The Ultimate Vass (Footwear) Thread (Pictures, reviews, sizing, etc...)

[Son Of Saphir]



well, i go down half a size, so there you go...

you have very narrow front part of foot?

 

[sstomcat]



Try to fly to budapest or be prepared for the Vass not to fit so you not disappointed.

if you do ur homework, you may not.

 

[hendrix]



you have very narrow front part of foot?

not so much narrow as low volume.

But then my instep is medium/high. F fits well.

 

[fritzl]



if you do ur homework, you may not.

exactly

 

[Son Of Saphir]



if you do ur homework, you may not.

Many do their homework on fit here but many get it wrong.
Many opinion vary here on sizing threads because people forget that slightly different feet can have big impact on sizing.
lf shoe is off 1/25 inch in some area it can cause foot problem for some man.
Doing homework will not alway get right sizing because all feet different.
General sizing advice and specific needs for specific feet is mismatch and often down to luck,
doing homework on sizing issues can still result in big failure because there many factor to include.

 

[P. Bateman]



By looking at creasing it look very long shoe on your foot.
ls the shoe flexing on the toes?
Many man here say to size up for certain last or size down,
but it very silly talk,
it better to accept that some last don't fit and buy a last which does fit.
A shoe on un suitable last can not be made to fit.
Here is general talk.
Some man say to size down .5 and increase width by 1.
No no NO!
Some man say to size up .5 and decrease width by .5,
no no NO!
"A shoe on un suitable last can not be made to fit"

The toes don't really flex. In fact I've tripped in these a few times because of how long the toe is. I agree it's too long for me.

 

[F. Corbera]

It's very simple: if you are willing to buy, without prior brand knowldedge from a try-on, new RTW shoes from a remote retailer who does not accept or encourage returns, you should be prepared—without complaint and whining—to give them away or resell them at a loss. If you end up doing that, consider the experience the cost of education and move on.

If you think that shoe sizes of the type used now can give you anything but a gross sense of how the shoe will fit, you are nuts. There is simply no great way to "calibrate" your way past the simple sizing information.

 

[Slickman]

^ well said, assumption of risk

 

[Slewfoot]



Many do their homework on fit here but many get it wrong.
Many opinion vary here on sizing threads because people forget that slightly different feet can have big impact on sizing.
lf shoe is off 1/25 inch in some area it can cause foot problem for some man.
Doing homework will not alway get right sizing because all feet different.
General sizing advice and specific needs for specific feet is mismatch and often down to luck,
doing homework on sizing issues can still result in big failure because there many factor to include.

+ 1

It's very simple: if you are willing to buy, without prior brand knowldedge from a try-on, new RTW shoes from a remote retailer who does not accept or encourage returns, you should be prepared—without complaint and whining—to give them away or resell them at a loss. If you end up doing that, consider the experience the cost of education and move on.
If you think that shoe sizes of the type used now can give you anything but a gross sense of how the shoe will fit, you are nuts. There is simply no great way to "calibrate" your way past the simple sizing information.

+ 1

These two posts articulate why I'm not willing to branch out to new brands anymore unless I try them on the store and can buy them on sight. I've paid my dues and found what works. Once you find what works stick with it. It took me a while to get there and I wouldn't have changed the journey, but people need to know what they're getting into otherwise you'll get screwed.

 

[fritzl]



It's very simple: if you are willing to buy, without prior brand knowldedge from a try-on, new RTW shoes from a remote retailer who does not accept or encourage returns, you should be prepared—without complaint and whining—to give them away or resell them at a loss. If you end up doing that, consider the experience the cost of education and move on.
If you think that shoe sizes of the type used now can give you anything but a gross sense of how the shoe will fit, you are nuts. There is simply no great way to "calibrate" your way past the simple sizing information.

i do not agree...

 

[fritzl]



+ 1
These two posts articulate why I'm not willing to branch out to new brands anymore unless I try them on the store and can buy them on sight. I've paid my dues and found what works. Once you find what works stick with it. It took me a while to get there and I wouldn't have changed the journey, but people need to know what they're getting into otherwise you'll get screwed.

well, as already mentioned one can do his homework. learn about the typical features of his own feet. e.g. high/low instep, wide/narrow heel/forefoot and then learn about the typical parameters of the different lasts. i agree, it takes a little time but it is no rocket science imo.

if people had the same pickiness as with the rest of their clothes it would be a no brainer. just sayin...

 

[hendrix]

If you could communicate with vass and take some actual measurements, chances of success would be greatly enhanced. Unfortunately they don't respond to emails, so your best bet is trawling this thread for various peoples experience.

search key words like "F last", "sizing" etc.

For reference since this might help:

I wear 8.5 in US shoes. 7.5 in AS 87 last. 7.5 Carmina Inca last.

I have normal width feet, with slightly narrow heel, medium/high instep, and a low volume forefoot, medium arch. 41.5 normally = 8.5US, but i take a 41 in the F last, so technically i sized down half a size. It fits well - high-ish instep, normal width.

I have heard that the New Peter (P2) last is slightly lower instep, with a higher volume forefoot. I wanted some casual bluchers, so the instep shouldn't matter. I sized down half a size fro F last (=40.5) because of the higher volume forefoot, because i ordered shell cordovan which apparently is harder to last and therefore fits a bit looser than calf, and because i read furo's purchase and his feet sound similar to mine. I don't know if this will work out for me as most people recommend to stay the same size for F and P2, but we will see and I will let you guys know.

From what i've seen, at larger sizes people haven't been sizing down, while the 41s etc all seem to size down a bit.

Also keep in mind that these are handlasted and therefore there might be inconsistencies between models.

That's all I know, good luck all.

 

[rikod]

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[rikod]

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[hendrix]



Good luck with the P2, please let me know how it turns out. I have several shoes in P2 in the same size as my F (40.5) and they fit perfect. I'm tempted to order a shell cordovan P2 but I'm worried that the fit will be loose and a half size down too tight. I once purchased an F last shell cordovan and it was too big, I had to sell them.

that's what i'm worried about too. I'll let you know.

The other thing i forgot to mention is the length. Both F and P2 seem slightly elongated - not italian elongated, but elongated in the sense that although the ball of the foot fits perfectly where it should, there is still a bit of length left at the front. That gives me a bit of confidence that i can size down, whereas i don't think i could do the same with the 3636, which, despite having more volume through the foot (from what i've heard and how it looks), would not have enough length to size down IMO.

That's the theory anyway. As you can tell i've done a fair bit of reading, but I've never actually been near 3636 or P2 last and this is all from people's descriptions.

Who knows how this will end up?