Ichiran

booties collection!

That's an incredible collection man, but seriously, you just must love punishment or something -- I'll be counting the minutes until the next snide comment about the money you spend on boots. More power to you, though -- your Beckmans, Indys, and black SDs are looking good!

In this case, its a 9-inch boot with a sole thin enough to double as an oxford....doesn't have to be white's or RW...as long as it looks like that.

I assume that by "double as an oxford" (we discussed the technical definition of oxford a few pages back) you mean something along the lines of "boot that wouldn't look out of place with slacks". That's the whole idea behind the SD and the GT. But to ask for a 9" boot with those properties will be tough.

Think about what you're asking -- any boot 9" tall would be designed for real work and thus would have a heavy lug sole. You could look into WWII jump boots, which have a leather mid-sole plus rubber heels and half-soles, but the shape of the toebox is much rounder than even the GTs.

Your best best would be to buy a 9" RW (along the lines of those RW X J.Crew 899s) and have them resoled like the GTs by a good cobbler.

Getting back to the original point, I don't think of SJs as a taller version of GTs. It's apples and oranges -- the two boots have very different looks. I think the Semi-Dress would be a fairer comparison, but obviously those are low boots, too.

I'm actually suprised nobody posted about this place yet.

WWII Impressions has been discussed here a number of times; crownzip posted a good picture of his roughout boots way back on page 55:

^Yea. I don't think anyone would argue that a pair of straight-tip oxford shoes like that is anything but appropriate. They look like calf, and the toe is a very conservative shape.

Personally, I try to spend money on things in proportion to how much I use them. So, if I was only going to wear a pair of dress shoes once a year, I wouldn't bother getting an expensive pair. I'd rather spend more money on the shoes I wear frequently. Just my opinion.

^Shaft is definitely higher, 10 eyelets vs. 7 on the GT. I haven't seen a non-J.Crew version (at least in the U.S.), but you often see vintage Red Wings on eBay of the same style, such as these:

or these:

Vintage chambray selvedge shirt:

^Yes, Obenauf's LP will darken the leather, especially if you use it liberally. Sno-Seal also darkens leather.

they are nice but it doesn't make much financial sense to restore them through Alden. You would have spent $185-200 before even wearing them. You can get barely worn or new aldens for that much.

this guy took weeks to sell his:

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=73592

I saw those Alden/BB shoes for sale at the other SF and almost got them, but they weren't quite the right size! I think you have a point in that using the Alden service would negate the good price I got them for. They'd end up in a similar condition to those Alden/BBs; but, I think the recrafted shoes would have more character, since they do "look better with age". And it's true that I'd eventually have to pay $100 to get them resoled at some point down the line. Plus, it'd be nice to have a new box, new bags, and new trees. Thanks for your input -- I'll need to think a bit more about it!

Your cap toes do look very similar, fattybfat! The cap on yours seems a bit longer, which gives it a slightly more sleek look, I think. How do you feel about the flat laces in the blind eyelets -- did they come with those, or did you add them yourself?

I recently picked up these Alden 901s off eBay for about $50:

They've clearly been (not extremely skillfully) resoled in the past, and there are a few serious scuffs besides the general wear. The photos are a bit more flattering than reality. I'm thinking about trying Alden's restoration service ($135) on these. If anyone's had experience (that they haven't described here already) with Alden recrafting, I'd be glad to hear your thoughts.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260276332407&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016

vintage pair of redwing round toe new old stock

Wow, amazing boots! Thank goodness they aren't in my size, fattybfat, or I'd be all over them.

In the spirit of the Olympics, a vintage track jacket. By Levi's! In Austria!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250281947198

Seller says it's from the Summer '80 games, but I believe the USA boycotted those. Maybe it's Winter '80? Or fake? Who knows.

I've followed this thread for a long time without contributing any shoes of my own. I thought this would be a good opportunity to change that. Please excuse my limited photography skills (please see Zappos for the details)...

I've worn these only a couple of times so far. As you can see, I've had the speed hooks replaced with eyelets (just a personal preference), and I switched the original round laces with some flat laces (again, just a personal preference). I've treated the boots with Obenauf's, which darkened them very slightly.

The boots are made from an oily type of leather - so most scratches/scuffs can just be rubbed out with a finger. Like the GTs, the welt stitching does not include the heel. The other main difference with the GTs are the man-made outsole, the toe cap, the heel cap (the rear panel of the upper extends forward up to the white stitching), and the top of the shaft (where the back is slanted upwards instead of parallel to the ground). Perhaps most importantly, they come in EE widths.

In the end, the Iron Ranger feels something like a WWII ankle boot created out of oily leather, which is exactly what I'd been looking for. I'm planning to use these regularly, and especially for times when the weather or terrain is rough. They already look better than they did out of the box, and I hope that they continue to gain character with use.

Yeah, I would have to agree that I go for the appearance of authenticity, rather than actual authenticity.

If by "the appearance of authenticity" you mean someone who rocks, say, his $250 jeans with his $250 boots (and then chats about them on an internet forum), then I think you'd be hard-pressed to find "actual authenticity" around these parts (including when you look in the mirror?). Overblown criticism of "inauthenticity" is nothing but a cheap straw man in a discussion like this one, in my opinion.

I agree that these are wearing in nicely. Looking at the toes, I was just wondering, do you keep shoe trees in them? (Would other people here keep boots like this tree-ed?) Keep up the good work!

I'm fairly new to the "Shoes" business . So here's a newbie question: Would you guys advice me to go for black or brown boots for my first pair?

I think brown or black boots work equally well with blue jeans. If I were you, I'd look at my clothes and see if I had more black or brown clothing, and base your choice on that. Just my opinion, anyway...

On another note, I was in a Japanese bookshop today and came across a Japanese magazine called "The Whole U.S.A. Catalog". It had profiles of great American brands. It was mostly in alphabetical order, with the one exception of Levi's, which they placed on the very first page. On the second page was Alden:

Can anyone ID those brown round-toe boots? They have white rubber soles (a la RW 875s) with "ALDEN" on the bottom. Speed hooks at the top. I'd never seen that model before, and was intrigued. Here's a shot of the magazine's cover:

wait wait I'm confused between oxford and derby. help

Here are two cap-toe shoes -- but note the difference...

Oxford:

Derby:

Hope that helps!

I think you mean derby or blucher. Oxford means that it would have closed lacing.

The terms oxford, balmoral, blucher, etc., used to confuse me a lot. This page lays it out really clearly:

http://dancestore.com/shoeterms-glossary.html

I think it is very common for people (and shoe companies) to refer to a plain-toe blucher shoe as an "oxford" -- which is not technically correct and causes a lot of the confusion.

I repped him for you chicken.

Yes those redwings look great. What model are they? resoled 875s?

I'd guess they're RW Beckman moc-toes (e.g. 9010) based on the fact that it isn't a 360 degree welt? Maybe I'm wrong; if I'm right, the original laces have been switched out. Whatever -- they look awesome!

You should wear a black leather closed-lace (oxford) shoe. If you are trying to buy something which you can use often in the future, a plain black captoe oxford (not a blucher) will serve you well. You can probably also do a punch cap, or a wingtip. But still black, still oxford.

I think this is absolutely the textbook-correct answer. But for me, the practical answer is that the shoes should just be shiny and all-black. Anything beyond that is a question of knowing your personal style and staying true to that style. Better to have your clothes and shoes satisfy your taste than trying to force the "right" shoes to coordinate with your clothes. If someone has classy taste in clothes, they'll wind up with classy shoes; and if they're wearing an ugly suit/tux, good shoes won't save them anyway!

^Those boots remind me of the unfinished leather wallets or belts on the evo leather thread. There's lots of awesome-looking broken-in leather there, and the idea of a shoe with that particular look would be interesting. But I wonder if they'd change in the same way over time, since shoes are exposed to the weather and damage a lot more than a wallet or belt, but less to the oils of skin. It's also a little weird that the leather soles are finished, compared to the unfinished uppers.

not impress with those in the website...especially with the price that high, undyed leather boot...just seem little bit off..anyway, keep us update with those undye boot . thx

Not even impressed by this one, fattybfat?

any advice on finding larger sizes in the shoes that are discussed in this thread? I've got a size 14 foot in most shoes (15 in others), and I'm looking to invest in combat boots/desert boots, etc.

advice? zappos only has limited styles and brands. Looking to find other sources.

thanks!

Zappos has a simple search feature (click on "SEARCH") whereby you can search based on size and style. 30 seconds later, you'll get a long list of boots they offer in 14, including the actual classic Clarks Desert Boot:

crownzip: Another great looking pair of vintage boots! What do you use on them for leather care? I'd love to see a shot of the soles on these, too!

immelspin: Welcome -- nice photos! Do the Maltons have the same uppers as the Stow, or is there some difference that's escaping me? I'm not well versed on Tricker's.

They look like the Katahdin Engineer Boots made by Chippewa for LL Bean

I've looked at that Katahdin Engineer Boot on the Bean website in the past, and the Iron Ranger is definitely coming from the same place:

In the past, I've had a chance to compare Chippewa and Red Wing side-to-side for identically-designed boots (6" moc-toe in black), and my opinion was the Red Wings were a notch higher in the details. (And in the case of the boots above, those would appear to be nicer-seeming leather, quadruple stitching at the cap toe, contrast stitching, better laces, and the absence of those hexagonal eylets.) Not a dramatic difference, but noticeable.

I saw these in person at Gimme Shoes, the bottom one in suede. They look good, they look like GTs with different details. The shape is the same.

Well, there's at least one advantage of the IRs over the GTs: they come in EE widths. Good news for those of us with wide feet!

anyone know where to get black redwing chukkas?ant seem to find them anywhere..

As usual, the answer is Japan... Red Wing 9196: