Footwear to go with our jackets

[jchance]

Completely agree.

Honestly, I've been snatching up some of my favorites in 2nds and even 3rds off ebay if "gently worn" and a desirable type, just due to new prices going so stratospherically high. Not trying to be a "hoarder" (collector, much nicer term) but just trying to have a rotatable stock.

It’s like how smart phone’s prices have creeped up to match laptop’s prices. Boot’s prices have creeped up to match leather jacket’s prices, which have been steadily rising in the last half a decade. As long as there are buyers like you guys to sustain the high prices, there would always be such sellers to sell them to you guys. If you vote with your money, the prices would eventually drop.

As much as I like leather, I tried out several boots, didn’t like wearing them as much as I thought, and mostly didn’t like their styles. So I’m never caught up in the leather boot craze, with customs and bespoke and such.

 

[Zoro]

It’s like how smart phone’s prices have creeped up to match laptop’s prices. Boot’s prices have creeped up to match leather jacket’s prices, which have been steadily rising in the last half a decade.

Problem is that a phone is not going to be lasting you as long as a laptop, while a pair of boots, with the correct maintenance, should/could last you similarly.

But yeah, agree on the principle that as long as people pay it, they'll keep raising prices.

 

[milkbaby]

That's a... Ehm... Interesting choice of angle in the first picture.

Oh well, who's the maker of the belt? It looks thick. Solid. Tight.

The belt is from Pigeon Tree Crafting, made from J&FJ Baker's oak tanned harness leather at 15 oz weight.

 

[bcboots]

This is what i wear 95% of the time. I also have some Red wing 2268 and 877 but don't wear them as much, the 2268 weigh a ton because of the steel toe, and the 877 are just not that comfortable.
Haven't owned sneakers in 10 years, don't wear dress shoes unless i wear a suit, and that happens twice a year.

Personally i was never impressed with the LL footwear, and i say that as a big fan of LL. They use a leather similar to their jackets, not a boot leather and IMO it feels very flimsy on your feet. The fit is also very weird, very long and thin.
I wouldn't pay that price for them when you can get some Red Wings for less.

Nice set there!

 

[bcboots]

^ This. I am a sneaker guy. Not surprisingly, my obsessive compulsive personality carries over to my sneaker collection.

Yeah but you can't replace the look of trousers with a nice healed boot, pure class.

 

[unhatted]

Anyone know anything about the new non-US made Frye 12r? I’ve seen a pair in my size for not too much on Vinted but a lot of the details look quite different to the US made pairs I’ve seen. Avoid?

 

[Will Zach]

The belt is from Pigeon Tree Crafting, made from J&FJ Baker's oak tanned harness leather at 15 oz weight.

That's the way to do a belt. Harness or bridle leather, although I never got to 15-oz when I made my own belts; only 12-oz. Got similar brass keepers from Japan. Yours is a quick-release buckle, also saw them in Japanese stores. Nice belt.

 

[TartuWolf]

Thoughts on these ADDICT engineers in black CXL?

https://www.fromjapan.co.jp/japan/en/auction/yahoo/input/l1190934620/

Thinking of taking a gamble on these.
Not a fan of the nickel hardware or the tan rubber outsole (wtf?), but otherwise seems like a lovely pair of engineers.
I especially like the toe lift / curve. They seem rather nicely roomy in the toe box too. And the shaft/instep seems promisingly low.

 

[Zoro]

I am quite shocked to learn that Thursday Boots has increased the variety of leathers in their offerings. I'm far from being a Thursday fan (almost the opposite, actually), but I didn't see them coming out with cordovans, CXLs and shinkis. I wonder if the rest of the boot construction is up to the standard, as I always found them to simply cheap out everywhere.

Maryam

Coffee Shinki Cordovan

Black Shinki Cordovan

Olive Shinki Cordovan

CXL #8 (There's also some other CXL colors)

The cordovans are still quite expensive, but very competitive at the price, the only other cordovan I'm aware of that would be cheaper is Meermin. I'm almost tempted to buy, test and potentially return, but I don't trust this to be easy buying directly to them with me being in Europe - plus still quite a steep price for a gamble anyway. The Chelseas in particular look good and would fit in my collection as the other pair of Chelseas I have is brown.

 

[AeroFan_07]

Anyone know anything about the new non-US made Frye 12r? I’ve seen a pair in my size for not too much on Vinted but a lot of the details look quite different to the US made pairs I’ve seen. Avoid?

View attachment 716107 View attachment 716108 View attachment 716109 View attachment 716110 View attachment 716112

Truth be told I always "wanted" to like the Fry Bench-Made harness boots (when still made in USA). I even listed a pair for sale on here (and check out that for grainy leather) - https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/frye-harness-boots-brown-11-5d-new-in-box.95712/

However, they always felt "cheap" on the feet. I guess for around ~ $200 USD what do you expect, but these just really "feel" subpar. Which was really too bad because by all external accounts, they should have been great.

I actually returned this pair to the store I bought them from. So I would not risk it personally unless you can try them on directly.

 

[MrProper]

Have definitely proved their worth in Iceland so far. Waldviertler Jaga.

A leather jacket was neither suitable for light luggage nor for the weather.

 

[MrProper]

Vivobarefoot's new Desert Boots. Certainly very special here, but I think they're cool. Besides, I've never had camel leather boots before

Hopefully self-explanatory that it's only the right shoe

 

[rogueclimber]

Vivobarefoot's new Desert Boots. Certainly very special here, but I think they're cool. Besides, I've never had camel leather boots before

Hopefully self-explanatory that it's only the right shoe
View attachment 720257

Those (both) look to be a soft and comfortable boot

 

[MrProper]

Those (both) look to be a soft and comfortable boot

That's right. These are probably the most comfortable shoes I've ever had. They wear like thick woolen socks and not like boots. But they are also very special and certainly not to everyone's taste.

 

[pillepalle123]

Swedish Army winter boots from the 1940s.

They are lined with thick wool and have a 1,5cm thick wool/hair insole.

I will propably add some Vibram Artic Soles and heels to them. The leather sole is not that ideal for the winter we have here.
In Sweden they actually wore these with leather soles in winter times and sometimes they had crepe heels. The old rubber compounds they had at the time propably got hard like rock in -20 degrees celcius.

 

[TLW '90]

Swedish Army winter boots from the 1940s.

They are lined with thick wool and have a 1,5cm thick wool/hair insole.

I will propably add some Vibram Artic Soles and heels to them. The leather sole is not that ideal for the winter we have here.
In Sweden they actually wore these with leather soles in winter times and sometimes they had crepe heels. The old rubber compounds they had at the time propably got hard like rock in -20 degrees celcius.



View attachment 720300
View attachment 720299

The square-ish toe takes a couple double takes to get used to but otherwise these are some very cool looking boots.

If you can get Weston from Rose Anvil to get interested in these boots he will probably geek out over all of their unique details and become obsessed enough with them to collaborate on a new boot inspired by them.
These would be quite a cool style to see revived for the current enthusiasts boot market.

 

[pillepalle123]

He actually cut apart another version of the swedish army boots.

I reached out to him several times in the past to offer him unique boots from my collection (even he specifically asked for a pair in the comments...) or giving him information about european shoemaking... Never got an answer, which kind of ****ed me off. This might explain parts of my rant that now follows.

Small rant:
He actually is not that well informed when it comes to leather as he makes the viewer believe.
He seems not to have read much scientific literature about leather and states many wrong things (and repeats them in nearly every video) in his videos, e.g. that the grain, not the corium gives the leather its strength... That is not right.

His knowledge about european shoemaking is very minor aswell, according to him american companies invented so many styles etc that we had like 40 years ago in Europe already.

Liked his channel when it was smaller, now it is all about money. But that is sadly the way many channels go.

End of rant.

 

[Trouser Bark]

Swedish Army winter boots from the 1940s.

View attachment 720299

It may have been a Swiss Army boot but for me as a kid growing up it was identical to the ski boots I wore to learn on. The square toe fit into a ski binding's toe grip. A coiled wire went from that toe fitting around the back of the boot and you could strap that wire down tight so that the heel would be fixed to the ski as well. The notch in he heel stack is where the coiled wire that held boot to ski attached.

Leave the heel to raise and lower if you wanted to ski cross country and strap it down if you wanted to ski downhill.

No provision that I recall for release in a fall so we all had our knees wrenched many times in the unavoidable crashes. Lots of us broke a leg wearing those. My parents rec'd the boots and skis free. The learning curve was where the costs began.

 

[Tom71]

Just landed. Absurdly beautiful WESCO Morrison in natural HH.

Instep is generous (which is non-negotiable for me), heel-slip is moderate, even before breaking in the sole.
Only issue is the no-nonsense shaft that started eating away the skin on my shins within ten minutes of wear. Taped up now to tame that beast!

All in all a VERY similar wearing-experience to the MrLou (which is a good thing).

A bit on the pricey side, but man these are gorgeous!!

 

[torfjord]

Just landed. Absurdly beautiful WESCO Morrison in natural HH.

Instep is generous (which is non-negotiable for me), heel-slip is moderate, even before breaking in the sole.
Only issue is the no-nonsense shaft that started eating away the skin on my shins within ten minutes of wear. Taped up now to tame that beast!

All in all a VERY similar wearing-experience to the MrLou (which is a good thing).

A bit on the pricey side, but man these are gorgeous!!

View attachment 722731 View attachment 722732

Those boots are amazing. Very nicely specced!