Shoes that look better with age...

[fre-co]

If I lived within driving distance of Spokane, I would take full advantage!

[Duke Mantee]

2 hours ago, JDelage said:

Maybe I should reframe my question as:

How would you rank bookmakers in broad categories of craftsmanship quality given the context of, say, a pair of town & country Chelsea in some flavor of horsehide...

We’ve had a little bit of a discussion earlier in this thread about Chelsea Boots (starting on p. 331) - the issue isn’t really about quality, because arguably the quality of RDT, Lofgren, Paraboot, Church’s, Trickers and RM Williams Chelsea Boots (to name a few) are broadly equivalent. So then it boils down to the styling or the fit or the material used ... or cost - you could spend $1500 on a pair from Edward Green

 

[Duke Mantee]

4 minutes ago, mlwdp said:

@Duke ManteeIt’s a crime you left Chippewa off the list lol. 

I actually thought I was doing quite well to get 3 dozen or so ...

[bartlebyyphonics]

I'll put in a vote for the Wesco Romeo...

& 100% yes unmarked for the Mexican makers...

& look thru @Double 0 Soul posts for incredible buco and toys mccoys set ups

and @volvo240thebest posts for championing of indo boots sagara and onderhoud before lofgren got out his dog-whistle...

Edited February 12, 2021 by bartlebyyphonics

[fre-co]

I love my Toys McCoys Surveyor boots (Pictures from a while ago)

Had to get these rewelted though due to the welt ripping apart on one boot

 

Dont forget Russell Mocassin for the list!

[bartlebyyphonics]

47 minutes ago, mlwdp said:

@Duke ManteeIt’s a crime you left Chippewa off the list lol. 

& thorogood!

[& russell moccasins...] - ah @fre-co beat me to it...

[and for the slim toe heads; road champ / mr freedom]

1 hour ago, JDelage said:

I'm not really looking for what is the most *convenient* option. Really trying to understand the quality / craftsmanship "mapping", including for makers in Japan, etc.

fwiw... in the history of amerikaji there are moments where US production sputters and stops: an interesting moment for PNW residents is whether to support continued production of said boots or to buy tripled priced refined versions... [this again may seem white chauvinist/nationalist etc. but when I can buy vintage at price x and repro at price x3 I know where to go... in my limited experience; 50s Oshkosh fabric outshines the more recent Orslow remake of it [as excellent as that is, and it is excellent]: or... if you can get it whilst it lives; do so... cone is one example of this... and I say this knowing Attractions 444 is best boot out there for the price... ]

also: another thought: boots have their histories: the semiotics of this is worth paying attention to... a boot is not just a boot...

for example: the slimmer 40s profiled engineers are beloved of the true vintage head, but may be toooo cosplay for the casul...

whereas the m43 boondocker is a great all rounder...

and etc. off topic interesting to see how the long shaft logger was adopted for the gay bondage scene of the 70s (as documented here by dear Robert Mapplethorpe) for its own excessive machismo qualities... and for another queered version of boot love do see Kenneth Anger's Scorpio Rising - see around 8:11 for blue velvet meets jean genet meets white trouser biker madness!

Edited February 12, 2021 by bartlebyyphonics

[unders]

9 minutes ago, fre-co said:

I love my Toys McCoys Surveyor boots (Pictures from a while ago)

 

Hubby hubba at that rainbow stitch 

[Maynard Friedman]

40 minutes ago, bartlebyyphonics said:

and @volvo240thebest posts for championing of indo boots sagara and onderhoud before lofgren got out his dog-whistle...

Agreed, It was a completely onderhouded comment to make.

[bartlebyyphonics]

onderhoud-overhoud-wandering free [until the vamp cramps ones foot...]

interesting that the name is dutch for maintenance [repair]: colonial histories bite deep still even when championing variance...

[fre-co]

Someone mentioned attractions- not the lot.444 but the previous iteration. Horse butt and brass buckles.... And the best engineer boot profile around for me. 

[JDelage]

1 hour ago, fre-co said:

If I lived within driving distance of Spokane, I would take full advantage!

It's certainly doable but it's close to 5hrs each way - when the passes are open that is.

Edited February 12, 2021 by JDelage

[fre-co]

18 minutes ago, JDelage said:

It's certainly doable but it's close to 5hrs each way - when the passes are open that is.

You should do it one day. Next time I go to seattle I would do it. I really love Washington state (and Oregon). 

[Broark]

34 minutes ago, fre-co said:

Someone mentioned attractions- not the lot.444 but the previous iteration. Horse butt and brass buckles.... And the best engineer boot profile around for me. 

I've really been eyeing a pair of 444's lately, they just restocked the size 12.
However they quoted me some crazy delivery/payment processing fees for international shipment.
Came out to something like 111,500¥ all in so I said thanks but no thanks...

[fre-co]

That’s a lot. I paid about 75,000 for mine I think. 

[Broark]

That’s what I thought too as the list price is now 88,000¥...I think they were trying to charge me for domestic Japanese taxes as well as a 50 USD for PayPal payment processing. Not to mention 100 USD for shipping.

Edited February 12, 2021 by Broark

[bartlebyyphonics]

hence if you live near Wesco, buy Wesco etc.etc.... 

would love to visit r mocs for a fitting...

[mlwdp]

I lived in Wisconsin for 13 years and never even thought about visiting R Moc.

[oomslokop]

14 hours ago, bartlebyyphonics said:

interesting that the name is dutch for maintenance [repair]: colonial histories bite deep still even when championing variance...

since the dutch were too stingy to establish a proper education system most indos now dont speak a word of dutch. but there are quite a bit of adopted dutch words in bahasa indonesia as recent viewing of holland drag race attested: kulkas, kamar, handuk, kos, lekker, etc. sometimes dutch or dutch-sounding words are still used to denote "classic" status, mostly in food (ah thats a really good ollie bollen (instead of plain donuts)). my wife's family who comes from manado in north sulawesi, stereotypically depicted in regional history as dutch collaborationists, speaks dutch at the dinner table when they dont want me to understand them :D, but way more indos speak english than dutch nowadays. interesting to note onderhoud is from bandung, a hipster holiday town with lots of nicely preserved colonial houses, which the dutch used to call "parijs van java". ive wondered if onderhoud adopted the name like some bandung businesses (sagara is also from bandung) for the olde worlde charm. tho we also have a word for affected peeps who fetishise the west/colonizers and throw dutch/english/french words here and there to appear more classy: "inlander", appropriated/reclaimed from the derogatory colonial-time dutch word for "natives". i spoke to a leather artisan friend from bandung now based in bali (PRMfg https://instagram.com/prmfg.co?igshid=13v7a5f5elzlz) and he said most of the neu bandung shoe artizans were schooled by this artist-cum-shoemaker called tegep (https://instagram.com/tegep.boots?igshid=1t74lrf0q5gvc) who died a few years ago and was more into harley/biker leather stuff. he was apparently the one who taught all the new kids how to goodyearwelt. in his later years tegep went into fashion and got his boots on hkfw runways. mooi.

Edited February 13, 2021 by oomslokop
more historical tidbits

[Signet]

[Signet]

wesco mr lou's worn everyday for 6 months 

[bartlebyyphonics]

17 hours ago, mlwdp said:

I lived in Wisconsin for 13 years and never even thought about visiting R Moc.

indeed, you never know what you've got 'til its gone... 

15 hours ago, oomslokop said:

since the dutch were too stingy to establish a proper education system most indos now dont speak a word of dutch. but there are quite a bit of adopted dutch words in bahasa indonesia as recent viewing of holland drag race attested: kulkas, kamar, handuk, kos, lekker, etc. sometimes dutch or dutch-sounding words are still used to denote "classic" status, mostly in food (ah thats a really good ollie bollen (instead of plain donuts)). my wife's family who comes from manado in north sulawesi, stereotypically depicted in regional history as dutch collaborationists, speaks dutch at the dinner table when they dont want me to understand them :D, but way more indos speak english than dutch nowadays. interesting to note onderhoud is from bandung, a hipster holiday town with lots of nicely preserved colonial houses, which the dutch used to call "parijs van java". ive wondered if onderhoud adopted the name like some bandung businesses (sagara is also from bandung) for the olde worlde charm. tho we also have a word for affected peeps who fetishise the west/colonizers and throw dutch/english/french words here and there to appear more classy: "inlander", appropriated/reclaimed from the derogatory colonial-time dutch word for "natives". i spoke to a leather artisan friend from bandung now based in bali (PRMfg https://instagram.com/prmfg.co?igshid=13v7a5f5elzlz) and he said most of the neu bandung shoe artizans were schooled by this artist-cum-shoemaker called tegep (https://instagram.com/tegep.boots?igshid=1t74lrf0q5gvc) who died a few years ago and was more into harley/biker leather stuff. he was apparently the one who taught all the new kids how to goodyearwelt. in his later years tegep went into fashion and got his boots on hkfw runways. mooi.

thanks for the in-depth articulation of this: really good to know the intricacies of history, language and practice...  where [and excuse my divergence] the present can never outrun the ghosts of the past, nor can it reclaim the devalorised pre-colonial culture, but [citing Fanon here]... “[the post colonial author / artist / maker] must go on until he has found the seething pot out of which the learning of the future will emerge”

On shoe topic: I always liked very much this portrait by Seydou Keïta from Mali from 1950s, looks like he's wearing [something like] Paraboots in his own very non French style...

 

[Duke Mantee]

I’m not sure they’re available now being a couple of years old, but I really like the overall shape

[mpukas]

Danner can built a decent boot when they put their mind to it. 

[mlwdp]

3 hours ago, mpukas said:

Danner can built a decent boot when they put their mind to it. 

Danner JP you mean.  These been available through Stumptown for awhile.

And they have cordovan leather models too.

[mpukas]

11 hours ago, mlwdp said:

Danner JP you mean.  These been available through Stumptown for awhile.

And they have cordovan leather models too.

Are they made in JP, or made in US for JP market? 

[mlwdp]

Made in Japan for the JP market.  I think I posted about this model and others back around 2012. The corodovan version is a beast too if it’s still available.  They remind me of Toys McCoy boots.

[Signet]

wesco x signet jobmaster in wickett and craig glazed harness leather  contact us  if you want a pair in this leather !

[persco_]

So I see @BrownMetallic's post with a super nice pair of old Dayton Drivers a few days ago. I've wanted a pair for a long time. I used to wear Dayton boots (not the drivers) in the 90s, I think I went through three pairs. The Dayton story is sad given what's become of the company now. And they haven't made these for several years. But by some weird turn, I ran across a pair in my size for sale here in Canada in a Kijiji ad. They arrived today and turns out they've barely been worn. I love them. Paid $100 CAD.

[redragon]

Really nice looking Addict X RDT ...

Comes with equally "nice" price tag

[shredwin_206]

2 month update? 
Been working these hard 
Treated with Oregon Trail Boot Wax every two weeks   
Minor things that bug me:      
the random split in the tongue
the left boot toe box remains nice and smooth while the right creases like mad? Haha. 
HATE the wedge soles since they are way too soft   
lastly 6” is too low for a work boot. I can’t wait for the 8” version to release.