Shoes that look better with age...

[patrick_b]

WOW. Great images or some fantastic craftsmanship.

[Maynard Friedman]

I think this is the most appropriate thread for this post. Here are a nice looking pair of boots for the down under crowd, available from the Wakefield Hotel in Wellington. Interestingly they use the brass screw method to attach the sole to the upper, as employed by William Lennon:

http://www.wakefieldhotel.co.nz/journal/2012/dec/wakefield-hotel-limited-edition-handmade-boots

For $450 (NZ I believe), they look good value too.

[Planetarium]

To chime in about Tricker's, I have found mine in coffee do not scratch very easily and take on aesthetically pleasing scuffs, almost like smudges. I haven't had need to polish mine yet, but all of the polishing results I've seen around the 'net have been pretty great.

My Alden 405s on the other hand have a bunch of cuts, though I will grant that they were worn more often up until recently.

[spidereye]

A few weeks ago a number of Julian boots were offered by some Japanese shops.

It seems they've sold out quickly.

Here are a few pics.

Nice boot by julian.....last pic are so classic looks.He also made the rrl bowery boots.

[Double 0 Soul]

Interestingly they use the brass screw method to attach the sole to the upper, as employed by William Lennon:

http://www.wakefield...-handmade-boots

Neville employees some very old techniques to make boots the most notable being the use of brass screw wire to attach the leather runner to the upper. It’s an extremely rare process first used in the early 1900's with only four other footwear manufacturers in the world still doing it this way.

And they are...

1) William Lennon (Maynard)

2)

3)

4)

^ Fill this in win some rep.

[Maynard Friedman]

^

1) William Lennon (UK)

2) Lastrite (NZ) - creator of the boot I mentioned earlier

3) R M Williams (Australia)

4) Someone in Cornwall (UK)

According to Paul T on Loomstate.co.uk:

"Most of the machinery is over 100 years old. This is a Rapid Standard Brass Screw machine, made by British United Shoe Machinery in Leicester. This design, which evolved from the old wooden peg designs, appeared around 1905, and is the key to Lennon's distinctive construction. The machine clamps the leather sole to the leather outsole, and puts a threaded brass screw all the way through, sandwiching the upper in between and making a watertight seal – the construction, say Lennon, is stronger than the Goodyear welt for industrial boots. The world population of these machines numbers five; two here, one in Cornwall, one in Australia and one in New Zealand."

Edited December 29, 2012 by Maynard Friedman

[Double 0 Soul]

For all you fans of English footwear, A visit to Crockett&Jones.

Sorry about the poor image quality. I pulled these out of an old copy of 2nd.

[ranonranonarat]

great information, MF and Double 0 Soul and also Davi in his earlier post. i appreciate everyone sharing the information and knowledge they have.

tried to find out more about this "threaded brass screw" method, are those dots on the inner sides of the stitching of the soles, said "threaded brass screws"?

[heinrich BCN]

1) Ian Harold from Australia

2)

3)

4)

They use it on almost all there boots, RM Williams only on special order MTOs.

Edited December 29, 2012 by heinrich BCN

[exaptavist]

.

Edited October 8, 2015 by hoggreaser

[CrashTestBrummie]

For all you fans of English footwear, A visit to Crockett&Jones.

Sorry about the poor image quality. I pulled these out of an old copy of 2nd.

Great stuff, thanks for sharing. Gotta love those kind of mags, they always seem to dig up some incredible shit that you've never seen before!

Saw some preview pics today of some of C&J's new models coming out next year, and there's an interesting new suede colour titled summat like 'denim blue' - actually an electric blue that's pretty special and would look amazing used on a boot leg or similar. Might have to go back to the MTO board...

And Edward Green have released their other shearling Galway model, in rosewood country calf and tobacco suede, seen below with the walnut country calf/mink suede version which I picked up recently (bottom pic, excuse the lack of denim but it was a work day!):

[exaptavist]

.

Edited October 8, 2015 by hoggreaser

[exaptavist]

.

Edited October 8, 2015 by hoggreaser

[jay1k2]

Hey guys,

I just got these red wings and I'm looking for some advice. These are my first pair of nice shoes and I'm not sure what to expect in terms of quality. After a week of owning them I noticed on the left shoe the stitching is off between the front of the sole and the toe part of the quarter.

Am I being too picky or should I see if I can get them fixed/replaced?

[exaptavist]

.

Edited October 8, 2015 by hoggreaser

[Double 0 Soul]

And this is one of the nicest pairs I've seen recently.

Walk on. They're made with Glass Finish leather. Similar to coleslawyum's Toys McCoys Railmans.

Unfortunately the biggest size seems to be 9.5. And I'm not sure how they fit.

Now it has finally stopped raining i have got around to some close up photo,s of the Toys Railman "Glass Finish" Leather that i was banging on about earlier. Most people in the Western hemisphere dont get the opportunity to see it up close.

As you can see full of character and not as shinny as you would expect for something called Glass Finish.

The photo,s say a lot more than my badly chosen adjectives ever will.

[exaptavist]

.

Edited October 8, 2015 by hoggreaser

[CrashTestBrummie]

hoggreaser, this one's specially for you!

[exaptavist]

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Edited October 8, 2015 by hoggreaser

[Crat]

Do your feet have low arches CTB? I ask because your galways' derby 'flaps' are touching.

Mine are a little open.

[Maynard Friedman]

I ask because your 'flaps' are touching.

Mine are a little open.

That's a little strong, are you sure this is the right forum for that kind of comment?!!!!

[Crat]

LOL.

I honestly swear that I wrote that with nothing other than the shoes in mind though I see now how I might have formulated it a bit awkwardly.

[CrashTestBrummie]

Do your feet have low arches CTB? I ask because your galways' derby 'flaps' are touching.

Mine are a little open.

Someone else pointed that out to me the other day, so maybe I do!

[conqueror]

what size should i get in red wing SHOES (particular the 8106 oxford, not boots) - i am a US 12 or 12.5 in most things. i presume a US 11.5?

[denimjunky]

You presume correctly. RW run 1 size big, both boots and shoes.

[fre-co]

You presume correctly. RW run 1 size big, both boots and shoes.

Unless you have wide feet. Unlike CTB who's flaps touch.

[CrashTestBrummie]

I can't stop looking at my flaps, now. Seems to be more pronounced on the left foot than the right. It would explain why the AS Dumfries always looks a little 'off' when I wear them, as they're built on a last with a lot of instep room. Hmmm.

They don't touch on the Islays:

Another wet day today (2012's been the wettest year on record for England, fact fans) so time for an honourable mention for the C&J Snowdon. Wasn't sure about these at first but they've born the brunt of the more recent crap weather admirably, along with the shearling Galways.

Rewaxed the boots a couple of days ago and this time it's darkened the leather noticeably. The boots however don't even look like they've been worn that much as the Horween-made Oak Wax Hide is tougher than I originally thought:

[denimjunky]

Unless you have wide feet. Unlike CTB who's flaps touch.

LOL. yeah, if your feet are of normal->widish width (like mine) go for D.

[engar]

Any Pistolero owner around here?

[alvah407]

^ Who carries these? More info, if you please.

Just answered my own question. Thanks,.

Edited December 31, 2012 by alvah407