Place for ReHealing and ReSoling in the USA (SF Bay Area)?

[crwecko]

Hello Everyone,

I haven't been on this site in a long time. I bought a pair of John Lobb Becketts a few years back at the Factory Store. It took a while to break them in (a couple of weeks) but obviously in the years I have worn them the heal has rubbed down to almost nothing. On the right shoe there is a hole in the soul so I might need to get it resoled as well.

When I lived in the UK, most of the cleaners and shops there did a decent job of resoling and rehealing at a decent price. That is NOT the case in the US. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and was wondering if anyone knew of a decent place for this here where they can do a job close to what the original was with decent quality leather and craftsmanship, etc... I've heard of Suzanne George Shoes in San Francisco that does Bespoke work but I think this is only for Female shoes, not male shoes.

I would take them to a John Lobb shop, if there was one in San Francisco, but they will just have to send it to John Lobb in the UK anyways, and on top of the astronomical price I will pay to get them rehealed and resoled there, I will also have to pay for shipping there and back... Any suggestions and recommendations would be much appreciated!

Thank You!
Daniel

 

[Gauss17]

You can just mail them here:

http://www.bnelsonshoes.com/

They have an excellent reputation and have worked on Lobb, G&G, C&J, etc. They charge like $125 for a re-sole with the top-tier soles.

 

[chogall]

Suzaanne George does do men's shoes. George does hand welted shoes.

As for resoling, Master Cobbler @ Palo Alto/San Jose is the default shop for palo alto Wilkes Bashford. They are decent, not great.

 

[comrade]



Suzaanne George does do men's shoes.  George does hand welted shoes.

As for resoling, Master Cobbler @ Palo Alto/San Jose is the default shop for palo alto Wilkes Bashford.  They are decent, not great.

Stay away from Suzanne George. I had a terrible experience with her in the late 90s.
She claims to do Bespoke and produced a pair of shoes for me that never fit. The reason I
went to her was because I am an extremely difficult fit. She was not competent enough to
fit me. I received a full refund of my 50% deposit--- after starting a claim in Small Claims Court.

 

[crwecko]



You can just mail them here:
http://www.bnelsonshoes.com/
They have an excellent reputation and have worked on Lobb, G&G, C&J, etc. They charge like $125 for a re-sole with the top-tier soles.

Oh it says $90 on the website and I think $125 if you want a shoe tree etc... with it. Seems reasonable enough considering they pay for shipping there and back as long as they do a good enough job to looks close to the original with the same high quality leather, etc...

Suzaanne George does do men's shoes.  George does hand welted shoes.

As for resoling, Master Cobbler @ Palo Alto/San Jose is the default shop for palo alto Wilkes Bashford.  They are decent, not great.

Oh the web site of Suzanne George seems to be geared towards women more than men. How much do they charge for bespoke shoes out of curiosity? I know she has some Italian guy making these shoes for her if I'm not mistaken?

As for the Master Cobbler, how much would he charge for a Resole and Rewelt? How would it compare to the B Nelson Shoes in NY?

Also if I wanted to request the stitching to be hidden, like on the original soles, is there a word for this or is it Hidden Sttich Sole?

 

[chogall]

No idea about Suzanne George, but when I inquired about bespoke shoes, she referred me to JL St James.

Master Cobbler, check their website for pricing, its cheaper for sure but I don't think they are equipped to do re-welting. No idea regarding their capabilities of doing channeled soles.

 

[crwecko]

I looked on Yelp and it seems B Nelson has somehow gone down hill and has horrible Yelp reviews. I'm not sure what's happening. Is there anything in the SF Bay Area where they can do really good repairs of my Lobbs?