Shoes that look better with age...

[mizanation]

about speed lacing. i've found that the hooks actually slow my tying down instead of speeding it up. i have two lacing techniques to speed up my speed hooking.

kriss-kross method: holding onto the laces, kriss-kross your hands back and forth and if you're lucky, you'll get them hooked on the hooks. you might have to use both index fingers to guide the laces under the hooks.

two-pass method: hook one lace first, then hook the other lace. this might be the fastest method.

[lowrider]

Wow. Those look really great. Nice with the black jeans too!!

Congrats!

[ang_kangkong]

  mizanation said:

about speed lacing. i've found that the hooks actually slow my tying down instead of speeding it up.

Maybe, but hopefully, taking them off is sped up.

Also, there's a trick to lacing these up, just hold both laces with one hand and zigzag them through the hooks, one on top of the other. If you do it right, they cross themselves up. Hopefully I explained it properly, it's kinda hard without visual aids.

[mizanation]

^^^ wow, that's an amazing technique!

edit: DAMMIT, i can't do it.

[ang_kangkong]

Dude. try it with the laces starting on the same side, on top of each other. Lemme know if it works for you.

[familyman]

Those #8 indys look great with jeans (to me) just great. The pictures in the sun are beautiful. If the sun would ever shine here I'd copy you and take pictures of mine outdoors. It's just not right for Texas to be quite this gloomy.

I've been bugging Tom about the next special order and if I'm understading him right there's a good chance that a medalion cap toe plaza last boot might be possible. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping. I'll certainly make sure you guys know what's available when he does another order. Might be a couple of months but he's sure to have some more beauties. The long wait time on his orders is perfect for me, lets me squirrel the money away.

[mizanation]

hey ang, it worked! i realized you have to hook both laces on one side at the same time. brilliant!!!!

[ang_kangkong]

  mizanation said:

hey ang, it worked! i realized you have to hook both laces on one side at the same time. brilliant!!!!

That's what I was trying to say here. But I think you said it better.

  ang_kangkong said:

Dude. try it with the laces starting on the same side, on top of each other. Lemme know if it works for you.

I think I just convinced myself to get one of these speed lacing Aldens...

[tweeds]

here's a little request: anyone with the #8 could take a pic with indigo jeans instead of black? just to see.

[cuft.]

Sorry my post was not more clear. The 2 pictures in the middle are with Sugarcane 1947s and just the last picture is with S5000BKs.

[malsponge]

Just bought a pair of red wings for 60 from someone on styleforum! Only worn a week, they are gonna be sweet. Will post my own pics when I get them, bit they are these

[cuft.]

familyman, that boot sounds nice but I'm hesitant to buy something on the plaza last. I have a pronated stride and the orthopedic heel on the trubalance corrects it perfectly.

I've been drooling over the AF60 with a steadily increasing frequency lately, but I may end up going with the 86 model because they are on the trubalance (and I like the perforations on the cap).

To anyone who has tried both the plaza and trubalance; how big is the difference?

Also, I took a photo of the creases starting to form on my shoes and how the color is starting to lighten up in the folds. I'm interested to see how the #8 will look after a few tomb raids

[GregNYC]

  mizanation said:

kriss-kross method: holding onto the laces, kriss-kross your hands back and forth and if you're lucky, you'll get them hooked on the hooks.

You can speed lace w/ one hand, with some practice. My dad taught me, he learned how in the merchant marines. It takes like less than a second if you don't miss.

[GregNYC]

I'm in a retro brown-boot mood. So instead of Indies, which I had some pretty bad experience with, I'm gonna try these Red Wings from Dejan. They look really cool, sort of like WWII service shoes. And to me, they go just fine with jeans and a leather flight jacket. They do run narrow, so they might not fit.

If they don't work, then for the brown thing, I'll go to the classic! Corcorans, which fir just fine:

[Chicken]

  GregNYC said:

I'm in a retro brown-boot mood. So instead of Indies, which I had some pretty bad experience with, I'm gonna try these Red Wings from Dejan. They look really cool, sort of like WWII service shoes. And to me, they go just fine with jeans and a leather flight jacket. They do run narrow, so they might not fit.

please buy them and post the pics here. i've been looking at these for a while now. they look really good to me.

[batorizer]

This speed lacing thing has got me fucked up. I do pretty well with one lace in each hand with a back and forth type motion. I've really grown to apprectiate the lacing hooks; it makes the on and off much easier compared to the brando lace-ups.

familyman, cult, lowrider, thanks to ya'll i'm already planning on what to do with next years holiday bonus and tax return.

p.s. jim carey looks wierd with long hair

[drapygo]

Damn, those Red Wings are dope. I remember seeing those in a catalogue before they were released, and was amazed. Only to find out they weren't released in the USA. and how they cost quite a grip. They are damn nice, I'll get them one day...

[familyman]

  cuft. said:

familyman, that boot sounds nice but I'm hesitant to buy something on the plaza last. I have a pronated stride and the orthopedic heel on the trubalance corrects it perfectly.

I've been drooling over the AF60 with a steadily increasing frequency lately, but I may end up going with the 86 model because they are on the trubalance (and I like the perforations on the cap).

To anyone who has tried both the plaza and trubalance; how big is the difference?

Also, I took a photo of the creases starting to form on my shoes and how the color is starting to lighten up in the folds. I'm interested to see how the #8 will look after a few tomb raids

One of the guys over at Ask Andy got both the cordo indy's and the wingtips the other day, he'd probalby be the guy to ask. Goes by Phil over there. I'm teetering on the edge of getting a pair of cordo indy's with the next order, I can't decide. No dice with the medalion cap toes. I'm bummed.

[familyman]

I need some advice here. I've got what I believe to be the endpoints for my boot collection.

My Russells:

And my Alden Wingtips:

I want to fill things in so I'm not just switching between a work boot and a dress boot every other day. I can get in on the next Leathersoul order and get a pair of cordovan Indy's for a good price. I just haven't convinced myself to pull the trigger yet though the more I think about it the closer I get. I'm torn.

[jubei]

Re: Greg NYC -

I snagged a pair of them off of eBay and yes they do run a bit narrow (which was fine for me, since I have narrow feet) unfortunately they ran about 1.5 sizes too big so I ended up selling mine off to a forum member here. They are indeed beautiful shoes... they have that fine balance between aesthetic appeal and durability that I have yet to find in another pair

[LeicaLad]

  familyman said:

I need some advice here. I've got what I believe to be the endpoints for my boot collection.

(photos clipped)

I want to fill things in so I'm not just switching between a work boot and a dress boot every other day. I can get in on the next Leathersoul order and get a pair of cordovan Indy's for a good price. I just haven't convinced myself to pull the trigger yet though the more I think about it the closer I get. I'm torn.

Hmmm. Damn fine book-ends, Familyman.

Personally, I would think the ideal would be a cross between the Cordo-Indy and the heavy Fan-Indy. For me, that would be a Cordo-Indy upper (I can’t decide whether Cigar or #8) with the full-on major commando sole that AoC uses on his heavy Fan-Indy. Elegance and long-life, but something you can wear for serious hiking - urban or back country, wet or dry. Clean 'em up and you can dress in fine (Buzz Rickson, eh?) chinos and a tweed jacket.

In the meantime, however, I would still be dreaming about the Whiskey wingtips, or the cap toe Cordo boots, or …

[familyman]

  LeicaLad said:

Personally, I would think the ideal would be a cross between the Cordo-Indy and the heavy Fan-Indy. For me, that would be a Cordo-Indy upper (I can’t decide whether Cigar or #8) with the full-on major commando sole that AoC uses on his heavy Fan-Indy. Elegance and long-life, but something you can wear for serious hiking - urban or back country, wet or dry. Clean 'em up and you can dress in fine (Buzz Rickson, eh?) chinos and a tweed jacket.

The great thing is that the Indy's are only a re-sole away from a commando sole. Wear them for a few years and then when it's time to re-sole go commando? Might be nice. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable subjecting brand new cordo indy's to the trail but after a few years I might feel different.

[tweeds]

  denimdestroyedmylife said:

did you miss this post tweeds? the first is #8 w/ indigo

ah...good point. i looked at that and thought "hmm, they look really good with black" and didn't see the indigo. whoops.

[LeicaLad]

  familyman said:

The great thing is that the Indy's are only a re-sole away from a commando sole. Wear them for a few years and then when it's time to re-sole go commando? Might be nice. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable subjecting brand new cordo indy's to the trail but after a few years I might feel different.

Interesting point. The AoC Fan-Indy has a major, heavy-duty Vibram sole, beyond the usual half-weight “commando†soles on the other boots. Would that be among the normal options at your local cobbler? (Honest. That’s a real question, as I simply don’t know.) If so, you may have a good approach. Do Tom’s LeatherSoul Cordo-Indy’s start with a double leather sole or single?

[familyman]

They have a double sole from Tom. Someone on a different board apprently asked Alden about switching soles and their answer was they they could put just about any sole on any shoe when it was resoled, you just needed to specify. If Alden does the sole, they'll put it on. If nothing else there are some really good cobblers out there that could certainly do it. A vibram sole is just glued into place after all. The boot could be resoled as a single with no heel and have a big proper hiking sole glued on. Lots of room to change the boot over it's life, and with cordovan lasting so long.......

[mizanation]

for the heavy duty sole, your cobbler might have to special order it. most cobblers only deal with people bringing in dress shoes.

you can pick your sole from the website:

http://www.vibram.us/products/default.asp

[LeicaLad]

That's an interesting site. Makes options open up. Your favorite dress cordo boots can be ready for combat whenever you are. (metaphorically speaking, of course.) Fun!

[Chicken]

^ great useful site, miz.

right about now, i'm feeling like resoling my indys. i've been slipping around all over the place the last couple of days with all the snow and ice and such.

[mizanation]

yeah, leather sole is not too good for icey pavement.

chicken, if you get yours resoled at my greek guy's place, let me know because i will get mine resoled too. that way, he can order 3 vibram soles. there are so many choices on the vibram site, it's gonna be hard to narrow it down!

[LeicaLad]

I think this is why I was thinking of the Vibram to begin with. The Indy is not a dress boot, even in Cordo. It might look fabulous, but it’s still more of a cool boot than a dress boot. Hence, I think the Vibram look can be part of its rugged appeal. The Fan-Indy looks pretty good, but the Cordo version even better. And, the real point, those leather soles are just so darn impractical for just about everything but the dance floor.