Shoes that look better with age...

[echoepidemic]

yes

[Mike147]

I was wondering how does one clean the area of a boot where the sole and the boot meet? the crevice area where the stitching of the sole is?

It attracts a lot of dust, do people usually use a brush like say tooth brush to brush it out?

Toothbrush a little bit of water to clean it.

[heinrich BCN]

Sorry - been off for a while...

Moulded charges a lot for their shoes and boots - more than Leather Soul, et-al... But they are in a real Alden Niche - one of the only real places to get Modified Last Make-ups in North America. They'll cost you $1000 in Japan and probably close to the same at Anatomica in Paris - In Shell...

So I think Moulded is gonna get you for $470 or so for a pair of make-ups in Calf (fully leather lined, not the standard duck lined Footbalance Line Stuff) and in the event that he has Shell (which is very rare on Modified Last), you'll looking at $600+ easy.. You are probably going to be limited to a pair of boots or two in Shell..

Also of interest - They do Modified Last INDY Boots and lots of Modified Last Boots in general.

Also - if you get a pair and get sized well... Put your name of The Shoe Mart's Alden Seconds list. They get some Modified Stuff that comes out of Japan and is really kick ass. Stuff you will really have trouble getting in the US. I'm fucked cause I wear a 9.5 EEE and there aren't any guys in Japan getting size up that...

Shipping might be expensive to Europe, but if you're patient - you might find some really cool shit

#

thank you so much mike147

looking around I found all the alden boots are around 430/450 in calf. so moulded shoe isn't that bad. after doing some research I'm not so sure anymore about my wishes.

will fly out to NY in 5 hours and will report back on what happened to me and my feet. will try "moulded" first

[BrownMetallic]

may it be, trailblazing or sheepishly following trend, when it comes to shoes__ having more than 2 pairs of same brand is a bit redundant. there's so much options out there.

imo, a good cross-section for me [for now] would be:

1. [uSA] Alden Indy and/or Cordovan Chukka/PTB/Jumper.

2. [uSA] MTO White's Americana (1st choice) or Traveler or Semidress w/blocked heels.

3. [uK] Trickers Stow or Malton or Lawrence

4. [AUS] RM Williams Crafstman (1st choice) or Turnout or Forum Special

5. [iTA] Fracap Monkey Boots.

6. [JPN] plenty interesting stuff to choose from, but i got the SC Lone Wolf already__ so, maybe another pair [from another brand] that's totally diferent-looking.

the important thing for me is the variety of experience.... having that feeling that i've been there, i've tried. it's a short life.

.

.

.

i'm up to my gonad with boots days, so i'm dumping last year's wishlist & just focus on either getting a pair of Viberg Service Boots with capped "Work" toes [in brown HH or Horween Chromexcel] or White's SemiDress Chromexcel, also capped toes.

'been solidly hitting the R/O SJ's on my leisure lately cuz they fit me like gloves & wear just heavenly [for a boot that weigh about 2 lbs per]. the arch support works for my feet type, too__ spreads my weight evenly on the foot bed. i wear 'em all day long w/o any pain/fatigue. the Black Indys [calf leather] are my "work" boots, since i'm able to wear them with [uniform] slacks. the Malton Tricker's & Dayton Drivers are fairly new & undergoing breaK in.

here's my ecclectic boots family [so far]:

[baldy]

what's so special about the Modified last again?

[davichan]

what's so special about the Modified last again?

to link you to a previous post i wrote about modified last.

i have been getting allot of PM's about my experience with sizing for Modified last,

and figured it would be helpful to share my experience with it on the boards.

The Modified last was my introduction to Alden.

I wear mostly Trubalance last in my other Aldens,

i have tried on Grant and Barrie as well.

Honestly it is really hard to tell for best fit.

especially with the Modified, in my opinion, it is a very tricky last, and to obtain a good fit, so much of it depends on the ball placement being really the key to success with it's most successful fit.

The other Alden Lasts are more forgiving for .5 error i belive and people can generally accept it or not, really depending on their foot shape type.

i personally have a high arch / instep type of foot. i tend to wear down the outside parts of my heels, due to the foot rolling in while walking, and so the Modified last is very well recommended for helping to correct this kind of foot primarily. do a little google search about it for more info on modified last.

from a strictly fashion point as you know the Modified last is a totally unique shape of last from Alden. Some people hate it and dismiss it as deformed, and others lust after it.. Personally, I think at sizes from 7-10 in Modified last shoes looks so beautiful, it is when the modified last goes past that and up when it starts to look pronouncedly banana'ish or clownish in many people's opinions; especially when photographed on wide angles.

i have tried on the Modified last in Cap Toe, Indy, and Wingtip styles at Moulded Shoes in NYC, and i size differently in all three shoes. I spent over two hours there, going from each stye, and in intervals from .5 to full size differences in each shoe to find my fit. I can highly recommend Modified Shoe, as one of the true old-school shoe dealers in NY that actually care about your fit, not just making the sale...

The combinations of the Modified last and the toe-box shape within the design of those shoes are so drastically different, if you are very critical about fit, (as i am starting to become as i learn more about shoes and what my feet tell me) then you will feel it when the Modified last is spot on when sizing correctly. it is def not a last for all feet types, i have been told.

i size 7.5 D on a Brannock Device by 4 different shoe dealers in NY.

That is how i start my sizing when purchasing a new shoe. it doesn't mean i always end up there.

and also the general prescriptions that manufactures lead us to believe about "sizing up or down" for particular shoe brand or last is also something that i am wary of for my feet best fit.

i can honestly say I wear a variety of slight sized measurements when choosing shoes, were i end up ultimately is were i believe the best fit is in the store at the end of the day, not the number on the tag, and of course taking into consideration the materials and my purpose of the shoe.

[baldy]

ahh i see, thank you very much!

[BrownMetallic]

to link you to a previous post i wrote about modified last.

this i need to check out since i got the same problem regarding wearing out the outside heel__ where is the [Moulded] located, again? tnx in advance & tnx for the rep.

[joelz]

"We are located at 10 East 39th Street in Mid-Town Manhattan between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue. We are on the ground floor near Lord & Taylor and the New York Public Library."

It's a few (5) blocks south of the actual Alden store.

[BrownMetallic]

^cool, tnx. will def come by one of these days.

[TheNorthern]

a few more photos, gotta stock up on Skidmore's & new laces

[Paul T]

IN the spirit of this thread's origins, on old ENglish shoes that look better with age...I love this eBay Veldtschoen pair:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120696120461&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123

[CrashTestBrummie]

Nice find, Paul...is that stitch detailing on the side common to some veldtschoen shoes and boots? It's on the the AS Selkirk/Kelso, for example.

My C&J Arran also have it though, and they're not veldtschoen contruction...

Shame they're not your size, eh?

[denimjunky]

a few more photos

What are those? They look like julians.

[supermanatee]

Noob question, but with Redwings in general, can the sole be replaced after wearing them out?

[Fincarelli]

yes (10char)

[denimjunky]

Got this from ebay. New in box, double leather sole, brown horween, 1/4" lower heel.

320$!

[beatle]

Looks like Context Rough Out Roys are being shipped out already...can't wait

[Megatron1505]

^Nice, I was watching those on ebay, but shipping to the UK is unbelievably expensive.

My current rotation, I'm saving for some Whites Semi Dress..

[TheNorthern]

they are L.L.Bean Signature boots.

What are those? They look like julians.

[SLAB]

how much did you have to pay for shipping denimjunky? the shipping charges to Europe that Whites charges are so expensive it usually negates the cheaper price for the auctioned boots.

Doh! Just missed out on a great chance to buy a pair of Alden Indy cigar shells

I recently discovered one of the shoe shops in our city stocks Church and Crokett & Jones shoes. Tried a few models this morning; amazing craftsmanship; made my Red Wing GT's look pretty 'unfinished' ( i know its not really fair to compare dress shoes with work boots) Turns out I am a size 7 UK which is 1.5 size smaller than my US shoe size in sneakers.

I promised myself not to cave in to the lure of White's untill they finally decide to make horse hide available to non-Japan. i will stick to that plan as long as possible...

I cant help it but my wish list for boots is becoming bigger by the day. seriously obsessed and now im starting to dig classic English handmade shoes as well.

[denimjunky]

how much did you have to pay for shipping denimjunky? the shipping charges to Europe that Whites charges are so expensive it usually negates the cheaper price for the auctioned boots.

The sipping is 70 bucks, not that sweaty. Its 10 more than bakers.

They have a UPS option too which is like 200 fricking bucks!

Horse hide white's from outside Japan? That would be the day, true.

Im also getting more and more excited about english style old fashion boots like trickers etc. Some of these days I see myself ordering a pair of green calf bourtons. (Or acorn).

[CrashTestBrummie]

Im also getting more and more excited about english style old fashion boots like trickers etc. Some of these days I see myself ordering a pair of green calf bourtons. (Or acorn).

The acorn leather on the Stows looks good with denim...

[denimjunky]

Terrific! Btw, how are they sized compared to white's? I wear 9 in white's.

[CrashTestBrummie]

Terrific! Btw, how are they sized compared to white's? I wear 9 in white's.

That a US or UK 9?

For most of the Tricker's Country Collection boots, you can go true to UK size or size down half a size, especially with width fitting 6.

Some good info here:

https://www.shoehealer.co.uk/Tricker_s/Useful_Information/

The site also has a superb gallery of made-to-order Tricker's...might be worth looking at MTO options if you've something specific in mind...

[davichan]

So I had my original first pair of Whites Smokejumpers Northwesters resoled 6 weeks ago to the day because i could not get along with the Vibram 2021 unit sole and arch design.

They looked better off of me... I was in super pain wearing those weapons of mass destruction for 2 weeks straight.

i gave up on them and sent them back to Whites, to change the last and heel up hopping this would solve my pain problems and give me a more classic lower profile look.

:confused:

so now they are back and rebuilt to lace to toe Bountyhunter:

Brown Rought out

55 - (Semidress) Last

single leather midsole

vibram 430 mini-lug sole

natural finish

1/4" lower cuban heel

I have been wearing them all morning, and i must say these are SUPER comfortable compared to the hell i went through with my original boot set-up..

i dont know if that is because the leather upper is already broken in from initial my 2 week marathon of 45 blocks of daily walking,

or my high-arch just works right out of the box with the Arch Ease support, regardless

i am in absolut love..

White's rebuilding craftsmanship really impressed me with a full rebuild, (at $195) they removed everything and redid the whole bottom half.

Must give a big shot out thanks to Riff and Morse along with the rest, thanks again for all those on this forum who have helped me with getting my knowledge up and helping me with endless questions on Whites, and most importantly sharing their beautiful snaps with all of us as well..

[hollowsleather]

That's pretty much my dream-pair of White's (the after version)

Nice!

[denimjunky]

^Indeed nice looking white's!

[smittybat]

Your White's look much better after getting rid of the Vibram 2021.

[denimjunky]

Im in love: