Gaziano & Girling Appreciation & Shoe Appreciation Thread (including reviews, purchases, pictures)

[jhcam8]



This morning, Buccleugh.

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Very sharp.

 

[jhcam8]



haaa! yes, test it out. better yet, post a video!

Just checked today and they have antlers, not bones.

 

[jhcam8]



just received this one from Nick, fantastic shoes and services.

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Looks great w/your 233.

 

[bengal-stripe]



As for bespoke makers...I don't know who you've been talking to but the assertion makes no sense.

Have a look at that video about John Lobb. At 2:56 and 3:13 you see Nicholas Templeman showing the reporter one of those Baker pre-cut soles which are used by all London firms. If I recall correctly they are supplied as pairs for equal thickness. The majority of London shoes are made by freelance ‘makers’ which are supplied with ‘packs’ as you see at 3:20, containing apart from last and upper all the leathers needed for the bottom work. It’s the firm who supplies the leather, not the maker.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2010/mar/09/john-lobb-shoes-london

Yes, it’s probably a bit wasteful, after all those squares are cut big enough for large (but not over-large) shoes. Just like everybody (in England) uses pre-cut welts, which are long enough for breast-to-breast work, but if you want to make a shoe with a ‘stitched seat’, you have to piece the welt. With a good ‘maker’ you won’t see any joints, with a sloppy one you will.

Beyond that, with bespoke work the chances that a fabricated heel stack will have to be custom fitted to the heel seat of the shoe approaches unity. It is easier by far to build the stack up one lift at a time...leveling each...than try to sculpt the bottom of a pre-made heel stack to fit without gaps.........I would be quite surprised if anyone...even Rendenbach...used prime outsoling to make heel stacks.

I never said that heel-lifts for bespoke shoes are pre-fabricated, but they are also supplied as squares, large enough for eight (?) heel lifts. Of course it’s not premium leather. Would you cut heel lifts from the butt close to the spine?

And, while it may have changed by now, Rendenbach was, at one time in the not too distant past, adamant about not selling any cutsoles without their logo stamped squarely in the center and on the grain side.

That might apply to the small quantities a one-man shoemaker needs. Edward Green certainly gets Rendenbach pre-cut soles without the logo. I presume, Vass’ turnover would be big enough to get them also without the name (even as pre-cuts), if they wanted. But they might not want it, after all Rendenbach’s PR machinery is second to none. The majority of shoemakers and shoe repairers in Germany is extremely happy about the logo. It's the only name someone with a certain interest in shoes is likely to know. It indicates quality (rightly or wrongly). Vass caters mainly for the German market.

 

[Son Of Saphir]

Rendenback and Bakers do make pre made sole and heel leather.
It look like the leather merchant take role many bespoke maker used to do,
it cut heel and sole and sometime welt from hide instead of shoe maker.
It more convenient than have big hide deliver for shoe
maker.

 

[Son Of Saphir]



Have a look at that video about John Lobb. At 2:56 and 3:13 you see Nicholas Templeman showing the reporter one of those Baker pre-cut soles which are used by all London firms.

Nicholas Templeman very young man.
How can man so young be last maker for John Lobb?

 

[DWFII]



Have a look at that video about John Lobb. At 2:56 and 3:13 you see Nicholas Templeman showing the reporter one of those Baker pre-cut soles which are used by all London firms. If I recall correctly they are supplied as pairs for equal thickness. The majority of London shoes are made by freelance ‘makers’ which are supplied with ‘packs’ as you see at 3:20, containing apart from last and upper all the leathers needed for the bottom work. It’s the firm who supplies the leather, not the maker.

Admittedly I don't know the ins and outs of British shoemaking but I have seen that video a number of times. At .48 you see a gentleman cutting what looks, for all the world, to be Baker soling leather in the roughly rectangular shape that many UK firms prefer.

For that reason, I am not wholly convinced that Lobbs isn't cutting from bends.

When I see a cut sole shaped like the Rendenbach, I have no problem believing that they are third party components. But when I cut outsoles from a bend I am just as likely to cut rectangles as shapes, esp. if I will not be mounting them immediately.

I see the "pack" you refer to but nothing indicates that it wasn't generated in house, so to speak. The pack is just a convenient way to pass it on to the next station.

I'm not saying you're wrong but I'd be a lot happier and a lot more convinced if you had just returned from Lobbs and could verify the assertion. Barring that, there simply isn't enough evidence to know one way or the other. And much to suggest...from JH's comments about the working philosophy of the firm to the little things that indicate they are certainly set up to cut from bends...that Lobbs St. James does not, in the normal course of things, use pre-cut anything.

 

[Son Of Saphir]

We need ask Shoefan.
He no almost everything.
we need p.m him.

 

[claes500]

Some additional pics of my canterburys; I picked them up today!

 

[jhcam8]

^ Very nice.

 

[k4lnamja]



Some additional pics of my canterburys; I picked them up today!

 

[luk-cha]



Some additional pics of my canterburys; I picked them up today!

wow boot tree's propper ones!!

 

[Leaves]



yes, i've seen the dainite debate but I am actually of the opinion that dainite works quite well in swedish conditions. I have another pair of boots w/ dainite and I think it works well and e.g ridgeway looks a bit too much so overall I think dainite is a good middle way

Claes, try the Micro for your next MTO, they have a better grip on snow IMO. I also feel Ridgeway is taking it a bit too far on a pair of G&G.

just received this one from Nick, fantastic shoes and services.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

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"Oxford" is THE plain cap toe Oxford in IMO. Just love it to death. Don't own a pair though, had to settle for a pair of Holden.

 

[fritzl]



wow boot tree's propper ones!!

they must cost a fortune...

 

[fritzl]



I also feel Ridgeway is taking it a bit too far on a pair of G&G.

imo, why?