Shoes that look better with age...

[indigoeagle]

Mich, I don't have any further info.

I just saw the fb pics.

[Mich]

I very much doubt the shoe healer can do what you want.

What part of my request do you think they can not perform? The CP heels i would provide myself.

If it's just the 'figure 8' stitching they can't stitch on, i could live with that.

Do you have experiences with European cobblers resoling an American shoe? You also own several pairs of White's if i'm correct?

Edited February 15, 2013 by Mich

[devilish]

Is anyone familiar with Ace Boots?

I could only find their FB page:

http://www.facebook.com/ace.boots

Nice engineers

I handled these a lot at Inspiration this weekend, I was really tempted to get a pair. The ones at the show had slightly lower profile toes and most of them had rubber half soles rather than the leather one in fb pictures. It was hard to get details from the guy at the booth, he didn't speak very good English and I don't know a word of Japanese, he was very busy with Japanese customers every time I went over. I believe some were HH and the quality was very good. I couldn't get a price but they are made here in the U.S. The only details that stopped me from buying were, I'd like a longer ankle strap with roller buckles and the toe wasn't quite as flat as I like. Although I think they would soften and flatten out with age.

[Planetarium]

^ I've often wondered myself if the naming conventions are not different between whomever is making the boot. Although I know for a fact that Alden 403's are not number 8. However, the leather they use for their CXL Indy's is a lot different than the normal brown CXL I have seen. Maybe its because the ones I have handled are new/not worn, but there is a luster to them that other brown CXL'd boots (Wolverine 1000) seem to lack.

Alden is known for re-dying their cordovan after they receive it; it's possible they do this with other hides as well. There are definitely some burgundy-ish overtones in the brown CXL they use, though I found the colors evened out with wear and brushing.

I do not miss the stretching and collapsing I experienced with my 403s, but I do miss the ease with which I could brush them to a respectable look. I may do some White's in the future with some thick CXL for that reason.

[fre-co]

What part of my request do you think they can not perform? The CP heels i would provide myself.

If it's just the 'figure 8' stitching they can't stitch on, i could live with that.

Do you have experiences with European cobblers resoling an American shoe? You also own several pairs of White's if i'm correct?

I don't think they will have vibram half soles, yeah the 8 stitch is unlikely. Not sure they will be equipped for stitch down construction.

I've not had to resole whites yet. My current pairs both have vibram soles. But I will just send mine back to whites when the time comes. If I'm not mistaken, there should be no tax or customs.

[fre-co]

Double post

Edited February 15, 2013 by fre-co

[CrashTestBrummie]

^Stitch-down construction should be fine with someone like Shoe Healer - he's put new soles on several pairs of veldts.

[garden gnomes in space]

based on other members experiences with getting white's resoled in the UK and elsewhere I suggest you just bite the bullet and send them to Whites. Might as well do it right the first time and save yourself the hassle.

[indigoeagle]

I handled these a lot at Inspiration this weekend, I was really tempted to get a pair. The ones at the show had slightly lower profile toes and most of them had rubber half soles rather than the leather one in fb pictures. It was hard to get details from the guy at the booth, he didn't speak very good English and I don't know a word of Japanese, he was very busy with Japanese customers every time I went over. I believe some were HH and the quality was very good. I couldn't get a price but they are made here in the U.S. The only details that stopped me from buying were, I'd like a longer ankle strap with roller buckles and the toe wasn't quite as flat as I like. Although I think they would soften and flatten out with age.

Thanks for sharing. Sounds pretty good.

So, it seems to be run by a Japanese who's in LA, at least that's what it says on his fb page. We'll probably hear more about the boots soon.

[fre-co]

^Stitch-down construction should be fine with someone like Shoe Healer - he's put new soles on several pairs of veldts.

I'm not sure I'd be the first to send mine there. After all the place megaton sent his 'should' have been able to do it too.

[Mich]

Thanks for the tips gents, i'll think it over a bit.

I might try out another cobbler located in Germany.

Dutch customs is not known for their goodwill, i've had to pay taxes on used items bought on ebay in the past, while i think it's unfair to charge taxes on 2nd hand stuff.

So i'm unsure how they'll handle a pair of my own boots when they return.

[Double 0 Soul]

It simply comes down to the value declared on the package by the sender. If something goes missing it needs to be insured by the courier therefor it needs a value.

If you are happy for Richard to declare the value of your boots to be £10 to avoid tax im sure he will do that for you. He does not know the value anyway but be it on your own head if they go missing. I suggest if you do mark the value down get them sent with full online tracking and signature so you can keep an eye on them. RM will charge around £18 for international signed for delivery to Europe with tracking. Richard will have a contract with FedEx or the like because they will collect and avoid his trips to the post office.

To get buyer protection from ebay against charge backs its the same story.

[Megatron1505]

Send your Whites back to Whites, unless you're going to send them to that Japanese dude who Ed uses. That is all, anything else will result is complete and utter ruination of your footwear.

[fre-co]

For repairs I believe there is a customs waiver form of some sort. You have already paid import duty once and therefore are exempt from doing so again. If you include a signed form with the boots when you send them stating the purpose and ask whites to keep it for return shipping then you should be ok.

I read the procedure for doing this but can't remember the details.

I looked it up on HMRC. For the UK at least you need to make some declarations when reimporting and you are ok, still have to pay vat on the repair cost though.

Edited February 15, 2013 by fre-co

[CrashTestBrummie]

I'm not sure I'd be the first to send mine there. After all the place megaton sent his 'should' have been able to do it too.

Yeah, that happened at the same time that Koko's in London fucked up my EG veldts, remember? Richard was able to resole them for a second time without any problems.

[fre-co]

It simply comes down to the value declared on the package by the sender. If something goes missing it needs to be insured by the courier therefor it needs a value.

If you are happy for Richard to declare the value of your boots to be £10 to avoid tax im sure he will do that for you. He does not know the value anyway but be it on your own head if they go missing. I suggest if you do mark the value down get them sent with full online tracking and signature so you can keep an eye on them. RM will charge around £18 for international signed for delivery to Europe with tracking. Richard will have a contract with FedEx or the like because they will collect and avoid his trips to the post office.

To get buyer protection from ebay against charge backs its the same story.

He's in Europe so there will be no custom fees from the uk.

[fre-co]

Yeah, that happened at the same time that Koko's in London fucked up my EG veldts, remember? Richard was able to resole them for a second time without any problems.

Yeah I forgot yours got fucked too. I don't think he would be familiar with whites construction though. Someone else would have to trailblaze before I trust mine to him.

[Mich]

Mega, i can recall the White's disaster you experienced all too well!

One of the reasons i decided to ask around first, before eventually deciding what route to go.

00, i completely get what you're saying, but indeed like Fresco mentioned i'm in the EU, so sending them to the UK and back would give me no hassle at all, regardless of the declared value on the parcel.

Sending them to the US or Japan on the other hand would be another thing.

I would not want to declare an extreme low value, there's always a risk of a parcel getting lost, and in that case i'd be pretty much fucked.

I'll inform with Dutch customs to see if they have a form like you mentioned Fresco, where i can state that these are my own boots, which i will only be shipping for repair.

If such a thing exists over here, getting them resoled by White's, or Okuyaman-san (that idea had already crossed my mind) will be less of an issue, because than i can be sure i won't have to pay import taxes again over a pair of boots i already payed them for once.

Paying taxes over the repair itself only sounds fair, and is no issue in my book.

[Double 0 Soul]

SLAB, have you got previous experiences with Shoehealer?

Looking for an address in Europe to avoid high shipping and custom fees.

Sorry man, Skipped a few posts. Why do you need a Euro address?

[Mich]

Sorry man, Skipped a few posts. Why do you need a Euro address?

Oh to avoid customs charges, i live in the Netherlands.

I already did some googling on experiences with shipping repairs from here to the US, and they weren't all good.

Someone mentioned calling customs and getting the reply that you need to let them fill in a form, which will cost you money, and even with that form they can not guarantee you won't have to pay import tax on the full declared value on return.

Anyway, i'll just give the customs office a call myself next week to find out what they have to say.

Edited February 15, 2013 by Mich

[Double 0 Soul]

Oh Shit! The penny has finally dropped,

You want an cobblers address in Europe to heel your shoes to avoid int. charges.

I thought you wanted a halfway house in the UK (sufu member) who could declare value on your customs form by proxy.

Apologies its been a long week.

[Crat]

Mich, I've hear good things about Luxa Schoenservice in Utrecht, should you want to have them done locally. I'd probably send them back to whites though for a first re-soling. You might have to pay 21% VAT for the cost of the re-soling service, which is fair.

[SLAB]

Mich, I think for a resoling of your White's you'd better try sending them to Whites. If you use a courier service, u need to fill in a special customs declaration form which needs to be completed by Whites when shipping back to you. Obviously this last part is extremely important and Im not sure if White's are able or willing to fill it in correctly. The form states that the shoes were yours so U wouldnt need to pay any customs on the value of the shoes but still on the cost of the resoling.

I don't know if Okuyama (is this his name?) is familiar with these kind of shipping forms...

The Shoehealer will do a great job on regular goodyear welted boots but I dont know if he can work on the double stitched Whites boots. Just keep in mind that the Shoehealer does not do rewelting and that he can only get English soles (Dainite, Ridgeway, commando soles used on Trickers boots, etc); that means no Vibram.

[CrashTestBrummie]

Crockett & Jones heaven...

From left: Hastings brogue (for James Purdey); Coniston boot; Skye boot; Argyll longwing (for Fife)

[Paul T]

Mich, I think for a resoling of your White's you'd better try sending them to Whites. If you use a courier service, u need to fill in a special customs declaration form which needs to be completed by Whites when shipping back to you. Obviously this last part is extremely important and Im not sure if White's are able or willing to fill it in correctly.

I've sent cameras to the US for repair - there is indeed a box you can tick, or you can simply write they are items being returned from repair in the product description. Officially, you don't have to pay customs. I was charged by Parcelforce for one item, because their sticker had covered the description; they also charge a processing fee. I simply explained, refused to pay the processing fee, paid the VAT only, giving my full details if they wanted to follow up (there was a huge queue behind me, so the staff were under a bit of pressure), then I called Customs and Revenue and had the VAT refunded. So the official position is quite simply, customs aren't due, altho' you might have a bit of a runaround.

And as for CTB... stop taunting me!

Edited February 16, 2013 by Paul T

[Megatron1505]

Been asked for some pics of my black CXL oxfords after a year of wear, so here we go....

[ThinFinn]

^ great looking oxfords there Mega!

Mich - you might want to share some pics before sending them off?!

did some photoshopping...what do you guys say?

black cxl toe, natural cxl shaft, double midsole, vibram 700 sole, standard heel (shape and height), standard trim, brass eyes&hooks

[lance]

1960s Gokeys Snake Proof chukkas. Handmade using true moccasin construction with 8-9 oz bullhide - 50 years along, still indestructible

Edited February 16, 2013 by lance

[exaptavist]

.

Edited October 8, 2015 by hoggreaser

[BillWho?]

Teaser pic: Cordovan Buco's I picked up at Inspiration this year...