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Shoes that look better with age...


mizanation

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Thanks for the wesco mention. They are of course here in oregon. I just went three weeks ago and ordered a pair of custom jobmasters. Black, black stitching, black eyelets and hooks and lace to toe. They will take 13 weeks to complete. I will hopefully have them in mid january. I actually put orthotics in my shoes and we measured them around those. in the meantime, I just purchased a pair of the redwing gentlemen traveller and am trying to decide how I feel about those. They are a little narrow when the orthotics are put in.

Blake-

I'm interested to see how your Wesco's work out. I live here too and I've been tempted. BTW-I like your shop.

All-

Sherman Bros is offering a sale on all their Aldens - 15% off using the code "shell"

I am not shilling for them, but I bought my 405's there a couple of months ago and I am on their mailing list.

Service was good- I returned my first pair for a smaller size with no hassle, but a little slow with tracking numbers and such.

Miz- This counts as a vote for the Indys- but I haven't tried the White's.

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does anyone know if the whites semi dress in black have black or white stitching? One of the things that I do not like about the gentlemens traveller is that the black have white contrast stitching. I wish it was tonal.

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I noticed that on Chicken's White's semi-dress, the bottom of the sole isn't nailed on, whereas in the other leather soled ones that I've seen,

there are nails going down both sides. Is the reason why there aren't any nails on the bottom because the shoe is double leather?

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i'm looking for a boot with a pointy-ish toe. all my shoes have bulbous toes and i want something different.

i love the whites, but they look very much like my engineer boots from the ankle down. can somone suggest a rugged pointy-toed boot?

packer boots. definitely.

here's white's:

whites690C.jpg

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does anyone know if the whites semi dress in black have black or white stitching? One of the things that I do not like about the gentlemens traveller is that the black have white contrast stitching. I wish it was tonal.

at least from the link petng listed in the last page, i see them both ways:

http://unionmade.jp/ownershistory.htm

edit: upon closer inspection, they look like they both have white stitchings. oops.

I noticed that on Chicken's White's semi-dress, the bottom of the sole isn't nailed on, whereas in the other leather soled ones that I've seen,

there are nails going down both sides. Is the reason why there aren't any nails on the bottom because the shoe is double leather?

i have no idea. bill?

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does anyone know if the whites semi dress in black have black or white stitching? One of the things that I do not like about the gentlemens traveller is that the black have white contrast stitching. I wish it was tonal.

In all seriousness, if that's all that is bothering you, you can take some polish and polish over it and it will no longer be contrast stitching. Check out Chicken's Indy boots a few pages back, which were contrast stitching. The stitching now appears nearly black.

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I've also just confirmed with White's that we can get the Vibram #269 on our Semi Dress orders. Its a lower profile Vibram with small lined, grooves. White's tells me that it is softer than the composition sole, more rubbery and grippy. I like it because it has a tapered waist. Its gives a side view almost like the 705 Vibram would, but is availible from the factory.

semidress269-1.jpg

semidress269bottom.jpg

btw, i really like the way these look too.

if i had these options at the time, i might've gone with them.

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Ok! Lots of questions to answer! Here goes:

Miz: I'm not sure about a shorter packer yet. I just sent my White's guy an email regarding.... Will keep you posted. The leather question is a definite yes; we can get packers done in the semi dress brown for you no problem.

To answer the question about the nails in the sole: You are correct to assume the absence of the nails is becuase of the double leather sole. The nails are used to secure the waist of the sole to the reinforced arch above it in the boot. Chicken's boots have the nails just like everybody else's, they are just covered by the second leather sole board. Same goes for Vibram: If you do a vibram sole, you don't see those nail heads, they are inside the sole.

And Now: Another custom pair for sale!! Semi-Dress, Red Dog leather, Single Leather sole. Size 10EE. These puppies are wide! Anybody got fat feet? The red dog in the semi dress looks super tasty.....

IMG_0284.jpg

IMG_0283.jpg

IMG_0282.jpg

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I just got back from my trip up to the English shoe making mecca. and I thought I'd share the experience if anyone is interested.

First stop was Churches factory shop, they had a wide selection of the custom grade shoes reduced from $280 upwards to £175 and thereabouts. Plenty of sizes and styles available and you can call ahead and find out if they have exactly what you want. No purchase for me here though, I had other fish to fry....

Second stop on the other side of town was Crockett & Jones. Stock was a little more sparse, but prices low. I tried a Coniston boot in black scotch grain which were £120 and they had some beautiful chukkas but unfortunately none in my size (8.5). My friend picked up a pair of tan wingtip derby shoes for £90 that had a retail price of £360! They had a wider selection in smaller and larger sizes.

Final stop was Trickers. The factory shop is a lot smaller than the others and you tend to get more one to one old fashioned service which is nice. In fact today the usual chap was off sick so someone else came and opened up the shop especially for us. Fortunately they had exactly what I was looking for in my size. A Stow in burnished espresso on a double leather sole. Price was £95 but I think they are usually £150 now due to a price increase. We were probably lucky as the replacement guy may not have known this and charged the old price.

They also had some superb desert boots which I would have bought had I not just bought some clarks a couple of weeks ago, and some lovely chukkas.

Well worth the trip up. C & J is only open friday afternoon and saturday morning.

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Thanks! But those are the retailers that sell Red Wing. There was some talk in dutch media of an official Red Wing store in Amsterdam. It's just weird that there is no mention of it on the website.

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a little surprising there's no wesco camp here. coleslaw?

i can't fully chime in yet because i have yet to break in my own pair of white's. ask me again about six months later. :D

I tried some Jobmasters on down at Leathermen NYC and found them not to fit. As I remember, the instep was too low. So I'd need custom fitting. For that price and what I guess about the fitting, I'd be better off with White's Smokejumpers. They'll be my next pair of boots I'm pretty sure.

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I tried some Jobmasters on down at Leathermen NYC and found them not to fit. As I remember, the instep was too low. So I'd need custom fitting. For that price and what I guess about the fitting, I'd be better off with White's Smokejumpers. They'll be my next pair of boots I'm pretty sure.

I actually had them build my jobmasters around my custom orthotic. that way i would have maximum support. apparently, you cannot do that with the whites as they have a special arch support system.

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can I get a heel measurement from one of you whites semi-dress owners. The more I look at these, the more I like them, but I am already 6' 1ish and I wouldn't want ti be turned into a giant.

By the time I go to bed I think I will have convinced myself that I need these.....

Here they are. this is for an official size 10, but actually custom made.

whites.heel1.gif

whites.heel2.gif

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I actually had them build my jobmasters around my custom orthotic. that way i would have maximum support. apparently, you cannot do that with the whites as they have a special arch support system.

I know that White's arch is too high for many people. I like it, though it did feel funny at first. It doesn't hurt or anything. I am not crazy about the clowninsh toe box on the Semi Dress when you look straight down at them. But they looks good from other angles.

For logger boots available in stores here in NYC, the Jobmasters blow away anything else like Wolverine and Georgia. I'm especially disappointed in Chippewa, who used to be good back in the day my grandfather got me my first good boots and selvage denim when that's what they made. Keno, Oregon in the late 50's. He liked Chippewa back then, but I think he'd roll in his grave if he saw them now. Made in China with bad stitching, low QC all around, and a flat carboardish heel counter that bugged the @#$%^ out of my heels.

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