Shoes that look better with age...

[pepper davies]

I just got this little teaser image from Raul of Willie's of my resole... My mouth is watering. I can't wait to get them back. Love that toe profile.

[k4727]

yea i was about to say that, part of the problem with a boots contest is that if you wear ur boots every day you dont give em time to dry which will destroy them in the long run. The beauty of boots takes years to truly come out, boots werent (unlike the jeans) designed to be worn and faded as quickly as possible

[attackwithstones]

ADH92. What did you change about your road champs ??

[pepper davies]

Those aren't the Road Champs. That's a pair of unlabeled boots from 50's/60's.

[attackwithstones]

Fuck Im jealous of you again!

[SLAB]

great find ADH92; im always keeping an eye on fleabay but nice vintage engineer boots in my size and with soft toe seem to be in demand (especially rayw44 pairs)

Thin Finn, thanks, quite pricey but they sure look nice. Same can be said about those cordovan boots from the German site. I saw them already in last Free&easy boots edition; pricey also in Japan

I agree a boots shouldnt be worn day in day out 7 days a week but with a little rotation and a duration of 2 years, a competition should present nice results. Instead of patching up your worn jeans it could be resoling your boots

[rodeo bill]

I got my chukka's from Ducker & Sons resoled a while ago with deadstock Cat's Paws (photos back somewhere in the thread). I've been really happy with them, but I've noticed recently that the white spots have worn through revealing black rubber underneath:

this certainly isn't a complaint, but has anyone else had them where the rubber goes all the way down? I wonder if these are later ones and they initially were an insert, rather than a decoration? I'd assumed that this was a softer, non-slip rubber which helped grip but was protected by the harder black rubber. From the look of it this isn't the case.

Any thoughts anyone?

[mikecch]

By wearing them every day and thereby massively shortening the life of the boot, just so that they look as 'authentic' as possible? Bit like not washing jeans that are being worn day in, day out, I suppose.

Boots are like jeans, their true beauty only comes out after years of wear and care. Putting a timescale on their evo kinda misses the point, both for leather and denim.

Just my two pence.

Completely agree CTB, and especially when it comes to leather I very much think it should be a slow & gentle process.

I personally don't wear any leather footwear without resting them for at least a day with trees in.

My ideas for the competition are:

* Footwear has to be some kind of horsehide, whether it be shell, veg. tanned strip, front-quarter or re-tanned (e.g. CXL horsehide), etc.

* Each contestant can enter up to 3 pairs if they wish (to encourage rotation)

* Judging can be done by the forum or judges - what is looked for is not how badly you trash a pair of shoes, but how the leather and the shoes overall has changed over the year or so

* Start time will be early to mid-2012; gives people time to acquire shoes & boots (as we know some MTO can take a long time)

* Footwear must be brand-new at the start of the contest (no slightly worn or nos vintage)

* Contest length could be 1 or 2 years...if shell cordovan is included as an acceptable upper material, then it would have to be 2 years.

I think it would be quite cool, like the current Roy x Cone contest thread, a combination of fit-pics, details, leather care & conditioning tips & tricks, repairs, and "what are your shoes doing today"...horsehide stories around the world, basically.

[seafinch]

I'd be interested depending on the details as well...

[scmah174]

i'm in on a boot contest.

[onehundy]

Love those engineer boots! I'm about to get my lonewolf's back from Willies too.

[spidereye]

High roller comp.horse hide shoes are damm expensive.Why not count in all rounder leather and we can see which one looks better trough ages.Unless the idea is to short listed participants.Peace .

[Snake]

I got my chukka's from Ducker & Sons resoled a while ago with deadstock Cat's Paws (photos back somewhere in the thread). I've been really happy with them, but I've noticed recently that the white spots have worn through revealing black rubber underneath:

this certainly isn't a complaint, but has anyone else had them where the rubber goes all the way down? I wonder if these are later ones and they initially were an insert, rather than a decoration? I'd assumed that this was a softer, non-slip rubber which helped grip but was protected by the harder black rubber. From the look of it this isn't the case.

Any thoughts anyone?

William,

It seems your Cat's Paw heel is from the 40s and your Cat's Paw half sole is from the 50s or later. I found A. A Esterson's (of Cat's Paw Rubber Co.) heel and sole patents on Google Patent. Half sole Patent number is D159791 and the heel patent # is D128817. Esterson also has a 1940 patent (#2256863) for the wear plugs. Looks like the wear plug post 1941 is made of woven fabric and rubber. It seems your heel wear plugs is decorative, could be the earlier version vs later version. The wear plugs on your half sole is defintely made of the woven fabric + rubber.

Heel

http://www.google.com/patents?id=tKtrAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Sole

http://www.google.com/patents?id=E81wAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Wear Plug

http://www.google.com/patents?id=eEZAAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false

[bl@ster]

Some Red Wing styles at BB available in the US that were only available in other territories previously:

Red Wing 2935

http://www.brooksbrothers.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=1214&Product_Id=1587936&Parent_Id=522&default_color=BLACK&sort_by=&sectioncolor=&sectionsize=

Red Wing 9162

http://www.brooksbrothers.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=1214&Product_Id=1587923&Parent_Id=522&default_color=LIGHT-BROWN&sort_by=&sectioncolor=&sectionsize=

[rodeo bill]

http://www.google.com/patents?id=tKtrAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Sole

http://www.google.com/patents?id=E81wAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Wear Plug

http://www.google.com/patents?id=eEZAAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false

wow! thanks so much for this Snake- fantastic. This is why I love this forum! Really interesting. Can't rep, but very much appreciated.

W

[mikecch]

Those interested in the horsehide footwear contest, please see here:

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=306484

[mikecch]

High roller comp.horse hide shoes are damm expensive.Why not count in all rounder leather and we can see which one looks better trough ages.Unless the idea is to short listed participants.Peace .

Sorry, missed this post.

Just want to say that there're a few very good options for horsehide shoes/boots that are not "expensive".

In fact, two of the pairs I plan to include in my line-up are below $300.

Including all types of leather would be too difficult - I'm trying to strike a balance between variability and similarity in terms of the leather, that's why I've narrowed it down to one animal, but not a specific tannage/processing restriction.

The horsehide would provide this contest with a theme as well.

If you have any ideas, please do let me know.

[smittybat]

The only horsehide options I can think of around $300 are the Thorogood 685's that Epaulet is selling. What else is there?

[wgmds]

is anyone familiar with those boots? they look pretty dope.

[pepper davies]

I've handled the Epaulet boots. They're sturdy and well made, but not really to my taste just because of the toe profile. A great value for the price, though. A number of people on the forums own them happily.

[heinrich BCN]

while speaking about epaulet ... they did it again

more info here http://www.epauletshop.com/servlet/the-1225/Lace-To-Toe-Boot/Detail

[pepper davies]

Those would instantly be in my shopping cart for 300 bones. Sharp.

[robotbox]

beautiful, but definitely out of my price range. I'm curious to see how lace-to-toe roughout bounty hunters would look in comparison

[madstaxbro]

So beautiful but unlined roughout, must be squeaky.

[mikecch]

The only horsehide options I can think of around $300 are the Thorogood 685's that Epaulet is selling. What else is there?

Join my horsehide boots group-buy.

Also, I'm working on getting some horsehide oxford shoes made, should be below $300 as well, more details after the boots project

is anyone familiar with those boots? they look pretty dope.

I just got sent one, working out a few things with Epaulet atm.

The boots are very confortable, the horsehide is a more processed vegetable tanned strip (between the cordovan region and the front quarter, running horizontally across the hide.)

The toe profile is not as sleek as some, but as a work-boot repro. it's quite suitable for me.

[coleslawyum]

rodeobill brought up a good question regarding the white plugs in rubber heels. I've always thought they were cosmetic, but I have a few non Cat's Paw heels that the white plugs look like actual separate material. Maybe you guys can figure it out.

L to R 60's Biltrite, 60's O'Sullivan, 90's Cat's Paw, 50's Cat's Paw, 70's Cat's Paw

The Cat's Paw plugs look strictly cosmetic from any era.

The O'Sullivan and Biltrite plugs look separate to me.

[fre-co]

Are those white plugs not just a handy way to tell when your soles need changing? as in... when the are gone.

[hollowsleather]

Man I never would have realized that, but it makes perfect sense. That has to be it, right?

They're on the outsides of each heel, where it tends to wear fastest.

[Happy Hooligan]

like those toothbrushes that let you know when it's time to change...

[coleslawyum]

That could be true. I always thought the plugs were supposed to be made of a more resilient material than just plain o' rubber.

Here are my 405's. Its been 3 years since I changed the heel. I gotta be an idiot to need some white dots to tell me when to re-heel these suckers.