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JBMarce21

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This is New Rey? Look good. What are peoples' thoughts on the last?
Not bad for some styles but I think it's a bittt too pointy. Honestly I am a bigger fan of the olfe, which has been pretty consistently touted as their best last, and seems to receive the buk of the MTO orders.

I almost wish there was a last just slightly narrower than the olfe and slightly wider than the new rey would b an excellent happy medium.
 

dieworkwear

Mahatma Jawndi
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Gents,
I just got these:
meermin_monks.jpg

When I tried them with the buckles undone, left shoe stays on my foot when walking normally, but right shoe keeps slipping and popping out from the shoe as if it's a bit loose. You reckon it's going to be a problem with monks? I cannot lace them harder if I need to and I'm a bit worried they will get loose as the leather stretches. They are a UK8, I can try swapping for UK7.5, but then I think the left shoe will be too tight as it's snug at the moment (my right foot is slightly smaller than my left). I never had monks so I'm not sure what the fit should be like.
Regards,
dsc.


dsc, I'm a bit unclear on your situation. Are they too loose when buckled or unbuckled?

It sounds like you have one foot slightly larger than the other, which is not uncommon. There's no way around this, but some lasts fit better than others, and some styles better than others. Monks - either single or double - can be more difficult to fit because of how they're closed. You can obviously see how a laced shoe would not have this problem. You can always pull laced shoes tighter, whereas monks can only be buckled so far.

The best really is to find a last that fits both of your feet well. Barring that, you can either have a cobbler punch a new hole in the monk strap, so that you can close the strap more tightly, but this depends on how the monks are constructed and whether you can really pull them tighter. I have a pair of single monks, for example, that have a bit of an elasticized band near the buckle, and it's easy to pull the buckle further if I need to. The other option is to have a cobbler put in a heel insert into one shoe. That's a bit of a makeshift solution, and depending on the kind socks you wear, it might not be the best. Thin cashmere socks, for example, can wear through quickly if rubbed too often against a rubber insert. Still, it's a solution you can consider.

As for shoes stretching out, you're right that leather stretches over time. I personally just always make sure that new shoes feel comfortable and snug when I'm seated. Then, when I'm walking, the shoes should feel a bit tighter. This is fine since my feet expand when I'm walking (because of the weight I put on them, they tense and flex). Over time, the shoes should get more comfortable as the leather stretches - just enough to accommodate the tension in my feet as I walk. I find this is the best way to balance how shoes should feel at first, and ten years down the road.
 
Last edited:

meister

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dsc, I'm a bit unclear on your situation. Are they too loose when buckled or unbuckled?
It sounds like you have one foot slightly larger than the other, which is not uncommon. There's no way around this, but some lasts fit better than others, and some styles better than others. Monks - either single or double - can be more difficult to fit because of how they're closed. You can obviously see how a laced shoe would not have this problem. You can always pull laced shoes tighter, whereas monks can only be buckled so far.
The best really is to find a last that fits both of your feet well. Barring that, you can either have a cobbler punch a new hole in the monk strap, so that you can close the strap more tightly, but this depends on how the monks are constructed and whether you can really pull them tighter. I have a pair of single monks, for example, that have a bit of an elasticized band near the buckle, and it's easy to pull the buckle further if I need to. The other option is to have a cobbler put in a heel insert into one shoe. That's a bit of a makeshift solution, and depending on the kind socks you wear, it might not be the best. Thin cashmere socks, for example, can wear through quickly if rubbed too often against a rubber insert. Still, it's a solution you can consider.
As for shoes stretching out, you're right that leather stretches over time. I personally just always make sure that new shoes feel comfortable and snug when I'm seated. Then, when I'm walking, the shoes should feel a bit tighter. This is fine since my feet expand when I'm walking (because of the weight I put on them, they tense and flex). Over time, the shoes should get more comfortable as the leather stretches - just enough to accommodate the tension in my feet as I walk. I find this is the best way to balance how shoes should feel at first, and ten years down the road.


Higher arches hold dub monks better and dub monks hold better than singles IMO.
 

meister

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Here are a few pics of my Navy Blue Double Monks. They look purplish in the first two pics but they are more of a dark blue which can be seen in the last pic. The first two pics were taken inside with a flash on and the last pic was taken with no flash. In the sunlight they almost look royal blue but indoors they dark. I like them and the fit is great.
shoe1o.jpg

shoe2ut.jpg

No Flash on this one
shoe3j.jpg


Look like a sleeker version of the original AE Mora.
 
Last edited:

HughJ

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This is New Rey? Look good. What are peoples' thoughts on the last?

I haven't seen the New Rey in person, but from the pic above it has more of a rounded toe than I expected. I like this a lot.
 

Rankiz

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Look like a sleeker version of the original AE Mora.

They're on the Hiro last, I tried em in the Madrid store. Sadly they did not have my size in stock (7), and since the blue suede is in their summer collection, they don't restock it either.
 

dsc

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dsc, I'm a bit unclear on your situation. Are they too loose when buckled or unbuckled?
It sounds like you have one foot slightly larger than the other, which is not uncommon. There's no way around this, but some lasts fit better than others, and some styles better than others. Monks - either single or double - can be more difficult to fit because of how they're closed. You can obviously see how a laced shoe would not have this problem. You can always pull laced shoes tighter, whereas monks can only be buckled so far.
The best really is to find a last that fits both of your feet well. Barring that, you can either have a cobbler punch a new hole in the monk strap, so that you can close the strap more tightly, but this depends on how the monks are constructed and whether you can really pull them tighter. I have a pair of single monks, for example, that have a bit of an elasticized band near the buckle, and it's easy to pull the buckle further if I need to. The other option is to have a cobbler put in a heel insert into one shoe. That's a bit of a makeshift solution, and depending on the kind socks you wear, it might not be the best. Thin cashmere socks, for example, can wear through quickly if rubbed too often against a rubber insert. Still, it's a solution you can consider.
As for shoes stretching out, you're right that leather stretches over time. I personally just always make sure that new shoes feel comfortable and snug when I'm seated. Then, when I'm walking, the shoes should feel a bit tighter. This is fine since my feet expand when I'm walking (because of the weight I put on them, they tense and flex). Over time, the shoes should get more comfortable as the leather stretches - just enough to accommodate the tension in my feet as I walk. I find this is the best way to balance how shoes should feel at first, and ten years down the road.


Thanks for the reply. The situation I described is with both shoes unbuckled, it's just a test I like to do to check the overall fit of the shoes, if they are laced I remove the laces and walk around a bit. I mentioned that the right foot pops out, which is simply the heel coming out of the shoe when I flex the foot, move the weight of the body to the toes and lift the heel of the ground. The shoe stays on the foot when I simply lift the leg up, with the foot relaxed, so it's not really that bad. It's only the buckled design that makes me worried, as you cannot tighten the straps past a certain point, laces allow more room for error I guess. The last overall is good, I have a rather high instep and normally struggle a bit with shoes, but the Hiro seems to fit me well, apart from the sizing issues.

These Meermin monks do have an elasticated band under the top buckle which is actually something that worries me as well. I've had a similar solution in a different pair of shoes and with time the band expands, gets loose and you get more movement overall, which is far from perfect.

Regards,
dsc.
 

kev777

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Another taster of the manufacturing process .......... these MTO Austerity Brogues in Dark Brown should be with me next week. Looking forward to receiving them !!!
 

Rankiz

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Update: Sandro emailed me that you could buy the blue suede double monks actually, but that it they would be in stock in 30-45 days.
 

newtoshoes

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So there seem to be some new lasts; at least Dub and Ben. Does anyone have infos on these?
 

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