Quote:
Originally Posted by
Louis XIV 
They look lovely, wear in good health!
Also, I notice a lot of you guys go for a double to single sole, is this solely a stylistic choice or what's the reasoning behind it?
An interesting and timely question. I recently posted a pair of Vass boots and the balmorals came with a HAF sole. But, I did not ask for the HAF sole yet Vass did it almost by reflex. It seems to me that this sole treatment, at least with Vass has been influenced by SF orders over time. Not that this type of sole is unknown in nature, but I don't think the HAF sole is part of the AH shoemaking DNA. There are various posts here and elsewhere showing examples of Vass doing HAF soles poorly resulting in an unbalanced shoe owing to, in some cases, improper heel height with that sole. Other times it has been done well.
My opinion is that it is a styling cue that has been requested of Vass so often that it is now perceived as the default Vass iGent sole. We do know that sometimes Vass delivers something that the buyer did not order or expect including in some cases a completely different shoe than was ordered. In my case, I can live with it but did not want it and find it interesting that they erred in this direction.