Australian Members

[Geoffrey Firmin]

For those Melbournians who enjoy a night out at the theatre I would highly recommend Bell Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, saw it last night in Canberra great production very different from the last time they put it on ten years or so ago.

 

[pharmaboy]

Tomee,
I was in my local DJ's yesterday, and they only had 4 pairs of loakes, one was $400, but was the made in india model!! - the 1880's line is the calf leather and made in the UK - i ordered a pair a few weeks ago from pediwear in my std UK shoe sizing, and they arrived 7 days later - all good, though I'm slowly wearing them in. I'm a bit of a woos, and have always worn rockport dressports, so i think leather soles for me will require a shoe insert if i do too much walking. Circa $230 delivered with shoe trees and polish - though keep in mind the shoe trees you get free from pediwear cost you about $15 just in extra shipping to get here.

 

[kickstart]



Tomee,
I was in my local DJ's yesterday, and they only had 4 pairs of loakes, one was $400, but was the made in india model!! - the 1880's line is the calf leather and made in the UK - i ordered a pair a few weeks ago from pediwear in my std UK shoe sizing, and they arrived 7 days later - all good,

Are the UK made and Indian made sized the same.

Can I safely go to DJs, get my size and then order online from the UK?

 

[eightace]

Can I offer the cautionary tale of my experience? (Resounding 'yes, enlighten us Eightace!')

Recently, I found some Loake boots online that I thought were the bees knees, so I went to DJ's and did just that. I tried on some Loakes, and decided on UK size 8.

I then had an email conversation with the seller in the UK, just to make sure of the size. I even sent them my foot measurements.

So I confidently ordered the UK size 8 boots, thinking that everything would be ok.

They are too big, it's uneconomical to send them back, and they're now sitting in a box on the floor wondering who's going to be their loving owner.

Can I recommend that you try on the specific model you're intending to buy. As others have noted, there is often some variation in sizes by the same maker. So do try to hunt down the model you want, just to reduce the risk of getting something not quite right.

That's my two cents' worth.

Cheers,

Eightace

 

[blahman]



For those Melbournians who enjoy a night out at the theatre I would highly recommend Bell Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, saw it last night in Canberra great production very different from the last time they put it on ten years or so ago.

Oh Bell Shakespeare's Julius Caesar... I saw that exactly 10 years ago... for a school excursion.

 

[fxh]

Measuring your feet

For at home measurements:

Step 1.
First gather your supplies. Some tape, a piece of paper larger than your foot, a pencil, and a ruler or measuring tape. Taping the piece of paper, at the corners, to a flat, hard surface on floor. Now you're ready to measure.

Step 2.
Trace the outline of your foot. Some people have feet that do swell especially in the evening after standing on them for long periods of time. Because of this we recommend measuring your foot in the evening to allow for comfort and ample room. Trace your feet without shoes, just with socks like you may be wearing with the shoes you will be buying. Place foot firmly on the floor with your leg slightly forward and your shin just in front of your ankle. Using your pencil, trace the outline of your foot on the paper. Hold your pencil straight up and down as you do this. Make sure the pencil is firmly against your foot as you trace around it. It can be helpful to have someone else do the tracing, but you can do this yourself. A carpenter’s flat pencil is useful here.

Step 3.
Marking the length and width of your foot. Using your pencil, draw a straight line from top to bottom of the outline of your foot. That is your length. Then from side to side at the widest part of the outline, draw another straight line for your width.

Step 4.
Measuring the length of your foot. Using your measuring tape or ruler, measure from the bottom to the top of your outline. For inches use the closest 16th inch mark when measuring. Don't round up or down as this will affect the fit of new shoes. Write your length measurement at the top of the outline.

Step 5.
Measuring the width of your foot. Some people will need a narrow shoe while others need wide shoe. Measure the width of your foot with your tape measure or ruler from left side to the right of the widest part of the outline. Find the mark that is to the closest 16th inch here as well. Write this number to the side of your foot outline.

Step 6.
Finding your final shoe size. Repeat these steps for the other foot and go with the larger of the two. After your numbers are written down, you will want to subtract 2 tenths of an inch from each of the numbers to allow for the slight space between your actual foot and the line made when tracing your foot with the pencil. These final numbers are your actual foot measurements and can be converted to your appropriate size and width.

Another suggestion is to do one tracing with pencil straight and other with pencil slanted in under a bit.
Then multiply by the number you just thought of or something.

No need to overthink it - its still an art getting shoes to fit ok.

The best tip is when trying on use a medium size sock - then you can thicken socks up or down to get a better fit.

Leather stretches and shapes to your foot a bit. Rarely will you get more length out of a shoe but different shoes will stretch naturally around your foot in various other places.

To add another complication, I like to makes sure that the heel cups the foot heel nicely, and when done up the foot heel sits back in the shoe heel comfortability, then if that is happening even a bit too long doesn't matter.

 

[Henry Carter]



Can I offer the cautionary tale of my experience? (Resounding 'yes, enlighten us Eightace!')

Recently, I found some Loake boots online that I thought were the bees knees, so I went to DJ's and did just that. I tried on some Loakes, and decided on UK size 8.

I then had an email conversation with the seller in the UK, just to make sure of the size. I even sent them my foot measurements.

So I confidently ordered the UK size 8 boots, thinking that everything would be ok.

They are too big, it's uneconomical to send them back, and they're now sitting in a box on the floor wondering who's going to be their loving owner.

Can I recommend that you try on the specific model you're intending to buy. As others have noted, there is often some variation in sizes by the same maker. So do try to hunt down the model you want, just to reduce the risk of getting something not quite right.

That's my two cents' worth.

Cheers,

Eightace

You shouldn't really need to try on the same model you want to buy, but the same last should be enough to get a good idea, though I personally find the idea of wasting a retail stores/assistants time by trying on shoes I'm just going to order on the internet pretty poor form.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]



Oh Bell Shakespeare's Julius Caesar... I saw that exactly 10 years ago... for a school excursion.

Thank you I needed that(effing emoticons wont work!)

 

[Simon29]

For the Perth people; I saw someone mention F.T Russel & Co for MTM and bespoke suits and shirts (http://www.ftrussell.com.au/

I just had my measurements taken by them for a dinner suit and shirt that I'm having done and the experience/service so far has been fantastic. It will be ready in about a month, so I'll post how the final product turns out once I have it.

 

[__PG__]



Tomee,
I was in my local DJ's yesterday, and they only had 4 pairs of loakes, one was $400, but was the made in india model!! - the 1880's line is the calf leather and made in the UK - i ordered a pair a few weeks ago from pediwear in my std UK shoe sizing, and they arrived 7 days later - all good, though I'm slowly wearing them in. I'm a bit of a woos, and have always worn rockport dressports, so i think leather soles for me will require a shoe insert if i do too much walking. Circa $230 delivered with shoe trees and polish - though keep in mind the shoe trees you get free from pediwear cost you about $15 just in extra shipping to get here.

I bought some Loake 1880's via Herring last year. While the uppers only took a few weeks to break in, the sole took about 6 months. I presume Topy'ing them slowed this process somewhat. I was a bit worried that the shoes would never be comfortable but thankfully they soles are now flexible enough that I can walk around in them all day (well...a few city blocks on my lunch break) and they are very comfortable.

 

[dst]

Hi guys

Can anyone recommend a god place to find some nice ties reasonably priced in Sydney. I am really enjoying Panta's (for the life of me can't find the thread anymore, but I'll keep looking)!

Thanks guys - apologies for interrupting the discussion about shoes!

 

[Selvaggio]



Hi guys

Can anyone recommend a god place to find some nice ties reasonably priced in Sydney. I am really enjoying Panta's (for the life of me can't find the thread anymore, but I'll keep looking)!

Thanks guys - apologies for interrupting the discussion about shoes!

I like Herringbone's ties - and they often have quite a good selection at their clearance outlet near central. If you are wanting ties with interesting textures a-la-Panta, I believe P Johnson stocks Drakes ties.

 

[ColdEyedPugilist]



Hi guys

Can anyone recommend a god place to find some nice ties reasonably priced in Sydney. I am really enjoying Panta's (for the life of me can't find the thread anymore, but I'll keep looking)!

Thanks guys - apologies for interrupting the discussion about shoes!

Second Selvaggio's suggestion re-Herringbone; especially if you can get any of the old 'Handmade in Italy' models.

Personally, I buy most of my ties online from Drakes, the Armoury and Sam Hober. Maybe a few from P Johnson in Paddington now and again.

Best value so far, as in bang-for-buck, is Sam Hober ties: Bespoke; beautifully handmade, and as low as $80USD for a 3-fold, self-tipped tie or mid-$100s for a lined 6-fold or unlined 7. Had 3 made recently - forest green silk-linen, burnt orange reppe and dark chocolate grenadine garza fina ($80 each) - and just purchased a 4-fold, untipped burgundy garza grossa grenadine with hand-rolled edges for just $100AUD.

And in a shameless plug for myself, I will be selling some very good condition Kiton, Borrelli, Zegna, Hermes etc ties on B&S soon. Very low prices. Might be a Drakes or Cappelli in there as well...

 

[blahman]

Link us to your sales Ceppy. The new B&S system is a pain ***********.

 

[Prince of Paisley]



In other news, on Monday I bought some new L'Stony shoes, and took them to Brice's in Castlereagh St for Topy soles and heels.

Soles cost $45/pair, heels $35/pair.

Is this a good price?

You can get a bit cheaper - Coombs in The Strand does topy/heels for $70 I believe, and the bloke in the MLC Centre does it for $75. Both are quality options and around your neck of the woods.