Church's Appreciation Thread - Page 2

You could have got a very similar looking shoe that wasn't made out of corrected grain leather and lasted many a year longer. For detractions of corrected grain leather search the forum.

I love churchs...it has own charateristic..not refine but couteous

Im up for a detailed explaination as to how it has...

One of my favorite pair of shoes was a Church punch cap in brown suede, first suede shoes I ever bought. They were "Real Cape Buck", some kind of South African antelope, I believe. They were made to a slightly higher standard than "Custom Grade" and cost a bit more. As I recall, in those days, Custom Grade was $295 and these were $345. I wore them for years until the vamp finally split on the left shoe, right at the flex point. I have tried to "replace" those shoes, but have never been able to get anything that I like quite as much.

Quality has taken a nosedive. When Prada acquired Church's they were heavily in debt. Therefore this money is having to be earnt somewhere, apropos usage of poor quality leathers for uppers, indeed often corrected grain, on what are at the end of the day very expensive shoes. When considering who exactly they are competing with, Trickers, C&J &c. They're a terrible waste of money as regards quality for the price you pay.

They were my fathers, he did not take care of them. I got them 15 years ago, beat the life out of them. Found them in a box 3 years ago and had them recrafted last year. They look pretty good, Ill snap a few pics tonight for you. I have reconditioned them, but honestly they held up on their own.

I happen to have a real soft spot for Church's. My now wife bought me my first pair, exactly those black Charmouths, for my Specialist Exams. I went in feeling a million bucks and nailed the exam. I subsequently wore them a year later for our wedding (I hadn't worn them in between). I will always love those shoes.

I've gone on to own GG, EG, AEs (and being an Aussie own many RMs) but I love my 3 pair of Churchs. They are sturdily built, classically designed and the corrected grain issue doesn't bother me in the slightest (the other 2 pair are nevada calf).

I do think price should always be a consideration. We paid full price for the Charmouths, but the other 2 were bought from Herring. In that price bracket I shop around and compare Churchs with CJ when making my future buying decisions.

For anyone who's interested in fragrance and the fragrance forum Basenotes, Churchs are exactly the same as Creed fragrances - establishment brand, expensive, not quite as trendy, too small to be cheap, too big to be niche, they suffer from the "Tall Poppy Syndrome".

FWIW all 3 apir of mine are pre-Prada. But I've seen the post-Prada stuff at Leffot, some of the fashion forward stuff is overpriced and pleather looking, but a few of the new traditional models are really quite handsome.

Anyway, to each his own. I manage to find room for a lot of brands in my closet.

Enjoy your Charmouths!

Ged

I bought this at the b/s a while back. Vintage church's :

in line with the spectator love in other threads....

Some Church's are a croc

I like Church's. For ten years now, despite flirtations with C&J handgrade and EG, my "go to" black cap-toe bal has been the Church's Consul on the 73 last. I love that shoe.

While the construction might not be on par with C&J handgrade (although, my C&J's have an odd squeak eminating from the tongue area), it's fine, and I like the shape of the shoe quite a bit.

I have had an experience with post-Prada Consuls (100 last). The quality was fine (I actually prefer the linen fore-lining as opposed to the all leather post-Prada's, but that's just me), but the 100 last was horrible. I wore them maybe three times, and now they're in my trunk about to be shipped off to a friend.

My issue with the current Church's is that they are simply overpriced for what they are.

Hardly any crease after more than a dozen of wears.

I think so. The model is called Amberley custom grade.