White's Horse Hide/Shell Cordovan group order

[fre-co]

As discussed in the shoes thread, we are trying to put together a group order for horse hide or cordovan White's boots (SD or BH).

This is now the thread to discuss it.

Eddie has contacted White's directly.

I have contacted Bakers:

They will discuss with White's further, apparently Shell SD was something they have been talking to White's about a year ago but they had trouble sourcing shells. Kyle will get back on it and keep me/us informed.

Feel free to post pictures of HH and shell White's and I'll copy the list of interested peoples across sometime if I can be bothered.....

[coleslawyum]

Nobody there at White's has the lockdown with Horween?

[edmond]

actually i prefer ordinary horsehide than cordovan

if its corodvan its goign to be very expensive and hard to break in

[aho]

^Spoke with Nick Horween, he said they have a close relationship with White's so it'd be easiest to go directly through them (or whichever boot maker you guys decide to go with) as they have certain allotments of cordovan available to each company. Also, they'll know what's available to them and how much material will actually be needed for a run like this...

[edmond]

i told ya who wants regular horsehide ??

[fre-co]

Let's wait and see what options come back from Bakers.

Coleslaw, maybe when white's were discussing it over a year ago, it was the great shell drought of 2008-2009... (7)

[edmond]

cool man i want i will try to contact ultrasound now

[fre-co]

If it did turn out to be shell, I'd probably sell a couple of pairs of boots to get them.

[edmond]

i dont think theres cordovan leather i think it is horsehide but not cordovvan

[lostinthesupermarket]

Personally I would prefer horsehide. If it were shell I would prefer a colour other than #8.Does Horween just buy the shells? What happens to the rest of the hide? Someone in the US is tanning horsehide....Aero gets their skins from there.

@fresco....you're right about there being a drought. Do you know what was happening there? There seems to have been a flood of Aldens in cigar, revello and whisky over the last year or so. Before that those colours were impossible to find for a bit.

[Snake]

I much prefer horsehide as well. The super shiney/glossy look of shell looks too dressy for a work boot IHMO.

Appreciate Fre$co's and Demonito's effort to makes this happen. Rep if I could. Aho, thanks for helping too.

[SLAB]

my preference goes to horsehide as well; id rather keep my cordovan for more dressy shoes. I want my Whites to look like work boots!

really curious what the pricing will be for a pair of horsehides...

[dawei69]

how much are we looking at for horsehides?

[rayw44]

I think I prefer horsehide too. You can find great shell cordovan boots pretty easily, but it seems like most shoe companies have abandoned regular horsehide.

[Guest Hobaud]

I would like a pair of SD in horsehide as well if price is right.

[El Salvador]

I would like a pair of SD in horsehide as well if price is right.

+1 might be interested in these too. I'll keep an eye on this thread

[Snake]

Looking at some Japanese sites, the SD with single leather midsole + vibram in standard leather is 78000 jpy. HH SD with single leather midsole + virbram + liner is 99750jpy. The price difference is about $275 given the current exchange rate.

[edmond]

im sure if whites would allow it this will cost between 450 to 550 us bucks if we go to whites

[JSFU]

why dont u guys go calf?

[Aquaphor]

Yeah prefer horsehide, but would consider shell depending on price.

[Snake]

@Demonito - That would be a good price IMO. If we have to go through a dealer, probably $50-$75 more? Also, don't you have a light tan french calf smoke jumper or bounty hunter? What do you think of the JSFU's suggestion?

[edmond]

hh is better man believe me french calf is super delicate

[milosz]

More interested in HH than shell.

[edmond]

the one on the japanese websites are horsehide not cordovan i dont know why whites wont accept cordovan weird !

[jstavrin]

Add me to whatever list is being compiled.

[tmadd]

I'm definitely interested.

I think we need to specify whether the idea is to create one makeup and then have people order sizes, or whether it is just to get the use of a particular material approved for a certain group's order. That shouldn't really change the logistics immensely, other than having to rely on everyone to accurately build-up their own boot, and figuring out the pricing structure on that.

Also, if we can manage to go directly through White's, I think we should be able to figure out a way for the pricing to be favorable to us.

Lastly, if we prove unsuccessful at getting the use of Japan exclusive materials on our own build-ups, I have a back-up plan that could be interesting.

I'd really appreciate if anyone who has been following this could either post or pm me any links they have to shell cordovan or horsehide makeups in webstores or store blogs from japan. Also, any links to other "Japan only" whites features (like the perforated toe cap SDs) would be helpful as well. I'll wait to see what Ed hears from Whites, but I'm planning on contacting them myself. as well.

[lostinthesupermarket]

The plot thickens...

[edmond]

ok email just came in a minute ago from steve morrow of whites

and he said

" i will let you know on this"

assuming this answer means that he didnt decline the proposal hes going to try his best to facilitate our request

now i need how many people are in

if the price is

450

550--- demonito

650

750

[rnrswitch]

I am down up to the $650 mark. Aren't normal white's about $450? I would pay extra $200 for the horsehide option.

[rayw44]

I think I like where Ed is at on the price, but I would consider $650.