Custom White's Boots ... Thoughts?

[hoppy_IPA]

The comments are no doubt directed at the length of White's toe caps. The universal measuring stick for boots on Reddit though is Viberg*. Both are fine in my book but I lean towards having them a bit shorter. I've requested a 1/4" to 1/2" shorter toe cap applied on MULTIPLE pairs and have been shot down every time. On my latest order, Kyle decided to leave the exact "inch" amount out and simply request shorter toe caps in hopes that the cobbler would be more inclined to do what he/she feels comfortable with. @sambam - if you're listening, this would make a hell of a happy customer.

*i feel compelled to note that White's does a true toe cap which amounts to a total of 3 layers of leather including the liner over your toe. this is fantastic for soft toe IMHO but the chief cobbler (Mike?) of White's feels that a celastic toe makes the cap "pop". In any case, what i really wanted to say is that Viberg does a skived toe cap. This means they slice the tip of the vamp off and pull back a bit towards the tongue & stitch it on. I'm not saying this is inferior, but certainly an often overlooked fact.

 

[pbrmhl]

I really enjoy observing the minor imperfections in my three pair of White's. My two pair of Dress leather (black and dress brown) have fewer flaws than my Smooth Distressed but, at the end of the day, my Smooth Distressed are my favorite pair. I suspect that the more pedestrian Distressed leather is more compatible with flaws, and thus happier with minor imperfections, but who knows?

 

[Netvine]

Please keep us updated on how the Elk Tan breaks in and develops. To me that seems like an extraordinarily inspired, yet practical leather choice.

I think there is a fine line between reading and understanding an item you hope to purchase and getting so many opinions that it paralyzes you to make a decision. You can read opinion after opinion on any product in the world.. 99.9% can be positive and 0.1% are negative.

You can find someone to gripe and find fault with everything in the world. I think at some point we all must realize that items that are made (in some part) by hand are going to have a flaw or two- because absolute perfection is unattainable.

Do we take the tiny flaws and magnify them? Do we use them to pick something apart and refuse to purchase it because of it- or do we view it as a smidge of character?

Only to drive home my point- I just bought and am wearing my Elk Tan boots today. When they dyed the edge, a teeny tiny itty bitty bit of the stain got on two of the stitches. I have two options- note the "smidge of character" and not let it bother me and not say a word about it (except in a post like this to make a point)..
OR...
Post a huge rant about the "injustice of this atrocity" for what I paid for these boots and let everyone on the interweb know about it and join in to dogpile on and hand out pitchforks.

I'm fairly new to White's, but the two pair I own put every other boot I have owned to shame!
TO SHAME!

 

[sambam]

The comments are no doubt directed at the length of White's toe caps. The universal measuring stick for boots on Reddit though is Viberg*. Both are fine in my book but I lean towards having them a bit shorter. I've requested a 1/4" to 1/2" shorter toe cap applied on MULTIPLE pairs and have been shot down every time. On my latest order, Kyle decided to leave the exact "inch" amount out and simply request shorter toe caps in hopes that the cobbler would be more inclined to do what he/she feels comfortable with. @sambam - if you're listening, this would make a hell of a happy customer.

*i feel compelled to note that White's does a true toe cap which amounts to a total of 3 layers of leather including the liner over your toe. this is fantastic for soft toe IMHO but the chief cobbler (Mike?) of White's feels that a celastic toe makes the cap "pop". In any case, what i really wanted to say is that Viberg does a skived toe cap. This means they slice the tip of the vamp off and pull back a bit towards the tongue & stitch it on. I'm not saying this is inferior, but certainly an often overlooked fact.

Let me see what I can do on the toe cap size for all styles. We did shorten the cap on the MP's a bit.

 

[smartbrother]

Tri-tone 350 Smokejumper on miniripple today

 

[Rymanocerous]

View attachment 1244516 Tri-tone 350 Smokejumper on miniripple today

Is that Distressed Smooth RO?

 

[smartbrother]

Is that Distressed Smooth RO?

Distressed roughout, brown Horsehide and black Horsehide.

 

[discomute]

I really enjoy observing the minor imperfections in my three pair of White's.

Handmade goods from natural products nessicitates imperfections, I would have thought.

Machine produced goods from artificial products can be all manner of flawless.

It's also the general norm for goods at the moment, I think perhaps people are forgetting this.

 

[Sledge42]

Please keep us updated on how the Elk Tan breaks in and develops. To me that seems like an extraordinarily inspired, yet practical leather choice.

I will for sure. Right now I probably have about 50 hours in them. Really not much of a change so far. There was no real break-in on them, the Elk Tan leather is supple enough that even folding in the tongue and tying them tightly, you don't get that "bite" on your ankle at all. I dig my MP's a lot.. but I LOVE my Elk Tan BH's!

 

[pbrmhl]

Handmade goods from natural products nessicitates imperfections, I would have thought.

Machine produced goods from artificial products can be all manner of flawless.

It's also the general norm for goods at the moment, I think perhaps people are forgetting this.

I agree that minor imperfections and flaws are part of the fun with White's Boots. I've been fortunate, as they're noticeable, yet minor, without any negative effect on function or longevity (that I've been able to notice). See if you can notice the flaws on this boot:

 

[Sledge42]

I agree that minor imperfections and flaws are part of the fun with White's Boots. I've been fortunate, as they're noticeable, yet minor, without any negative effect on function or longevity (that I've been able to notice). See if you can notice the flaws on this boot:

View attachment 1244929

[flaw] It isn't on your foot [/flaw]

 

[pbrmhl]

[flaw] It isn't on your foot [/flaw]

Ha! You're right.

 

[mlwdp]

Here’s a Japanese site with some great markups of mostly Smokejumpers and Semi Dress if anyone here needs some inspiration.

Pattern Order｜White’s Boots｜ユニオンワークス [ 靴修理、鞄修理 ]

【BENCH MARK】では、ホワイツのパターンオーダーを随時承っております。どういった仕様にするか悩み、こだわりの詰まった一足を手にするまでの過程をぜひお楽しみください。

www.union-works.co.jp

 

[PACostag]

Hi all,

New to the site and figured I should introduce myself to the conversation after trolling through all 900 pages of this Whites forum... I'm looking to update my casual boot stash and I've landed on Whites. Full disclosure, I work in a laid-back office, so none of these are will be work boots, although I appreciate the indestructible nature of work boots in my casual footwear. My current stash is below - lots of RWs and some Zamberlans.

I'm mostly leaning towards "6 55 last Bounty Hunters with an unstructured toe. I've seen some photos of similar boots in the 900 prior pages, but not many. Most of the pictures are unboxing photos and few with any wear n' tear.

I'm considering among the following leather: Distressed Smooth, British Tan CXL, Olive CXL, Natural CXL, Burgundy CXL, Brown Waxed Flesh, Cinnamon Waxed Flesh

To give my background, I work with leather as a hobby and sell small goods on various forums (watch straps, wallets, key chains, etc...) and have done so for over a decade. So naturally, I'm really into leather.

Couple of questions for Whites owners, I'd appreciate anything you can contribute:

1) Distressed Smooth - does this leather every lose that chalky feel and pick up more of a gloss?
2) Whites CXL - loose/inconsistent grain issues? (I don't currently have CXL in my collection, but 95% of Wolverines in CXL look like crap in a week imo - different brands, so I'm not judging Whites on Wolverines reputation)
3) I'm planing on lining the boots and I've read that the tan lining will stain your socks. One-off issue, or common?
4) Is anyone able to post some unstructured toe pictures of their Whites?
5) Those with the MP Service boot with Dainites, how are the soles holding up? I owned a pair of AEs and the Dainites seemed to wear pretty quickly (I commute maybe 3 miles walking each day and wore them 2-3 days a week).
6) Brown Bison - I have a hide of this at my house and work with it all the time, it's on of my all time favorites. However, I've seen some from Whites where the grain used is awful (I understand- waste not, have to make money, etc...). How are yours holding up?

Thank you to all for 900 pages of entertainment/inspiration

 

[Legal Eagles]

Couple of questions for Whites owners, I'd appreciate anything you can contribute:

My opinion only:

1) Distressed Smooth - does this leather every lose that chalky feel and pick up more of a gloss? I am not familiar with the "chalky feel" I have seen distressed smooth which was dry and needed to be treated. DS is a tough, thick, work boot leather... when treated like a work boot leather and Obenauf's or other oil is applied it will lose the dry feeling, but will also darken considerably... almost to a brown...
2) Whites CXL - loose/inconsistent grain issues? (I don't currently have CXL in my collection, but 95% of Wolverines in CXL look like crap in a week imo - different brands, so I'm not judging Whites on Wolverines reputation) White's uses better hides and has better clicking than Wolverine... that being said, loose grain is always a possibility with CXL, and although less likely with White's, it can happen. How severe and how much this will bother you is impossible to say. It is well known that I am not a fan of CXL for boots... partially because of the loose grain possibly, partially because it shows wear more, and partially because it has always felt too "delicate". It is great for boat shoes, not for boots.
3) I'm planing on lining the boots and I've read that the tan lining will stain your socks. One-off issue, or common? I have multiple pairs of White's lined with tan... never had sock staining, but I wear dark socks most of the time. Sock staining is generally not a major concern among the consumers of PNW boots.
4) Is anyone able to post some unstructured toe pictures of their Whites?
All of my boots have structured toes... sorry.
5) Those with the MP Service boot with Dainites, how are the soles holding up? I owned a pair of AEs and the Dainites seemed to wear pretty quickly (I commute maybe 3 miles walking each day and wore them 2-3 days a week). Don't own any MP boots... sorry.
6) Brown Bison - I have a hide of this at my house and work with it all the time, it's on of my all time favorites. However, I've seen some from Whites where the grain used is awful (I understand- waste not, have to make money, etc...). How are yours holding up? My brown bison White's are my favorite boots from a purely aesthetic perspective. The orange striations on the brown is beautiful. It is not as thick as other leathers, but then again I would not do hard manual labor of shovel work in these boots. They are reserved for the office or casual. They look great and have held up very nicely.