Too Much Going On..... - Page 6

Starting to get the first Shell Specials.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

Lasted shoe trees were shipped with the 46 last shoes, but we are still waiting for 3B and 35 last trees to be delivered - told inside of 2 weeks.

Still have some finishing work to do here before we get these out. Shell ships and packs horribly....usually alot of plume and always bruises from the freight handling. I began having SC shoes shipped with a coat of wax left on some time ago - works well. I always have to work on them anyway, so this saves me a step and helps save the uppers from scuffing during transport. Went to the shop this afternoon...each pair will take an hour or so of buffing:

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

can see the reflection starting to come out.......

[IMG][/IMG]

These look great after some work:

[IMG][/IMG]

I'll be in contact with everyone on these, and I also received pics today of shoes ready for the coming weeks' shipment as well as some of the complicated orders in work.

Great question.....just checked the Cordovan file and I never did get confirmation from the factory about the pattern. I'll send again right away and I will make sure to get an answer one way or the other this week. I'm sorry about that, don't know why we would have an issue with the pattern but I'll find out. Your in the UK, right? I seem to remember something about CITES paper and exportation rules, but it could be another request. I'll have to check again.....

And a Zegna suit, Robert Talbott shirt and tie....not sure whose shoes I wore today - but the strap is actually a print. Not a great watch by any means, but Stauer are my favorites....I like the retro designs.

http://www.stauer.com/itemd.asp?ItemNo=13571&CatID=5

Brandy

Yeah, I do also - a member here came up with the idea.

Indeed.....I'll be incontact tomorrow if that's ok - have to put together an email with pictures of the boot almost finished and go over a detail as well.




I can't really....Ravello is an Alden name, not Horween. I don't know which one it is renamed; and they change the colors some in their factory, I think.

Yes, #8 is the regular Horween color code.....Alden gets it to a darker color though - they do a nice job with it.

The basic production is #8 and black.....everything else is pieces or on a 'as supply allows' order basis. This is the niche I am developing - the other colors besides #8 and black. We came up with a custom color with Horween (#6) which immediately sold out (waiting to her when I might be able to get another delivery of this...have 50 shells on order, I think) as well as 'British Tan', which no one ordered, or even asked about, so I sent a note to shelve this color work and turn those shells I requested into more #6.

I should also note, in reading the above, we actually do not work with Horween, rather with Horween's agent for Europe. As we are an Italian manufacturer, we are obloged to go thru the proper system of ordering, and that means I really do not communicate with the tannery directly, but through their agency responsible for Italy. Please take note of this, as I have received numerous emails asking me to 'ask Skip about ______'.....it would be inappropriate for me to do this and any conversations I have with him are simply the typical 'trade' type conversations, not regarding the development of this work with our factory - this, by contract, is the sole work of the agents. I do not have the ability, and will not entertain requests, to buy shells directly from the tannery - I work exclusively thru the agency responsible for this work.

Anyway, Martegani's work in Shell Cordovan is in Special Orders and generally in these 'alternative' colors. We can certainly source #8 and black, as they are generally available with-in a day's notice, but what we are really interested in is small production work in colors like #6, #4, Navy, Natural, Mahagoni, Forest Green, Brandy, Brandy Scotch Grain, #8 Scotch Grain, Forest Green Scotch Grain, Whiskey (very few available in these lighter colors, generally), and anything else we may come across....when the raw supply is available.

This is developing pretty well.....the factory enjoys working with SC (they had no experience with it before I came around.....they really didn't even know exactly what it was, past 'horse') and this has actually been a benefit, as some of the stereotypes of working with the material have not come into play. And the finishing is a little different, requiring the finish room to learn an additional way of work, which is not easy, but now that I have them shipping with a layer of polish left on, they finish up here really nice.

I have received numerous mails asking if I will be offering this again....WE OFFER THIS ALL THE TIME - THIS WAS NOT A ONE-TIME DEAL! The only thing I needed to do after we had a client forced to cancel his stock order, was turn the purchased shells into orders right away, or the factory was going to return the leather to the agency, and I knew if they did that I would never get it again. I have not actively pursued further orders until I saw these arrive and verified that I had a system in place, but we are fine to continue to accept orders/ideas/special requests.....bring them on! I will not be offering the discount I offered on these, but I will continue to work on special orders and further develop the offerings we have in Shell Cordovan. I should have sometime this week an inventory of what is on-hand and ready for reservation, and I will update the information on one of the blogs. We do have the final chemo treatment this week, so I will be a little occupied towards the end of the week, but hopefully I can get everything done before then - if not will be early next week.

Thanks to everyone for the kind posts and inquiries!