Balmoral Boot Appreciation

[VRaivio]

nl, quite a few errors made with your special orders. Did you complain about them to the makers (and how did they respond)? It's a rare thing to see a bal collection, I've a soft spot for them as the model has stayed roughly the same for two centuries or so. It's The dress boot.

 

[RogerP]

I have never had the urge to get a pair in all-suede, but your photos are giving me second thoughts, because those Carminas really do look great poking through your trouser legs!

Thanks nh!

I can totally recommend you do

Yeah, that's the ticket right there.

 

[ElementHU]



nh - that's an impressive assembly of bal boots - and I gather there's more?  Wow!

I'll add my Carmina's to the thread for posterity.  Brown suede on the Robert last.  I will definitely be getting this boot in another configuration (probably black calf with black suede) aas it is a supremely comfortable fit for me and looks great with a suit.

(second pic courtesy of Leatherfoot)

I'd never thought of getting an all-suede bal boot before....until now. Kudos Roger...those are spectacular.

 

[RogerP]

Thank you Element.

 

[nh10222]



nl, quite a few errors made with your special orders. Did you complain about them to the makers (and how did they respond)? It's a rare thing to see a bal collection, I've a soft spot for them as the model has stayed roughly the same for two centuries or so. It's The dress boot.

Honestly, I am not overly annoyed by any of the hiccups that have occurred so far, but I thought I'd still mention them here to give people an idea of the experience, that things do not always go 100% to plan. I have not attempted to take any serious remedial action, because insured airmail to Europe costs me about £60, and the risk of loss/damage in transit, further delays etc (been there, done that) means it would have to be a major problem for me to actually return something, like the wrong size or manufacturing defects. No doubt for those of you in Europe, returns would be much cheaper.

With the AS Dalmore boots I did mention it to the supplier who hadn't noticed and was surprised and apologetic, but ultimately the boots were still great quality, a great fit, and a bargain (a steal, in fact). The eyelets didn't detract from the appearance as much as they could have, so I was not too concerned. I prefer blind eyelets on Balmoral or Oxford boots as the visible metal ones look less formal. Given that it happened twice, I got the impression that the metal eyelets were a fixed part of the pattern for the Dalmore boot or something... not sure.

Having said all that, I thoroughly recommend the AS Dalmore as a good mid-tier boot (and would order more pairs if I could, but that is not an option at this point in time - this may be something to do with Chay Cooper's departure from Alfred Sargent), but prospective customers be advised that you will most likely get visible eyelets!

As for Cliff's blue boots, the colour of the suede was wrong, but I haven't even worn them yet, so it is possible that the "mistake" - quite a serious one, come to think of it - could turn out to look better than what I specified in the order, as a form of "unwanted" fashion advice. My original specs had the leg in blue nubuck, but after some time he advised that he was unable to source any, so I told him that a "medium blue suede would be fine." Then I opened the box to find the leg in black...

What I will say with Cliff is that I love his boots, but my advice is to consider all options on the market, as I always have and will continue to do (and report my findings).

Would I buy from Cliff again? Yes. The thing is, hand-welted Balmoral boots and shoes are not easy to come by at the prices he charges, except from the likes of Vass.

 

[VRaivio]

ElementHU, just think of how rarefied those boots would look in black suede.

nh, well, the point with special orders is to get something just the way the customer wants it. If this isn't met, the problem should at least be mentioned so that the maker can learn from their mistakes. The problems can mount up and the next guy is hit too. Usually factories at least give a refund on shipping, shoe trees, free resoling or something alike.

 

[nh10222]

nh, well, the point with special orders is to get something just the way the customer wants it. If this isn't met, the problem should at least be mentioned so that the maker can learn from their mistakes. The problems can mount up and the next guy is hit too. Usually factories at least give a refund on shipping, shoe trees, free resoling or something alike.

Yes, you're right. I was not overly annoyed by these problems at the time and only mentioned them here to share my experience of things not going exactly to plan, but it would be nice if we always got exactly what we ordered, especially with custom MTO products.

Anyone who orders an AS Dalmore in future should seek confirmation that blind eyelets are available before proceeding if they would find visible metal eyelets unacceptable. I did mention the eyelets to the retailer but did not push for a free return/refund etc. as I didn't think it was worth the hassle.

As prices rise, so do expectations, I suppose. This is a potential problem area for the other maker I mentioned, because while I do love his shoes and respect the manual labour that goes into them (e.g. apparently they are hand-welted etc which is excellent - none of that 'reliably inferior' canvas or PVC ribbing, although I'm very much open to correction here), his prices are what could be described as 'approaching those of "prestigious" shoe makers' like Edward Green, Gaziano & Girling, etc. for new customers. The G&G Canterbury Balmoral boot (machine welted/gemmed?) can be had in MTO for about £800 excluding 20% VAT (the ready made stuff on their website can be yours for just over £600 exc. VAT). If you are willing to throw away £500-650 on a pair of boots, you can probably afford £800 or maybe even £1,000 (gulp) - it might just take a few more weeks of saving, for which reason I think we should shop around. Peronally, I like having shoes from a variety of manufacturers anyway.

 

[Schweino]

Cross post from the shoe care thread:

I recently bought my first pair of balmoral boots and noticed that in one boot the tongue keeps drifting to the side of the boot which looks and feels awkward. Upon further inspection, it seems the tongue in this boot is misaligned (it looks to be a bit twisted, see pictures).

Has any of you ever seen this before and what can be done to fix this? Or is this considered normal behavior?

 

[gyasih]

The stitching that keeps the tongue straight may be missing.

 

[SuitedDx]



The stitching that keeps the tongue straight may be missing.

This, but sometimes there isn't any stitching to hold the tongue but you can have any cobbler do that for you. I assume this pair is made by AS? They might not have it in the design since my Miller boots do not have the stitching to hold the tongue.

 

[Schweino]

This is the original Herring Holmes made by Cheaney and the tongue indeed is not stitched to the side of the boot to keep it straight. I'm wondering if this is actually needed because I've never had this issue before with other boots and only the left boot has this issue. Can it be that the tongue is installed not entirely straight at the base?

 

[nh10222]

This tongue slipping happens to me on most of my Balmoral boots (including the Herring Holmes and AS Dalmore), and I agree it is irritating, but with the Carminas the laces are threaded through the tongue to keep it centred, and the tongues in Cliff Roberts' boots are attached to the shaft on one side to prevent lateral movement. I don't recall ever having this problem with any other type of (non-Balmoral) boot or shoe.

 

[gyasih]

It happened to my C&J Somerville. They are at B. Nelson for re-stitch

 

[Schweino]

Thank you for your responses. I'll have my cobbler take a look at the tongue issue to see if it's crooked or not. If it's not faulty I might have him attach the tongue to one side of the boot.

Can any of you post pictures of how a tongue is stitched to one side? All along the tongue or just at some spots?

 

[mactire]

As a matter of interest what do you guys do for boot trees?