The Ultimate Collection of Shoe Porn - Page 8

Simply gorgeous!

Yes and no. American men might have taken wide-welted gunboat shoes into town but English manufacturers also have used that method (although for non-business shoes).

A wide welt (split-reverse or storm welt) has always been the standard for heavy sport and utility shoes. In a city shoe the welt was cut as narrowly as the machine operator dared. The rule, for a top quality shoe was, that looking from above on the shoe, the welt couldn't be seen.

For many years Italian manufacturers prided themselves with the narrowest and thin-soled shoes. Added by Blake-stitched as the production method of choice, you could not only put on a very thin sole but could cut it extremely narrow.

That all changed, maybe twenty years ago, when Italian manufacturers discovered Norwegian and similar production methods. There you need a wide-ish welt, just to accommodate the stitches riding on top of the welt. That wide welt look was copied but other manufactures as a design feature, not necessarily using labour-intensive hand stitched Norwegian construction. That look might have reached its zenith maybe ten years ago, now Italians have returned to slicker shoes.

I don't know if shoe factories can offer different welt styles but in the bespoke trade many makers offers three options;
close welt, just shown stitches and shown stitches. If not the client has any special request I make my shoes with just shown stitches.

The way the maker control this is by adjusting the feather on the insole according to which style requested. If it only will be adjusted by cutting the welt narrow to the upper it is a risk that the sole stitches hit the inseaming tread and brake it. The feather has to be moved a coupple of millimetres towards the interior of the insole to protect the inseam and to allow the welt to "creep" underneath the insole.

Edward Green seems to make most of their shoes close welted and John Lobb seems to like just shown stitches the best.

Two humble additions to the thread as I was snapping some pics today.

These Alden shell cordovans are about 10 years old. They have been fully resoled once, and reheeled countless times. They have gotten a lot of wear and have been polished after every wearing. Cordovan is quite a material!





Edward Greens. 202 last.

As promised in my latest reply, a picture of my "antiqued" EG Dover 606 Dark Oak with double sole. The leather was lighten using aceton and bleach.

The shoes have some dust on them, they have spent the whole winter in th box. They can't wait to go out!

Marvelous.

Looks like those shoes only been tried on once or twice. Aren't you gonna wear them?

Sysdoc, what's the last of the Ormond and Cleveland ? Is it the 337 last ?

John Lobb chelsea boots

zjpj83, I'm loving the EG 202's. The colour looks marvelous. And after seeing those JL chelseas... well, I think I might get some myself!

They are great. I never thought I was a "boot person" until these.

I love those Cheslands. There were a few pair on ebay this week in my size in brown suede that I let go, but I may send an email to the seller to inquire about them. I don't have a chelsea boot, though i have a few chukkas. I'm getting more and more fond of suede lately too.

Didn't want to call the posting "weekly shoe damage". I had been afraid I'd get into legal trouble as that description has recently been copyrighted by a certain New Yorker who is said to buy every single non-black shoe between size 8 and 9.5 . The shoes on the pictures have just been tried on. I took the pictures in my fiancee's house in England the evening after I had bought them. I usually fly into LHR in the early morning and then either rent a car and drive up to Northampton or go shopping into London before I meet Kate in the evening. Cleveland - C&J's new 350 last Ormond - C&J's "old" 330 last

..

The C&J HG Cleveland is absolutely exquisite, and I would love to grab myself a pair. Can anyone provide me more info on this shoe (I see the above post talks about "last" - please elaborate) or more info on C&J in general? I'm out in California, and my initial web searches for this shoe have been fruitless. I can't even find it on their website! Any suggestions?