Standard & Strange / Oakland CA / Info, Updates, Etc

[goodrain]

actually you can take BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit) from SFO or OAK to the MacArthur station and then S&S is a 15 minute walk away. I second the Bakesale Betty recommendation, haha.

[Campagnolo]

On 1/25/2017 at 4:38 PM, goodrain said:

actually you can take BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit) from SFO or OAK to the MacArthur station and then S&S is a 15 minute walk away. I second the Bakesale Betty recommendation, haha.

You're totally right! I hardly travel via BART anymore as a means of traveling to/from flights (as much as I despise Uber), so it totally slipped my mind. I definitely recommend Curbside Creamery if you trying to get some sweets as well. They're in the Alley where S&S used to be right around the corner! The whole area is such a legit spot.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Campagnolo

[mrsmiff]

Everyone else beat me to it - we're easy to get to from MacArthur BART - walk straight up Telegraph (stop for a beer at Temescal Brewing) and you'll find us on the last block before 51st street, across from the big Walgreens stripmall mess.

[heavydoom]

i am flying in from toronto, maybe.  is there a closer airport near your area besides LAX?

[garden gnomes in space]

2 hours ago, heavydoom said:

i am flying in from toronto, maybe.  is there a closer airport near your area besides LAX?

Well, considering S & S is in oakland I would suggest Oakland International...:)

[Maynard Friedman]

^ Logic like that will get you absolutely nowhere Gnomes. Nowhere.... 

[ironheartfan123]

lol.. sfo is another option

[mrsmiff]

17 hours ago, heavydoom said:

i am flying in from toronto, maybe.  is there a closer airport near your area besides LAX?

SFO isn't bad - it's a 50 minute ride from SFO->MacArthur BART, versus about 30 minutes from OAK.

[heavydoom]

that's better, oakland international.

[mrsmiff]

Deeper discounts on all our sale items with code "DWAYNE2020".

[mrsmiff]

Yes, those are custom toe-bumpers, you are correct

The Real McCoy's Military Canvas Training Shoes There’s a proliferation of made-in-Japan vulcanized sneakers lately, but most are being made up from stock components with a new label slapped on.  The Real McCoy’s once again steps above the fray, and produces a perfect example of what appears to be a very simple product on the outside with their Military Canvas Training Shoe in natural, black, and olive canvas. While these aren’t an exact reproduction of any particular military sneaker from the mid-20th century, they pull influences from those, along with styling cues from early Converse and Keds (among others). One touch is the date stamped inside the tongue - “18 DECEMBER 1944” - which is the day when Douglas MacArthur was made a five-star general in the US Army. Every aspect of these sneakers is carefully considered, and custom for The Real McCoy’s, starting with the last. The toe bumpers, foxing, and outsole are all made from custom molds, and the canvas upper is woven just for these sneakers, delivering a sneaker that could be deadstock from an earlier time.

Shop the new kicks here

Shop The Real McCoy's

Edited April 5, 2017 by mrsmiff

[mrsmiff]

We got a bunch of cool stuff in from The Real McCoy's

The Junk Force was a coastal joint patrol between the Vietnamese and the US, and their uniform was the local garb - simple black unstructured shirts and pants in black plain-weave. The Real McCoy's has upgraded those shirts and trousers to a cotton-linen blend. Continuing the Vietnam-era theme, we also received the Tiger Camo Boonie hat with an incredible woven band based on the handmade ones given by the Montagnard allies to US soldiers. Kicking back to WW2, three colors of the Type A-3 mechanic's cap arrived - denim, khaki herringbone twill, and olive herringbone twill.  We also got their new tubular knit pocket-tees in white, navy, green, and saxony blue. SHOP THE REAL MCCOY'S NOW YOU SHOULD FOLLOW US

[mrsmiff]

I'm about to put in our sizes for an order of Barrie-last Indy boots, which we're doing up in the brand-new Pecan Austin leather that Alden just started using. It's a handsome mid-brown with some pull-up, and will make a great boot.

Details:

• Pecan Austin leather
• Barrie last
• Brass eyelets, no speedhooks
• 270 reverse storm welt
• Natural edges
• White stitching
• Commando sole

Email me (jeremy @ standard and strange dot com) if you want to reserve a pair, or get a non-D width. After I cut the PO tonight/tomorrow morning, I won't be able to add any sizes or widths.

 

Pecan Austin swatch:

Edited May 10, 2017 by mrsmiff

[mrsmiff]

We just picked up a trio of new Red Wings for warmer weather. The 8106 Moc Toe Oxford Shoe in Black Chrome and the 8099 Copper Worksmith Moc Toe Oxford Shoe are built to the same standards as the classic moc toe boots from Red Wing, but with a bit more room for your ankles to breath.

The 3321 Weekender Chukka in Hawthorne Muleskinner is great after-hours boot, in a lighter weight construction on a new crepe sole, paying homage to Red Wing's history of making casual boots as well as work boots.

[mrsmiff]

Pssst - we have a sale on - use code "JOETRUDEAU" for 25% everything in our sale collection.

[mrsmiff]

MEET AND GREET WITH ANDREW NOTE

OF FREENOTE CLOTH

 

This Saturday - May 20th From Noon til 6PM

Standard & Strange

5010 Telegraph Ave

OAK/CA

 

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2017 by mrsmiff

[edmond]

I need some real mccoy chambray shirt do u guys have some? 

[mrsmiff]

11 minutes ago, edmond said:

I need some real mccoy chambray shirt do u guys have some? 

Nope - but we can order for you. Shoot us an email. Hello at Standardandstrange.com

[mrsmiff]

Just a reminder that Andrew will be here from Freenote on Saturday from noon til 6pm.

 

Come on over, hang out, and talk about denim with one of the friendliest guys in the business.

[mrsmiff]

We've got two new jams coming in hot from 3sixteen. These'll be available on-line at 12am Friday, and in-store when we open at 11am.

The color-blocked workshirt is sewn up from 2 shades of Japanese-woven indigo oxford cloth, and the bandana print short-sleeve features a discharge-print indigo selvedge cotton poplin, also woven in Japan. 

 

 

[mrsmiff]

Neil recently took a trip up to the Wesco® factory in Scappoose, Oregon to watch our next batch of the Van Cleef engineer boots go down the line. We’ve been a Wesco dealer for some time now, and wanted to pay them a visit to learn more about how boots get made.

The journey from leather to boot starts out with the clicker — a giant press that cuts out each piece of leather from the hide. Every part of the upper portion of the boot needs a corresponding die; each size of every boot needs a die the right size.

In the upper cutting department. A small number of the many dies Wesco uses.

Below, you can see the backstay, the hide it was cut from, and the die laid out. (The backstay is the piece of leather that goes vertically up the back of an engineer boot. Once the leather is cut, the pieces are fitted and sewn.

The backstay cut out of a hide.

Wesco® offers nearly infinite combinations of leathers, thread colors, and soles allowing the perfect boot to made for every customer.

Some of the many thread colors available for your Wesco boots. Wesco uses a number of vintage (such as this one) and modern sewing machines on their footwear.

We didn’t make it in time to catch the boots being sewn in full, so we’re starting with the final stages of sewing here. The backstays are being glued down to hold them in place for stitching.

Backstays glued on, ready for sewing.

For the Van Cleef, it was essential that we have the vintage style V-stitch on the backstay. Here you can see how it’s done with multiple passes, no double-stitch machines here.

Stitching on the backstays Sewing machine for uppers Backstay sewn in place. All ready for heel shaping.

Once the sewing is complete, we move on down the line to making these leather socks into boots. The next step is forming the heel.

The heel being formed. Heel shaped, and ready for the next step

After the heel is shaped, the last goes into the boot to continue the process. The last is the foot-shaped form that every pair of shoes or boots is built around, and the basis for the fit of your footwear.

Wesco has over 500 lasts in sizes 4AAA — 16EEEE.

Lasts, hanging out.

Next, we move onto the toe — these boots have a double vamp, and the inner layer is pulled around the last to shape the toe box by the Vamp Laster.

Vamp machine pulling the inner layer of the vamp around the last.

The process started by the machine has to be finished by hand. Lasting pliers are used in order to get the inner vamp layer all the way around the instep, where it’s tacked in place to the insole which you can see below.

Hand-stretching the inner layer of the vamp over the last.

Now that the toe is secure, the heel has to be nailed into place, which requires a different set of pliers and a hammer.

The last stages of closing up the upper around the last.

Now that the boot is wrapped around the last, the midsole is applied. You can see the inner layer of the vamp wrapped around the last in the image below.

Hammering the midsole down onto the last. The hammer for nailing in brass nails.

The outer layer of the vamp is wrapped around the last, and the first pass of the stitchdown process happens, holding the upper to the midsole in the front of the boot.

Stitching the midsole to the upper.

Here’s another shot of the Rapid E machine finishing up the initial stitchdown pass. You can see how the boot is wrapped in plastic to keep the natural veg-tan upper clean, as these old machines fling oil everywhere.

Midsole stitching with a vintage Rapid E machine.

After the front of the boot is stitched down, the heel is nailed in place, holding the midsole to the insole. Brass nails are used, as they don’t corrode with sweat or water.

Nailing the midsole in place. Midsole completely attached with size written on in Bic pen. A view into the outsole attachment and QA room.

Now that the midsole is attached, we move onto the outsole area in the factory.

The shot below is of a pair of boots with logger spikes in place, as the machine had just been oiled and was a bit too messy to do a lighter colored boot on. The operator always wears gloves, and all lighter boots are wrapped in plastic.

Attaching an outsole.

Here’s a close-up of the Rapid E doing its work on a Vibram 705 half-sole. As you can imagine, this is a very intense sewing machine, able to punch through multiple layers of leather and rubber.

Close-up view of the Rapid E at work on the outsole.

There is an excess of leather around the edges of the boot at this point from the upper vamp layer and the midsole, which needs to be trimmed off using a Sil-Par machine.

Trimming the excess leather from the upper and midsole.

Every pair of Wesco boots get the date of manufacture stamped inside, using the machine pictured below.

The date stamping machine.

This only covered a few of the over 155 steps involved in the production of a pair of Wesco boots. However, the process isn’t done until the boots are on your feet and broken in as your very own.

As you wear them, your feet will sink into the all leather insoles, and the uppers will shape to you, creating a pair that is yours, and only yours. All of the patina and wear you accrue will only further the process.

A classic Wesco sticker. The completed Van Cleefs, ready to be broken in by you.

[Foxy2]

Great boot-porn!

[mpukas]

Indeed! great pics and beautiful boots. 

 

Very tempting, but I'm afraid they wouldn't be wide enough for the way I prefer boots/shoes to fit. And the heel is too tall for my liking, but that could be altered. The price is very reasonable for this level of quality, when compared to other competing options. 

 

@mrsmiff - Is there a specific reason why you chose to do a full length Vibram outsole that extends into the heel stack vs a 1/2 sole? Personally I prefer the look of a 1/2, but  a full length outsole that leaves no exposed sole leather on the bottom of the boot will be much more durable and last longer. 

[mrsmiff]

3 hours ago, mpukas said:

 

@mrsmiff - Is there a specific reason why you chose to do a full length Vibram outsole that extends into the heel stack vs a 1/2 sole? Personally I prefer the look of a 1/2, but  a full length outsole that leaves no exposed sole leather on the bottom of the boot will be much more durable and last longer. 

We did the full sole for durability reasons, plus we ride motorbikes in these things, so having all rubber on the bottom makes for better footing on the pegs.

[mrsmiff]

 

New John Lofgren Boots!

His running classic, the Donkey Puncher (no, it's named for the loggers who operated steam donkeys in the late 19th century) in burgundy CXL is online and ready to ship.

 

We also picked up the M-43 service shoe, aka the boondocker in natural roughout CXL. This is my absolute favorite of the many boondocker boots out there, in terms of quality, finish, and overall look.We don't have these online quite yet - but shoot us an email if you're interested.

[mrsmiff]

I just dropped some new studio photos of the service boot over in the Shoes That Look Better With Age thread.

Here's a detail shot of just how clean these are for discussion purposes:

 

 

[mrsmiff]

We made a shop t with TSPTR featuring Mickey Rat, who somehow has never been sued by the Big D.

[mrsmiff]

It's that time of the year again! Denim Bruin returns July 27th - 30th.

[garden gnomes in space]

jesus, was it a year ago that Ooe was at your shop for this?

[mrsmiff]

14 hours ago, garden gnomes in space said:

jesus, was it a year ago that Ooe was at your shop for this?

And now, a year later, they'll be back at the shop.