Footwear to go with our jackets

[Edward]

Who knew Viberg made dress shoes? Not me until I saw these. I didn't have a decent pair of dress shoes and I have a friend's wedding coming up. *Disclaimer* I do not know formal wear style and I was going to buy a pair of Carmina Oxford's but Viberg had their annual sale and I couldn't resist.

From Viberg:
The Bastion Oxford is an archival pattern created by Edwin Viberg dating back to 1960. It is slightly more formal than the Derby or Rockland Blucher because it features a closed lacing system in which the quarters, the side tabs where the shoelace eyelets are punctured, are sewn under the vamp. We have updated the original style by tightly trimming the waist with a round blade, allowing it to contour to the shape of the last.

I wore them for a day out and about and to dinner and they are surprisingly comfortable, Viberg work well for my feet, atleast the few I've tried. The leather is their Regency Calf which is more supple than I expected, nothing like my boots in CXL, Shell, Horsebutt. The leather has highs and lows, I'm not sure if it's an applied finish or patina but I do also see strange marks like they could be branding or scars, gives it character. Stitching is really tight, super fine and close, completely different than my Viberg boots. They probably look clunker than typical oxford's especially given the rubber ridgeway sole but I won't wear them to anything really formal and it makes them easy to pair with jeans so I will get more use out of them.



View attachment 507805 View attachment 507806 View attachment 507807 View attachment 507808 View attachment 507809 View attachment 507810 View attachment 507811 View attachment 507812

Nice shoes. 'Formal' enough for most contemporary weddings by any measure. Sure, black would have been more formal, but honestly I think it's OTT to buy shoes you'd not wear again for an occasion like that. These look great. Nice shape to them as well - they look a much older design than they are (the underside of the sole is the only real concession to modernity - and I imagine one that would be very welcome on a very wet, Winter day).

 

[Monitor]

My boots are more rugged than your boots.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

My Chuck’s run faster

 

[Will Zach]

My boots are more rugged than your boots.

View attachment 509994

Himel's boots are the ruggeddest.

 

[Schambach]

He seems like a real douche but I'd love some viberg engineers.

 

[torfjord]

Himel's boots are the ruggeddest.

View attachment 509997

I'm surprised he hasn't blocked you yet lol

 

[Damon141]

Nice shoes. 'Formal' enough for most contemporary weddings by any measure. Sure, black would have been more formal, but honestly I think it's OTT to buy shoes you'd not wear again for an occasion like that. These look great. Nice shape to them as well - they look a much older design than they are (the underside of the sole is the only real concession to modernity - and I imagine one that would be very welcome on a very wet, Winter day).

Yeah the sole I had mixed feelings on, I thought maybe a Danite would have a slimmer profile but it rains a lot here so it is functional.

Black, I was actually thinking about a pair of black Chelsea boots that were dressy enough for a suit but could pair with jeans.
Allen Edmonds and Grant Stone have some that are not outrageous in price, Carmina is another but expensive.
Anyone wear Chelsea's with dress pants?

 

[Tom71]

Yeah the sole I had mixed feelings on, I thought maybe a Danite would have a slimmer profile but it rains a lot here so it is functional.

Black, I was actually thinking about a pair of black Chelsea boots that were dressy enough for a suit but could pair with jeans.
Allen Edmonds and Grant Stone have some that are not outrageous in price, Carmina is another but expensive.
Anyone wear Chelsea's with dress pants?

Yes, once in a while I do combine suit&tie with Chelsea boots. RM Williams are my brand of choice.
I actually take them on business trips too, as they are good with some „business casual“ attire too, and I hate to pack more than one pair of shoes.

 

[handymike]

My boots are more rugged than your boots.

View attachment 509994

And they bite!
…or do they just KISS?

 

[Edward]

Yes, once in a while I do combine suit&tie with Chelsea boots. RM Williams are my brand of choice.
I actually take them on business trips too, as they are good with some „business casual“ attire too, and I hate to pack more than one pair of shoes.

I'm in Beijing on work business currently, doing my usual and travelling with penny loafers. Can't beat slip-ons for air travel especially.

 

[Tom71]

I'm in Beijing on work business currently, doing my usual and travelling with penny loafers. Can't beat slip-ons for air travel especially.

Penny loafers have been my go-to business trip shoes for ages.

Don’t have a pair that’s fitting well enough at the moment. Got an stress-fracture from wearing slightly big loafers when running to the gate at Johannesburg airport two years ago, so I switched to Chelseas or the good old lace-ups For the time being. Will be back in the loafer game before long still!

 

[TartuWolf]

Leather boots are my first love and what got me into leather in general.
I'm sure a lot of you already know about this contest, but for those who don't I'll share this info here.
Basically buy a new pair of boots and wear them for 6 months however you see fit.
In the end they pick out the best looking ones.
I love the concept and love looking at the winners each year.
Check out the winners of this year:
https://www.stitchdown.com/patina-thunderdome/all-thunderdome-winners-2022-23/
Some examples that I find particularly pleasing esthetically, enjoy!

 

[jonbuilder]

My boots are more rugged than your boots.

View attachment 509994

I doubt it, I spent a week walking through back beery bushes and hot ashes tending to burn piles of storm-damaged tree trunks and branches wearing my White's bounty hunter black horse but boots

 

[Drzdave58]

My main boots in my current rotation L to R
Flat head engineers(natural cxl)Whites c350 (natural double shot)Alden Indy (brown cxl) Alden tanker(navy cxl), Trickers Stow(pebbled brown calf) Grant Stone Ottawa(black cxl)

 

[wz1999]

The Real McCoys
Alden

 

[rmconner80]

Speaking of Aldens…

I just got these: wedge sole Indys in black suede, 360 antique welt, trubalance last. Absolutely loving them, this is my third pair of Indys and I’m heading towards ‘collector’ status at this point.

Couple of observations: 1) I’m a huge fan of the TB last, 2) I’m becoming a big fan of suede Indys, 3) the wedge sole (my first) is amazing - very light and comfortable, and 4) as always Alden’s are stupid expensive.

 

[photo2u]

The Real McCoys
Alden
View attachment 512542

Nice boots. The jcrew model has that nice elegant twist to it. Is is one of my favorite everyday shoes. Sadly, the company's customer service has gone downhill. It is too bad because I wanted to add several pairs to my wardrobe. A resole might be an option for a new pair.

 

[NZJono]

Treated myself to a nice dark green pair of Trickers from the UK.

Custom order with red lining and a lightweight rubber sole. Ordered 5 months ago, finally arrived yesterday.

 

[TheOldFashioned]

Recently snagged these Tony Lama boots to go with my black jackets:

 

[ABCD]

When it comes to footwear I've almost exclusively been wearing boots for the past decade or so. I do own a couple of loafers and derby's but those are reserved for the office. Most of my boots are 'dress boots' made by one of the many great European shoemakers, think of Crockett & Jones; Edward Green; Gaziano & Girling; Carmina; Santoni or Silvano Sasetti.

Lately I've been exploring some more casual styles like engineer boots, cowboy boots or combat boots. These American style boots are much harder to come by than dress boots here in Europe. Especially when you're looking for premium quality boots.

Of course there are European retailers like Burg & Schild, Stuff or East West apparel which stock American made boots but import fees on shoes are harsh. A pair of suede plain toe Alden's will set you back €800 while the exact same pair will cost a couple of hundred less in the US. At €800 they're simply not worth the money imo. The same money will buy you a much nicer European made dress boot.

But I don't want dress boots, I want something more casual. Well, there are Northamptonshire makers like Trickers or Cheaney which offer some more casual styles but since the UK is no longer part of the EU footwear from those makers is now subject to import fees too. Also, they don't offer American styles like Engineers or Monkey Boots.

But then there's Bright Shoemakers, a Danish footwear brand that was founded in 2015.

As you can see on their website, they offer casual style boots and shoes, some of them with a Western/cowboy twist. Bright is not actually a maker, it's a brand which means they design the shoes and have another company make them. Their footwear is "handmade at a family run shoe factory in Spain with more than 100 years of experience in artisanal shoe making". If I'm not mistaken that factory is Sendra.

I've handled boots from another European brand that has their boots produced by Sendra but I wasn't too impressed tbh. Materials and construction quality were mediocre at best. I guess brands are able to select different levels of material and construction quality even though the boots are made at the same factory.

Anyway, let's see the 'Bright shoemakers' boots I ordered, A pair of suede Jodhpur's.

They are Goodyear welted (270 degrees), double stacked sole and have a stacked Cuban heel. As you can see the finish is really clean. When compared to dress shoes I'd say the finish is much nicer than Carmina, nicer than bench grade C&J but not as nice as handgrade C&J or Edward Greens. Which makes sense as boots from those makers are two or three times more expensive. These Bright Shoemaker Jodhpur's were 'only' €500. Which is a lot of money of course but not nearly as expensive as a pair of imported Alden's or Vibergs which are of lesser construction quality. Were they flawless? No. One of the boots had a small piece of plastic material stuck inbetween the outer sole and the upper (during construction the upper is protected by a plastic layer) but luckily it was easy to remove with a pair of tweezers. Sloppy but no biggie.

I really love the last which is a bit more sleek than these Rios Mercedes boots for instance. Perfect for the style.

In terms of sizing, they do run big. I was advised to order my regular size which is 42 but I feel like a 41.5 would have been better. Anyway, I put in a leather insole and now they're a perfect fit. Talking about the insole...They come with a memory foam insole which felt kind of weird, bouncy when I just got them. Luckily after wearing them a handful of times the 'bounciness' is now gone so I can't really say it's a negative I guess but if I had the choice I would prefer a regular thin leather insole.

The overall verdict? I absolutely love them, have been wearing them pretty much every other day since I got them. I might order another pair in black if available. Half a size down though.