John Lobb Paris questions

[Poshak Man]

I am considering buying a pair of John Lobbs. I need help on a couple of questions. First, is the only difference between prestige and classic lines that of the beveled waist or are there other qualitative differences? Secondly what is the Pewter museum color? Is it a gray color or a shade of brown? And is it versatile like a brown or is it more limited like a gray?

Since the nearest JL store is at least a 1000 miles away from where I live, I will have to order online and hence the above questions.

Thanks for your input. I have learned a lot from surfing this forum and advice offered by the forum members.

 

[dragon8]

Are you buying bespoke or RTW? If RTW, i believe some NM carries some as well as Hermes shops. If bespoke I'd make the trip to make sure things are right.

 

[Holdfast]

Originally Posted by Poshak Man

Secondly what is the Pewter museum color? Is it a gray color or a shade of brown? And is it versatile like a brown or is it more limited like a gray?

It varies quite a lot from one pair to another.

Some pairs have a strong brownish tint; others a deeper grey/black tint. Most are somewhere in between. I find it a versatile colour, even if the pair you get are at the greyer end of the spectrum with little brown hue.

 

[Poshak Man]

Originally Posted by dragon8

Are you buying bespoke or RTW? If RTW, i believe some NM carries some as well as Hermes shops. If bespoke I'd make the trip to make sure things are right.

My question is around RTW JLs.

 

[Rollo Tomasi]

If you can afford Prestige, do the Prestige. The heel is higher and the instep feels better overall for me. The included shoe trees also closes the gap somewhat on the price difference. You also wont have to pay tax if you don't have a JL store in your state. Overall, you get a better return on investment. The pewter museum grey is more like a dark/grey black. You can probably do worse, but if you're looking for a brown, I would personally get the dark brown museum calf.

 

[woolymammoth]

JL Presitige come with shoe trees if I remember correctly whereas Classic does not.

 

[The_Foxx]

yeah-- if you're buying lobb, go Prestige. otherwise, you might do better to simply get a nice pair of crockett and jones, paul stuart, or RLPL shoes.

 

[teddieriley]

in terms of looks, i don't find many (if any) of the classic-line styles inspiring. but that's just me and my taste in shoes. It so happens the ones I like are prestige, so I would go with prestige, even if it costs a bit more.

Also, i think pewter is a fun color to get if you already have a robust rotation. Otherwise, I would opt for dark brown museum or parisian brown, and save the pewter for a time when I can afford to be more adventurous with $1500 shoes.

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by teddieriley

in terms of looks, i don't find many (if any) of the classic-line styles inspiring. but that's just me and my taste in shoes. It so happens the ones I like are prestige, so I would go with prestige, even if it costs a bit more.


The classic line doesn't appeal to me in the same way the prestige line does.

 

[Poshak Man]

Thanks to all for your responses. It seems that at full price prestige line is clearly better than the classic line. But what about certain sellers offering prestige and classic line subs at the same price. The prestige line subs don't come with the lasted trees. Would you then be indifferent between the prestige and classic line subs shoes and just go with a style that you prefer?

 

[TheFoo]

Originally Posted by Poshak Man

Thanks to all for your responses. It seems that at full price prestige line is clearly better than the classic line. But what about certain sellers offering prestige and classic line subs at the same price. The prestige line subs don't come with the lasted trees. Would you then be indifferent between the prestige and classic line subs shoes and just go with a style that you prefer?

It's not just the trees. The sole treatment on the Prestige shoes is nicer and more elegant.

If you want to figure out your size, call up the John Lobb boutique in NYC and have them send you a few pairs to try on. The Prestige shoes come in two lasts, 7000 and 8000. Each fits a little differently. They'll charge you as if you were buying all of them, but they'll refund you as soon as you send them back.