Gaziano & Girling Appreciation & Shoe Appreciation Thread (including reviews, purchases, pictures)

[justonemore]



Actually I'm not coming to this discussion late (if you're talking to me)--I've been here a long time (sometimes it seems forever) and I've been making this same point forever.

FWIW, I grew up in snow country. But I lived in a two tier rain forest for a number of years and wore leather soles boots every day. Still do. I currently live in country that gets snow and ice throughout the winter months. Never needed or wanted topy even though I was up on an inch and five-eighths heel. But, if it means anything, my wife and I took dance lessons and I learned to carry my weight in such a way as to make graceful recoveries...if not the walking itself...more likely. In my life, I've slipped more times with rubber under me than with leather...ostensibly for the same reason as rubber is near onto useless on icy pavement.

As for better solutions,...yes, having the shoes made with a full-on rubber outsole seems a more focused and mindful solution than Topy. Traction (such as it is) is as good or better and you'll save even more money.

So keeping in mind that I'm a last pair buyer you would suggest ordering them with a full rubber sole? Could you explain the mechanics of that because I'd like to convince future sellers that such is possible....

Now realistically. I am buying at 50%-75% off and am not "ordering" anything. My choices are to have brand new shoes resoled. Wear the shoes and have them resoled 1.5-2 years later in rubber. Or to have them toppie, wear them out... and decide if I want to have them resoled on rubber or leather...or to stick with the toppy...

Just curious...what type of sole did they have on the jump boots in the 82nd? After basic, AIT (combat boots...not leather) & Jump school(jump boots..pretty sure not leather) I moved onto the 25th ID (light) where we used jungle boots (and they were most definitely not leather soles).

Oh...I'm one of those 6'5 guys that is not overly graceful. When I fall it hurts...and it hurts for at least a week. Dance classes and lots of walking haven't seemed to help.

If it's of any consolation, I have considered breaking out the crampons and ice skates for a couple of the hills I tackle daily.

 

[DWFII]



So keeping in mind that I'm a last pair buyer you would suggest ordering them with a full rubber sole? Could you explain the mechanics of that because I'd like to convince future sellers that such is possible....

Now realistically. I am buying at 50%-75% off and am not "ordering" anything. My choices are to have brand new shoes resoled. Wear the shoes and have them resoled 1.5-2 years later in rubber. Or to have them toppie, wear them out... and decide if I want to have them resoled on rubber or leather...or to stick with the toppy...

Just curious...what type of sole did they have on the jump boots in the 82nd? After basic, AIT (combat boots...not leather) & Jump school(jump boots..pretty sure not leather) I moved onto the 25th ID (light) where we used jungle boots (and they were most definitely not leather soles).

I'm not suggesting you do anything...although at 50-75% off you're almost certainly buying 'seconds' anyway. So don't mind me--the luxury and elegance and finesse of leather is probably never going to be the determining factor.

On the other hand, when you were in Army you got your boots 100% off. And the Army had the same perspective--jungle boots were never intended for resole--they were designed to be thrown away.

US jump boots were made with a leather outsole and a full thickness rubber "clump sole" (half sole on top of the leather). Not sure about British jump boots. But again, appearance, style, elegance...even fit to some extent...were all beside-the-point.

 

[justonemore]

I'm not suggesting you do anything...although at 50-75% off you're almost certainly buying 'seconds' anyway. So don't mind me--the luxury and elegance and finesse of leather is probably never going to be the determining factor.

On the other hand, when you were in Army you got your boots 100% off. And the Army had the same perspective--jungle boots were never intended for resole--they were designed to be thrown away.

US jump boots were made with a leather outsole and a full thickness rubber "clump sole" (half sole on top of the leather). Not sure about British jump boots. But again, appearance, style, elegance...even fit to some extent...were all beside-the-point.

That's funny...because I'm buying high end shoes such as EG and G&G because of "the luxury and elegance and finesse of leather"...but you're right...it will never be the determining factor in my purchase...No matter how stunning I find a shoe, I will most likely never pay out $1'500 for an off the rack shoe of any caliber.

Good guess as to seconds...but actually no, not seconds, I've been lucky and hit a few sales where the shop has stopped carrying a particular brand...I've hit 5 so far with an average buy of 6 pairs...a couple local stores carry a few nicecirnscas well & dicount heavily 1-2 a year..Of course that means nothing I'm sure...but there's nothing marking any of them as seconds...and my "unexperienced" eye didn't catch anything....but perhaps your guess is as good as mine....

 

[Dusty Heaters]

Polo Suede St James

Purchased from @Stefan88 at Skomakermester Dagestad and he comes highly recommend. Great selection and fast shipping from Norway. I still have no idea how to pronounce the store name, but Stefan speaks impeccable English!

 

[TtownMD]



There's been countless discussion around resoling on this forum. As someone new, I'm amazed at how many ppl with vast collection of top-end shoes refrain from factory refurbishment due to cost. If you're going to buy a Ferrari, do you service with non-genuine parts?

Mine will be going back to GG but I have a while before that happens & I agree with you.

 

[heelguy]



Polo Suede St James

Purchased from @Stefan88 at Skomakermester Dagestad and he comes highly recommend. Great selection and fast shipping from Norway. I still have no idea how to pronounce the store name, but Stefan speaks impeccable English!

Very nice Mr. V. I have the Woburn in Polo suede. I'll have to reach out to Stefan.

 

[Nickd]



That's funny...because I'm buying high end shoes such as EG and G&G because  of  "the luxury and elegance and finesse of leather"...but you're right...it will never be the determining factor in my purchase...No matter how stunning I find a shoe, I will most likely never pay out $1'500 for an off the rack shoe of any caliber

I'm with you on that. I don't own any G&G shoes but I have a number of pairs of EGs, all bought at a discount and I am unlikely to pay close to retail.

I get coversoles fitted to all my leather soled shoes, partially for weather protection - I want to be able to wear them for the half of the year when the pavements are wet, and partially because I walk a reasonable amount each day and wear through leather soles far too quickly. With a coversole the rubber seems to last longer than the leather would, but even if it didn't, I'm only getting a £15 piece of rubber taken off and re-glued, not my shoes being levered apart and re soled - an endeavour that is always going to be intrusive, however skilfully done.

And if I change my mind, well, I have an excellent local cobbler who can fit me some new leather soles.

FWIW, with boots and the like, I will get a Dainite sole or similar if I have the choice, but I often don't.

 

[daizawaguy]

Interesting how the thread "topied" when the start was a discussion on G&G original Wensum soles. Obviously very few MTO buyers. A Wensum sole is a factory fitted option. Some ready made orders available occasionally. One on the G&G site now (3 hole hatch grain). A strongly recommend factory option.

 

[Stefan88]

Interesting how the thread "topied" when the start was a discussion on G&G original Wensum soles. Obviously very few MTO buyers. A Wensum sole is a factory fitted option. Some ready made orders available occasionally. One on the G&G site now (3 hole hatch grain). A strongly recommend factory option.

In Norway we've been selling those for years. Wells, Burnham, Sinatra... All with Wensum soles.

 

[TtownMD]



In Norway we've been selling those for years. Wells, Burnham, Sinatra... All with Wensum soles.

Do you gents stock burnham or is it mto?

 

[Stefan88]

Do you gents stock burnham or is it mto?

We have stocked it, but only one pair left in 10 at the moment.
Can order up though, without surcharge I believe.

Vintage oak on mh71 with Wensum

 

[grc1]

Burnhams in mole suede. Single leather sole.

 

[mw313]

I've tried to stay out of the entire sole and topy thing but in the end it is up to the owner of the shoes.

I personally prefer leather soles on all of my nice shoes to keep the elegance and quality standing out for the price I pay. I have a couple boots where I did have dainite soles added for the sake of protecting the boots that I will wear in less than optimal weather conditions, but those are only a few pairs of the many dozens of shoes I have.

I can say that if so,some is getting the shoes at 50-75% off it probably isn't worth sending the shoes back to the factory immediately to have a rubber sole added because a full resole will cost between 50-75% of the cost that person paid, but it is possible to ask if they will apply a sole to the shoe since it hasn't been worn yet. It is worth a shot.

I also can understand if you want a topy to make the sole ,sat a little linger before you then send the, back for a full resole with rubber but for the time you have them and for having quite a large rotation you could easily just topy a couple pairs and keep the majority of the soles as is until they are ready to be resoled.

Another option stated is to have some beater shoes. I have a few pairs of AE amd Alden shoes for just that purpose.

Hope that helps amd of course you can do whatever you want and no one should crucify anyone on here because as long as the owner pays for the shoes they can do whatever they want. We are just trying to give ideas that could help.


My family is from Switzerland and I've been back and forth between there and NJ (which has a very similar climate) amd have never had a problem as long as there are a few pairs used for the worst of weather. A leather sole can take some water if you are trying to avoid the huge puddles. Amd even then you can dry them off and treat the uppers.

I've worn a pair of my St C in the rain and got quite wet and I treated the, at home as well as dried off the soles. They are perfectly fine now.

Hope that helps put it into perspective.




On another not, I love the polo suede st James and I have a pair on the TG73.

 

[justonemore]



I've tried to stay out of the entire sole and topy thing but in the end it is up to the owner of the shoes.

I personally prefer leather soles on all of my nice shoes to keep the elegance and quality standing out for the price I pay. I have a couple boots where I did have dainite soles added for the sake of protecting the boots that I will wear in less than optimal weather conditions, but those are only a few pairs of the many dozens of shoes I have.

I can say that if so,some is getting the shoes at 50-75% off it probably isn't worth sending the shoes back to the factory immediately to have a rubber sole added because a full resole will cost between 50-75% of the cost that person paid, but it is possible to ask if they will apply a sole to the shoe since it hasn't been worn yet. It is worth a shot.

I also can understand if you want a topy to make the sole ,sat a little linger before you then send the, back for a full resole with rubber but for the time you have them and for having quite a large rotation you could easily just topy a couple pairs and keep the majority of the soles as is until they are ready to be resoled.

Another option stated is to have some beater shoes. I have a few pairs of AE amd Alden shoes for just that purpose.

Hope that helps amd of course you can do whatever you want and no one should crucify anyone on here because as long as the owner pays for the shoes they can do whatever they want. We are just trying to give ideas that could help.


My family is from Switzerland and I've been back and forth between there and NJ (which has a very similar climate) amd have never had a problem as long as there are a few pairs used for the worst of weather. A leather sole can take some water if you are trying to avoid the huge puddles. Amd even then you can dry them off and treat the uppers.

I've worn a pair of my St C in the rain and got quite wet and I treated the, at home as well as dried off the soles. They are perfectly fine now.

Hope that helps put it into perspective.




On another not, I love the polo suede st James and I have a pair on the TG73.

Thank you for your input on the topic. I most certainly wasn't suggesting that I would toppy my entire collection. I decided to try them out on 3 pairs (1/18 of my collection). When the time comes I can decide to ship them back to the three companies and have them redone the way I want. So I don't really see the great harm in experimenting with it. And as you mentioned, it's my money.

It's not the rain or snow that I'm particularly worried about (I wear my shoes in all weather), it's the slick hills in winter. I had 2 boots done with for such purposes and joined a gmto to try out dainite. Up until this last season I literally had nothing in my collection to handle slick hills...I don't want to wear junk shoes in the winter...but I also don't want to injury myself.

I would also like to see if they add a bit longer life to the soles and had a pair of shoes done. I have new shoes in leather & a pair freshly toppies so I'll keep track of the times worn and miles traveled.

If I find no advantage to them as longevity or traction...then back to the factory they go.

Funny you should mention Alden as a beater shoe...one of the pairs I had toppied was a pair of Alden Shell George Boots.

 

[grizzlygiant]

Burnhams in mole suede. Single leather sole.

Beautiful. I love Burnham's... Don't see them enough. Would love to see them more casually worn as well.