WhiteShark

CXL

What kind of sole is that? Some sort of bonded crepe sole? Looks like mud stuck on the shoes almost. Interesting aesthetic.

Heres some newer pictures of my Boots. Took these today, much more accurate as to how they look.

Alright...Also.

I feel like this might be against forum rules, but I know a lot of you guys would be interested in these. Bought them because they looked nice, but there was never a chance in hell they'd fit.

Selling these shoes from "the collection".

This pair is from the 1930's Size 11.5 AA. They are absolutely amazing shoes. I hate to sell em but I can't even think about wearing them my feet are so big.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/260922702750?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Also got these shoes. Alden wingtips size 11. Good condition, nice shoes.

http://www.ebay.com/...9#ht_533wt_1396

Ok, so awful awful pictures. I took them on my iphone. These are my WWII impressions boondockers. I've been wearing these daily since the end of october. I gave them 3 coats of pecards when I got them as dubbing. These pictures were taken about a month in of me wearing them. I had actually just finished working on a war movie with these when I took these pics, and I wore these for about a week in makeshift trenches(it was brutal the day it rained, holy crap). Since I took these pics I've played football in them and fallen in a river. They have been holding up really well all things considered. They are a tremendous deal for the price. My only gripe is the welt seems a little rough on the edge, and the welt leather seems a little "wafery". This was a big concern at first.

My girlfriend owns a pair from the first run and she has had the same thing happen with the welt on hers, but its held together fine so I think its just part of the break in process with these. The leather the welt is made out of is just not tanned that densely but it does not inhibit the strength of the construction. Don't get me wrong these boots are virtually indestructible as far as I'm concerned considering I only paid about 150$ for em. The leather is really nice, very tough yet supple. Stitching is all very solid. The stitching connecting the welt to the upper is more well constructed on these than shoes of a much higher price range I've seen.

I compared her pair and my pair side by side. Odd thing was that her pair was just about as heavy as mine and they were size 7s! I wear a 11 EE. Not sure what equates for the size difference. The previous run had a different sole and heel maker and I believe the material they were constructed of may have been denser. So glad I got a pair that fit, they were JUST barely wide enough for me. I wear 11 EEE in most sneakers.

I had not worn boots in two years when I bought these so break in was absolute hell. I was wearing really soft and squishy sneakers previously. However, after the first week of bleeding and pain they started to loosen up and feel fantastic. Now they pretty much feel like....slippers. They don't have much padding and don't handle that as well as aldens do, but they feel 5x better than any pair of converse do. I've worked 3 full 18 hour days in a row on my feet in these on film sets and have had no problems doing so. I had a ton of foot problems from wearing crappy sneakers before I bought these all related to lack of proper size and support (sold my alden collection to pay for a film I was making a couple years back) and all of them have either gone away completely or are going away. Which is fantastic. Really great buy all in all. I'm considering buying another pair and keeping them un-dubbed. If I had the money I'd jump at it. These are hands down my favorites, even if I owned 405's still these would be my favorites. The leather is just so soft and malleable it makes them super comfortable.

Im sure these are all over this thread somewhere...but I got my pair of WWII Impressions Boondockers sometime in late october. I've been wearing them constantly since. I'm very impressed with the build quality and how comfortable they are. The first week was absolutely hell wearing them in however, as I've been wearing just sneakers the past two years....it was more like wearing my feet in than wearing in boots in. The leather has loosened up a lot and they feel great. An amazing pair of boots for the price.

I'm finally no longer broke and looking to buy a pair of Whites.

Unfortunately I've moved on from Alden boots...not satisfied with the quality I've seen from them lately.

How are whites in terms of durability? I know everyone says as tough as a tank but does anyone have wear pictures/wear experiences as examples?

Hey guys, I really need money so I'm selling my USMC boondockers.

Size 10 E I bought them from What Price Glory and they were made for the TV show the pacific. They are built pretty well. I wore them for a few weeks before realizing they sent me size 10 instead of 11.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290533220309&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

I need money really badly so I'll take an offer too even though ebay says 85$

Gime an offer and I might take it. I need the money to pay for a train ticket to go see my girlfriend next week so I'm desperate to sell these.

If you want em send me an email

adam at adofilms.com

Sorry, Added pictures to the auction.

Hey guys, I really need money so I'm selling my USMC boondockers.

Size 10 E I bought them from What Price Glory and they were made for the TV show the pacific. They are built pretty well. I wore them for a few weeks before realizing they sent me size 10 instead of 11.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290533220309&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

I need money really badly so I'll take an offer too even though ebay says 85$

Gime an offer and I might take it. I need the money to pay for a train ticket to go see my girlfriend next week so I'm desperate to sell these.

If you want em send me an email

adam at adofilms.com

Thin dress boots, like aldens and Churches generally need shoe trees, and they do help dry out the liners and such and help preserve the shoes structure and last integrity.

Whites use super tough leather on their shoes/boots so there is really no need for it. They are built to be work boots and made to endure anything really. They don't need the babying. That is not to say using shoe trees and dressing them regularly wont help them. It will make the leather last longer no doubt about it, that is just the nature of leather, but its not really worth it.

Good 'ol Clarks after a brushing

Bonus - What I'm making for dinner.

Any guesses?

*I gave up trying to format the pictures with the img code. I would greatly appreciate some assistance!

The links you posted are links to the image page on flikr not the image itself which is why it would not display them them.

I downloaded them and did it for you.

There ya go.

They look like they are ^ WWII service boots. Are there any markings on them? They could just be 1940's dress boots of course, but the pattern is so similar.

I just picked myself up a pair of USMC boondockers, I'll post some pictures tomorrow after I dub them up with something. The leather moves so much they are more comfortable than any pair of aldens I've ever had. I always have problems with getting proper fit on aldens, and the munson last used for military boots is the exact shape of my foot.

Update:

Holy shit these are comfortable.

The pair I bought was from what price glory, they were left overs from the boots made for the HBO series "The Pacific".

http://onlinemilitaria.net/shopexd.asp?id=2129&bc=no

There were a couple stitching issues with them, but other than that they appear to be very sound boots. The welt was extremely solidly done, something rare on repro boots for the most part. I'll put pictures up on Wed.

since it seems it's the same place on every pair you buy.. would a wider size maybe fix that?

This can cause the problem with the quarters ripping off of the vamp if your feet are too wide, and I'd agree with that if it were not for the fact that I wear size 10 1/2 3E in aldens and my first pair of alden boots was a size 10 1/2 D, so unless his foot is super wide that can't be the problem.

I gotta agree I think its just aldens quality shitting the bed here...

I sold my last pair of aldens to my father at the end of last year because my feet are wider due to fitness training I've been doing the past year and they no longer fit me at all. (they were tight to start with) But after I sold mine I tried to buy a new pair of aldens in 10 1/2 4E and the quality was absolutely horrible. I wish I could find the pictures, because they would really say a lot.

The leather was pure crap. I do leather craft in my spare time, and I can tell shitty leather by looking at it. They were made out of shitty leather. The uppers had stretch marks from them like the leather was taken from the worst part of the hide. The welt on the bottom of the shoe was poorly attached. There was space between the toe in the front and the welt. I could not believe this is what I received for how much money I spent on them. I compared them to my old pair of 405's, (6 years old) and they really did look like they were made in china. It's really too bad because I love Alden boots. They were my favorite.

Since then I've just heard more and more horror stories, including someone who had shoes that started flaking just after 3 months of wear. Sounds like Chinese shit to me. Alden really needs to get their act together.

Switch.

These boots are more than 300$, there should not need to be "Alden of new England" Standards. If I'm paying that much for boots it should not be acceptable to get shit just because its not "alden of New England" standard. Is that another way alden has of saying "oh by the way, these shoes are not shit, now that we are making you pay 400$

I can't believe these things are 400$ now. (The 405) Who the hell has the money to blow on shoes and have them break? I certainly don't want to take the risk.

With the ATF boots does anyone have any sizing recommendations?

I wear a size 10 1/2 EEE and since they are a Half size large and wide, I'm figuring an 11 should work well. Anyone?

16mm Color film is really expensive. I was already eating dried microwave noodles for Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Something else had to go.

Yeah, It was extremely painful. The only redeeming thing was that I was able to sell most of them to friends and relatives. My dad actually has my favorite pair of Indies, I can probably buy them back from him when I get the cash.

Hello everyone. I'm back. There's a lot of posts to go through.

I ended up having to sell all of my Alden's and my Allen Edmonds, pretty much all my shoes to pay for a film I was working on.

Now I'm back at square one. Next buy is a pair of ATF Roughouts. Cheap and good looking.

I've also become addicted to denim since I've been gone.

Lots of nice shoes guys.

How long was the break in on the LL Bean boots?

I just got a pair for my birthday but I don't think they really fit me. I keep getting this horrible pain in the center of my foot. Not normal break in soreness. I don't think they are anywhere near wide enough.

After that revelation i went staggering back to my father begging for my aldens back....(i had sold them to him, i was hoping to replace them with new ones, new ones were crap quality, iron worker boots are too narrow even in EE for me)

The "Get that greaser" guy was totally you right?!

The diner scene was shot in California at a universal studios stage. The chase itself however was shot in New Haven CT. I'm actually in the background of the shot right before they turn into the library. I was trying to stick around, but the costume designer noticed I was wearing a tan undershirt and not a white one, and that's when my fun ended. I was told "why are you not wearing the issued white undershirt!"

I did take some pictures after retuning in "normal" clothes the next day.

I even met Spielberg!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30235255&l=ce93c&id=1084200310

That's the 502 medical boot.

http://www.aldenshoe.com/cat_ortho_spe_502.htm

They are not service boots.

I have a Blu-Ray screener DVD of Benjamin Button, its obvious on that copy that the heel "cup" area has stitching on the outside and is not a separate piece of leather like the m-43 boot. The m43 also has eyelets all the way up, the BBBoot has speed hooks.

Its very possibly they are old new stock.

When i was on the Kingdom of the Crystal skull set, almost every pair of shoes that were being worn by the extras were being rented out to Lucas Film by a costuming company that was contracted by Bernie Pollack for the film. All the shoes were new old stock Sears and Montgomery Ward boots.

If I had pictures I would not have seen them. I was dressed in 1950's clothing I had collected. Touting a camera would have given away my cover....

They are more like red wings, although i see the similarity to the

The Service boot.

The main difference is that the heel "cap" stitching is in the leather, and not an additional piece of leather.

at least they seem to be rectifying the problem. price increase seams lame. I wonder if the Giesche price will increase accordingly - 320->350 = 270->300

I wonder how one would determine his shoes to be part of the potential recall. I already sent back one pair made out of that crumby leather...

Yeah. He has to raise the price to 300.

Shots of the BBBoot.

Some Important Alden news.

The price list for Alden Boot maker was sent out to all dealers recently, and as of March 1st the price of the 405 boot will be 350$. Alden has increased their wholesale price. With the previous batch of boots, they attempted to use cheaper leather ,in the end these boots proved to be faulty. There's a rumored recall on boots from the previous run. I can't confirm this. So DON'T quote me on it.

I've been jumping though hoops to get a new pair of Alden in the right size and of good quality, so I've broken down and switched to red wing. Going to the RedWing Dealer on Saturday and picking up a pair of Iron Rangers hopefully.

For those of you whom have an easier time contacting Bryan at Gische via email, here's his address.

schmidthouse75 AT gmail.com

removed the @ for spam saving reasons.

Bryan at Giesche Shoes is doing a special run of the boot.

This is a re-post from another forum, he asked me to put it up here to

see if there was any interest.

Hi Folks, After MUCH deliberation, I have decided to throw my hat into the ring, and have Alden make up an exclusive boot for the shop I work in Giesche Shoes. It will be built on their 405 last, so it will be available in any size the 405 comes in. As with the AB boot, I will need 12 pair pre-ordered, in order to have Alden make it up. Well, 11 pair as I will get one ;-) . I am still in the design stages and have a few details that I think I want to leave up to you guys.

Here's what is definite...

It's going to be this leather

[/img]

which the Alden catalog lists as aniline calfskin, but my sales rep called "Chromex". It's tanned, AND oiled. It will be a more water resistant than the traditional 405, and will wear very well. Because it is oiled, the oils will shift around in the leather, giving the boot quite a bit of character. I am also planning on having it fully leather lined. This will help the boot wear well too.

NOW, the things that are "open for discussion" will be...

1. The sole. It's one of two options. Either the traditional 405 neoprene sole and orthopedic Thomas heels OR this...

[/img]

This is a goodyear rubber mini lug sole it's got a lower profile than the commando sole (like on the AF64), similar to the traditional 405 sole, but I think it's going to provide (at least a little) more traction!!

2. This is still a maybe. And that is the welt color. The welt is the band of leather that goes around the perimeter of the boot, where you can see the stitching. I was thinking brown with brown stitching, as blond with white stitching may look a tad odd on this dark a leather while new, but may look OK once dirtied up a bit. If anyone has any input, please feel free.

I am going to post some polls tonight or tomorrow for the different details. One for the sole, one for the stitching. Feel free to voice opinions before that though.

As soon as I get the details worked out with Alden, I there will be a price. And yes I can assure you that it will be more than the regular 405. But I don't know what yet. Rest Assured, when I find out, I'll post something!!

Thanks to All in advance

Bryan

That's what inspired me to check out the model #.

Bryan also has the black 502 Cap boot available.

It's made with basically leather tanned in the same manner as the 405 boot so its more hard wearing than the 86 dress boot.

I stumbled across it and was sure some of you would like it.

http://www.aldenshoe.com/cat_ortho_spe_502.htm

You probably would have been fine with 10E or 10EE. If you don't mind some slight tightness for a while 10D will probably be fine. The thing that really got me was the arch to toe area. (straight across the top) That was the tightest spot, which is terrible to have tight.

The real thing you are fitting more so than your heel is the point in which the ball of your foot rests on the shoe. It its in the proper place and you've got good width, I'm pretty sure its better to put inserts in to make up for the looseness in the heel, but that's only if its minor heel moment.

(citation- book on foot care and shoe fit from 1960's )

I'd guess I was really far off on the size then.

My feet are 4.5 Inches wide without socks. I was wearing width D.

Don't Be that off. It really hurts.

I went into a redwing store probably 5 years ago, and had my feet measured using their digital imaging foot sizer (you stand on it, and a scanner comes over the top of your feet, measures the width, and they get scanned from below as well.)

That machine said I took a 10.5 E, and I totally did not believe it. Wearing or shoving your feet into a pair of shoes cause they look good is the worst thing you can do to your feet.

Basically I started to develop hammer toe. Wearing oversized rockports to work the past year has corrected this problem, but its a dammed good thing I realized it finally.

The result of me not wanting to wait another 4 months to get the correct size. Stupid me.