Carmina Shoes - Definitive Thread (reviews, advice, sizing, etc...) - official thread.

[stook1]

Call me crazy but I’d rather take the 3k+ that I saved buying dozens of generic split toe Woodlore trees and buy more shoes with the windfall.

not to say that lasted trees aren’t perhaps marginally better… I have a few pairs… but it’s going to take a lot more evidence to persuade me that it’s worth the cost for a large shoe collection.

 

[stephenaf2003]

All shoe trees are definitely not created equally.



The primary purpose of shoe trees are to extend the sole back to its original position, and pull the upper taught to its original shape. So your run of the mill $25 tree will do a mediocre job, as it’s not designed to fit all shapes and won’t extend as far into the toe as trees designed on the last or makers basic last (like carmina)

That said, the quality of carminas trees at $90(I think) vs say meccariello’s spring trees at €100, the carmina aren’t as solid in construction. But it’s based on the Carmina general last shape so if you want the best off the rack tree (meaning you don’t have to sand it) then carminas trees would be the best option for carmina shoes.

Call me crazy but I’d rather take the 3k+ that I saved buying dozens of generic split toe Woodlore trees and buy more shoes with the windfall.

not to say that lasted trees aren’t perhaps marginally better… I have a few pairs… but it’s going to take a lot more evidence to persuade me that it’s worth the cost for a large shoe collection.

It’s an age old debate, and I don’t possess the hubris to pretend I have the answer. For my collection, the only notable difference I can discern, are lasted trees. Not trees based on a last, etc..etc, but trees that were actually lasted from my pair. After that, it’s just margins of this or that tree fitting a particular pairs shape. I just try to get shapes of trees that fit the pair of shoes I want it for. I think the tree conversation is a self revealing conversation. In the end, for me it’s more a question of how much the shoe cost. If I’ve spent $1200 or more for the shoes, a few hundred to protect their longevity with trees isn’t a big deal.

 

[Diego65]

Every time I bought a pair of Carmina, always I bought the shoe trees, in my view, I think worth the investment, and because I don't buy a lot of pairs, I think the shoe trees are worth the extra money, actually my collection is around 100 pairs that I bought it in 15 years more or less. So maybe it is different if you buy a pair every month, that becomes a lot of money in shoe trees.

 

[Cal135]

Rain last fit vs Oscar? I have Llubi which fits same as Oscar. If the mto weekend should come to pass the above green boot has made me think of Rain…any advice gents?

Depends how you like your boots, I prefer tight. For me Oscar in 7 (cordovan + 360 storm welt) had too much volume, hence I had to add extra insole. Simpson in 7 (cordovan + 270 welt) is perfectly tight. Based on those two I ordered the greens in Rain D in size 7 (cordovan + 360 storm welt). The fit is tight, maybe a bit tighter than Simpson, but over time it will stretch to perfection. As Rain D 7 fits similar to Vass narrorw F 40.5 or narrow U 41, my guess the regular Rain must be close to Regular F / U from Vass.

 

[stook1]

#4 longwings today

 

[H. E. Pennypacker]

I should’ve mentioned, there are some trees that are made nicer and better, but it doesn’t improve the primary function of the shoe tree.
Whether some of us are willing to buy specific trees for a pair or generic trees, that is up to the individual and neither is wrong.

 

[oskrusa]

My-man, those look great. When did you get them?

#4 longwings today

View attachment 1672662

 

[stook1]

My-man, those look great. When did you get them?

Hello good sir, hope you are doing well and thanks for the compliment. There's a story behind this pair. I grabbed them off the Carmina ebay page about 2 years ago. There was a healthy degree of confusion about these shoes since they were sold as brown shell, as I recall. So I posted about them here figuring that they were an odd shade of armagnac, which seemed plausible under bad indoor light. This led to the discovery that they were, in fact, commissioned by @serbarristan during the 1st #4 gmto and lost by Carmina when he mailed them back to Spain to address a minor error in the makeup.

I feel a twinge of guilt about it every time I post them but, fortunately, @serbarristan seems to be a good sport about it, lol.

 

[oskrusa]

Hello good sir, hope you are doing well and thanks for the compliment. There's a story behind this pair. I grabbed them off the Carmina ebay page about 2 years ago. There was a healthy degree of confusion about these shoes since they were sold as brown shell, as I recall. So I posted about them here figuring that they were an odd shade of armagnac, which seemed plausible under bad indoor light. This led to the discovery that they were, in fact, commissioned by @serbarristan during the 1st #4 gmto and lost by Carmina when he mailed them back to Spain to address a minor error in the makeup.

I feel a twinge of guilt about it every time I post them but, fortunately, @serbarristan seems to be a good sport about it, lol.

Oh, thanks for the refresher, lol.

If I remember correctly, @serbarristan had no qualms with how the events unfolded.

 

[stook1]

Oh, thanks for the refresher, lol.

If I remember correctly, @serbarristan had no qualms with how the events unfolded.

So he says...

Yet for some strange reason he doesn't seem agreeable to my (selfless) recommendations that he send more pairs back to Spain.

 

[isaiah_iv]

What is the page of Carmina in Ebay? Only for curiosity. Thanks

 

[stook1]

sorry, i cant recall the account name - they tend to dump shoes in waves and i haven't seen any lately. most of them either have some defect, custom returns, or store shoes with some wear. The photography, description, and details tend to be lacking so it can be a bit of a gamble.

 

[jischwar]

Oh, thanks for the refresher, lol.

If I remember correctly, @serbarristan had no qualms with how the events unfolded.

Idk about all of that, he hasn't left his house since, which is evidenced by his many shoe/boots in sweatpants pics ???

 

[serbarristan]

Hello good sir, hope you are doing well and thanks for the compliment. There's a story behind this pair. I grabbed them off the Carmina ebay page about 2 years ago. There was a healthy degree of confusion about these shoes since they were sold as brown shell, as I recall. So I posted about them here figuring that they were an odd shade of armagnac, which seemed plausible under bad indoor light. This led to the discovery that they were, in fact, commissioned by @serbarristan during the 1st #4 gmto and lost by Carmina when he mailed them back to Spain to address a minor error in the makeup.

I feel a twinge of guilt about it every time I post them but, fortunately, @serbarristan seems to be a good sport about it, lol.

Oh, thanks for the refresher, lol.

If I remember correctly, @serbarristan had no qualms with how the events unfolded.

Idk about all of that, he hasn't left his house since, which is evidenced by his many shoe/boots in sweatpants pics ???

Always good seeing these! You guys are just lucky I spare you from my summer boots and shorts house look.

 

[Rekla]

What is the page of Carmina in Ebay? Only for curiosity. Thanks

Mesure de sécurité

www.ebay.fr