Shoes that look better with age...

[Paul T]

Tricker's Grasmere, with particular apologies to Paul T

Looking great, and I forgive you. At least, I'll forgive you as long as I score a pair of Selkirk in the next 12 months.

Thanks for the clarification. I figure a pair of White's SD's would run me ~$500 and according to your post the Vibergs are in the neighborhood of ~$700 so we're looking at a ~40% premium for the Viberg Service Boot.

I know what you mean about that being hard to swallow. If I had the opportunity to try both on and the Svc Boot fit better, it would be an easy justification. However since that's not the case, I'd be paying that premium based on aesthetics alone...that's a tough one.

However...that Mocha Service Boot looks so damn nice and once I got it, I wouldn't have to buy another pair of work boots again...ever... ...it would be the last pair I'd ever need.

If you think that, try and get in on the Viberg group buy... there's a 10% saving to be had. Admittedly it would have to be more than 10% before I could justify it...

[CrashTestBrummie]

Looking great, and I forgive you. At least, I'll forgive you as long as I score a pair of Selkirk in the next 12 months.

Don't lose that link I sent you - the price there was substantially less than the current RRP!

[mctaran]

i can be wrong, but Viberg SB is around $600-650. not 700

[denimjunky]

Now, this is nuts:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEWEST-RRL-BOWERY-BOOT-DOUBLE-RL-JUST-ARRIVED-/170605449874?pt=US_Men_s_Shoes&var=&hash=item6d6f8085cc#ht_5585wt_907

[davichan]

yup those RRL in my opinion are for the fetishist boy boot owners,

not boot wearers..

just overpriced and nothing to really justify it besides limited stock

and an ugly repo looking tag on the tongue.

[coleslawyum]

Truth! Why pay that much when you can get better boots from everywhere else (US, UK,JP, CA) for half the price. Crock of shit, really.

[tomorrowstars]

where those frye's underwater for a while? I'd condition those quickly also...

I got them secondhand already damaged. I conditioned them when I got them but the damage was already done. Now I'm just wearing them until I can't anymore.

[denimjunky]

Ok, so now Im fucking worried.

I read here that you shouldnt wear new leather sole in the rain.

http://www.gq.com/style/style-guy/shoes/200508/leather-sole-wear

I had my first wear of my brand new SDs in the rain the other day and the amount of wear they have gotten from that seem too much.

What to do?

[Megatron1505]

Whats the quality like on the Grenson Archie V brogue? Would I be better off trying to hunt down a pair of the Trickers collab with Present?

[lostinthesupermarket]

Ok, so now Im fucking worried.

I read here that you shouldnt wear new leather sole in the rain.

http://www.gq.com/style/style-guy/shoes/200508/leather-sole-wear

I had my first wear of my brand new SDs in the rain the other day and the amount of wear they have gotten from that seem too much.

What to do?

I don''t think you should worry too much about it happening once, but let 'em dry thoroughly before you wear 'em again.

The idea is that you really want "grit" the soles by wearing them out in dry conditions before you wear them in the rain. The particles of dust. small stones etc etc that will embed themselves in the soles when you do this will help to protect them and make them harder wearing and more water resistant.

Even sole leather (tough as it is) becomes much more susceptible to damage and wear when wet through, so even after they are gritted I try to avoid wearing leather soled shoes if it's really wet out.

Alden's flex welt sole is an oil-impregnated leather sole that was developed to try and deal with this problem. It kinda works but it still benefits from being "gritted".

[davichan]

heads up for those who love their Engineer boots,

take a look at what Real McCoys has in the works..

this might be a F@cking Orgasm..

link in japanese for more info, but must translate using google chrome

REAL McCOYS CORDVAN ENGINEER

[Paul T]

It's beautiful... but. It's a waste. Cordovan is too refined for engineer boots, just looks wrong.

[lostinthesupermarket]

Those look insane.....

First line of Google-translated text reads:

"The engineers have been produced since last year buttocks,"...whats all that about?

[davichan]

agreed PaulT,

i dont own Engineer,

and sold my Alden Indy that i had in cordovan..

i love the idea of cordovans' long life and toughness, but i have a hard time finding work boots or other styles in cordovan (besides dress) that really feel right for me.

[lostinthesupermarket]

Yeah... I really think it's best kept for dress shoes. I love the way the colours in it develop over time though.

I really like chromexcel leather for more rugged footwear

[Atzec]

here are some pics of my trickers stow. bought slightly used, totally happy with them.

and here´s my contribution to the leather sole discussion:

small stones in the winter really kill the soles. think i´ll have to wait till the streets are well cleaned to really wear them.

also orderes some oil for leather soles, hope it will help protecting them.

[ThinFinn]

^same happened to the sole on my tricker's...sucks a bit imo!

[lostinthesupermarket]

Well when I said small stones would help, I meant really small.Small enough to get embedded in the sole. The size of a grain of sand

[Zazamoot]

edit: my mistake!

Davichan, that makes sense. I guess it's horsehide that I dislike, then~

[Atzec]

^^ i´m talking about grit, used in the winter.

[lostinthesupermarket]

We're lucky in that the winters are not usually cold enough for the streets to need gritting here.

Do they also use salt in Germany? A combination of grit+salt+wetness would be pretty bad for leather soles.

[Atzec]

^yeah, they do....

[davichan]

Zazamoot,

you are incorrect about that image,

that is an image of a previous year horsehide pair broken in,

not their cordovan.

[hieveryone]

Thanks for the clarification. I figure a pair of White's SD's would run me ~$500 and according to your post the Vibergs are in the neighborhood of ~$700 so we're looking at a ~40% premium for the Viberg Service Boot.

I know what you mean about that being hard to swallow. If I had the opportunity to try both on and the Svc Boot fit better, it would be an easy justification. However since that's not the case, I'd be paying that premium based on aesthetics alone...that's a tough one.

However...that Mocha Service Boot looks so damn nice and once I got it, I wouldn't have to buy another pair of work boots again...ever... ...it would be the last pair I'd ever need.

White's would run you $500? Well, I'm not sure if you're in the states, but if you go through Baker's boots you can get the semi-dress or smoke jumpers in the $400 range. And I think Viberg tend to run in the $600's...

[denimjunky]

I don''t think you should worry too much about it happening once, but let 'em dry thoroughly before you wear 'em again.

The idea is that you really want "grit" the soles by wearing them out in dry conditions before you wear them in the rain. The particles of dust. small stones etc etc that will embed themselves in the soles when you do this will help to protect them and make them harder wearing and more water resistant.

Even sole leather (tough as it is) becomes much more susceptible to damage and wear when wet through, so even after they are gritted I try to avoid wearing leather soled shoes if it's really wet out.

Alden's flex welt sole is an oil-impregnated leather sole that was developed to try and deal with this problem. It kinda works but it still benefits from being "gritted".

Thanks a lot, lost.

Gosh, do I feel like an idiot now!

Hopefully I can still work that "grit" up. In some places of the sole small stones have made half centimeters pits in it. Im freakin out.

Springtime in Spain is when most of the rain falls. And of course I was to receive these badass looking boots right then.

EDIT: Fuck, Matthias (Atzec) you're worse off than me. It looks like a fucking moon landscape.

[fre-co]

Those HH engineers look so good.....

I think my russells are the clay shooter, but I'm not entirely sure.

[Megatron1505]

Whats the quality like on the Grenson Archie V brogue? Would I be better off trying to hunt down a pair of the Trickers collab with Present?

Thanks for the help guys, I went with the Grensons

[GregoryH]

What are these!?

vintage canadian made service/work shoes

I'm kind of offering a proxy if you will for pairs of these (not exactly the same but pretty much) if you're into it PM me your shoe size and I will let you know what I can find

Greg

[chiggah]

Just picked up a leather boat shoe. I was wondering what leather conditioner and cleaning solutions do you guys normally use ?

[patrick_b]

White's would run you $500? Well, I'm not sure if you're in the states, but if you go through Baker's boots you can get the semi-dress or smoke jumpers in the $400 range. And I think Viberg tend to run in the $600's...

Good to know, thx for your help.