Shoes that look better with age...

[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

[mlwdp]

I bought another Horsehide Wesco Boss.  See you in July!

 

CUSTOM FIT BOSS STYLE BKH7709RaptBlack (Size: Form On File)   +Single-Tone:Black Horsehide   +9" Height   +Raptor Black   +Dye Soles and Heels Black   +One Top Strap (standard)   +Standard Length   +Nickel Ox Roller Top Buckles   +Buckled Instep Straps   +Standard Length Instep Strap   +Nickel Ox Roller Instep Buckles   +Lightweight Brown Upper Stitching   +White Outsole Stitching  SPECIAL REQUESTS: Vintage triple stitching please! 1 Basically, I went for a makeup of a combination of the 100th Anniversary Japan Exclusive model, Ken Igari’s black rough out model without the triple sole, and the Lynch Silversmith model, minus the actual silver roller buckle as Studio Wokini won’t make silver roller buckles anymore. Price was just too good to pass up at under $700.

[mlwdp]

Edit: Had them change my Boss boot height to 10 inch as 9 inch was a mistake on my end.  This will be my second Wesco boot.  I debated between this, Jobmaster, and another smokejumper.  Working M-F just feels better wearing something on weekends that doesn’t require feet getting acclimated all over again or adjusting or dealing with a bunch of laces.  My date of completion says 7/20/20 so I’m hoping it sticks.  Didn’t really care about insert color as no one will see it except me.

 

[mlwdp]

 

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by mlwdp

[mlwdp]

 

[lemmywinks]

If you had to get a pair of Engineer boots (black) which one and why?

Looking at Wesco for tradition, the Red Wing (started the whole craze in Japan) and probably some other Japanese brands.

[mlwdp]

Anybody ever heard of this new footwear brand called Ol’ Shanks?  Based in Japan, not even a year old.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by mlwdp

[propellerbeanie]

@mlwdp Yeah, I've heard of them, but I don't know much about the brand or the guy behind it. I believe Michiya Suzuki is behind it and he's some sort of vintage Red Wing collector/historian (?) Here's his personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michiya186/

Edit: After scrolling to the first post on Ol' Shanks' profile, it seems that @dudewuttheheck is correct and Minoru Matsuura is affiliated with the brand!

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by propellerbeanie

[dudewuttheheck]

I know there is some involvement from Brass Tokyo, at the very least the owner Minoru Matsuura is one of the people involved along with a Japanese 'boot promoter' named Michiya Suzuki. What it looks like is sort of a budget Brass brand (though still priced fairly high I would assume). I'm noticing things like double row instead of triple row stitching on the uppers and a more standardized makeup. 

The question is who is actually making them? I would be surprised if the small team at Brass was actually making them, but it's possible. 

[SLAB]

I reached out to him awhile ago; he didnt confirm who made them but I also suspect Brass is behind the production of these.

Unfortunately he does not sell them online; only deals through personal meeting and measuring. He was planning to visit some shows outside Japan in the future so that might be an opportunity for some.

prices for engineer boots are 138.000 yen in latigo leather and 168.000 yen for horsebutt (vat exclusive). the gaiter boots are 168.000 yen in french kip leather.

[dudewuttheheck]

1 minute ago, SLAB said:

I reached out to him awhile ago; he didnt confirm who made them but I also suspect Brass is behind the production of these.

Unfortunately he does not sell them online; only deals through personal meeting and measuring. He was planning to visit some shows outside Japan in the future so that might be an opportunity for some.

prices for engineer boots are 138.000 yen in latigo leather and 168.000 yen for horsebutt (vat exclusive). the gaiter boots are 168.000 yen in french kip leather.

Not as lower priced compared to Brass as I would have expected. Would love to know who actually makes them.

[Duke Mantee]

Suzuki was the General Manager at Red Wing Japan - I’m not sure he’s an historian so much as an aficionado ... definitely a marketing guy

[dudewuttheheck]

39 minutes ago, Duke Mantee said:

Suzuki was the General Manager at Red Wing Japan - I’m not sure he’s an historian so much as an aficionado ... definitely a marketing guy

Yeah he even says in is Instagram bio that he is a "freelance promoter of leather boots and shoes" 

[Broark]

2 hours ago, dudewuttheheck said:

Yeah he even says in is Instagram bio that he is a "freelance promoter of leather boots and shoes" 

Man, how do I get a job title like that.