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

[CrashBurner]

There, there lads. Good things are coming and hopefully style #1 gets up . I’d actually be happy with any of the 4 styles, but my love of repetition leads me to the most familiar design.

 

[Neville Southall]

I hate when people argue on this platform. Chill. It’s shoes.

 

[JoeBlack0]

I was recently told directly by Carmina that they prefer not to use hatch grain anymore as they find it a very difficult leather to work with.
Not sure exactly what makes it so difficult to work with, if any one here has any insights I'd be interested to know.
I would love to have boots made with Horween Russia/Hatch Grain Bull Rush.
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Interesting you say that. I was very happy with how my boots turned out but i quickly discovered that the left boot had the grain completely flattened out almost everywhere but the shaft ;( I’m currently taking with Carmina to find a solution.

 

[zag73]

Interesting you say that. I was very happy with how my boots turned out but i quickly discovered that the left boot had the grain completely flattened out almost everywhere but the shaft ;( I’m currently taking with Carmina to find a solution. View attachment 1285402 View attachment 1285403

The right boot doesn’t even look like grain leather. ?

 

[Berto1]

Yes it does but you have to ask for it in the notes section of a MTO pair. You can see my boots in black hatchgrain in this post.

What about the quality and softness?

 

[yengli]

Anyone have on feet pictures of the Chelsea boots in Inca and rain, side profiles would be nice!

 

[Berto1]

We had a request a while back to show you the available sketches for a winged boot that resembled the "Calway".

As you know, we have a great archive of models that are both in the making or heritage from other generations. Amongst our selection we have found and polished four options.

We have decided to manufacture a new model which we will number as 80791. However, you all have the option of deciding which boot will be part of our collection.

Of course, we will also create a private GMTO for Styleforum users if you are interested.


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Access this link to vote for your preferred model. Link

I like 4 models but to my eyes 6 eyelets and 4 speed hooks seem too much.

4 eyelets + 4 speed hooks would be more balanced

 

[JoeBlack0]

What about the quality and softness?

I read somewhere that they source their hatchgrain from horween so the quality is as good as you would expect from carmina. I didn't notice any difference in softness with other carmina calfs so normal softness

 

[beargonefishing]

Interesting you say that. I was very happy with how my boots turned out but i quickly discovered that the left boot had the grain completely flattened out almost everywhere but the shaft ;( I’m currently taking with Carmina to find a solution. View attachment 1285402 View attachment 1285403

You will have that smoothing of the leather at the toe because it is stretched over the toe stiffener to fit the last. I'm not sure you can effectively last hatch grain leather and avoid this (I could be wrong). My StC Russia grain have are very smooth at the toe.

 

[Trakl]

Interesting you say that. I was very happy with how my boots turned out but i quickly discovered that the left boot had the grain completely flattened out almost everywhere but the shaft ;( I’m currently taking with Carmina to find a solution.

Interesting indeed, this must be at least part of why hatch grain would be a difficult leather to work with.

You will have that smoothing of the leather at the toe because it is stretched over the toe stiffener to fit the last. I'm not sure you can effectively last hatch grain leather and avoid this (I could be wrong). My StC Russia grain have are very smooth at the toe.

True, but it shouldn't flatten out that much beyond the toe area. The boot on the left hand side looks greath though.

 

[budapest12]

Respectful disagreement on that.

Edit: Reducing eyelets from 10 to 8.

 

[stephenaf2003]

Interesting you say that. I was very happy with how my boots turned out but i quickly discovered that the left boot had the grain completely flattened out almost everywhere but the shaft ;( I’m currently taking with Carmina to find a solution. View attachment 1285402 View attachment 1285403

Interesting indeed, this must be at least part of why hatch grain would be a difficult leather to work with.

View attachment 1285435
True, but it shouldn't flatten out that much beyond the toe area. The boot on the left hand side looks greath though.

As @beargonefishing mentioned this is an unavoidable problem. Due to the lasting process the hatch will be essentially removed, to a varying degree on each shoe. The stretching to fit the last will inevitably remove hatching on the tightest areas. I was disappointed with my Zonkey boot hatch grain whole-cuts as well. But such is life with hatch grain. You won’t know the results of the remaining hatch until the after boot is lasted.

 

[JoeBlack0]

I have other carmina boots with grain and the grain it’s only removed at the toe as you should expect. This is another problem altogether. Sons of Henry shoes don’t have this problem in their hatchgrains, neither lof and tung and both are cheaper than Carmina. Obviusly Edward Greens hatchgrain it’s impeccable and personally I don’t think this should be acceptable from Carmina.

 

[zag73]

I have other carmina boots with grain and the grain it’s only removed at the toe as you should expect. This is another problem altogether. Sons of Henry shoes don’t have this problem in their hatchgrains, neither lof and tung and both are cheaper than Carmina. Obviusly Edward Greens hatchgrain it’s impeccable and personally I don’t think this should be acceptable from Carmina.

On the toe , it’s inevitable. It’s discussed by Simon Compton on his site, permanentstyle.com. Note, he has this issue on the toes of his £3,000 bespoke Gaziano Girling shoes. There is nothing Carnina can do about it. Outside of the toe, it shouldn’t really happen.

 

[JoeRogan]

Respectful disagreement on that.

Edit: Reducing eyelets from 10 to 8.

Yeah finally a Carmina boot with more than 8. I would go even further and have it be 10 eyelets and no hooks...