Shoes that look better with age...

[SetsunaFSeiei]

those look awesome

[stingray1381]

LameBrain, normally not a fan of twotone myself, but definitely works on those.

[Joseph Hill]

Thanks for the opinions guys, both positive and negative, that is what I asked for. My thoughts on getting a custom boot, like the ones above, was that I wanted something quite outlandish, something with a very specific look. I love the bull hide contrasted with a smoother leather, and I thought chrome excel might be a bit tougher than calf, and easier to get a nice shine on. I know a boot so specific looking as these will divide opinion, and people will either love them or hate them, but all my other footwear is very plain and understated, so I thought it might be time to get just one pair of boots that demand attention. I'll keep the thread updated with what I decide, thanks again for the help and opinions.

I was going to say that with single welt stitching, more muted laces, and ditch the kiltie as the bullhide was bold enough, let that be the star, but if you're trying for flash, there're worse ways to do it.

[Maynard Friedman]

I think that Joseph Hill is one of the few Sufuers who could genuinely pull those boots off without appearing too costumey and that's meant as a compliment.

Edit; his suggestions would definitely improve them too.

Edited December 24, 2011 by Maynard Friedman

[ajchen]

my custom makeup service boots from Viberg arrived this week. i went with a brogued captoe, brown harness leather and a dainite sole. i don't need to tell people how on point the construction is - i think these are the most well crafted shoes i've ever worn. looking forward to giving these serious wear throughout the wintertime.

Edited December 24, 2011 by ajchen

[knucks]

^^how much those run you?

I ended up ordering an all-black chromexcel white's sd with natural sole, half commando.

3-5 weeks left..

[ranonranonarat]

Sorry ajchen. Meant to +rep you but ended up negging on this stupid piece of technology. Those are beautiful. How much did the run you and what's the turnaround time on them?

[WhiteShark]

Ok, so awful awful pictures. I took them on my iphone. These are my WWII impressions boondockers. I've been wearing these daily since the end of october. I gave them 3 coats of pecards when I got them as dubbing. These pictures were taken about a month in of me wearing them. I had actually just finished working on a war movie with these when I took these pics, and I wore these for about a week in makeshift trenches(it was brutal the day it rained, holy crap). Since I took these pics I've played football in them and fallen in a river. They have been holding up really well all things considered. They are a tremendous deal for the price. My only gripe is the welt seems a little rough on the edge, and the welt leather seems a little "wafery". This was a big concern at first.

My girlfriend owns a pair from the first run and she has had the same thing happen with the welt on hers, but its held together fine so I think its just part of the break in process with these. The leather the welt is made out of is just not tanned that densely but it does not inhibit the strength of the construction. Don't get me wrong these boots are virtually indestructible as far as I'm concerned considering I only paid about 150$ for em. The leather is really nice, very tough yet supple. Stitching is all very solid. The stitching connecting the welt to the upper is more well constructed on these than shoes of a much higher price range I've seen.

I compared her pair and my pair side by side. Odd thing was that her pair was just about as heavy as mine and they were size 7s! I wear a 11 EE. Not sure what equates for the size difference. The previous run had a different sole and heel maker and I believe the material they were constructed of may have been denser. So glad I got a pair that fit, they were JUST barely wide enough for me. I wear 11 EEE in most sneakers.

I had not worn boots in two years when I bought these so break in was absolute hell. I was wearing really soft and squishy sneakers previously. However, after the first week of bleeding and pain they started to loosen up and feel fantastic. Now they pretty much feel like....slippers. They don't have much padding and don't handle that as well as aldens do, but they feel 5x better than any pair of converse do. I've worked 3 full 18 hour days in a row on my feet in these on film sets and have had no problems doing so. I had a ton of foot problems from wearing crappy sneakers before I bought these all related to lack of proper size and support (sold my alden collection to pay for a film I was making a couple years back) and all of them have either gone away completely or are going away. Which is fantastic. Really great buy all in all. I'm considering buying another pair and keeping them un-dubbed. If I had the money I'd jump at it. These are hands down my favorites, even if I owned 405's still these would be my favorites. The leather is just so soft and malleable it makes them super comfortable.

[beautiful_FrEaK]

very nice review! I finally gt my boondockers yesterday. only negative thing about them so far: the laces are way too short for my taste. i'm not a fan of constant putting the laces out to step in and put the laces in to fasten the boots then.

[ajchen]

thanks guys. the boots were not cheap and they took just over 2 months to turn around, which is not too bad considering i was originally told 3-3.5 months.

[beatle]

ajchen, superb..

also, this will look so much better with wear

[fre-co]

Megatron - bear in mind that CXL is not the best leather to get a nice shine.

[Megatron1505]

Thanks Fresco, any recommendations?

[mikecch]

CXL

Edited December 26, 2011 by mikecch

[rebelz]

lone wolf boots carpenter

[Tiro]

my custom makeup service boots from Viberg arrived this week. i went with a brogued captoe, brown harness leather and a dainite sole. i don't need to tell people how on point the construction is - i think these are the most well crafted shoes i've ever worn. looking forward to giving these serious wear throughout the wintertime.

holy freakin' awesome batman!!!

i would def. dig something like that but with the 310 last as a base, i think those new service boots work best with slimmer jeans than I usually wear...

[supersexy]

picked these up today! can i get advice on protectors for snow and insoles?

[Megatron1505]

Can anyone recommend me a leather option for some bounty hunters that is hard wearing, easy to get a decent shine on, and reasonably low maintenance?

I thought Chrome Excel black, but Fresco says not and his knowledge is superior to mine. Any expert advice would be appreciated.

[Tiro]

black horsehide? (dunno if that's an option for white's though)

[Megatron1505]

Thanks Tiro, I should also mention that I wanted to keep the price sub $600.

[big truck]

Horse hide is possibly the best bet but it only features on the semi dress? Less than $500. You can shine most leathers with some elbow grease Im sure. If you want shine, save up and get the cordovan version, That could be epic. But only semi dress again.

[Megatron1505]

Cheers BT, sub $600 puts me in the ball park of most leathers on the bounty hunters or Semi Dress, with the exception of Cordovan and the mad exotic stuff (shark, stingray, Caiman etc....). Just looking for opinions on durability and shineability (sic) on leathers such as dress, chrome excel, bull hide, french calf, smooth......and so on.

[devilish]

I've found that cxl will shine up pretty well but the shine tends not to last very long. I only have the brown kind though, black may shine better. It is (as most know) awesome leather.

[illumin8em]

lone wolf boots carpenter

.

Oh my! These are amazing. I wish the black were still available

[WhiteShark]

CXL

What kind of sole is that? Some sort of bonded crepe sole? Looks like mud stuck on the shoes almost. Interesting aesthetic.

Heres some newer pictures of my Boots. Took these today, much more accurate as to how they look.

Alright...Also.

I feel like this might be against forum rules, but I know a lot of you guys would be interested in these. Bought them because they looked nice, but there was never a chance in hell they'd fit.

Selling these shoes from "the collection".

This pair is from the 1930's Size 11.5 AA. They are absolutely amazing shoes. I hate to sell em but I can't even think about wearing them my feet are so big.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/260922702750?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Also got these shoes. Alden wingtips size 11. Good condition, nice shoes.

http://www.ebay.com/...9#ht_533wt_1396

Edited December 27, 2011 by WhiteShark

[tmadd]

Cheers BT, sub $600 puts me in the ball park of most leathers on the bounty hunters or Semi Dress, with the exception of Cordovan and the mad exotic stuff (shark, stingray, Caiman etc....). Just looking for opinions on durability and shineability (sic) on leathers such as dress, chrome excel, bull hide, french calf, smooth......and so on.

I don't know anything about the horsehide that White's is using for the semi dress available on Bakers, and I assume it would be suitable for what you are looking for if they'd use it on the makeup you are looking for, but honestly, for hardwearing and capacity for taking a shine, theres nothing I like better than whites dress leather. It's not exciting or sexy to get the most standard offering, but my 1.5 year old semi dress in black dress leather are incredible whether having the shit kicked out of them with no attention paid, or being shined up to a full dress shoe polish.

[riff]

Mega, I agree with tmadd - the dress leather is the way to go - it can take a spit shine that even marineabilly would approve of I prefer chromexcel, but then again, i don't want a high shine on most of my boots...

picked these up today! can i get advice on protectors for snow and insoles?

If you have room, try the superfeet insoles. Otherwise, the local cobbler usually has a selection ranging from leather ones to the dr scholls stuff. For snow/water/salt protection, you can try obenaufs or snoseal

[supersexy]

If you have room, try the superfeet insoles. Otherwise, the local cobbler usually has a selection ranging from leather ones to the dr scholls stuff. For snow/water/salt protection, you can try obenaufs or snoseal

Thanks riff!

[mikecch]

What kind of sole is that? Some sort of bonded crepe sole? Looks like mud stuck on the shoes almost. Interesting aesthetic.

Stitched crepe from a couple of years ago - didn't prove to be a very popular look though.

Up There still has a few of them...

[Colin.Cosmo]

I don't know anything about the horsehide that White's is using for the semi dress available on Bakers, and I assume it would be suitable for what you are looking for if they'd use it on the makeup you are looking for, but honestly, for hardwearing and capacity for taking a shine, theres nothing I like better than whites dress leather. It's not exciting or sexy to get the most standard offering, but my 1.5 year old semi dress in black dress leather are incredible whether having the shit kicked out of them with no attention paid, or being shined up to a full dress shoe polish.

I am wondering if this would apply to brown dress as well?

Also, in response to another question, I have brown cxl boots which really take a pretty good shine, though it does dull alittle after a couple weeks of wear.