Shoes that look better with age...

[Happy Hooligan]

Anyone know a place that still makes a good pair of saddle shoes?

I'm looking for a pair like this...

[fardin]

happy

here is a link in new york

they make some shoes like the saddle shoes

http://www.vogelboots.com/shoes.asp

[Leonard Leroy]

He's a bespoke shoe maker, and nice guy. He's cool to chat with.

Me and ?mark stumbled into his store a year or so ago and shot the shit.

[vegetaray123]

Well I got my confirmation from Alden today that my Burnished Tan calf 405's are being put on the production schedule (Just the time I thought they would)...They should be here around April or May and I cannot wait to see how they turn out...

[fardin]

yes pity i´m not in new york

and they are pretty expensive but

i love their boots, they look great

[fre-co]

Time for some family portraits!

White's semi-dress brown, C&J Skye, Trickers Wetherby, Alden #405

Wetherby toe detail. These are at 18 months old and I really like the way the toe is darkening.

Good old fashioned steel segs on the Skye.

cont....

[fre-co]

Indy close up detail

A new arrival to the family!

Trickers Burford espresso, double leather sole.

apologies for the crappy boards, they are ready for sanding.

[Turntabloid]

fre$co,

like the wetherby!

how did you treat the #405, your toe stitching looks still nice?

TT

[edmond]

theyre really nice buddy!

[fre-co]

Thanks chaps.

As for the indies stitching:

I have treated the welt and stitching with neutral a couple of times before waxing with darker colours. I usually use tan on them but have used brown a few times and oxblood once (never to be repeated!) which turned everything pink.

When the stitching is darkened it usually fades away if they are waxed with neutral before polishing.

[rodeo bill]

brilliant fre$co! I particulalry like the way your Skye's are looking.

Here's an update on my Foster galosh cut boots. I've been wearing them for about 6 months, but in rotation with others, so they haven't changed that much. They're lighter leather and construction than for Instance Aldens, though, so I don;t think they should be worn as hard. They're definitely town boots!

[rodeo bill]

and the rest (seems we can only post 4 pics per post now...)

the ankle area is lined with dark brown soft leather, the toungue is unlined, but the toe area is lined with cream leather. I don;t know why it's made like that, but I think it's a cool detail:

with evisu japan No1SPECIAL 2001:

[fre-co]

Those are great Bill, They look a lot like the C&J hand grade boots whose name escapes me. I'm sure we discussed who they are made by before.

[rodeo bill]

^^ thanks fre$co! they're pretty similar to these-

but the Villiers is a derby, and mine are a galosh cut oxford (the oxford seam carries on all the way round to the heel, instead of sloping off to the welt). Also there are some construction differences- the C&J has a lined tongue, the sole is flat (on the Fosters there's a bit of a 3d curve at the waist), and the sock linings of the fosters are in a different colour on mine. I don;t know about the last, although they look pretty similar.

I know there are a lot of brands, and not that many factories, but I think we may be wrong assuming (at least I've been assuming) that they're all the same with different labelling. For instance these boots and my poulsen skone chelseas are apparently both C&J handgrade, but they seem different from the standard C&J versions. my guess is that each brand still has it's own specifications (better or worse than the factories' own lines) and I would assume this goes for Alfred Sargent, Grenson, Edward Green et al. as well- any thoughts?

just an idea...

[edmond]

on my current rotation now

[edmond]

[JoeySullivan]

you guys must take a look on Stephane kelian and Charles Jourdan boots. When I was a kid, both of theirs factories were in my town and as they closed, lots of my friends parents get into unemployement, so it sounds pretty authentic to me.

[edmond]

theyre cool err hows the quality these days?

[JoeySullivan]

theyre cool err hows the quality these days?

The brand doesn't exist anymore so it's all deadstock handmade in france. Louis Vuitton, JM Weston and Mephisto had theirs shoes factory in the same town.

[edmond]

The brand doesn't exist anymore so it's all deadstock handmade in france. Louis Vuitton, JM Weston and Mephisto had theirs shoes factory in the same town.

you selling a deadstock pair of those charles jourdan boots? size 41.5 pls

[JoeySullivan]

you selling a deadstock pair of those charles jourdan boots? size 41.5 pls

sorry i don't but you can easily found a pair on ebay. The pics i posted are from ebay. Dude that was crazy good ol days. Even beggars wore $800 boots cause they removed tags and labels on b-grades and gave its to the local salvation army.

More detailed pics here (this is not my listing):

http://cgi.ebay.fr/BOOTS-bottines-homme-CHARLES-JOURDAN-T44-sac-hugo-boss_W0QQitemZ220322448191QQcmdZViewItemQQptZFR_YO_Vetements_ChaussuresHommes?hash=item220322448191&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1526%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

[fre-co]

^^ thanks fre$co! they're pretty similar to these-

but the Villiers is a derby, and mine are a galosh cut oxford (the oxford seam carries on all the way round to the heel, instead of sloping off to the welt). Also there are some construction differences- the C&J has a lined tongue, the sole is flat (on the Fosters there's a bit of a 3d curve at the waist), and the sock linings of the fosters are in a different colour on mine. I don;t know about the last, although they look pretty similar.

I know there are a lot of brands, and not that many factories, but I think we may be wrong assuming (at least I've been assuming) that they're all the same with different labelling. For instance these boots and my poulsen skone chelseas are apparently both C&J handgrade, but they seem different from the standard C&J versions. my guess is that each brand still has it's own specifications (better or worse than the factories' own lines) and I would assume this goes for Alfred Sargent, Grenson, Edward Green et al. as well- any thoughts?

just an idea...

Yeah that's the one I was thinking of, but now I see the pictures, they are quite different indeed. Yours do certainly have the 'feel' of a C&J handgrade though. I'm not sure if there is a better or worse quality within the same grade in the same factory since they are made by the same hands, I'm not sure about the selection of skins for the different brands though.

I will have a look at foster & sons after the new year to see if there are any unmissable bargains.

By the way your NST Aldens had sold out in my size.

[rodeo bill]

yeah I got an email from John about it- sorry about that

by the way- is anyone else having some serious issues with version 4.0? I just posted with some pics, but it disappeared... also I can;t seem to open any PMs

[rodeo bill]

^^ well that post seemed to work ok, so let's try again!

has anyone heard of lodger? they opened a shop in mayfair a couple of months and I've been in a few times- nice stuff, although I've never found anything 'just right' yet.... I do quite like these though:

http://www.lodgerfootwear.com/som/english/canvas-spectator-0.html

i reckon they'd look pretty cool with indigo stains on the canvas (or to put it another way, they'd have indigo stains on the canvas whether i like it or not!)

[edmond]

some japanese white's knock offs !

http://www.j-fabled.com/mens/items/foot/siete-leguas_5100_brw.htm

[slt]

They ain't Aldens and the picture isn't very good, but anyway...

GG Gable, Vintage Cedar, TG73 last

[jeepster]

not entirely sure why my posts keep getting deleted from this thread...

[rodeo bill]

^^ me too! and i just replied about slt's Gaziano&Gerlings, and that disappeared as well.... teething problems I guess?

[slt]

not entirely sure why my posts keep getting deleted from this thread...

Me neither

[jeepster]

one more time:

$7.50 Military Surplus "Safety" Chukka boots I got off eBay. No name, can't find any real info on them. Saw them once before on a mil surplus site. Great shoes - comfy, sturdy w/ a steel toe, and a great silhouette. All leather. They're big (but thats cause my feet are huge), but they are slim and have a nice profile.

excuse the poor lace job:

(compared to size 13 chucks)