Shoes from Savile Row Co?

Those shoes are not English-made. The leather soles are Blake-stitched


and the Dainite-type sole is cemented not stitched.

The shoes might be reasonably good value, but they are neither Loake or AS.
They will have been made in southern Europe (if not further afield)

I think these might be John White.

You're probably right about John White:
http://www.johnwhiteshoes.com/index.htm

They are the only "English" firm that does not use Goodyear welted. I believe the original firm was sold a number of years ago.


Despite the advertising, John White is about the lowest (and cheapest) range of shoes, which might, or might not be made in the UK.

Go for either Barker, Loake, Sanders or Cheaney: they are all welted shoes.

Agreed.

I once made a terrible mistake in purchasing a pair. The uppers were plasticy in the extreme and wet feet were guaranteed when it rained. I quite literally 'disposed' of them.

Good riddance to absolute rubbish.

Something of a shame that White are associated with such low quality products nowadays. Didn't they make boots for troopers in the British army circa 1940's?

I suppose all shoe manufactures did put in their share, to help the war effort.

Thanks to our friend 'centipede' here is a pair of 1960s John White traditional country shoes:
http://centipede.web.fc2.com/johnwhite.html


How long it it take you, to graduate from John White to EG or G&G?

As far as their clothes are concerned, Savile Row Co is certainly far away from being a high-end retailer. Go for any other Jermyn Street name and you'll find a better quality in shirts. So the odds are good that this applies to their shoes, too.

Haha. I thought I might be giving too much away by revealing past mistakes. I fear my shoe pedigree is definitely sub par.

I can honestly say that I already had a small collection of shoes prior to SF / AAAC. In the main, Church's, Cheaney & Loake were the order of the day. I had never heard of Edward Green or Lobb but I'm sure grateful to the membership for the enlightenment.

To answer your question, I have spent the last 18 months rebuilding my collection, which is still a work in progress.

Grenson are also very very good English shoes & boots - all made here.

Just going to say in defence of John White, yeah their stuff is kind of crappy but I got a pair of John white Chelseas on a daninite sole for about £60 new, wore them for three years, for two years I wore them almost every day, walked around a lot including in some really shitty weather they held up fine, and still look ok, if a little battered.

Not quite

Equally, I found this forum while looking for information on John White after buying a pair in 1999, wearing them close to 5 days a week for 10 years (re-soleing 3 or 4 times) and deciding they are my best shoes ever - still in great condition. I'm not a shoe connoisseur (bought them on sight in a dept store in Sydney) but feel it's time for something new and am desperately trying to avoid all the pointy designs - the John Whites were quite square and stumpy which appealed to me. I am drawn to Barkers, my father and grandfather swore by them, but gather I should be looking a Loake etc too. I don't want to buy online as I want them soon and do want to try on. Can anyone recommend a helpful and reasonably good value reseller of these and other quality shoes in Sydney?

Le Chameau do the "York" brogue (RRP £95) which is Blake stitched. Waste of money. Their huntin' and shootin' boots are £200 +

You'll find nothing in Sydney worth buying I'm afraid unless you want to pay $470 for loake's or $900 for Church's, with only a few styles to choose from. Go try them on at Joseph's or DJ's, then buy them from www.pediwear.co.uk and save yourself half the cost. Shipping time is less than a week to Aus normally so you don't need to wait long.