Shoes that look better with age...

[mlwdp]

Iron and Resin for White's Boots MP Service Boot

https://ironandresin.com/products/whites-boots-x-iron-resin-mp-service-boot

 

Edited August 31, 2018 by mlwdp

[mlwdp]

The new White's Boots catalog was posted on Styleforum.  Credit to Fasthall.

https://www.yumpu.com/en/embed/view/rEcP1nTZjiYgua5b

[Planetarium]

3 hours ago, erk said:

Have you ever had your foot measured on a brannock device by a competent shoe sales person or foot specialist? It sounds like you have a wide foot with a longer heel to ball measurement compared to heel to toe measurement. I have a similar issue in that my heel to toe is 10.5 and heel to ball is around 11.5-12. In this circumstance you need to size for the ball of your foot or else your fee will forever be cramped up in the front of your shoes.

 

if you get your foot measured make sure they do both measurements. 

That's probably the case. When I was young I just wore size 8 sneakers and all was basically good, but extra toe space in a stiffer shoe or boot drives me nuts. I'll get measurements, but probably will save up for a custom job rather than buy something stock that's too long.

Thanks!

[erk]

If it’s the right size it won’t feel long 

[mpukas]

On 8/30/2018 at 10:02 AM, Planetarium said:

The time has come for me to admit that almost none of my shoes fit properly in the toe; they pinch like crazy and it's becoming more painful with age.

Here's the problem: I have a very strange foot shape and am not very tall. The proportions of my foot until you hit the toes, arch, width, etc are similar to that of someone with about an 8 sneaker size, but the length of my foot is only about a 6. I have extremely wide and flat toes that spread out in a nearly straight line like a damn Hobbit. We're talking over 4.5 inches on a foot that's 9.5 inches long. I wear dress socks inside a Tricker's Stow and it's still tight. The famously extra large RM Williams, even in a wide width, are something like .75 inches too narrow. It sucks.

I'm looking into getting some Indys in a EEE if they still stock those regularly, or custom Whites semi dress. Any other suggestions? Anything stock that's bulbous enough for my affliction? Should I be wearing Renn faire moccasins for the rest of my life?

Thanks for any suggestions

Oh, where do I start and not be proselytizing ... Footwear and proper sizing is a big issue for me. I have a wide foot, tall arch and high instep. "Normal" sized footwear doesn't work for me. In short, it really doesn't work for anyone, most people just don't know it. Although a "D" width is considered most common, modern footwear is not designed to accommodate the natural shape of a human foot. Modern people's feet have been unknowingly distorted since we were little kids by various forms of footwear that were put on us. Of course everyone has different shaped feet with differing proportions. Our feet should be widest at the ends of the toes, not at the outer toe knuckles. No one needs elevated heel, arch support, toe lift, rocker, cushioning, etc. Well, except for people who have worn shoes all of their lives and their feet are weak and therefore need all of those "benefits" that modern shoes offer... 

But, we live in a world were shoe design and sizing has been standardized, and unless you want to go with one of the few small companies that makes foot-shaped shoes and boots (and most of those offerings are cheap and ugly), you have to play the game. The biggest problem with shoe sizing advice is it's generally just about the length of the shoe compared to the foot. There are too many other variables to consider for proper fitting.

As mentioned above, the Brannock device is a good place to start (if you haven't) as it measures total length, width as well as length from heel to ball of foot. It doesn't measure arch height and instep volume though. Shoes are sized by length first, but don't get attached to that number. The shoe needs to bend where the ball of your foot is for proper flex. The width at both the heel and forefoot needs to be proper so as to not allow slip or constriction. The volume over the instep needs to be sufficient for adequate lacing without hot-spots. Arch support is nonsense. No one needs it - everyone's feet are perfectly fine to support themselves. They are just weak from being supported their entire lives. If you think you need it, their your shoes. 

If you're not familiar with the Munson last, look into it (I didn't know about it until I started hanging out here). It was designed by a military doctor in the early 1900's to fit the most soldiers feet. It's wide at the forefoot to accommodate a natural foot shape and not cause blisters, fatigue, etc. with lots and lots of walking. There are a couple of companies that use the Munson last, and several that reference the Munson last when describing their own in-house last. 

After all that, my advice is to find footwear that's offered in wide sizes and don't be concerned about sizing up in length to get adequate width and volume. If you go with a brand like Russell, White's, Wesco, etc. that does semi-custom sizing, they have a wide catalog of sizes to choose from. See if you can get them to do an E width at the heel and a EEEE width at the ball, and extra high instep volume. For example, my foot measures a 9 in length, but to the ball of my foot it's a 10. EE width. To get modern, off the shelf footwear to work for me I usually have to get E or EE width and size up to a 9.5 or 10.

I have a pair of White's SJ that I had rebuilt; they are 8.5 E with standard arch, and they KILL my feet now. I can't even wear them for a few hours. Someday I'd like to have them rebuilt again in a larger size with no arch (but primarily for better construction as the rebuild job they did was pretty bad). Russell Moccasin made me boots (after over a year of back and forth sizing issues), dead flat with no heel, Munson last, 7.5 E at heel and EEE at ball, extra high instep. they're probably the best fitting pair of boots I've ever had. I also have Grant Stone Diesel boots in a 9.5E, but their last runs large and I could have gone with a 9E. They have  no arch, and were extremely comfortable out of the box for me. I've been sized for Redwing, and I need a 9.5EE for boots made on their No. 8 last (Beckman, Iron Ranger, etc.). Maybe look at White's Swing last, and Viberg's 2040 or 2045 last. 

Sorry for the long winded post. I hope that helps. Cheers! mpp

[dudewuttheheck]

On 8/29/2018 at 3:49 AM, Broark said:

Clinch engineer boots are very nice, but for nearly 2 grand I'd probably rather get some made to measure engineer boots from Role Club.

Yeah this pricing is pretty intense. When I bought my 2 custom pairs of Clinch, they were a lot less money than they are on this website. I am so glad I ordered when I did.

[itsbenhere]

A shame their prices increased so much.

[mlwdp]

8 hours ago, dudewuttheheck said:

Yeah this pricing is pretty intense. When I bought my 2 custom pairs of Clinch, they were a lot less money than they are on this website. I am so glad I ordered when I did.

I had a feeling Clinch was pricey, figuring that they were John Lobb-ish prices.  It was about time though that they finally created a proper webshop.

Edited September 1, 2018 by mlwdp

[shredwin_206]

Anyone ever own the Brass sneakers? They look awesome but $500 for sneakers seems insane

[ElTadashi]

On 8/30/2018 at 12:30 PM, Planetarium said:

That's probably the case. When I was young I just wore size 8 sneakers and all was basically good, but extra toe space in a stiffer shoe or boot drives me nuts. I'll get measurements, but probably will save up for a custom job rather than buy something stock that's too long.

Thanks!

If you are interested in the offerings from Wesco they do offer making a custom last for your foot. Also Role Club offers custom sizing. While the cost of the Role Clubs are higher in pricing up front Wesco's are likely to cost similar if you do go the custom last route.

[mlwdp]

Speaking of Wesco, they have another 100th Anniversary model coming up next Friday.  It's gonna be an Engineer boot again.  

[redragon]

16 hours ago, ecsong187 said:

Anyone ever own the Brass sneakers? They look awesome but $500 for sneakers seems insane

$500 sneakers is not unheard of in the high end footwear.

Hender Scheme & Feit is around those price point....not sure if they are worth that much though...

Are you talking about the trainers?

Edited September 2, 2018 by redragon
Wrong name

[givemefive]

lusting over these visvim lafayette since I tried them on in harajuku 

 

finding out from the salesman they were MIPRC kind of turned me off given the 120k yen price. But still they were super nice and fit nice and narrow like I need

Edited September 2, 2018 by givemefive

[Aries]

My Bucos were snapped whilst in Godspeed yesterday, teacore beginning to show:

[mlwdp]

Sweet baby jesus.

[mlwdp]

On 9/2/2018 at 10:26 AM, givemefive said:

lusting over these visvim lafayette since I tried them on in harajuku 

 

finding out from the salesman they were MIPRC kind of turned me off given the 120k yen price. But still they were super nice and fit nice and narrow like I need

You could try to create it with a Bounty Hunter template:

Distressed Roughout or Distressed Smooth vamp and upper shaft

Classic Brown or Brown Chromexcel Counter

Antique Eyes Hardware

Bounty Hunter/Semi Dress last

Natural Edge

Plain Toe

Vibram 700 or mini lug

6 inch

Single Midsole

No celastic toe

Tan liner 

Throw in some brown laces

[givemefive]

yeah i thought about that a while back. bounty hunter is too bulky for my taste. also the fit was unclear. the d width was too wide but i couldn’t try another. i had a pair in my hands and decided to return them.  thinking about getting the John Lofgren rough out  instead. haven’t tried them yet. 

[longshanks]

Also, just to point out, whites distressed roughout is a lot darker, here’s a pic of my whites in distressed roughout, and they look a lot more brown than tan. 

[julian-wolf]

Anyone have experience with the sizing on Nigel Cabourn sneakers? The speedway pages for the various models list sizes such as "9.5 / 28cm" and "10.5 / 29cm", which is throwing me for a bit of a loop since I'm used to 28cm being around an 11 and 29cm being around an 12.5 in standard US sizing.

Haven't worn sneakers since I was a kid, so any general sneaker sizing + fit advice is also welcome…

[kicks79]

In my experience 28cm is normally a US10 and 29.cm is normally a US11. 

So a US9 would usually be 27.5cm and a US10.5 28.5cm. 

So it sounds like the NC joints run half a size bigger than average. 

I'm a 26.5cm foot and normally take US 8.5. I'm pretty sure the NC joints are made at the Moonstar factory. In Shoes Like Pottery, I need a 27cm. 

 

 

 

[julian-wolf]

^ Good info, thanks. I guess maybe my calibration's been a bit off all this time (not really used to buying shoes sized in centimeters). That's another thing I was wondering: should I expect various Moonstar sneakers to fit similarly / to have similar sizing? Wasn't sure whether or not they had any sort of standardization among the different brands that they do production for…

[kicks79]

Haha, its years of buying Japanese footwear in CMs or I would be lost as well.

I found  Doek and SLP to fit fairly similar to each other. Or at least not too different to warrant a different size. I take 27cm or US9 in both.

The only real exception has been the Doek Slip Ons, due to the really low toe profile which made people go up one size.

 

[spacecadet]

16 hours ago, julian-wolf said:

Anyone have experience with the sizing on Nigel Cabourn sneakers? The speedway pages for the various models list sizes such as "9.5 / 28cm" and "10.5 / 29cm", which is throwing me for a bit of a loop since I'm used to 28cm being around an 11 and 29cm being around an 12.5 in standard US sizing.

Haven't worn sneakers since I was a kid, so any general sneaker sizing + fit advice is also welcome…

If you have wide feet it may be an issue. I bought the Iron Heart sneakers made by Moonstar but I had to return them. The length was fine but they were much too narrow for my feet. The next size up would have been too long.

[shredwin_206]

Just sent a pair of my smokejumper to Baker for a resole/rebuild

[mlwdp]

Did you ask or did they tell you it was still fire season?  Have you thought about getting a vibram honey sole?

[kicks79]

6 hours ago, spacecadet said:

If you have wide feet it may be an issue. I bought the Iron Heart sneakers made by Moonstar but I had to return them. The length was fine but they were much too narrow for my feet. The next size up would have been too long.

This is true. I found the fit on SLP or Doek means that you generally have half a centimetre of extra length to accommodate the width issue. Some people are okay with this, some are not. I had this exact issue with the Warehouse sneakers. 

 

[mlwdp]

Nick's is offering a new boot soon.  Looks  like a farmer rancher style. It will probably be MTO.

[mlwdp]

Anybody here have any experience with Spenco insoles?  

https://www.bakershoe.com/product/spenco-comfort-flat-insoles

Edited September 8, 2018 by mlwdp

[Critical Observer]

On ‎18‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 4:12 PM, mlwdp said:

Is that a double midsole?  Very rare to see Nick's on here, obviously due to the wait times from them.

Back from the hiatus, I thought I had replied back then but apparently not as my message was saved in the editor. I wrote:

Single midsole, regular heel-height, Vibram #269 out sole, close trim, black edges, Seidel brown domain leather, lined, 5332 last, #2 toe, black hardware (more like gunmetal)

This is the "stock" version of this shoe, ordered directly from Nick's. I'm still a bit on the fence regarding the fit (not that it would be realistic to send them back) but the arch-ease is quite a bit different from the White's version; not only is it constructed differently (allegedly), but it feels much longer, extending further towards toes.

Right now I'm trying to spec a build with Frank's, but communicating with them is hopelessly slow as they reply max. once a week. Realistically, I might go with Nick's instead: I have a bit of a special "Builder Pro" build in my mind.

[Critical Observer]

2 hours ago, mlwdp said:

Anybody here have any experience with Spenco insoles?  

https://www.bakershoe.com/product/spenco-comfort-flat-insoles

Not the insoles but I spent the summer in the tropics wearing Spenco flip-flops; they are nice and comfortable, but I find their claims of "arch-support" wildly exaggerated