Random fashion thoughts - Part II (A New Hope)

[UrbanComposition]

FWIW my work experience with boots has been the following:

Aldens - I have kudu Indys with the lug sole. Decent arch support, zero break-in. The leather gets a nice patina over time and I don't have to worry too much about it. Not good for new construction (rebar, over rocks, etc).

Red Wings - The old school moc toes are a workplace standard. Iron Rangers and Gentlemen Travelers don't do so well because of their soles, but are still well made, with better arch support than Aldens by far. They take a while to break in, but once they do, they're great.

Chippewa - sloppier made Red Wings. Durability is the same.

Whites - I had their Smoke Jumpers until I destroyed them. That logger heel is goofy, but that, along with whatever extra leather they put in the arch, gives it serious all day support. Takes FOREVER to break in, and until then, you will be cursing them. But it's worth it.

Wesco - Currently breaking in their Boss Engineer. I found a brand new pair on eBay with a black Christy sole, which lightens the weight substantially and adds comfort. The leather they use for this beast is insane and doesn't bend easily, but it's one of the thickest on the market. Rocks and rebar scuff it but you don't feel it at all. It's a roomy last, so it feels a bit more comfy than the Smoke Jumper, but it's going to take a while to break in the sole.

Viberg - personally I've never put anything on my foot longer than trying them on in stores, so I can't speak to how they perform. They look like Redwings with thicker leather. Until they make more options with a Christy or lug sole, though, I'll stick with Red Wings and Wescos.

 

[LA Guy]

FWIW my work experience with boots has been the following:

Aldens - I have kudu Indys with the lug sole. Decent arch support, zero break-in. The leather gets a nice patina over time and I don't have to worry too much about it. Not good for new construction (rebar, over rocks, etc).

Red Wings - The old school moc toes are a workplace standard. Iron Rangers and Gentlemen Travelers don't do so well because of their soles, but are still well made, with better arch support than Aldens by far. They take a while to break in, but once they do, they're great.

Chippewa - sloppier made Red Wings. Durability is the same.

Whites - I had their Smoke Jumpers until I destroyed them. That logger heel is goofy, but that, along with whatever extra leather they put in the arch, gives it serious all day support. Takes FOREVER to break in, and until then, you will be cursing them. But it's worth it.

Wesco - Currently breaking in their Boss Engineer. I found a brand new pair on eBay with a black Christy sole, which lightens the weight substantially and adds comfort. The leather they use for this beast is insane and doesn't bend easily, but it's one of the thickest on the market. Rocks and rebar scuff it but you don't feel it at all. It's a roomy last, so it feels a bit more comfy than the Smoke Jumper, but it's going to take a while to break in the sole.

Viberg - personally I've never put anything on my foot longer than trying them on in stores, so I can't speak to how they perform. They look like Redwings with thicker leather. Until they make more options with a Christy or lug sole, though, I'll stick with Red Wings and Wescos.

Viberg has both a fashion line and a workboot line. The ones at stoes in the Bay Area are in their fashion line, and they are all made to order for specific retailers. There are plenty with Christie soles, though that look is less popular than it was 5 years ago, so you'll see many fewer. Lug soles are for a very specific look, and you'll similarly see fewer than on, say, Dainite.

The workboots are solid. They, like Wesco, Nick's, and all the workboot companies in this area, use a 270 degree stitchdown that is characteristic of workboots, particularly boots for people like loggers and smokejumpers and other wildland firefighters, and are super solid.

The fashion line is not really meant for work, but they have the same construction and weight as heavy duty workboots, which is only done by a few companies in the US, though a lot of them make special models for the Japanese market only, that don't always have the functional characteristics of workboots made for construction sites, for mucking around on smouldering peat, etc...

 

[double00]

nice thing about red wings is the variety of soles available. i really like the crepe sole but also the lug is very good and whatever they use on the beckmans is basically the greatest street walking sole i've encountered.

 

[LA Guy]

nice thing about red wings is the variety of soles available. i really like the crepe sole but also the lug is very good and whatever they use on the beckmans is basically the greatest street walking sole i've encountered.

That looks like some type of Vibram half sole.

Seriously, for walking around, for pure comfort, It's hard to beat things like Nike Frees, Adidas NMDs and New Balance 247 sports, but that's another look altogether. For chilling out, it's hard to beat Vans slip ons.

 

[double00]

oh i was on about boots...

i'll fully co-sign nike frees (the flyknit platform is amazing) i'm sure the adidas counterpart is nice too. my only beef with flyknits is they get stinky pretty fast when used as sockless.

vans sure but honestly they're crap anymore and seem to autodestruct a month out of the box but if you don't ask them to do any more than loaf why not?

 

[penanceroyaltea]

What on earth do you guys do in your vans shoes to make them die in a month?!

 

[double00]

skate?

 

[Maxwellll]

All these boots made you look like you're ready for conscription to WW1 tbh.

 

[dieworkwear]

All these boots made you look like you're ready for conscription to WW1 tbh.

me getting ready to post a comment on styleforum:

 

[UrbanComposition]

Glad to see boot tuck is still a thing.

 

[MGoCrimson]

All these boots made you look like you're ready for conscription to WW1 tbh.

Well, yea. They're called service boots for a reason.

You are off by one world war though

 

[double00]

don't sleep on WW3 these are interesting times.

 

[cyc wid it]

Well I’m not going to post my 5,500 word opinion piece on captoe boots then. How’s that?

The Copperwood Manifesto?

 

[LA Guy]

The Copperwood Manifesto?

And... now I want to see this.

 

[g transistor]

- captoe boots are garbage and for the most part make you look like you're a fuckin' dweeb that just went on reddit to ask what to buy your first pair of boots so that girl in chem 2 might start calling you daddy, or that you are a person who uses pet names like uncle and nephew and daddy on the internet

- i have done tons of farm work in Vis Virgils, and I still stand by the fact that they are the most comfy things I've ever put on my feet. The leather sole really helps with sweat in my experience, whereas I've had problems with nikes and sneakers. In general, I prefer the feel of boots on my feet, because it makes me feel like a grown ass man who is ready for work / outdoors life / invading Poland while I type ****** opinions on the internet or walk .2 miles to buy hand creme at Target

- most fashion reviews of garments / boots can really be truncated to like, 4 sentences. 1-its design is dope/cool/rad/terrible/ugly, 2-it is built nicely/not so nicely, 3-wow, fabric/leather/whatever or nay, fabric/leather/whatever, 4-fun fact about its history or terrifying connections to nazi germany

- i currently own 4 long engineered garments shirts. 3 are kurtas and 1 is a weird sleepy gown looking thing with pockets? looks like pajamas. anyways, long shirts are ******* cool and make me look more ethnic, so I'm really playing that card and people in the non-profit world are eating it up. you can literally hear non-profit boners *pop* as i wear a kurta and talk about past immigrant traumas

- i wish there was an accurate way to depict colors in product photos. i purchased a beanie i thought was redish orange, maybe like a coral, turns out, it's pink as ****. or salmon, as ross would call it. i can't return it because i wore it out because in certain lighting it looks ok, but in 95% of other lighting it looks salmon, so now it looks like i bought a ***** hat from the women's march and am still continuing to wear it. not that there's anything wrong with that, just that it's a ******* stupid color.

- it is sad when you are going to buy a thing and then that thing is sold out and you can no longer find it. so you search for it every day on yahoo auctions japan, and it never shows up. and your friends ask you if you're ok, and you say yes, but deep down inside you know that you're really not ok and you really, really would be happier and more fulfilled if you had just bought that kapital tsugihagi cardigan. but now you might never know what it's like to be wrapped in a gorgeous patchwork japanese farmboy knit, just like you'll never feel the warmth of an engineered garments reversible aw14 floral jacquard coat. you stare longingly outside the train window. what's that in the distance? could it be? could it really be a aw11 white mountaineering viella jacket in brown or navy, size 1? No, it's not. It's a single clark's desert boot, taunting you with its bizarre number of eyelets and college campus ubiquity.