vegetaray123

soooo tongue on my boots slipping to the side. How to fix? I know people do some subtle stitching to hold it in place.

Actually the tongue on both the right and left shoes of my oldest pair of 405's slip very bad...When I get them re-heeled in the near future I'm planning on getting the small stitch placed on the inner portion of the boot near the speed lace hooks...Most good coblers can place the new stitching over the pre-existing stitches so that it's seemless...

I love that there are more ppl interested in a group order of the Alden boot, but this is what I have gathered from looking into placing a custom order for the past 2 months, and should be helpful...

Just to keep the talk on track, Cigar Shell is out of the question. Not only will Leather Soul not ship them out from what I've read, but there is a shortage of cigar shell leather and waiting time may range from over 1 year to infinite. PLUS when I was at the Alden store on Madison 2 days ago, I talked to the salesman about custom orders in shell cordovan, he said that standard colors take 4-6 months to arrive, for cigar shell it will definitely be longer, and it would be an additional $150 surcharge for the shoe just to make it with cigar shell. Of course we were talking about 1 pair of boots, but if it would take a long time to complete one pair of boots, imagine multiplying that time period by 10 or 15. Basically we'd all be at least 5 years older and who knows if we'd even want or can afford the boots at that time.

As for the modified last, again this would be nearly impossible to get. Please read what Rodeo Bill wrote about it after talking to the Alden salesman in HK. The shoes are indeed comfortable (I personally tried them on at Moulded shoe in NYC), however asthetic wise I think they are in no way better than some of the other standard lasts that Alden sells to the U.S. public (Grant, Plaza, Leydon). And personally I prefer the look of the sleeker lasts which happen to be easier to obtain as well. Yes I know Modified Last is rare and that there is some bragging rights to owning a pair in them, but in all seriousness, unless you have really strong orthotic needs, I don't think it is worth it to jump through the extra hoops to get a batch ordered in that last, if it is even possible. The bottom line is that all Alden shoes are pretty comfortable if you get the right size, that is part of their charm. If the modified last is the only last that is truly comfortable, then why would Alden not sell it readily in the U.S.?

Anyways, I think the most realistic, and feasible way for a group of us to get something we'd be very happy with is to see what shell cordovan boots Leather Soul or Alden of Camel have ALREADY made in the past (which if popular enough, is currently sold out), and get enough people interested in that one design so that the order can be processed to Alden.

Sorry I did not mean to shoot down any dreams of the perfect boot. Talk of your dream boot is always welcome and if you can make it happen by some other means, then go for it!

BTW the following boots are all close to perfect IMO and I'd be willing to send a deposit for anyone of them right now! If you care to read the comments, you can see that they are all pretty much sold out

http://www.leathersoulhawaii.com/2008/08/04/alden-shoes-plaza-cap-toe-dress-boot/

http://www.leathersoulhawaii.com/2008/06/26/alden-shoes-the-sf-boot/

http://www.leathersoulhawaii.com/2008/06/08/alden-shoes-plaza-wing-tip-boot/

I have to agree with on this as it seems like it could possibly take forever to get a pair done up in a Cigar...I'm def more interested in the #8 as it seems more realistic that we could possibly get a pair done up...I also agree with you that all of those boots are very nice (esp the pair that I orginally saw - SF x LS - and I would also be willing to send a deposit right this minute if any of them were to be offered...

MiniW it would seem that you and I have very close taste as far as Alden's are concerned as I too agree that those 3 pairs you posted are near perfect...They are really what I have been thinking about for my first pair of Cordoven boots...Great stuff all around...Though through talking with some of you on this thread and in pm I'm really starting to like the plain toe as well...TOO MANY CHOICES!!! Maybe a SF x LS type boot with a plain toe in #8 would be fairly great as well...

You all talked me into it...A plain toe would be better for casual wear...Gotta have double leather souls though...and of course I'm a big fan of the blind eyelets (even though it looks like those are a no go)...I can go either Cigar or #8 but from what you all have been saying LS dosen't do Cigar for shipping orders...That would make it very hard for us who are not able to get to their store to pick a pair up...

^ whipped but still rollin'

i like that

nothing wrong with the modified last. if you ever saw it in front of you, you would understand what its all about. but i wouldnt mind doing another boot while we wait the infinite waiting time. not plaza though. i say leydon #8's on a plain toe. eh eh?

If you don't mind me asking...how does the Leydon Last fit compared to the Plaza or better yet compared to the Trubalance? I might be down with a Leydon #8 on double leather but maybe a cap toe or a stylized toe like the pair from above...Blind Eyelets and Speed Lace Hooks are a must though...

dang. ballin^

nice.

...Like I said it would pending the approval of the wife on the second pair though...I'm allowed 2 new pairs of boots a year so a second pair of those would actually be number 3 for 2009...But who's counting anyway....

Wait time is no big deal for me...I had to wait 6 months for the Dark Brown pair...and the Burnished Tan pair I have on order right now will not be here until April so wait is no big deal...Once I saw those I knew that was the Cordovan Boot I'm looking for...I would actually put myself down for a pair of those without a second thought as long as I can get an E width...Actually I would consider buying 2 pairs since they are made to order just so I have an extra if something goes wrong with the first pair (Pending the approval of the wife of course)....

So I stumbled across these on the Leathersoul website just now and fell in love...Is there going to be another run of these or are they a one off type of thing? Like I said earlier I've been looking for a pair of Cordovan boots and these are just what I'm looking for...Also does the Leathersoul website do orders for other sizes (Like different widths)

or is it in store only...I need a pair of these in 11E really bad...

No problem my friend...The hairdryer is the key and make sure you use it on the lowest possible setting or else the Pecard's will melt too fast and won't have time to soak into the leather proper...The boots will end up with super dark streaks and puddles in places where the Pecard's collected heavy...

Thanks for the kind remarks all...

The J&M Shoe Cream I used was actually the Neutral and not "Natural" as I posted earlier...Mistake in typing...For that pair I just darkened them down to where they are using the standard Pecard's and now I use the J&M to treat them when needed...The color is like a deep red now almost a burgandy and I love it...

**EDIT** When I first got the boots mentioned above they were the standard reddish brown color...First thing I did was apply a coat of the Pecard's, then I used a hairdryer set on low to melt the pecards into the leather (This is where the darker more rich color comes in)...Once the Pecard's was nice and saturated into the boots and I let them dry for a bit I applied another coat of the Pecard's and followed the entire thing all over again, hairdryer and all...I did this about 4 times or so until I was happy with the color then I applied a coat of the J&M Shoe Cream...and since then I have only used the J&M to treat them as needed and the color has stayed that nice deep burgandy red color...Most important thing is since I didn't use any colored products the moc toe stitching and the welt stitching have remained as the standard white (all be it a little duller) which makes a nice contrast on the boot I think...Very happy with this pair... **EDIT**

As far as the dark brown 405's go...They were a special order from a guy in Germany named Marc Kitter...Marc runs the Adventurebilt-Delux website that specializes in custom hats...He happens to be a HUGE Indiana Jones fan and managed to get a run of boots produced through Alden to the same specs of the original 70's-80's era boots that were used in the first Indy film...To my understanding he can place a new order for a run of boots on every 12 customer orders or something like that...He did just place an order for a run but if he gets 12 more orders from customers I'm sure he will be able to place an order for another run of the boots...Price is determined on where you are and the exchange rate so Marc himself would be better equiped to answer questions about that...Anyway here is his website with his contact info...

http://www.adventurebiltdeluxe.com/

Very nice fella and very customer oriented...

Hey all this is my first post on here so please take it easy on the newb...

I have 3 pairs of Alden 405's right now...

I do have another pair of 405's on order through Alden right now with a Burnished Tan leather and they should be here around April or so...Cannot wait for those to get in...

I'm also looking for a pair of Cordovan boots and am really starting to consider purchasing a pair of AF43's in Black Cordovan or a pair of #8 AF79's...I'm favoring the 43's right now because I have no idea how the Leydon Last of the 79's will work on my foot as I'm used to the fit of the Trubalance Last...

This is my newest pair...Dark Brown Calf Leather...Dark Brown Welt...Dark Brown Moc Toe and Welt Stitching...and Leather Lining on the Tongue...

Here is my second oldest pair that I have had for about 8 months or so...I treated these with Pecard's Leather Dressing and Johnston & Murphy Natural Shoe Cream to give them their color...(The pair I'm not Wearing in this picture)...

This is my oldest pair at about a year old now...I have done nothing to treat these and they have been worn on just about every occasion I can think of from weddings to hiking trips in the mountains...This picture is about 5 months old now and they are in need of new heels...I have no idea what kind I'm going to get put on but it's going to be real soon I can tell you that much...