Split Toe Derby

[louisvien]

Hi, I'm looking for some advices because I consider between C&J Hardwick and Carmina plit toe in forest last for my next suede plit toe derby. They are pretty much the same price now and I'm having both carmina uetam last and c&j cavendish loafers, both of them look nice on my feet. I want to ask which want have the better quality (build, leather) and appearance. Thank you very much

 

[TheLawBeard]

Hi, I'm looking for some advices because I consider between C&J Hardwick and Carmina plit toe in forest last for my next suede plit toe derby. They are pretty much the same price now and I'm having both carmina uetam last and c&j cavendish loafers, both of them look nice on my feet. I want to ask which want have the better quality (build, leather) and appearance. Thank you very much

C&J will have the better build quality. I like my Carminas but I can tell my C&J are at least a step above in quality in most instances.

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

Hi, I'm looking for some advices because I consider between C&J Hardwick and Carmina plit toe in forest last for my next suede plit toe derby. They are pretty much the same price now and I'm having both carmina uetam last and c&j cavendish loafers, both of them look nice on my feet. I want to ask which want have the better quality (build, leather) and appearance. Thank you very much

C&J will have the better build quality. I like my Carminas but I can tell my C&J are at least a step above in quality in most instances.

Yeah, I would agree with @TheLawBeard.

I think the CJ is slightly better. Only slightly though. I feel like these two are similar in the level of finished make. The Upper on the CJ might be clicked slightly better, but the sole may lean towards Carmina. They, Carmina, used to provide the option of JR leather soles but even their house sole is, imo, superior as that one is also bark tanned.

Considering you can just slap a Vibram topy onto the CJ shoe, the scale tips in CJ's favor, hence my reasoning for selecting CJ over Carmina.

 

[louisvien]

Yeah, I actually want the city sole of C&J

 

[LiverFieldie]

First post in a long time - so long I had to change username because old email is defunct. I used to post a bit in the RMW mega thread years ago, and am still a loyal RMW and Ian Harold boot fan. Anyway - I've been on a quest to find a specific iteration of the split toe blucher similar to the Vass Norweger. But cheaper. Some other central European makers have them (Prime, Roberto & Son, Handmacher - all far away and chancy on sizing) but I wanted to check out the style as I had a similar pair many years ago, but without making a huge financial commitment to them.

Deep, deep diving online led me to these Ugo Vasare split toes from a shop in NYC. Now, Ugo Vasares are not usually my kind of shoes - they're more in the Mezlan camp with funky patinas and are far too contemporary for me shapes. But I found these pebble grain, cognac split toes brand new at a deep discount and in the US so I pulled the trigger. Google turned up absolutely nothing on these anywhere but this store. Goodyear welted, Vibram lug sole. US 9 - probably a 1/4 size too big but manageable with sock choice (I suspect they're actually a UK8, which often is a 1/4 size big for me). I suspect they are Spanish made and on a last similar to the Berwick version (which sadly isn't available in pebble grain or anything other dark brown and black - if Berwick had a cognac version I would have bought those in 2 seconds). If anyone knows anything about these I'd love to know.

I'd like a pair in this style in plain cognac on a leather or combination sole, so anyone knows where to find one without going to Vienna - give a shout.

 

[mhip]

First post in a long time - so long I had to change username because old email is defunct. I used to post a bit in the RMW mega thread years ago, and am still a loyal RMW and Ian Harold boot fan. Anyway - I've been on a quest to find a specific iteration of the split toe blucher similar to the Vass Norweger. But cheaper. Some other central European makers have them (Prime, Roberto & Son, Handmacher - all far away and chancy on sizing) but I wanted to check out the style as I had a similar pair many years ago, but without making a huge financial commitment to them.

Deep, deep diving online led me to these Ugo Vasare split toes from a shop in NYC. Now, Ugo Vasares are not usually my kind of shoes - they're more in the Mezlan camp with funky patinas and are far too contemporary for me shapes. But I found these pebble grain, cognac split toes brand new at a deep discount and in the US so I pulled the trigger. Google turned up absolutely nothing on these anywhere but this store. Goodyear welted, Vibram lug sole. US 9 - probably a 1/4 size too big but manageable with sock choice (I suspect they're actually a UK8, which often is a 1/4 size big for me). I suspect they are Spanish made and on a last similar to the Berwick version (which sadly isn't available in pebble grain or anything other dark brown and black - if Berwick had a cognac version I would have bought those in 2 seconds). If anyone knows anything about these I'd love to know.

I'd like a pair in this style in plain cognac on a leather or combination sole, so anyone knows where to find one without going to Vienna - give a shout. View attachment 1902625

Those are cool, and to me slightly unusual as the vamp goes pretty far forward for a split toe, at least from those pics.
I'd wear them.

 

[LiverFieldie]

Those are cool, and to me slightly unusual as the vamp goes pretty far forward for a split toe, at least from those pics.
I'd wear them.

This style of Norwegian has a toe that rises almost straight up, making the vamp look long (and it's roomy inside). There are examples of Vass' take (inspiring my jealousy) on Page 101 posted by Juan Manuel. I can only imagine these were inspired by the Vass. And these are a total outlier for Ugo Vasare, which otherwise makes shoes mostly with "bump" and or very prominent chisel toes and heavy patinas. Here's another pic showing the profile.

 

[物の哀れ]

I find the "quality" of C&J to be comparable, but I find the C&J 341 last can look a little long, where as the Carmina Forest last has truely classic proportions.

 

[Schweino]

My humble collection, from left to right:

Løf & Tung in Kudu
Løf & Tung in Kudu
Grenson Footmaster natural grain from 1992

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

My humble collection, from left to right:

Løf & Tung in Kudu
Løf & Tung in Kudu
Grenson Footmaster natural grain from 1992

View attachment 1905013 View attachment 1905015

Very nice collection. They all look well taken care of. 👏🏻

 

[Wild Strawberry Rabbit]

 

[saurabh]

EG Rosewood CC Dover’s today!

 

[Schweino]

My humble collection, from left to right:

Løf & Tung in Kudu
Løf & Tung in Kudu
Grenson Footmaster natural grain from 1992

View attachment 1905013 View attachment 1905015

Almost forgot about these:

Løf & Tung fur lined black grain boots and Carlos Santos burgundy boots

 

[saurabh]

Yeossal SpTD Chestnut Utah

 

[jj02138]

I've received a pair of split toes and I have a noobish question. The leather (Horween hatch grain) has three visible creases on the toe of one of the shoes. My question is: is this an acceptable flaw, or is it atypical for a new pair of higher end shoes? I am bothered by it quite a bit, but I know I can be a bit OCD, so I wanted to gauge if my expectations are out of line when deciding whether to keep/repair them... Thanks.