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.
August 6, 2010
Compass footwear trade show
This week I went to the Compass footwear trade show, and it was amazing. I forgot to take pictures of any of the shoes, but I was really excited about a lot of what I saw there. Some highlights:
- The Eastland Made in Maine collection is amazing. Very soon they are putting out a collection of handmade moccasins using Horween leathers and made in the USA. They’re basic models are very similar to Quoddy and the many other moccasin/boat shoes out there, but they also have some more interesting boots and other models. Sartorially Inclined has some great pictures of the line from the capsule show.
- The Wolverine 1000 Mile collection has expanded to include many more new models and designs. Coming soon are a few canvas boots, a denim boot, and a 1000 mile boot made with shell cordovan. The Wolverine agent gave me a Horween leather keychain, and I’m way too excited about it.
- Timberland’s Abington line has some great new models coming out, many of them using suede.
- Mark McNairy’s various lines all look great. The Bass Weejuns collaboration is very nice and there was a big selection from his New Amsterdam line being shown as well.
- I kind of love the Florsheim by Ducky Brown collection. They have such a large collection of shell cordovan and Horween leather longwings, some in really nice colors and some in tacky colors. They’re made in China, but I’d be interested in seeing how they hold up since they use such high quality leathers.
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 28, 2010
Brooks Brothers Glen Plaid Spectators
I like shoes a lot obviously. I got these about a month ago but haven’t worn them yet, though I plan on wearing them a lot this summer. I love the glen plaid used for the contrasting portion of the shoe.
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.
February 22, 2010
Allen Edmonds Cambridge in burgundy shell cordovan
I got these beautiful burgundy wingtips in shell cordovan on eBay a while back. Though I got a great deal on these, they unfortunately didn’t fit and I had to resell them on eBay. You can’t tell in this picture but the leather aged very well resulting in some some amazing colors/fading that only occurs with shell cordovan.
BrownBoots 