Japanese Shoes: Bespoke & RTW Super Thread

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

@BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes What things could have been done better in the shoes you got?

Well I am thinking in the regard to what say YF may put or like a Eiji Murata.
So a more defined appearance. A much finer edge finish would provide the shoes that extra oomph. Overall bottom finish is excellent and on par with what YF would put out. The waist to heel transition, however is more defined and seamless on a pair of YF's. To reiterate, we are comparing what YF would put out on a pair of MTM or Bespoke pair, which I happen to see at the Armoury.

This pair easily warrants its price tag. It is nearly flawless. Were I to nitpick further, I could say that the outsoles are only hand stitched at the waist, and machine stitched the rest of the way. Although TBF, so are the RTW, MTO YF's which are about $800-$900 more.

 

[shoesforever]

@BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes Thanks for the feedback. The edge and sole finishing is on another level on the bespoke Japanese shoes we normally see. Not sure how much finer a European bespoke shoemaker would have done it though.

For those interested in reading more about Santari(it's in Japanese, use the translation button in chrome browser):

Blog | SANTARI

santari.jp

From Jesper's Shoegazing blog:

News - Skomaker Dagestad by Santari - Shoegazing.com

Now the Norwegian shoe store has launched its own premium line Skomaker Dagestad by Santari, shoes of the absolute highest level which are, for example,

shoegazing.com

 

[j ingevaldsson]

Considering the amount of work he puts in on his shoes, I would say his prices are quite good. Other than probably Ken Kataoka, hard pressed to find another Japanese maker producing this level of shoe at this price point. I believe Atsushi has considerably more experience in the shoe trade than KK does, so Atsushi's shoes being only a little pricier is good value.

Ken Kataoka is new in the game yes, when I met him about two years ago he was still in Misawa's shoemaking school. I think his partner at Siroeno Yosei is new in the game as well, that they met in school. That's why they are priced where they are I would say, likely go up when they gather experience and skill.

I wondered about your soles, cause I know that the make-up Dagestad worked with had machine stitched soles/hand stitched waist, but your's looks like they have a fully hand stitched sole? Did you pay extra for that?
Siroeno Yosei only do fully handmade I believe, making the price even more impressive.

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

@BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes They are as beautiful as any shoe, at any price. As you said you weren't in a rush to get them, I take it you, like many, have tailored clothing and shoes that you're accumulating that haven't been worn yet. Has your job given you any indication of when you might be going back into the office?

I understand that many companies especially in big cities may not ever bring people back, at least not every day like pre COVID. They discovered that employees are actually significantly more efficient working from home, contrary to what they originally thought. So they are getting higher productivity, and can save astronomical sums on real estate. Employees are saving commuting time and money. In NYC, you can't find lunch or breakfast anyplace for less than 10 bucks.

Will the modern workplace ever be the same again, with everyone showing up everyday (eating out of community M&M and pretzel jars)? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

I am definitely saving on both commuting and food. Which is fantastic. No water cooler talks, so that's something I miss at the office.

Good point as well about companies saving a lot on real estate, but by all indications my company does want us back and have set a tentative return to office date of May 15th. In fact, I was at the office about three weeks ago for a few days. It was a ghost town in Midtown.

Anyways, am I actually wearing or going to wear my other dress oxfords? No. Will I wear these particular ones anytime soon? No. Hell I'm not even sure when I would try them on again because I had to go all black ops to try these on. Which again and based on those factos, there is no sense of urgency on my part.

I will state that this WFH situation has provided me the impetus to commission smart casual wear shoes. I was heading in that direction regardless, but this Covid situation has expedited that plan.

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

@BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes Thanks for the feedback. The edge and sole finishing is on another level on the bespoke Japanese shoes we normally see. Not sure how much finer a European bespoke shoemaker would have done it though.

Like you said on Japanese made Bespoke the overall finishing is insane. Although, Wegan, Frei, Jimenez, Ludwig Heß, Atienza are a few Europeans that come to mind that produce as remarkable a job as most Japanese makers.

 

[shoesforever]

@BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes Yeah, those guys are at the top of their game and has a price to match their skills hehe.

 

[clee1982]

@BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes They are as beautiful as any shoe, at any price. As you said you weren't in a rush to get them, I take it you, like many, have tailored clothing and shoes that you're accumulating that haven't been worn yet. Has your job given you any indication of when you might be going back into the office?

I understand that many companies especially in big cities may not ever bring people back, at least not every day like pre COVID. They discovered that employees are actually significantly more efficient working from home, contrary to what they originally thought. So they are getting higher productivity, and can save astronomical sums on real estate. Employees are saving commuting time and money. In NYC, you can't find lunch or breakfast anyplace for less than 10 bucks.

Will the modern workplace ever be the same again, with everyone showing up everyday (eating out of community M&M and pretzel jars)? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

we're definitely going back, just when..., on WFH productivity, I think they went up, but then people all got super burned out and come down (basically any time is fair game, and kid at home all the time). Also I miss a lot of random chat at office or overheard stuff to get some random thought going. Though I can definitely see say working 4 days at office and 1 day from home or other variation.

edit: and I got to say it got to really s*ck for new hires (junior or senior), or guys used to meet client, especially new hires needs to meet client for example

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

Ken Kataoka is new in the game yes, when I met him about two years ago he was still in Misawa's shoemaking school. I think his partner at Siroeno Yosei is new in the game as well, that they met in school. That's why they are priced where they are I would say, likely go up when they gather experience and skill.

I wondered about your soles, cause I know that the make-up Dagestad worked with had machine stitched soles/hand stitched waist, but your's looks like they have a fully hand stitched sole? Did you pay extra for that?
Siroeno Yosei only do fully handmade I believe, making the price even more impressive.

I would have had to pay a lot extra for the fully handstitched service, as well as for leather toe puffs. I did not.

Now the picture makes it seem that way about the stitching, but here was a little trick Atsushi came up with. He used the finest threading to achieve a 13 SPI, so we can say that that worked well enough to deceive a discerning eye like you have ?. And yes I did pay extra for that haha.

 

[j ingevaldsson]

I would have had to pay a lot extra for the fully handstitched service, as well as for leather toe puffs. I did not.

Now the picture makes it seem that way about the stitching, but here was a little trick Atsushi came up with. He used the finest threading to achieve a 13 SPI, so we can say that that worked well enough to deceive a discerning eye like you have ?. And yes I did pay extra for that haha.

Hehe kudos to him, and to you for shooting the toe pic in the right way ?

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

Hehe kudos to him, and to you for shooting the toe pic in the right way ?

The devil's in the details ??.

For those interested in saving some money but achieving the look of a handsewn shoe, Atsushi has something up his sleeve for you ?.

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

Speaking of details.. Order details as follows:

Pattern: Balmoral
Leather: Black weinheimer
Toe cap: Medallion
Broguing
Fine gimping
Ultra Fine outsole stitching
13 SPI upper stitching
Hand stitched bevelled waist
Rubber front (and normal 1/4 rubber heel)
Shoe trees

 

[shoesforever]

Did you get Atsushi's shoe trees?

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

Did you get Atsushi's shoe trees?

I ended up selecting the standard spring loaded Skomaker Dagestad trees which are lasted for this last. I wanted the hollowed out hinged tree, but didn't want to pay the required ~$400 for them.

 

[clee1982]

$400 for tree..., what are they hand carved?

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

$400 for tree..., what are they hand carved?

Well at the time that was the price. Could be less than that. Could be more in fact.
They are the same ones I have in my HY shoes.
Since Jesper's site is more accessible than my HY shoes, I'll bum off his picture.