's the quote. I knew l got it wrong, but l tried my best to make it up.


These cobblers make a $200 shoo into something much more expensive. They hand welt the shoe, make a close cut waist, and hand stitch the soles. An interesting video.
 
Thoughts on these guys?


I’ve wanted an EG style brown suede chukkas with a Dannite sole in EEE for a while. I was thinking of going with Crapmina but these prices are a little better.
 
Actually these look like a pretty good MTO option for GYW made in Spain boots, at around $300:

 
Thoughts on these guys?


I’ve wanted an EG style brown suede chukkas with a Dannite sole in EEE for a while. I was thinking of going with Crapmina but these prices are a little better.
They certainly look good. Lots of choice at a good price. Nice site too.
 
They certainly look good. Lots of choice at a good price. Nice site too.

I found some decent reviews online. Sounds like they send frees shoes to ‘influencers’ like Crompers, so I’m skeptical of anything I read. But quality looks good for the price, the last had a nice slim waist, they use a leather heel stiffener and a good quality suede.

The buckle jodhpur on the site looks rather nice, too.
 
their last widths:

E - narrow
F - regular
G - wide
H - extrawide
Yeh, that makes me a little nervous on fitting. I’m an H in RMW, but TLB are saying a G would fit me as it is close to EEE on the Brannock.
 
Want to dress like a grandpa, so I put in a order, for a pair of Vash Norwegers in antique cognac scotchgrain. Apparently, a vibram sole is the standard these days - changed that to double leather.
 

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