Shoes that look better with age...

[Rain Dogs]

those are beautiful

[Soks]

Gotta agree, those lone wolf mechanic boots looks great once they crease up. Saw them when new and didn't really like the shape, but I've changed my tune.

[Wörn75]

3+ years / conditioned x 2

 

Ksubi Newman Boot

 

Nice patina developing all over.

 

Love these things 

 

[tod]

Gotta agree, those lone wolf mechanic boots looks great once they crease up. Saw them when new and didn't really like the shape, but I've changed my tune.

 

Me too.  Really like the mechanic boots, but can't justify getting a pair in addition to my black White's BH's...

[mpukas]

Young, those Lone Wolf boots are looking great. 

[youngofthesoonest]

thanks! i've been super happy with them. if i didnt already have a couple brown boots, i wouldve been tempted by the brown version too. 

[bradl]

Will update them on the weekend when I clean them up.

 

[volvo240thebest]

jesus christ! how long have you been wearing those white's? I sort of remember that you got them fairly recently. Looking good anyway!

Edited January 30, 2015 by volvo240thebest

[bradl]

Yeah, I think I got them around October sometime. But they are holding up amazingly, absolutely zero complaints. Maybe the only one I have I'd that I only have one pair..

Actually instagram shows that I got them 13 weeks ago.

[volvo240thebest]

I've never been so keen on White's but those look really nice. Rock solid, like an old volvo ahah!

look forward to see them after some TLC

[bradl]

Yeah I have to admit that I like them beaten up, more so then I do new. Don't feel like I am wearing cement shoes anymore.

[sombrero]

Anyone messed with Dalee's?  Kinda want these bad boys in black but I have no idea how to size.

 

[mp201]

Dry Bones came today! They're rad.

[edd]

nyc has been pretty snowy these past two weeks and as a result i got a bunch of salt stains on my boots. been looking around online and have come up with the answer of wiping my boots down with a solution of water and vinegar to get rid of the salt stains. is this the correct method or is there another way? also the leather in the areas with the salt stains looks super dried out, how would i go about fixing this?  

 

sorry if this is in the wrong thread

[onehundy]

Yes it's fine, 1/2 warm water and 1/2 vinegar.

[bradl]

I've never been so keen on White's but those look really nice. Rock solid, like an old volvo ahah!

look forward to see them after some TLC

 

Edited February 7, 2015 by bradl

[Megatron1505]

Question for English shoe experts. I was in Debenhams with the wife (yeh, yeh...), and I picked up a pair of Jasper Conran boots with what looked like a Vibram Chrisy sole on them. Imagine my surprise to find that not only was it a Vibram sole but also the boots were ridiculously heavy, looked really well made and were stamped as "Made in England". Does Jasper Conran have a deal with any of the better known English shoe makers to make their boots? 

 

They were brown brogues and looked like the Trickers x Present collaborations, or the Grenson style wedge sole boots (Fred?). Any ideas guys? Took my attention because they were below £70 on offer.

[__3xL]

[Mr. Blue]

White's Semi-Dress boots in navy CXL

 

New:

 

Now:

[Mr. Blue]

Just got my first pair of Wesco's today!

Wesco Review time!

 

The Leather:

The burlap leather is really nice, thick, and velvety soft: feels like buckskin! Though I will need to put some LP on it so it won’t be so absorbent. It is already starting to show some discoloration and scuffing even though I just got them today so I will be treating them to help seal the leather against heavy staining.

 

Stitching:

Stitching is awesome; I really like the two tone stitching with the super thick stitch in the middle. It’s a nice artistic detail. 

 

Sole:

The Vibram 132 sole is fairly light and nicely soft rubber that absorbs a bit of shock when walking. It also has a good amount of grip + awesome tread pattern. The half slip seems to also add a bit of arch support to the otherwise pretty flat sole. It's lower and more block-like than many of the standard soles and this gives the boot a more contemporary, yet very comfortable, feel.

 

Support:

Surprisingly good! I thought that because they didn’t have the added piece of leather in the arch like white’s boots do that they wouldn't have any support, but that turned out to be an incorrect assumption. That said, they do have a bit less support than my White’s boots overall, but still very good and much better than I expected.

 

Steel toe:

The steel toe doesn't cut into my toe or anything and is quite comfortable and rugged, but this is achieved by making the boots a bit tall in the toe area which makes them look rather large. More of an observation than anything else.

 

Fit: The most noticeable thing is the toe is roomy because it's steel, but also the heel fits very snug in a good way.

 

Overall construction:

Good solid boots. The mid-sole (excluding the half slip) seems a bit thinner than my White’s, but quite adequate. I set them next to my White’s smokejumpers and semi-dress boots and they seem to be about comparable. These boots are a little different here and there from what I’m used to, but overall awesome boots.

 

Closing thoughts: I’m very glad that Wesco is still a small American made/owned company. The quality and construction is very nice, they are comfortable, and really about all I could hope for in a pair of boots. These will not be my last pair of Wesco’s!

[Mr. Blue]

 

 

[Mr. Blue]

And on the feet after a light treatment of LP:

[mpukas]

very, very nice Mr B! While those would not be a build for me personally, I appreciate what you've done. This solidifies for me that Wesco is prolly top of the NA boot makers. The stitching looks amazing! I think the next custom boots I do will be from them. Thanks for sharing! 

[fre-co]

Do you need those as work boots?

[Cucoo]

x-post from "Custom/Resoled Boots"

 

 

 

I finally had my Red Wing 9027 resoled and the buckles changed out for good measure. I like the look a lot more now. It's the 2268 sole plus 2268 roller buckles. A huge improvement over the branded buckles IMO, and I never liked the white wedge soles. A great way to improve upon the crepe wedge sole engineers by Red Wing I think, because those can be had for much cheaper than the 2268.

 

They went from this:

 

 

 

to this:

 

  

 

Heel stitching compared to stock 2268:

 

 

 

[Mr. Blue]

Do you need those as work boots?

Not strictly speaking…. 

[JoeySullivan]

Chippewa service boots arrived a couple week ago. I like them alot.

 

Edited February 17, 2015 by JoeySullivan

[mpukas]

What do we think of the new Rancourt Blake Boot in Horween natural veg tanned Essex leather? 

http://www.rancourtandcompany.com/the-horween-essex-collection/blake-boot-essex.html

I think they look pretty sweet, but there's something about the side profile to seems a bit odd to me... maybe it's just the size of the model boot and the way it's photo'd. would love to see in person. 

 

[Megatron1505]

The incline from the toe is too steep, makes the toe look too short for that style of boot.

[mpukas]

@gav - that's my thought too. Shame.