December 27, 2010
Ralph Lauren Darlton Shortwings
I purchased these shoes in the past month or so. These are Ralph Lauren Darlton wingtips made by Crockett & Jones (an English shoemaker) using cigar shell cordovan from Horween. These are solid shoes that will probably last the rest of my life. I highly recommend these to anyone looking for a shortwing. When I first decided to get new shoes I knew I wanted a sort of wingtip in cigar shell cordovan, but I couldn’t decide between a shortwing, longwing, or a wingtip boot. These got my attention and after finding a good deal on them I pulled the trigger. The color, leather, last, and styling on these are all amazing, and they work with almost any outfit.
November 14, 2010
Sun-bleaching leather: Alden pocket knife holder
A while back I bought the above Alden Shell Cordovan pocket knife holder and pocket knife. As an experiment, I decided to try out sun-bleaching leather, and this seemed to be a good item to try it with. After about 1-2 months of being taped to my west-facing window, the branded side has become many shades lighter from sun exposure. This could be done to shoes, belts, and watchbands with some very interesting effects as the sun lightens portions of the leather differently. Just remember if you’re doing this to shoes you should condition the leather afterwards, because in addition to lightening the sun will also dry out the leather, shortening its lifespan.
October 23, 2010
My business partner and I in a style blog
Virile – West Broadway and Lafayette St…Soho NYC….
My business partner and I were photographed on Broadway last weekend. It was cool boot day.
October 15, 2010
Gordon Rush Boots, 1.5 years of wear
My Gordon Rush boots have gotten a lot of wear since I’ve bought them. I’d guess that I wear each pair twice a week most of the year, and in terms of maintenance I do the following:
-Always putting shoe trees in while not worn.
-Alternating between applying tan Tana shoe cream and Saphir Renovateur Leather Conditioner/Cleaner every 1-3 weeks, depending on visible wear.
-I avoid wearing either pair of boots in the rain or snow, though there have been some unavoidable circumstances where they got significantly wet. The leather has held up really well despite this.
-I had the heel pads replaced on both pairs with Vibram commando heel pads. This was about $30 per pair and they match the boots perfectly.
The Tana shoe cream has given my dark brown GR boots some tan and reddish hues, which I personally really like. The color of the Tana cream mostly matches the whiskey/tan GR boots though, so their color is mostly the same if not a bit darker and bolder.
May 30, 2010
Vintage Florsheim Shell Cordovan Longwings in burgundy
I’ve been looking for a pair of shell cordovan longwings for a while now. A few months ago I bought a pair of Church shell longwings in burgundy off eBay that unfortunately did not fit me, so they had to go. I stumbled across these Florsheim longwings last week though, and had to get them.
The uppers on these are in near perfect condition, it looks as though someone tried these on and then never really wore them afterwards.
For those who don’t know, Florsheim is an American shoe company that today produces very cheap quality shoes. In the past, Florsheim shoes were very high-end and were on par with shoe companies like Alden today. Some even say the build quality is above and beyond Alden, which is saying a lot. They even used the same Horween shell cordovan that Alden (and many others) use in high-end shoes. At some point the ownership of Florsheim decided to change strategies though, and started making low-end shoes that really aren’t worthwhile. Fortunately a lot of vintage Florsheim shoes are still out there either lightly used like mine or legitimate deadstock. This is sadly the case with many other American shoe companies, such as Bostonian, French Shriner, and apparently Allen-Edmonds might go the same way. There are pretty amazing deals out there if you just look for shell cordovan shoes by these companies.
April 15, 2010
Summer shoes: Quoddy for 3sixteen Deck Chukka
I just got these in Navy and they’re my new favorite shoes. I haven’t had many opportunities to wear them just yet, but I’m sure I will get a lot of wear in these as the weather warms up in NYC.
Quoddy hand sews these for 3sixteen in Maine from Horween Chromexcel leather. There have been a lot of collaborations with Quoddy lately by a lot of larger retailers (J. Crew, Urban Outfitters) and some smaller companies, but these are my favorite that I’ve seen so far. I love Sperry but these are far better in terms of quality, appearance, and comfort, definitely worth it if you want something that will last.
March 9, 2010
Yuketen wallet/money clip in navy shell cordovan
I purchased this Yuketen wallet pretty recently in navy shell cordovan. It’s amazing. Right now the leather is extremely dark, indistinguishable from black in most lighting. As the leather fades the blue will become more noticeable.
This is the first piece I’ve ever purchased by Yuketen. All of their goods are handmade with really high quality materials. I wish their stuff were more widely available. Surprisingly even in NYC it seems pretty difficult to find most of their line.
February 7, 2010
Church Shell Cordovan Wingtips in Burgundy
I got an amazing deal on these on eBay. They’re in really great condition, and since they’re made of shell cordovan they will probably last the rest of my life.
January 15, 2010
The Deer Hunter | LL Bean c. 1969 « A Continuous Lean.
The Deer Hunter | LL Bean c. 1969 « A Continuous Lean..
1969 LL Bean catalog scans, includes tons of bean boots
July 28, 2009
Temple Bags – Awesome hand made custom bags
A little while ago I came across Temple Bags on a menswear blog. Steve from Temple Bags is a super nice guy who makes handmade bags and other items from found materials, and the results are amazing. I happened to be searching for a bag myself at the time and contacted Steve about having a briefcase made. I received the bag today, and I’m more than satisfied. Here are some pictures, I think it came out amazing. For more Temple Bags pieces, check out the Temple Bags website.
BrownBoots 