Schubert Reviews

[5thave]

Can anyone who has received their order please give us on update on the quality? I'm desparate for any info on them. They sound almost too good to be true so I'm a little hesitant. Pictures are great, but if that is too cumbersome then any information is greatly appreciated.

 

[DocHolliday]

You saw the updated pictures on Seok's blog?

 

[seok]

Spencer's review:

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...light=Schubert

 

[5thave]

I'd like to hear from someone other than spencer and seok himself. I, and I'm sure many other people on this board, are looking for independent third party evaluations of the shoes.

 

[kcgreg]

Originally Posted by 5thave

I'd like to hear from someone other than spencer and seok himself. I, and I'm sure many other people on this board, are looking for independent third party evaluations of the shoes.

I am still waiting for my pair of shoes - I must admit that I haven't kept count of what days the shoes should arrive. I will definitely keep you posted and if I can load pics I will definitely do so.

By the way, I am all the way here from New Zealand and am very difficult to please generally.

 

[tiger02]

Everything I’m writing has gone to seok over the last couple of days.

First, I don't know what kind of magic shipping seok uses, but the shoes got here in 9 days. Almost as fast as I get things from home. Highest marks.

Styling—you can see them, they’re pretty hot. I was very specific about the toe shape and the shape of the seam between the quarters and the vamp, and he nailed both points. I was not specific about the height of the boot, and it defaulted to ankle-height. Would have preferred 6” so lesson learned. The tongue is not an extension of the vamp, as a blucher should be, which is disappointing. Should be addressed for my next pair. Two points where I was specific were not addressed. I asked for the sole to be trimmed close to stitching, specifically closer than the examples pictured, and I asked for a beveled waist. Neither was identified as an impossibility, so I don’t know what the issue was.

Leather--not bad, but don't know that it's up to AE levels. Actually it's a different animal, much softer than AE/Grenson. More like some of the softer benchgrade C&Js, but time will tell. The leather is too soft, IMO, for boots, as I will get into later. I'm not picky about this kind of thing, but others will be: there are a couple of small mars in the leather. Should polish out, but not for sure. I like the caramel color a lot, don’t know how it’s going to take to polish and cream. It’s uncorrected grain.

Sole--seems stiff, like I've heard reviews of Vass. Like it might be resistant to molding to the shape of the foot. Again, time will tell. Certainly nothing here that’s a concern.

Construction--stitching is all good, heel is not reinforced above the counter. Insole is only half of a leather lining glued to the footbed. I'll request a full leather sock on the next one. Channeled sole looks good. Laces are average. I’ll answer specific questions about all of this if there’s something I’m missing that you’d like to know.

Fit—it’s a struggle to get my foot into them. Where the vamp meets the quarters, there's none of the extra room required to get past the point where your toes are hitting the insole and your foot is at a 45* angle. Combined with the weak heel I feel like trying to push my foot in is going to destroy the shoes. Once I get them on, they're tight. Could be wrong but don't think it's well-fitting tight. You can see the outline of the outer two toes on my left foot through the leather. The heel width is good, the height is good, but the ball width is too narrow. Very odd, as I made sure to trace and measure with some extra room around my foot, at the end of the day in sweaty boots, etc. I understand that other customers have not had the same problem, including seok’s father who is very happy with his chukka boots.

Among seok’s responses:

Very sorry and sad to hear about the fit.

I also appreciate you writing me before posting on SF.

I do think that it was most wise of you to order 1 pair first.

We verify the sizing to the self-measurements as they get shipped out. The only thing I can say is that let's work together on your next pair of shoes--length, width, height--and get the fit right.

The other points I will follow up on promptly with the shoemaker.

and

Hearing your comments, I think I need to spend some time with the self-measurement form and perhaps explore an option for people to get their "upper mould" (in cloth, shape of your shoes. this is what would be used during a fitting) mailed to them, then mailed back with comments.

Seok has been very communicative throughout the process. I am torn between the "Jantzen effect" of the first try not fitting well and the fact that this is more than a $40 experiment and that they're not quite at Jantzen quality.

Here is the pic I sent as a guide (C&J ankle boot+ JL Landon toe+ Vass seams):

And the final product:

 

[Get Smart]

interesting, when you get into the details of the fit/construction. Pics sure do look purty tho. So, for the $, how would you rate them vs. OTR shoes of the same pricepoint. Personally, I've never seen the need for bespoke shoes as my foot can fit into nearly any shoe just fine.

 

[tiger02]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

interesting, when you get into the details of the fit/construction. Pics sure do look purty tho. So, for the $, how would you rate them vs. OTR shoes of the same pricepoint. Personally, I've never seen the need for bespoke shoes as my foot can fit into nearly any shoe just fine.
I think they are, construction wise, probably about equal to OTR $200 shoes, but polish and time may prove me wrong. If the leather holds up, they are probably on par with C&J benchgrade. If you get your fit right, you have a near-unlimited range of styles available, within the limits of leather availability. I don't think they're quite the deal that you get from Jantzen, where $40 gets you in some ways $200 OTR quality.

 

[tiger02]

Other questions? I'm here for you, people.

Tom

 

[Matt]

Originally Posted by tiger02

Other questions? I'm here for you, people.

Tom
Your tax dollars at work

 

[tiger02]

Originally Posted by m@T

Your tax dollars at work

Look at it as getting to choose where you want your tax dollars to go. Invading another country, or shoe reviews? Easy choice for me

 

[skalogre]

Originally Posted by tiger02

Look at it as getting to choose where you want your tax dollars to go. Invading another country, or shoe reviews? Easy choice for me

 

[sho'nuff]

tiger,
how much did you pay and would you do it again ?

 

[odoreater]

I guess one way to look at it is like this: you get an initial fitting for bespoke (custom, MTM, whatever) shoes that costs $600. Then you get each additional pair of shoes for about $300 in any style that you want and with a perfect fit. Sure, it would be nice if they fit the first time around, but that's just part of the price...

 

[tiger02]

I got them during seok's initial special. 2 pairs for about $350, total. These are boots which added a little and the next are premium leather which added a little more. I'll let you know if I would do it again after the next pair. To be fair though, these are "extra" shoes. I have a trip planned to Budapest for 2 pair of bespoke Vass in the fall, and then I think I'm done for a while.