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Shoes that look better with age...

mizanation

By mizanation
in superdenim

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Chicken
Chicken

been going cheep: 1/4/10 1/4/10 purchased these clarks desert boots a while back. after moving to sunny california, i kind of got tired of hauling around in heavy duty boots, so i thought these

coleslawyum
coleslawyum

Minor update on my Toys McCoy Railman boots. 4 years. Vegetable tanned cowhide. Built like tanks.

riff
riff

I posted these on my tumblr a while back & realized I forgot to post here - my current workboot rotation:

LeicaLad

LeicaLad

Posted
Posted
man, whatever happened to leica man? I loved his shots from the helicopter..

Ah, my dear brethren of the fine leather,

Forgive me for my extended absence. In fact, I have popped in to read the thread whenever I possibly can. When I have access, this is one of my furtive luxuries of reading. You guys really are my tribal brethren.

I haven’t contributed anything for so long, because I simply haven’t had anything worthy to contribute. I left the Pak-Afghan border. The project had scaled way back due to the deterioration of the security situation (a nice way of saying the place is about to implode into violence), and my congenitally honky butt just wasn’t safe, anymore.

SO, I’ve been in Burma/Myanmar again, particularly since the Cyclone Nargis tore the place apart. Back to a more basic humanitarian activity. BUT, the downsides are several. One, rare Internet connections. And, Two, zero denim OR leather shoes. It’s just too bloody hot. I don’t even have a pair of jeans or leather shoes here. They’re all in the Bangkok flat.

Here, it’s light-weight cargo pants and either beat up runners or Teva sandals. You take your shoes on and off a dozen times a day (every time you enter a house, office or temple), so any kind of laced shoe isn’t worth the effort. And the swamp-like conditions in the delta make even my most baggy SC 47’s too hot. Hell, ANY clothes are too hot, but the locals take a dim view of forgoing coverings.

SO, for now, I merely pop in when I can to read. Love how Greg has become such a solid driving force of the thread. But all of you are simply great. This thread, alone, is one of my personal treats.

THUS, I offer my best regards to you all. I’ll hope to be out into civilization, more or less, by September. Maybe I can offer a few worthy photos by then.

Cheers to you all,

LL

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Chicken

Chicken

Posted
Posted

^ it's so good to hear from you, regardless if you're wearing cool shoes or jeans or not. (but i'm pretty sure sugarcane could swing some loose-fitting hand-loomed light-weight selvage shorts or something.) i was only in vegas this weekend and it was sometimes pretty rough walking outside with my warehouses on. i can only imagine how it'd be like in a true tropical weather. regardless, i'm sure many of us will give a special exception to the rules and enjoy some teva pics from you posted here. ;)

i was just thinking about that today...LeicaLad, Family Man, and skalogre always had lots of knowledge (and cool boots). At least we still have Chicken and Greg though.

thanks man, but i think you mean amlai way before me. i feel like i'm just a fan hanging out here learning from you guys.

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fre-co

fre-co

Posted
Posted

actually that is about as shiny as they get. I use a boot oil on them and just a little bit of a polish. they are now my bad weather boots and the boots I wear in the countryside, so they don't get a great deal of posh treatment.

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flex0r

flex0r

Posted
Posted

LeciaLad, even though I didn't participate much in this thread when you were around, I did follow this thread back then, and it's good to hear from you.

thanks man, but i think you mean amlai way before me. i feel like i'm just a fan hanging out here learning from you guys.

wow, i forgot about amlai, that is right, but you, my feathered friend, are being a little too modest.

and sorry edmond, you deserve a special mention as well.

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Denim Phenom

Denim Phenom

Posted
Posted
Hey fellas.

quick question. I have a kiwi polish brush. This one to be exact http://www.shoetreemarketplace.com/KIWI_SELECT_100_Horsehair_Shine_brush_p/577001.htm

I have used it with black polish already. Can it be used with brown aswell or do I have buy a separate one for brown and neutral?

I would personally get another brush. Even if you only used the brush on black polish a few times you'll still rub it off on lighter boots making them darker.

Brushes aren't that expensive so it shouldn't be a big deal to get another one.

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Ichiran

Ichiran

Posted
Posted

I randomly found a website for this Japanese shoe store that I hadn't seen before. The site's all in Japanese, but the store seems to be in Tokyo:

http://www.kanda-mimatsu.com

They've got a lot of good brands frequently discussed here, including RW, C&J, Danner, etc., but also some I hadn't heard before. I found it interesting to see what brands and styles they've chosen to stock, including this RW boot I hadn't seen before in the U.S. (unsurprisingly, I guess):

1903-d.jpg

They identify it as 1903, in a "Hawthorne" color with a "Muleskinner" finish, including an interesting double-stitched storm welt. Just thought I'd share. Hey, this thread's made it to page 400 -- awesome!

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Bill2

Bill2

Posted
Posted

Just got back from the Alden store in San Fran.........WEARING MY NEW WHISKY CHUKKAS!!! Thats right kiddies, they have a very limited run, double leather soles, avail. NOW!!!

I was trying on the #8 Chukka's and asked them if there was any hope of seeing Whiskey Shell again before 2010.... and Robert, the gentleman working, said "Interesting that you should ask!....." He disappeared into the back room and came back with boxes! They have Whiskey Shell in D width only, in a decent size assortment, and even a few pair of Cigar Shell Chukkas. None of the above are out on display in the store, but ask, ask, ask!! I'm stupidly on vacation without a digital camera, but pictures will be posted when I get back to L.A. over the weekend

Go get em

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YoungPunch

YoungPunch

Posted
Posted
^^those look awesome, the inner of the tongue look interesting as well, one day i am going to get me a pair of shell cordovan....

Yeah, the tongue on one of the boots seems to have a stamp from the horween factory, but the other boot does not have this printing on it. Also, my shell cordovan indy boots don't have this on the insides either.

I am wondering if anyone else has aldens with this on their inner-lining?

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amlai

amlai

Posted
Posted
Yeah, the tongue on one of the boots seems to have a stamp from the horween factory, but the other boot does not have this printing on it. Also, my shell cordovan indy boots don't have this on the insides either.

I am wondering if anyone else has aldens with this on their inner-lining?

Woah, that tongue is pretty cool. None of my Aldens have this on the inner-lining. You wouldn't see it on the shell Indy boots because they line the tongues as well, hiding the backside of the shell.

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YoungPunch

YoungPunch

Posted
Posted
^^those look awesome, the inner of the tongue look interesting as well, one day i am going to get me a pair of shell cordovan....

O.K. Amlai, you're right, the tongue on the shell indys are lined as well, I notice they are much thicker than the tongue on the plaza-boots.

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fattybfat

fattybfat

Posted
Posted
Yeah, the tongue on one of the boots seems to have a stamp from the horween factory, but the other boot does not have this printing on it. Also, my shell cordovan indy boots don't have this on the insides either.

I am wondering if anyone else has aldens with this on their inner-lining?

Horween also makes other leather product as well...but didnt know they made for alden

http://www.horween.com/index.html

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fattybfat

fattybfat

Posted
Posted

by the way, just find an article of horween in businessWeek in may..

Horween Leather Faces an Uncertain Future

When Isadore Horween emigrated from Ukraine and opened a tannery along the North Branch of the Chicago River in 1905, he had plenty of company. Boats and barges piled high with hides tied up alongside two dozen tanneries to make deliveries. Today, Arnold "Skip" Horween III, a great-grandson of the founder, runs the very last one. It's a lucrative business, thanks to a virtual monopoly in a couple of niche markets, and Horween has plans to expand into e-tailing.

Making it to the fifth generation may be another matter. Inexorably, age-old trades are shipping out to such low-cost, less-regulated places as China, India, and the Caribbean Basin. Gentrification is hustling them along, particularly around Horween's North Side plant, where king-size plots of land are often worth more than the factories sitting on them. Horween, 51, also faces a challenge that transcends his line of work: getting one of his kids to take over from him. Horween says he spurns calls from developers to sell out. Still, he concedes: "Anybody who has an industrial property has a price."

Horween Leather occupies a warren of weather-beaten brick buildings on four acres, where Elston Ave. transverses Ashland Ave. Behind it is a concrete-mixing yard. On the other side of a nearby railroad viaduct are a new Best Buy (BBY) and Kohl's (KSS). Inside the plant, animal skins, trucked in from slaughterhouses in Iowa and Ontario, are hung out to cure like tobacco leaves. Fur is removed using a depilatory made from sodium hydrosulfide and lime. Hides are then softened in giant chemical vats, dried, and sliced into pieces for belts, shoes, bags, garments—and footballs and basketballs. The factory pumps in a citrus scent to mask foul odors.

In a hallway are framed swatches of Super Bowl game balls produced by Wilson Sporting Goods. Horween Leather has been the exclusive supplier to the National Football League since the 1950s—Isadore's son, Arnold, was pals with George "Papa Bear" Halas—and Chicago-based Wilson is its No. 1 customer. "They call them pigskins, but that's a myth," Horween says. Instead, footballs are stitched from steer hides, which are embossed with a pebble pattern to enhance the grip. National Basketball Assn. balls are also made from Horween leather.

"Everything to Order"

The Horween operation's other mainstay is cordovan leather, which comes from the hindquarters of horses. Cordovan may be the most expensive leather there is, and Horween is the only producer left in North America. Hides are shipped in from Quebec and France. Tanning requires six months, and it takes one butt cheek to make one shoe. Custom-made footwear by Silvano Lattanzi in Italy and John Lobb Bootmakers in England from Horween cordovan fetch up to $5,000 a pair. Skip Horween leans to more moderately priced $500 shoes from Alden, another customer. Timberland is Horween's biggest customer in the shoe business.

The company has been famous for its cordovan since Isadore's days. General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing was an early fan. During World War I, after Pershing was smitten by the cordovan boots one of his colonels was wearing, the general's staff requisitioned 15 hides from Horween Leather so his bootmaker could outfit the general in similar fashion. Documents from the purchase are displayed in the tannery's hall. "We're boutique producers," notes Horween, who took over as president from his father in 2002. "We make everything to order. We've always been this way."

Today, Horween Leather's 150 unionized employees process 3,000 cattle hides and 1,000 horse hides a week, yielding 120,000 sq. ft. of leather and, over a year, about $25 million in revenue. To boost that figure the company has developed its own Horween Famous Leather line, including wallets, belts, shoes, and watch bands as well as chairs made from football leather that could be branded with team logos. The products are scheduled to be available later this year at horween.com.

One day, of course, Horween will retire. What'll happen then? "It's an open question," he says. Horween's son, Nick, 24, is a chef in New York, and his daughter, Natalie, is a 17-year-old high schooler. "I hope I can do for them what my father did for me, which was to say: 'I'm not going to lie to you and say I wouldn't love to have you work with me, but you have to do it for yourself.'"

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