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Antonio Meccariello Shoes

JLPII

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These are museum brown.

Yeah would love to know what kind of brown it is, not just brown.

Dear @JLPII, I believe it is the same shade as my first pair of AM shoes (an SMTO pair from AM):



In the MTO section and also on my invoice, it is uninspiringly called -

View attachment 1225823

But if we refer to the text in the Instagram post, it's "noce museum", i.e. walnut museum


Those are very nice shoes you got.

Interesting that he doesn't elaborate further on the color.
Walnut should be darker, then again it's Meccariello's walnut I guess.
Thanks a lot ShirtingFantasy.
 

svf

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Hello, nice shoes! Do you size up Half size of your normal size as the group and reviews suggest??

I don't think so. My foot measurements (27cm long, <width> ~ 25.5cm) pointed to a UK 9/E on the measuring guide. I didn't see anything about going up a half-size so maybe I got lucky? Or I'm in between sizes?

@styc Thanks for the advice on rubber soles. It does seem like a crime to cover up the beautiful leather soles. As long as I don't slip and break my neck! Looking forward to wearing them outside tomorrow!
 

WhyUEarly

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do not EVER put on rubber half soles on that beauty! Biggest mistake ever. I used to do make this horrendous mistake with many of my shoes, even JR leather sole ones. If there is anything i have learnt is that the majority of leather soles from proper makers (of course do not count in the cheap crappy type shoes) can probably outlast you if work an office job and if you are not required to run a marathon in them every week. Furthermore the rubber half sole on a tight fiddleback waisted meccariello just screams sacrilege to me. I recall some other SF member's position on this- "it is like putting plastic clingwrap on your new Ferrari tyres to try and protect the rubber from the dust on the floor". ?

Well I don't feel quite as strongly about rubber soles. I do agree that the high quality single leather sole is a lot more durable than people expect, but it's not really an aesthetic disaster IF it is done properly by a good cobbler. Not to mention, the half sole should never reach the fiddleback waist. I never found heavily scuffed dirty soles to be very elegant either. For Hong Kong and New York, I think a well-done rubber half sole is a practical compromise.
 

clee1982

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We walk a lot in NYC, leather without toe tap gets destroyed in no time
 

clee1982

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then without rubber you’re going to get rained in one day...
 

WhyUEarly

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We walk a lot in NYC, leather without toe tap gets destroyed in no time
Exactly, the other annoying thing is that the salt for snow rusts the toe taps like crazy. If it's brass, then it just wears faster than steel. Ironically, my cobbler refuses to install toe taps by principle calling them ugly and for metalheads :crackup:

So, I just have him put on a topy which conveniently also doesn't rust. Oh did I mention that it's easier to remove bubble gum from the rubber half sole than leather :brick:
 

peanutbutterjellychoo

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Well I don't feel quite as strongly about rubber soles. I do agree that the high quality single leather sole is a lot more durable than people expect, but it's not really an aesthetic disaster IF it is done properly by a good cobbler. Not to mention, the half sole should never reach the fiddleback waist. I never found heavily scuffed dirty soles to be very elegant either. For Hong Kong and New York, I think a well-done rubber half sole is a practical compromise.

TBT rubber or no rubber is just personal preference and do what makes you happy. Having said that, my personal experience is that all my vibram/topy installations were unnecessary if not a pure waste of money. Also my assumption is that the majority of SFs here have a multitude of shoes so my assumption is that there is some healthy amount of shoe rotation going on. Regarding snow and salt, I have no experience of clugging my fancy shoes in snow at all so perhaps rubbers would make sense if you live in the arctic etc.
 

spencert

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do not EVER put on rubber half soles on that beauty! Biggest mistake ever. I used to do make this horrendous mistake with many of my shoes, even JR leather sole ones. If there is anything i have learnt is that the majority of leather soles from proper makers (of course do not count in the cheap crappy type shoes) can probably outlast you if work an office job and if you are not required to run a marathon in them every week. Furthermore the rubber half sole on a tight fiddleback waisted meccariello just screams sacrilege to me. I recall some other SF member's position on this- "it is like putting plastic clingwrap on your new Ferrari tyres to try and protect the rubber from the dust on the floor". ?
Agree, I even cancelled topy with Angela for my Conicen at almost shipping date because of the same reasons. In the end, she shipped me the rubber topy separately..... o_O
 

Deeky

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I put rubber soles + metal toe taps on all my shoes. As long as they cut the rubber to match the "pattern" of the sole (i.e. the V-shape) I think it looks fine...

I like in a very hot, rainy and humid climate so soles tend to get wrecked very quickly without some sort of protection
 

cliffordcaucus

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I think this article from Shoegazing (Guide - Resoling and Re-heeling) uses the right language to explain why you might topy your shoes (or not). If you don't feel like searching the link (SF wont let me post the link here), a summary might be: a topy won't forever prevent having to resole a GYW shoe as the cork filling may need replacing but a hand-welted shoe, with a possible lack of cork filling, is reasonable to topy if your circumstance it. Anecdotally, I walk in the city (west coast so no salt on the streets here) on dates with my lovely girlfriend and around university so I feel more comfortable knowing each grinding step isn't solely (pun intended) leather versus concrete. My preference is to buy shoes with a metal toe tap already installed. What others have said is correct, topy or not is based on where and how much you plan to walk in a pair of shoes but most importantly have it done by a professional (i.e the shoe maker's workshop or a competant cobbler). Below is a picture of a pair of Saint Crispins that I love to wear (and am wearing as I write this) in part because they have a well done topy.

1226492
 

Deeky

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That is true. I've had a pair of expensive boots and shoes topy'd by a random neighborhood cobbler, and he destroyed the balance of both.

Now I only get mine done by the manufacturer direct or at a local bespoke cordwainer
 

shirtingfantasy

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Agree, I even cancelled topy with Angela for my Conicen at almost shipping date because of the same reasons. In the end, she shipped me the rubber topy separately..... o_O

I added Vibram insert for my recent order (of suede Aurum MTM). Will make sure I don't repeat your mistake of last-minute cancelling.

This is what happens if you irritate Italian artisans :stirpot:

I think this article from Shoegazing (Guide - Resoling and Re-heeling) uses the right language to explain why you might topy your shoes (or not). If you don't feel like searching the link (SF wont let me post the link here), a summary might be: a topy won't forever prevent having to resole a GYW shoe as the cork filling may need replacing but a hand-welted shoe, with a possible lack of cork filling, is reasonable to topy if your circumstance it. Anecdotally, I walk in the city (west coast so no salt on the streets here) on dates with my lovely girlfriend and around university so I feel more comfortable knowing each grinding step isn't solely (pun intended) leather versus concrete. My preference is to buy shoes with a metal toe tap already installed. What others have said is correct, topy or not is based on where and how much you plan to walk in a pair of shoes but most importantly have it done by a professional (i.e the shoe maker's workshop or a competant cobbler). Below is a picture of a pair of Saint Crispins that I love to wear (and am wearing as I write this) in part because they have a well done topy.

View attachment 1226492

Another option is going straight to a stitched-on rubber sole, like the studded Vibram dainite offered by AM. Recently I purchased a pair of TLB Artista, mostly as a protection for my nicer AM shoes on rainy days. The fact that they can make rubber sole that sleek is quite commendable - talking of which, it would be great if Antonio can add some sort of city rubber sole option (e.g. similar to CJ City Dainite, or like the TLB/ Cheaney Diamond rubber sole) to his MTO section...

 

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