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RANCOURT & Co. Shoes - Made in Maine

Edmund K

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I bought and returned a pair of those last summer.
Beware on the fit of those. I've got a couple pairs of Rancourt for Ralph Lauren beef rolls so I ordered the same size.
These BB ones fit about half a size smaller.

The leather was really stiff and had a kind of fuzzy finish.

I just contacted Rancourt and they said this is Bulldog leather.
 

rkusmant

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Just get my order confirmed, cherry cxl = cherry cavalier cxl, my guess = lollipop cavalier from Trickers.
 

FrankCowperwood

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Gentlemen,
Have a look at this video from Rancourt about the Blake stitching process.

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

What catches my eye are the rather nice looking wingtips that they are making. Anyone know when those will be released?
 

FrankCowperwood

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Looked like a short wing to me, but that's splitting hairs really. Pretty exciting assuming it is coming soon.
 

grendel

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Yep, I saw that on FB tonight and that was what caught my attention too. Definitely a shortwing. Interesting that they're talking about the Blake stitching process and instead of showing the stuff they have available with that process they show something new. It didn't look like just prototypes, either, because they were making several in different colors.

Could they be making these for someone else already?
 

FrankCowperwood

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I had that thought. Could be for the Japanese market for example. Maybe those will end up being Ramcourt's Modified last... Ha ha
 

NNNN

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So apparently Rancourt charges $50 to customize a shoe? Since when? I was inquiring about using a different color leather and sole. I asked Quoddy if they charge for this and they said no. I'm surprised a company that bills itself as "made to order" would charge $50 just for the privilege of customization. It's a 25% increase, and bumps them into the same price bracket as OSB and Quoddy.
 

DC Office Hack

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I would love to know if those brogues have a double sole. And, does this mean rancourt's aiming to make dress shoes? Or just "country" shoes like a brogue derby?

One thing the vid did not address was why Blake as opposed to Goodyear. My hunch-based on very little real knowledge--is that the Blake method is a smaller jump from hand-sewn and thus easier to integrate into a hand-sewn shop. I'm just guessing that that's the case.
 

wdahab

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So apparently Rancourt charges $50 to customize a shoe? Since when? I was inquiring about using a different color leather and sole. I asked Quoddy if they charge for this and they said no. I'm surprised a company that bills itself as "made to order" would charge $50 just for the privilege of customization. It's a 25% increase, and bumps them into the same price bracket as OSB and Quoddy.


In the past, they've only upcharged when materials were different. Like, with boat shoes, if you go to a leather sole, that's significantly more work/material cost than just the rubber boat shoe. But if you went from a boat shoe sole to a camp moc sole (which I have), or a different color boat shoe sole, it was the same price. Same thing with leathers, some are more expensive than others.

But maybe that's changed?
 

FrankCowperwood

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^This is what I would say too. Changing material and sole can change the cost of the shoe. You see the same model on their site at different costs based on these factors.

If they now have a straight MTO charge, though, then that's new and it would be disappointing.
 

rkusmant

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I have this charge when changing from leather sole to ripple sole, I think it's not unreasonable because they have to build different heel lift.
 

DC Office Hack

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This business about Blake construction led me to this wonderful thread on AAAC:

http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?85307-Shoe-Construction

What I didn't understand before reading through the above is the difference between Blake and Blake Rapid, which is what Rancourt's doing. Blake is great for sleek dress shoes--arguably better than Goodyear-- but ill-suited for precisely the kinds of shoes Rancourt's making (chukkas, boots...and now possibly brogue derbies). Blake Rapid is perfect for that stuff, however. One thing that occurred to me is that once one has the capability to do Blake Rapid (the machines and the skills to use them), one can do Blake as well and make just about any kind of shoe or boot--including sleek dress shoes. I wonder if Rancourt always had this capability or only recently acquired it so as to expand its product range beyond the hand-sewn/moc construction niche. Just watching the vid, it's clear that it takes more than a machine: one needs to know what one's doing, and such skills don't appear overnight unless, I suppose, one simply recruits people who have them.
 
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rydenfan

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I would love to know if those brogues have a double sole. And, does this mean rancourt's aiming to make dress shoes? Or just "country" shoes like a brogue derby?

One thing the vid did not address was why Blake as opposed to Goodyear. My hunch-based on very little real knowledge--is that the Blake method is a smaller jump from hand-sewn and thus easier to integrate into a hand-sewn shop. I'm just guessing that that's the case.
I could have sworn there was a small section in the video comparing this process to the Goodyear
 

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