Footwear to go with our jackets

[milkbaby]

Nice outfit. Quality in that belt is out of this world. Can you please share the maker?

Thanks for the kind words!

The belt is by my favorite belt maker, Isaac of Pigeon Tree Crafting... Well technically he IS Pigeon Tree Crafting because it's a one man show. While I have other great belts too, his are my favorites.

 

[TartuWolf]

Just found this blogpost today "European workwear boot brands" from end of 2024:

Buyer's guide - European workwear boot brands - Shoegazing.com

There's no question that the biggest manufacturers of "workwear", or "heritage", boots comes from North America, where the largest customer base also is,

shoegazing.com

Wow, so many brands I've never heard of! Seems like we have more options in Europe than I thought!

 

[red devil]

Just found this blogpost today "European workwear boot brands" from end of 2024:

Buyer's guide - European workwear boot brands - Shoegazing.com

There's no question that the biggest manufacturers of "workwear", or "heritage", boots comes from North America, where the largest customer base also is,

shoegazing.com

Wow, so many brands I've never heard of! Seems like we have more options in Europe than I thought!

Thanks for sharing, there many interesting looking brands

 

[cbez]

Argo

 

[cbez]

This ad inspired me to get on my kilties soap box even though no one asked.

Yet another reason they are dumb is because the facings are not sized for them and end up with a ridiculous bulge like this around the calf.

If you like the aesthetics, cool, but let's not pretend 99.999% of us need the 'protection' when we already have laces, facings, and a tongue in that area.

 

[AeroFan_07]

The main standard clientele of Nicks & Whites do a job most of us never will, and care less about how they look.

https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/how-a-photographer-captured-alaskan-smokejumpers-in-action

Most of my 8 pair of these boots are lace-ups as well, and a few still have the kittles in them, that is, those that I actually work with.

 

[cbez]

I think you would be surprised what % of the PNW clientele is casual or light duty compared to the firefighters, linemen, loggers etc.

 

[TLW '90]

This ad inspired me to get on my kilties soap box even though no one asked.

Yet another reason they are dumb is because the facings are not sized for them and end up with a ridiculous bulge like this around the calf.

If you like the aesthetics, cool, but let's not pretend 99.999% of us need the 'protection' when we already have laces, facings, and a tongue in that area.
View attachment 689334

Who wears their pants so the whole tongue of their boots is showing?
Even if you have oversized kilties that do this, your pants should be covering it.
I think you saw a pair of boots somewhere with an oversized kiltie and are assuming that this is how they always look.
In this picture I think the boots just weren't laced lightly up at the top because for some reason this person wanted to tuck their pants into their boots which is dumb.

I have kilties on my work boots, and they have done me some good.
They catch and deflect a lot of things because I do a lot of kicking pushing and nudging.

I think you have inspired me to order another pair of kilties to add to another pair of my boots.
I might actually even try kilties on one of my pairs of Vellies.

 

[TLW '90]

I think you would be surprised what % of the PNW clientele is casual or light duty compared to the firefighters, linemen, loggers etc.

Those are not their bread & butter, they make and sell far more boots for blue collar guys who are hard on their boots than anything else.

 

[Bennarion]

I've been waiting for 4 months and I've got them. Now I can't decide whether to wear kiltes or not. On his left leg, he slides to the side. I like the look of shoes with kiltes

.

 

[cbez]

Who wears their pants so the whole tongue of their boots is showing?
Even if you have oversized kilties that do this, your pants should be covering it.
I think you saw a pair of boots somewhere with an oversized kiltie and are assuming that this is how they always look.
In this picture I think the boots just weren't laced lightly up at the top because for some reason this person wanted to tuck their pants into their boots which is dumb.

I have kilties on my work boots, and they have done me some good.
They catch and deflect a lot of things because I do a lot of kicking pushing and nudging.

I think you have inspired me to order another pair of kilties to add to another pair of my boots.
I might actually even try kilties on one of my pairs of Vellies.

I have had both nicks and whites that came with kilties, and they look goofy with the kilties, because the patterns are not designed for kilties. For the people that happen to like the look cool, but imo they're more of a mancessory that some people promote as this vital thing to protect your fragile tongues, even tho I have tongues with 10+ years of heavy wear, multiple resoles, that show no damage.

Those are not their bread & butter, they make and sell far more boots for blue collar guys who are hard on their boots than anything else.

again I think you'd be surprised. look at their marketing efforts the past decade or so, how and what they promote online, all the trendy leathers etc. They're not stupid and realized there's only a limited # of wildland firefighters, loggers, and so forth, but millions of guys who can succumb to the workwear aesthetic. They know where they can expand.

 

[cbez]

I've been waiting for 4 months and I've got them. Now I can't decide whether to wear kiltes or not. On his left leg, he slides to the side. I like the look of shoes with kiltes View attachment 689378 View attachment 689376 View attachment 689377 .

I dont think the facing bulge looks good, but if you're in love with the look, you could put two holes through near the top and put a lace through to keep it in place.

 

[Bennarion]

Kiltes are made of very thick leather and I'm uncomfortable with them. I took them off and I like it better that way.

 

[TartuWolf]

In my mind kilties are simple.
You wear them if one of the following is true:
- Shaft is too roomy and laces go too close together.
- You are annihilating the front of your shaft and upper vamp area by trudging through destructive environment (for example logging, bushcraft, some other outdoor activities) regularly.
- You simply like the aesthetic.
- If your speedhooks or eyelets are poorly set and are really rough on your tongue (carving in holes). In this case it's better to fix the core issue, but kilties can help save the tongue in the meantime.

 

[Pandemic]

Maybe it’s age or maybe a suburban lifestyle, but I just don’t feel comfortable clomping around in big workboots these days. My go-to is either the RM Williams Lachlan (now discontinued) or some custom double-sole suede chukkas from TLB Mallorca:

 

[MrProper]

If I'm not wearing my Nike or Adidas, then these. And now they're clean again.