Shoes that look better with age...

[denimjunky]

Welcome, Kyle! (Im Mattias Barthel IRL).

I have ordered 4 pairs of SDs from you guys.

@Happy, looking great there. What do you mean the gap between the laces is very wide? They look like just any SDs to me...

they look like the standard heel, brown dress and natural sides. Are they lined?

[mikecch]

Thanks for your order. If you would like we can send you a UPS return label via email and stretch them for you? Please email me direct with your order number and info - we'll get you taken care of.

Email: [email protected]

Looking forward to some size 9 Aldens

[onehundy]

Anyway to flatten out the wesco boss toe? Can't get rid the small dimple part that keeps on sticking out the toe of the shoe.

[fre-co]

Actually sewing the welt by hand is easier than sewing the outsole onto the welt. I can't imagine how they can sew through all that leather and rubber. Takeshi Okyuyama also sews the welt on by hand. It is by no means an easy feat.

Here is Marcel from Koronya Budapest sewing a welt on.

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Compare that to a welting machine, the machine can do it in seconds.

That video is hypnotic......

[Happy Hooligan]

Options are

Semi Dress Brown Leather

Natural edge

All antique eyes

Standard SD heel... nothing added or sub tracked

single leather

Unlined

and split sole

[k4727]

Im considering something very similar

Semi Dress Brown (not set on the leather color yet, i want some sort of brown, any suggestions)

Natural Edge

All antique

Cuban heel

Double leather

Vibram 700 composition half sole

anyone have a boot using a light brown and/or brown water buffalo?

[Happy Hooligan]

Just talked with Bakers, great company by the way... thanks Quack! We're going to stretch them for a few days and see if that helps.

The only thing I noticed on the boots was this on the right heel area... is this just a wrinkle in the leather or is this an actual fold that was sewn?

[Quack_Attack]

I'll evaluate that when we get the boots back.

Thanks,

Kyle

Baker's Shoes

[denimjunky]

Calling all the white's experts, the one in the middle is what last, please?

Quack_attack, maybe you can answer the above doubt?

Cheers.

[Quack_Attack]

The second picture looks like a #38 swing last for sure in my opinion.

A little tough to tell on picture #1, but picture #2 is pretty cut and dry.

Hope that helps.

Good looking combo -

Thanks,

Kyle

Baker's Shoes

www.bakershoe.com

[denimjunky]

Thanks, Kyle.

Yes thats what I thought too...

[Highvoltage]

I got my Alden 405 from bakers last week as well (they gave me a crazy deal on them). I'm enjoying mine, walked 5 miles on friday and they felt great.

I took your tip and they hooked me up on mine also. They are fantastic, very comfortable out of the box. The color on the chromexcel is great, they are just starting to change colors at the creases. I'd wear them to work if they wouldn't get completely shredded. I put a nice slice across the back of my Iron Rangers today, that leather is so oily, I just rubbed it and it vanished.(it was a deep slice)

[CrashTestBrummie]

. A true Veldtschoen construction. Note the distinctive 'moustache' shape of the vamp, which doesn't extend to the sole. This is common in military-influenced boots.

Going back to Paul T's magnificent veldschoen-inspired post a few pages ago, I reckon that the distinctive vamp described above (and the straighter variant found on my Lotus boots) would have been to keep the vamp seam from reaching the welt - a seam would be a weak point for any boot that purported to be waterproof, and it makes sense to keep the the vamp seam elevated, away from the ground where the water was most likely to be. The 'moustache' shape might have been a device to add a little detail to an otherwise plain boot.

Also explains why these kind of boots tend to have a stitched 'toecap' instead of a separate piece of leather.

It would mean that some of the veldtschoen boots in Paul's post that do not have a raised vamp seam (the Cheaney Pennine, Herring Windermere et al), whilst having the classic 'turned out' construction of veldtschoen footwear, they are not 'classically' veldtschoen in the sense meant here - i.e. military or military-inspired boots with maximum water resistance.

Sorry for the random ramble, it just came to me out of nowhere

[Paul T]

I like your thinking. There does seem to be logic in that - altho there were definitely military boots made with the more conventional vamp shape - for instance these crockett and jones:

http://www.classicshoesformen.com/shoes/neuwertig-crockett-jones-shipton-heneage-zug-grain-feldschoen-navvy-boot43-435d

Planning to make my Northampton trip Friday - still in grief, though, at the massive Sargent price hike and the fact they don't even have a factory shop. Hoping that the fact I'm sample size, 8, might help...

[CrashTestBrummie]

Planning to make my Northampton trip Friday - still in grief, though, at the massive Sargent price hike and the fact they don't even have a factory shop. Hoping that the fact I'm sample size, 8, might help...

Happy hunting! I'd join you, but I'm off to Alton Towers instead!

[patrick_b]

now so photos....

Looks nice. Love the Vibram half sole.

[morse9443]

^Yea those are great, and I wouldn't worry about that wrinkle on the heel Hooligan. Once you put some wear into them you won't even notice it. Many White's I've seen have a little imperfection here or there.

Denim Junky - Agree with Kyle, swing last has a wider toe box and the middle pair's toe is definitely wider than the other two.

[Happy Hooligan]

thanks everyone, I'm really stoked to get these stretched and on my feet.... I've actually wanted a pair of these for about 7-8 years....

[djarrow]

Selling my baby in the Supermarket...

Alden Cigar NST Chukka Boots + Cat's Paw

[mikecch]

Hopefully this shows the grain on the Tricker's espresso calf better.

I gently heated up the leather, and then applied a thin layer of emu oil mixed with a little bit of water, heated the leather up again after the oil has dried, and then applied a thin layer of beeswax mixed with some emu oil. No buffing or polishing.

My DYI sanding and sealing of the edges have dirtied too quickly - need a stronger wax mix next time.

[CrashTestBrummie]

I gently heated up the leather, and then applied a thin layer of emu oil mixed with a little bit of water, heated the leather up again after the oil has dried, and then applied a thin layer of beeswax mixed with some emu oil. No buffing or polishing.

My DYI sanding and sealing of the edges have dirtied too quickly - need a stronger wax mix next time.

You planning on polishing, or leaving as it is? I waxed my Arran the other day as they, along with the Lotus, are my 'bad weather' boots for the English 'summer' and onwards...

Talking of the Lotus, given them a refurb of sorts to bring them back to life a little. The leather on these is without creasing and tough as old boots, pun entirely intended - I can't work out how the previous soles got so worn down whilst the leather remained relatively pristine.

Apparantly, the boots were designed to last 30+ years. If these were jeans, they'd feel as if they'd been starched for centuries.

Before:

And now, and you have no idea of how much elbow grease had to be used to get this shine:

Sole unit, with the irregular stitching Richard warned me about:

With the Tricker's Grasmere for comparison:

And lastly, an old advert from 1940 advertising the exact same boots (lifted from an auction site):

thanks everyone, I'm really stoked to get these stretched and on my feet.... I've actually wanted a pair of these for about 7-8 years....

I reckon you'll be fine, if it's just the width that needs sorting - had it done to my Burfords, and it worked a treat!

[Paul T]

They look terrific - that zug grain is notorious for wearing in slowly, the fella who turned me on to the Selkirk told me it took about six months before his were comfortable. Did Shoehealer keep the veldtschoen construction?

[mikecch]

^^ Must rep when I reload - very nice polish on the Lotus!

(I don't think I'll polish the Stows for now, want to try and emphasize the grain a little more first)

[CrashTestBrummie]

They look terrific - that zug grain is notorious for wearing in slowly, the fella who turned me on to the Selkirk told me it took about six months before his were comfortable. Did Shoehealer keep the veldtschoen construction?

Yeah, I don't think (with my limited knowledge) that you'd be able to change from a veldtschoen to a welted build, at least not easily, because of the way that the leather is turned out for the veldt build. I'd not want to, anyway, as the boots are vintage and I've not got anything else with this construction.

A lot of boots (including the C&J boots you posted a page back) are described as being welted and veldtschoen, but this isn't possible as far as I understand.

I'm sure someone on here will know for sure...

[not too tight]

How do you guys hold your boots while polishing them? While they are on your feet or between your legs? I've been trying all sorts of things and even resorted a few times to have my lady wear them to get better angles to polish em at. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong :confused:

[joelz]

not too tight - this is always a good reference for me, and makes me want to polish my shoes:

Io2KFwZ5B8w

[CrashTestBrummie]

How do you guys hold your boots while polishing them? While they are on your feet or between your legs? I've been trying all sorts of things and even resorted a few times to have my lady wear them to get better angles to polish em at. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong :confused:

I take the laces out and 'glove' my left hand in the boots and rest them on my left leg (I'm right-handed), using my fingers inside the boot and my leg to give some resistance when I'm initially rubbing the polish into the leather with my cloth-covered right hand's index finger. You can just rotate the boot around your hand to cover all angles.

For the toe of the boot, I'll have a shoe tree in there to give me something to really lean on for a glassy, shiny finish.

[choice]

Anyone have pictures of the semi-dress with a vibram wedge?

[denimjunky]

^Whats a vibram wedge?

So, regarding the last problem, finally it was defined as the #38 last.

Since I ordered the standard last and got the wrong last, bakers (Kyle),

offered my free shipping on the next order which I find quite reasonable.

[LandoCal126]

Anyone have pictures of the semi-dress with a vibram wedge?

^Whats a vibram wedge?

I believe choice was referring to the Vibram 2021 Sole as seen here: http://www.bakershoe.com/shop-by-brand.cfm/brand/whites-boots/product/bakers-brown-chrome-excel-oxford-by-whites-boots--in-stock/