swiego
Senior Member
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(Note: I have several "nicer" shoes including C&J, EG, Kiton; this is not an "expensive shoes are bad" post!)
I have a pair of John Lobb Becketts. 8000 last, and I believe they are in "black museum calf." I've had them maybe a couple of years now; I wear them about once a month. So, about 20 wears. They've never seen rain or snow - they are babied.
They have proven to be the most delicate shoes I have, by a wide margin.
The biggest concern is the leather. It is exceptionally thin, more so than any other pair of shoes I have at any price point. This does mean that they are very soft; the light pressure the shoe exerts on the upper part of my foot feels akin to my foot being wrapped in a silk cloth, than leather. It's a nice feeling! However, I've noticed some serious downsides. First, these shoes wrinkle, and they wrinkle ugly. Wrinkles everywhere, With trees and a good polish, they look flawless, but the first step has them devolving into a wrinkled mess between the toe cap and the start of the tongue. (This is called the vamp?) They fit well, are not loose or tight.
The other issue is durability. Shoes get scuffed, and scuffs get buffed out. These shoes don't scuff; the top surface of the leather is simply scratched off or lifted up. I've taken them into cobblers twice now for scratches in the leather that lifted off the black dyed surface. Both times, the lifted leather had to be glued back down. I just noticed another gouge/lifted patch this morning. I know where it came from - I sort of nicked the side of the left shoe with the heel of my right shoe. The leather heel gouged the leather upper. This is delicate stuff.
I've also noticed that sole is beginning to split between layers in front of the heel on the inner side, on both shoes, at exactly the same place.
The shoe is extremely well finished. The soles are wearing well, the insole is comfortable, and the inner lining of the upper is sumptuous and I love the feel of sliding my feet into them. There is not a single out of place stitch. However, I'm concerned that while the sole might last forever and ever, the uppers aren't built to last. I saw a couple of pairs at the Bergdorf Goodman in NYC over the Thanksgiving Break (my first real interaction with more JL shoes since I purchased these) and none had a similar "this leather is fragile" feel to them, but they were different models (e.g. loafers, suede perf captoes and so forth).
So I guess my question is: I'm having a tough time accepting the durability of these shoes. Is the "museum calf" particularly delicate, something like a super 180s fabric? Are JLs known to be like this, or are only a few models so delicate, or do I simply have a bad pair? Any perspective would be appreciated; I'e searched online and haven't found indications that others have this problem. Right now, even my AEs are holding up better than this pair, and they are being subjected to much worse.
I have a pair of John Lobb Becketts. 8000 last, and I believe they are in "black museum calf." I've had them maybe a couple of years now; I wear them about once a month. So, about 20 wears. They've never seen rain or snow - they are babied.
They have proven to be the most delicate shoes I have, by a wide margin.
The biggest concern is the leather. It is exceptionally thin, more so than any other pair of shoes I have at any price point. This does mean that they are very soft; the light pressure the shoe exerts on the upper part of my foot feels akin to my foot being wrapped in a silk cloth, than leather. It's a nice feeling! However, I've noticed some serious downsides. First, these shoes wrinkle, and they wrinkle ugly. Wrinkles everywhere, With trees and a good polish, they look flawless, but the first step has them devolving into a wrinkled mess between the toe cap and the start of the tongue. (This is called the vamp?) They fit well, are not loose or tight.
The other issue is durability. Shoes get scuffed, and scuffs get buffed out. These shoes don't scuff; the top surface of the leather is simply scratched off or lifted up. I've taken them into cobblers twice now for scratches in the leather that lifted off the black dyed surface. Both times, the lifted leather had to be glued back down. I just noticed another gouge/lifted patch this morning. I know where it came from - I sort of nicked the side of the left shoe with the heel of my right shoe. The leather heel gouged the leather upper. This is delicate stuff.
I've also noticed that sole is beginning to split between layers in front of the heel on the inner side, on both shoes, at exactly the same place.
The shoe is extremely well finished. The soles are wearing well, the insole is comfortable, and the inner lining of the upper is sumptuous and I love the feel of sliding my feet into them. There is not a single out of place stitch. However, I'm concerned that while the sole might last forever and ever, the uppers aren't built to last. I saw a couple of pairs at the Bergdorf Goodman in NYC over the Thanksgiving Break (my first real interaction with more JL shoes since I purchased these) and none had a similar "this leather is fragile" feel to them, but they were different models (e.g. loafers, suede perf captoes and so forth).
So I guess my question is: I'm having a tough time accepting the durability of these shoes. Is the "museum calf" particularly delicate, something like a super 180s fabric? Are JLs known to be like this, or are only a few models so delicate, or do I simply have a bad pair? Any perspective would be appreciated; I'e searched online and haven't found indications that others have this problem. Right now, even my AEs are holding up better than this pair, and they are being subjected to much worse.
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