Shoes that look better with age...

[Broark]

Yeah those are pretty ugly.  Need to pair them with some white socks!

[Double 0 Soul]

My dad used to love 'Jesus sandals' back in the early 80's, every summer break in Europe he'd make a beeline for the North African dude's selling leather goods and enter into 15mins of animated bartering... he never stooped as low as socks tho.

[mlwdp]

@dudewuttheheckIs your Attractions engineers the same size as your Wesco Boss? True to size?

Edited April 15, 2020 by mlwdp

[Muck Dynasty]

On 4/13/2020 at 1:45 PM, Broark said:

Just received my Arpenteur Paraboot Cambriole, impressed with how comfortable they are.
I know the Ghillie lacing system won't be to everyone's tastes but I think they give them just enough funkiness.
And no, I didn't put these plants out there just for some photos of my shoes. My girlfriend set them out to get some sun. 

These remind me of Mondo Creepers for some reason

[dudewuttheheck]

2 hours ago, mlwdp said:

@dudewuttheheckIs your Attractions engineers the same size as your Wesco Boss? True to size?

They're the same size as my Wesco, but my Attractions fit me more comfortable. I am a 10.5 on a brannock and I have a 10 in both of those boots, but the Wesco are slightly tight in the front especially on the left foot. The Attractions are not loose at all and if you're a wider foot, I would personally think you should go TTS. I can't say any of this for sure though, sizing is difficult.

I forgot to post these Flame Panda boots. He only sells on Instagram now, but he's a bootmaker from China who imports basically all of his materials and hand welts all his boots and on this pair (and I think all his boots) does hand sewing on the outsoles as well. His moc toes and monkey boots are my favorite so I got his monkey boots and I like them a lot. He does  a triple sole on the front which tapers down to a single leather midsole with a full rubber sole in the middle before the heel stack. Quality is overall really good. The midsole/outsole stitching is very dense and quite clean for being done by hand, but not as clean as White Kloud by any means. Upper stitching is also overall really good and quite dense, but not as neat or consistent as Clinch. Either way, the boots are worth a lot more than the price in my opinion (which is around $670 for this leather.) That leather is Maryam natural horserump which does include the shell part. It is quite different from the leather on my Onderhouds which is also Maryam horse leather, but this version has a lot more shell in it.

[mpukas]

I wasn't aware of Flame Panda prior. His work looks great. Awesome to see people from other parts of the world doing work at this level. Now following on IG. Nice boots. 

[propellerbeanie]

@dudewuttheheck I was waiting for you to post these! Wasn't expecting them to be priced like that considering the meticulous craftsmanship. I like the colour of this leather as well

[dudewuttheheck]

Yeah his work is definitely worth more than he is charging by quite a lot in my opinion. Perhaps part of it is the negative image that "Made in China" has. I know he has mentioned to me that he has worried about that to some degree. Hopefully the more people see his boots, the less that will be an issue for him. He's a really nice guy as well.

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by dudewuttheheck

[Thanks_M8]

Got these heschungs (new to me) recently. 

Laces are a bit flimsy, will probably get something sturdier soon, else they're great. 

[mlwdp]

Gonna edit this with a order

Edited April 18, 2020 by mlwdp

[edmond]

gaiz anybody has horween latigo leather boots here? any comment on the leather?

 

stretch , wear, thickness, sheen, maintenance  , nearest character of the leather etc

 

would be of help thank you for a research purpose

[mlwdp]

36 minutes ago, edmond said:

gaiz anybody has horween latigo leather boots here? any comment on the leather?

 

stretch , wear, thickness, sheen, maintenance  , nearest character of the leather etc

 

would be of help thank you for a research purpose

https://blackbearbrand.com/black-bear-brand-factory-store/rio-latigo-boss-

[edmond]

wow thanks man!

[hurhur]

On 4/16/2020 at 11:13 AM, dudewuttheheck said:

They're the same size as my Wesco, but my Attractions fit me more comfortable. I am a 10.5 on a brannock and I have a 10 in both of those boots, but the Wesco are slightly tight in the front especially on the left foot. The Attractions are not loose at all and if you're a wider foot, I would personally think you should go TTS. I can't say any of this for sure though, sizing is difficult.

I forgot to post these Flame Panda boots. He only sells on Instagram now, but he's a bootmaker from China who imports basically all of his materials and hand welts all his boots and on this pair (and I think all his boots) does hand sewing on the outsoles as well. His moc toes and monkey boots are my favorite so I got his monkey boots and I like them a lot. He does  a triple sole on the front which tapers down to a single leather midsole with a full rubber sole in the middle before the heel stack. Quality is overall really good. The midsole/outsole stitching is very dense and quite clean for being done by hand, but not as clean as White Kloud by any means. Upper stitching is also overall really good and quite dense, but not as neat or consistent as Clinch. Either way, the boots are worth a lot more than the price in my opinion (which is around $670 for this leather.) That leather is Maryam natural horserump which does include the shell part. It is quite different from the leather on my Onderhouds which is also Maryam horse leather, but this version has a lot more shell in it.

Nice! How did you size on Flamepanda's? as compared to Viberg 2030 for example?

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by hurhur

[dudewuttheheck]

I took a 10 in these and as I said I'm a 10.5 on a Brannock. They fit slightly roomy, but not loose. I'm a 9.5/10 in Viberg 2030. The 9.5 is slightly snug and the 10 is a little too roomy.

Viberg tells you to go one size down from Brannock and these you should go .5 down it seems, but again, sizing is not exact and feet are weird.

[hurhur]

18 minutes ago, dudewuttheheck said:

I took a 10 in these and as I said I'm a 10.5 on a Brannock. They fit slightly roomy, but not loose. I'm a 9.5/10 in Viberg 2030. The 9.5 is slightly snug and the 10 is a little too roomy.

Viberg tells you to go one size down from Brannock and these you should go .5 down it seems, but again, sizing is not exact and feet are weird.

Alright great! Thanks for the size advice. I’m a 7.5 in Viberg. So I went for an 8 in his. Went for a pair of short engineers. Hopefully will turn out well!

[dudewuttheheck]

10 minutes ago, hurhur said:

Alright great! Thanks for the size advice. I’m a 7.5 in Viberg. So I went for an 8 in his. Went for a pair of short engineers. Hopefully will turn out well!

Hope they work out! What leather did you go with?

Edited April 18, 2020 by dudewuttheheck

[hurhur]

He recommended a natural horsehide from Conceria Cloe tannery. So I went for that. Can’t wait!

[Broark]

Looks like Barnstormer has size 12 stock of the RDT Coupen in oil black.
Interesting that a Japanese store has stock in 11 and 12 but I've never seen any western retailers go above 10.
Pretty tempting, but I've always wanted a brown shoe from them.

[Broark]

Got some new laces in today. Decided to clean up the pairs while I was at it.

[dudewuttheheck]

@Broark maybe you can pre-order them in brown? I'm assuming they'll restock at some point.

[mlwdp]

@dudewuttheheckIs there any real reason why most engineer boots have white outsole stitching?  I’ve always wondered this as I’ve seen this be the norm while upper stitching is black or brown.  Does it help when resoling to have white stitching?

[Broark]

7 minutes ago, dudewuttheheck said:

@Broark maybe you can pre-order them in brown? I'm assuming they'll restock at some point.

Might be worth reaching out, however I probably should get rid of some shoes before buying more. 

[Broark]

Although the black does look like it has a nice brown undertone with some wear.

[dudewuttheheck]

11 minutes ago, mlwdp said:

@dudewuttheheckIs there any real reason why most engineer boots have white outsole stitching?  I’ve always wondered this as I’ve seen this be the norm while upper stitching is black or brown.  Does it help when resoling to have white stitching?

Don't most boots have white outsole stitching? Look at all the boots @Broark just posted including the RDT boots.

My non-engineer boots mostly have white outsole stitching too.

I would assume it's just the standard color in general.

I doubt it makes a difference when resoling because that original thread is not longer there when you resole it.

Edited April 19, 2020 by dudewuttheheck

[dudewuttheheck]

That aged sample looks really nice in black. If I was getting the Coupens and it wasn't those cool Badalassi ones that Indigoshrimp has, I'd probably go for black unless you specifically don't want black boots. I think you have a solid collection of brown boots though if I'm not mistaken.

Edited April 19, 2020 by dudewuttheheck

[Broark]

The only black boots I own are the Klondike RW I posted above and some black shell Alden's.
I have a tendency to wear brown shoes a lot more. These just do it for me, but the black is growing on me too.

[mlwdp]

Rio of Mercedes collaboration with Black Bear Brand is coming soon.

 

[edmond]

it says sold out :(

[mlwdp]

22 minutes ago, edmond said:

it says sold out

They’ll be up for preorder sale shortly he does that with every shoe collab launch.

Edited April 19, 2020 by mlwdp