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Shoes that look better with age...


kiya

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@Geeman - sure I've said it before, the suede version of the sporting clay chukka I have are like clarks wallabees on steroids... always fancied wallabees but the sole never quite seemed wide enough / sturdy enough... they are built like tanks, but light to wear (not finessed stitching or leather cutting tho if that bothers you)

away from boots... this version of the rm fishing oxford featured on the cosmic jumper site has a certain brothel creeper vibes meets workwear utility je ne sais quoi...

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Edited by bartlebyyphonics
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^ I chanced upon that cosmic site a while back and keep returning. All write ups, yours firmly included, point to solid reliable boots and they look really good too. I was thinking down the High Grade US Standard duck jacket route with them too, hunter cosplay <_<

Yep they don't make them Redwing moc soles like wot they used to. The new ones have flyaway soles by comparison to an old dense-soled pair I've got. Profits thru multiple buy business strategy over quality and robustness tut tut...

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I had really bad luck with a Red Wing factory resole on a pair of moc toes a couple of years ago and won’t be using them for any resoling work in the future, but I will say that their Dual Density Traction Tread lasted a good chunk longer than the standard RW wedge soles or the Vibrams that Lofgren uses

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So what do you all think is the strongest, sturdiest outsole, especially the heel part? Or what are some common options for a pair with a metal thingy, like the one on RDT boots on the toe? I quite like my RDT’s for that little detail though it’s a bit slippery.

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Strikes me that the majority of soles we see on the popular boot brands here are Vibram - so I guess we should just refer to them for guidance on durability, grip etc.

https://eu.vibram.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-VibramEU-Library/default/dw8760b92c/pdfs/RepairCatalogue_EN.pdf

@julian-wolf I’m a fan of Lofgren engineers and I have the M-43 which I really like (although in clear second to the engineer) but those Mocs have made sure I’ll not likely invest anything further.

@Cocoa_Lapin Those ‘Blakey’s’ that RDT use are just a throwback to a distant era. The daft thing is, they have cut away the more durable sole at the toe to add a bit of leather and a steel plate ... which doesn’t last as long as the main sole unit 

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Yeah, I've always really liked the idea of toe taps on leather soles, particularly for dress shoes, but adding leather to the part of the sole that takes the biggest beating just to add a tap over it seems pretty fishy

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12 hours ago, julian-wolf said:

Yeah, I've always really liked the idea of toe taps on leather soles, particularly for dress shoes, but adding leather to the part of the sole that takes the biggest beating just to add a tap over it seems pretty fishy

With my RDTs I was surprised to find that the metal toe taps wore out faster than the sole. And they were very slippery.  As Posted here before, I had them re-soled early on with wedge soles, which have held up very well (better than the RDT uppers!).

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2 hours ago, tod said:

With my RDTs I was surprised to find that the metal toe taps wore out faster than the sole. And they were very slippery.  As Posted here before, I had them re-soled early on with wedge soles, which have held up very well (better than the RDT uppers!).

The toe taps will always wear quicker - they’re merely an added layer of protection that’s supposed to be replaced. It’s more daft (IMO) to take the time to cut away a piece of the nitrile sole, which is very durable, and replace that part with a piece of leather, which is less durable, then screw on a toe tap.

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Best sole in my opinion is the vibram 100 full lug sole. 
I’ll be adding a low heel and lug sole to my whites boots when I re sole. The wedge sole was nice but just didn’t last for me. Done foe after only 4 months 

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Took a look at my Redwings and noticed the resole is a Vibram Moreflex - I assume that’s one of their lighter weight wedges (and possibly cheaper too). I’ll ensure I specify that’s NOT want I want if I go for another Vibram resole.

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Sharing my Paraboot Chambord sizing experiences here.
Perhaps it helps someone.
I've been interested in Paraboot shoes for many years. Thomas I Punkt in Hamburg here has been offering the Michael for more than 20 years and I always admired them, when I saw them.
And recently I quite enjoyed like many others the fit of Hayashi-san with his jeans and often the Chambord.

So, after researching a bit, it seemed that they fit a bit larger.
I wear EUR 44 mostly (UK 10/US11), so I got the UK 9.5.
Initially they fit pretty well, they even seemed a bit slippery in the heel area.
Then I read, that many found, that they fit the same as the RW Mocs. So I got a bit worried, that they might stretch and become too big.T
To be sure, I also got them in UK 9.
But those were far too small.

So I kept them 9.5.
But when I wore them a bit longer inside I realized, that while my left foot is quite fine, the right foot didn't have enough space mostly in width.
The toes felt cramped.
I had read, that they will stretch over time. After all this was already 0.5 size bigger than the general recommendation.
But the leather seems very sturdy.
I put them on two more times in my flat for an hour or so, walking around. But they didn't feel good. It was always a relief to take them off.

So, now I got them in UK 10, true to size.
These are a bit loose in the back, but now the right foot feels much more comfortable, even though still a bit restricted in the width.

It's kind of mysterious with finding the right shoe or boots size, in that sometimes one just cannot transfer others experiences.
For me, true to size is the right size.
And now I have a basically new UK 9.5 on offer in Cafe, if somebody is interested.

IMG_4835.thumb.JPG.f701100a23db71db79d9506728f9d00d.JPG


By the way, these are the 10, which I just got today. Right out of the box.
The leather is quite a bit waxy.

The 9.5 look more or less the same.

Edited by indigoeagle
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1 hour ago, robotbox said:

@bartlebyyphonicswhere did you pick up your suede russell chukkas?  I saw them in a fit pic you posted and they look fantastic.  

if you wear a small size it's worth to have a look for a second hand pair on yahoo.jp, plenty of them floating around, in the cool[er] JP makeups too.
 

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@indigoeagle I agree that true to size is correct. I’m also a EU 44, I bought the Michael’s in 43.5, and they were painfully tight. The big toe on my left foot was also touching the front of the shoe. I exchanged them for a 44, and my toe was no longer touching the front, but the shoe was crushing the widest part of my foot. I was going to sell them, likely for a loss, until I read a review somewhere and the reviewer said the break in process was awful. After two weeks of regretting not just selling them because it seemed like they just didn’t fit and wouldn’t break in, they were suddenly comfortable. The left foot is still a wee bit more snug than the right, but it still feels pretty good. I’m surprised at how much the leather stretched- though the outsole breaking in may have had something to do with it, they had what seemed like no flex at all the first few days. I’m happy I stuck with them, I’m really starting to like them.

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13 hours ago, robotbox said:

@bartlebyyphonicswhere did you pick up your suede russell chukkas?  I saw them in a fit pic you posted and they look fantastic.  

thank you; got them off the shelf when superdenim (the shop, not the website) had a brick and mortar site in London (with real mccoys) and they had a few variations... double select seem to sell them off the shelf in uk too but very limited options ... if you are US based, my advice would be find some examples and get in touch with them to build that spec. [their own versions seem less adventurous than those on the Japanese sites... ] they are in Berlin Wisconsin, that now infamous swing state... [I think the county they are in were pretty red through and through though]

12 hours ago, volvo240thebest said:

if you wear a small size it's worth to have a look for a second hand pair on yahoo.jp, plenty of them floating around, in the cool[er] JP makeups too.
 

indeed, sz 9 seems the biggest... the one time I was in Japan drunken salarymen would point at my size 10.5UK gaijin feet in exclamation ...

that said, off the shelf rm advice seems to be (as with redwing) get a 1/2 size smaller: ie I have a US 11 D

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For Russell Mocs, if you can get the model number from one of the japanese make ups, you can get them remade directly from Russell as a custom order. I got a pair custom made years ago, pics in this thread somewhere. They were very easy to deal with and the possibilities are pretty endless. I am going to wear mine tomorrow!

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6936D50C-9017-4D58-9F87-9AF2E7379ABD.thumb.jpeg.573079e2d724cab88b0a765ba093b1bf.jpeg

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Not sure how you guys think of Visvim, these come from the FW12 collection. Made from Horween bison if I’m not wrong. Got these during the 11.11 sale on Rakuten and had a 10% off. These came with full of pet’s hair and scuffs. Gave them a good clean and conditioning and they look great and well worn in already. The sole looks like they can go on for another few years before a resole. 

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I posted about those back in 2012 and they weren’t well received here then.  Basically, it was compared to Wesco.  I even received down votes for posting it.
 

The Poundmaker.  Sounds like a large American Burger special.

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