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Shell Cordovan : Why are there no sleek shoes?

post #1 of 38
10/22/11 at 8:13pm
Thread Starter 
So I am about 1 year in on my first pair of new shells being broken in. I love the patina, the color, the durability, everything about them. Except they are "clunkier" than my other shoes. Ive searched high and low, but can't find a sleek looking shoe made from shell.

Can anyone give a reason why? Or point me to something I have missed? I don't think that shell is a material that would not work well with a sleeker last, so I am really a bit confused by this.

Below, some examples :

SHELL SHOES:
202
263
340
254
263

SLEEKER LASTS :
525
229
233
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post #2 of 38
10/22/11 at 8:22pm
instead of making this thread, you should be buying bespoke or MTO.
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post #3 of 38
10/22/11 at 8:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teger View Post

instead of making this thread, you should be buying bespoke or MTO.

laugh.gif

I don't need bespoke shoes... MTO perhaps if thats what it would come down to - but there certainly must be a reason to why there are none (that I am aware of) that fit the bill for RTW.

Especially Carmina - whose Simpson last is like bespoke for me - and uses a lot of shell...
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post #4 of 38
10/22/11 at 8:47pm
Alfred Sargent, Vass, and Crockett & Jones all do cordovan on sleek lasts.
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post #5 of 38
10/22/11 at 9:57pm
Carmina makes shell in the Simpson last. Seems like the ideal solution, no?
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post #6 of 38
10/22/11 at 11:11pm
The primary reason you don't see tons of shell lasted over sleeker models is probably two-fold, but one more so than the other.

The first (and primary) reason is that it's just a bitch to work with. It's tougher and thicker than calf, difficult to stretch without tearing or cracking and therefore has a higher success rate being shaped over the bulkier American lasts that a company like Alden uses. And even then you still occasionally find seams busting around the heels and whatnot, due to the strain the leather is under from being stretched.

The second is that shell is more of an American fascination that our European brothers don't really share. We love its heritage of being a utilitarian leather that is ideally suited to taking a beating in cold, wet climates and requires next to no maintenance while most Europeans tend to look at it as being plastic-like, inelegant and bourgeois. So you won't find it much on anything that is sleek and Euro-looking for that reason either; though some of the above mentioned Euro shoe-makers are now starting to offer shell cordo make-ups on sleek lasts.
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post #7 of 38
10/23/11 at 1:07am
i think if you look, you will find some Vass U lasted Shell on the VPT, also i have seen G&G and EG shell on here too.

i think you will find that most makers that make sleeker shoes generally dont like to work with shell as they cant pull it a tight over the last
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post #8 of 38
10/23/11 at 1:26am
Shell is a leather that takes a beating then asks for more. Sleek shoes are for a clean, delicate look.

You can't get sleek shell for the same reason I can't get Steel Toe-Cap Monkstraps.
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post #9 of 38
10/23/11 at 2:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by burningbright View Post

The second is that shell is more of an American fascination that our European brothers don't really share. We love its heritage of being a utilitarian leather that is ideally suited to taking a beating in cold, wet climates and requires next to no maintenance while most Europeans tend to look at it as being plastic-like, inelegant and bourgeois. So you won't find it much on anything that is sleek and Euro-looking for that reason either; though some of the above mentioned Euro shoe-makers are now starting to offer shell cordo make-ups on sleek lasts.

strange, despite of alden, i have never seen the plastic finish on the usual suspects.
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post #10 of 38
10/23/11 at 3:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackhood View Post

Shell is a leather that takes a beating then asks for more. Sleek shoes are for a clean, delicate look.
You can't get sleek shell for the same reason I can't get Steel Toe-Cap Monkstraps.


So much for my steel toe hopes...

 

ccm

 

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post #11 of 38
10/23/11 at 3:30am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by david123 View Post

Carmina makes shell in the Simpson last. Seems like the ideal solution, no?

Actually, that does.
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post #12 of 38
10/23/11 at 3:54am
shell
160263

+ von Rothbart's Vass wholecuts

467

but in answer to your question:

Creasing - shell beef rolls mitigate against sleekness IMO. Shell just works better for more rustic styles.
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post #13 of 38
10/23/11 at 4:01am
Thread Starter 
^ Thank you.. and damn those whole cuts are pretty.
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post #14 of 38
10/23/11 at 6:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pliny View Post

+ von Rothbart's Vass wholecuts

what happened to him?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pliny View Post

but in answer to your question:
Creasing - shell beef rolls mitigate against sleekness IMO. Shell just works better for more rustic styles.

imo, trees with mediocre fit and some alden fan boy groupthink are no reason for non reasonable creasing/crippling.
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post #15 of 38
10/23/11 at 4:13pm
Yeah I was going to suggest carmina oxfords or wholecuts when I saw someone beat me to it. I agree, though, shell longwings aren't exactly the most delicate shoes. Maybe bogie, but certainly not 007. I've been looking to get shell shoes recently, but I'm not sure what direction to take.
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