• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

H. E. Pennypacker

Distinguished Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2020
Messages
1,441
Reaction score
3,617
I’m considering ordering a pair of dark brown boots for this fall/winter and I’d be interested in getting some opinions on which route to go. I’m debating between the C&J Coniston or the Carmina 80184 in dark brown grain. I’ve gone back and forth on which I prefer as I have the same Carminas in tan grain and they fit great so I know my size and I also prefer the ridgeway/Victoria style sole. I also think the Oscar last is a bit more to my taste than the CJ 325. However, I have a couple pairs of CJ (calf Hallam and suede Hardwick) and the leather and overall quality seems to be just a bit better than Carmina and it’d be nice to have some variety as I have several pairs of Carmina boots. What does the forum recommend?
You honestly can't go wrong with either choice, but it does depend on the aesthetic you want as of this moment. I own the Coniston in dark brown scotch and it's a staple of my shoe wardrobe, and one I'll always have. I'm happy with my pair; very versatile, I love the fit, the burnished scotch is amazing and they feel like tanks yet sleek.
My choice is for the Coniston boots. I went tts and it's a generous fit in terms of volume with good space in the forefoot. A flattering last imo.
I purchased a pair of frankenstitch boots (80223 same as 80184 with peculiar stitching) on the Oscar last during Carmina's recent MTO weekend and confidently with my tts 9 UK after my extensive research via shoe fora. Just thought I mentioned this.

Personally, I'd go the Carmina route if I were to do the 80184 via MTO.
 

Gerry Nelson

Distinguished Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2011
Messages
7,970
Reaction score
35,328
423e8be75064e0023d326e08658e1d1a03ad7342.jpg


Christian Kimber x Eidos side zip boots
 

grenache

Active Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
42
Reaction score
32
You honestly can't go wrong with either choice, but it does depend on the aesthetic you want as of this moment. I own the Coniston in dark brown scotch and it's a staple of my shoe wardrobe, and one I'll always have. I'm happy with my pair; very versatile, I love the fit, the burnished scotch is amazing and they feel like tanks yet sleek.
My choice is for the Coniston boots. I went tts and it's a generous fit in terms of volume with good space in the forefoot. A flattering last imo.
I purchased a pair of frankenstitch boots (80223 same as 80184 with peculiar stitching) on the Oscar last during Carmina's recent MTO weekend and confidently with my tts 9 UK after my extensive research via shoe fora. Just thought I mentioned this.

Personally, I'd go the Carmina route if I were to do the 80184 via MTO.

Thank you for this. Interesting that you described the Conistons as sleak as in pictures (not always, just some angles) they often seem a bit too round/blobby to me which is why I lean towards the Oscar last.
 

H. E. Pennypacker

Distinguished Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2020
Messages
1,441
Reaction score
3,617
Thank you for this. Interesting that you described the Conistons as sleak as in pictures (not always, just some angles) they often seem a bit too round/blobby to me which is why I lean towards the Oscar last.
I genuinely do see them as sleek boots, but it may be also dependent upon the kind of boots one usually wears as well.
I’ll include some shots of my coniston boots. I feel like these shots are an accurate representation of how they look on foot.

I should mention I like a hearty welt, oppose to a close-cut welt for majority of my boots. This can give a visual appearance of a hefty boot, but in actuality it’s a negligible nuance from my experience.
D54DAF9E-98F4-4B01-A6D1-C3F152323189.jpeg
61A558C7-BDB3-4973-97A3-BA005FAB8600.jpeg
AE3AB9F1-8260-4A27-B634-045266E527D3.jpeg
 

mreams99

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2015
Messages
6,269
Reaction score
29,671
Can anyone help me with sizing advice for Nick’s boots or White’s boots?
For comparison, I mostly have experience with Allen Edmonds boots. I usually wear a 13B in AE boots, but sometimes have to move up to a 14 on certain lasts.

Thanks.
 

Mr_Spud

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2020
Messages
1,239
Reaction score
2,140
You honestly can't go wrong with either choice, but it does depend on the aesthetic you want as of this moment. I own the Coniston in dark brown scotch and it's a staple of my shoe wardrobe, and one I'll always have. I'm happy with my pair; very versatile, I love the fit, the burnished scotch is amazing and they feel like tanks yet sleek.
My choice is for the Coniston boots. I went tts and it's a generous fit in terms of volume with good space in the forefoot. A flattering last imo.
I purchased a pair of frankenstitch boots (80223 same as 80184 with peculiar stitching) on the Oscar last during Carmina's recent MTO weekend and confidently with my tts 9 UK after my extensive research via shoe fora. Just thought I mentioned this.

Personally, I'd go the Carmina route if I were to do the 80184 via MTO.
That’s just it about the Coniston, isn’t it? I started out with Trickers, which I love, but having tried a Coniston it quickly became the pair I reached for the most. Easy to smash around in, and a good choice of you want to dress up a bit as well. Now that I have some nearly post pandemic induced buyer’s remorse I find myself thinking about trimming the shoes and boots cabinet but i’m mostly going to get the dark brown Coniston and keep that for nearly everything.
 

ecworks

Senior Member
Joined
May 12, 2017
Messages
159
Reaction score
910
10,300 miles later I've arrived in Maun, Botswana visiting my daughter and son in law who live here now.
Decided to bring along my brand new Alden 405 "Indy boots" because I couldn't think of a better place to break them in than 5 weeks in Botswana with 3 planned trips into the bush and a lot of tramping around in the fine sand that makes up much of this area. Wore these boots on the way over and they are breaking in nicely, super comfortable as we ran thru all sorts of treks in multiple airports to catch the 3 flights to get here.
Attached are the before shots with the boots getting their first exposure to the fine sand here. I will not be sparing them full exposure to the elements. I'll post more shots of the evolving patina as I put them thru their paces over here.
 

Attachments

  • IMG-1134.jpg
    IMG-1134.jpg
    177.4 KB · Views: 32
  • IMG-1137.jpg
    IMG-1137.jpg
    161.6 KB · Views: 31
  • IMG-1151.jpg
    IMG-1151.jpg
    112.4 KB · Views: 38
  • IMG-1152.jpg
    IMG-1152.jpg
    227.3 KB · Views: 60
  • IMG-1154.jpg
    IMG-1154.jpg
    120.8 KB · Views: 58

jischwar

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2012
Messages
7,180
Reaction score
17,365
10,300 miles later I've arrived in Maun, Botswana visiting my daughter and son in law who live here now.
Decided to bring along my brand new Alden 405 "Indy boots" because I couldn't think of a better place to break them in than 5 weeks in Botswana with 3 planned trips into the bush and a lot of tramping around in the fine sand that makes up much of this area. Wore these boots on the way over and they are breaking in nicely, super comfortable as we ran thru all sorts of treks in multiple airports to catch the 3 flights to get here.
Attached are the before shots with the boots getting their first exposure to the fine sand here. I will not be sparing them full exposure to the elements. I'll post more shots of the evolving patina as I put them thru their paces over here.
Awesome! Enjoy the trip and looking forward to seeing the after shots
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 60 38.7%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.4%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 18.1%

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
505,180
Messages
10,579,207
Members
223,890
Latest member
alitamartin07
Top