St. Crispin's Appreciation Thread

[Mike147]



$1700 for:

Complete customization of shoe
Hand last
Customized last to your foot, not bespoke but pretty close
Delivery in 8-10 weeks
Solid hollow lasted trees
No time invested outside of 30 minutes at retailer

Outside of NYC hard to get access to other shoe makers with this level of service / customization. My last EG MTO was $1350 and that was Skoaktie price. Trees were $115 or so extra so looking at $1450 total with no last customization and limited options with MTO. John Lobb mto is more. Vass would be nice to get last modified mto but you aren't in budapest that often.
Yes this is true but posting shoes are ugly doesn't add any value to forum neither, it's just being an ass

If you wanted people to give you feedback I'm pretty sure plenty of people would give you their experiences and as laufer said there's been a good amount of discussion over these topics in PM

My original posts were meant to draw a distinction to the 'circle jerk' so eloquently referenced above - I've been following this thread for quite some time. Please re-read my full post that you quote from - it's meant to end the discussion.

Maftei Full Bespoke thru Vienna - about $1100 + $100 for first last (that's minus VAT) - with lasted trees. Delivered in about 6 weeks. I've seen them in person a number of times and own a pair - they are excellent value and are very beautiful shoes. If Lucian Maftei was able to market his shoes internationally the way Phillip has done, he would be the talk of the town. Big difference here is that Maftei is an AH bespoke maker and his styles reflect the AH traditional. Philip is Vienna-based and does his production out of Romania - the shoes he profiles are sleeker and more modern than the traditional AH lasts. Again - he's really nailed it... And if guys like the fit - that's really the most important thing. **** the type and color of the leather, etc - it's all about the fit. If Phillip is getting that right, he wins...

 

[laufer]



Really? And I thought the snobs were the bespoke elitists scoffing at St. Crispin's as overhyped junk?

I for one am not willing to generalize that bespoke always means better quality. I'd have to look at a specific $1700 bespoke shoe next to a St. Crispin's and see if that particular shoe exhibited better design, construction, materials and finish for the money.

What about the fit? To me fit is the most important.

 

[RogerP]



What about the fit? To me fit is the most important.

I quite agree. But with expert fitting and customized lasts, fit should be fantastic absent some really significant issue with a particular customer's feet.

My first pair should be arriving in a couple weeks - I'll let you know.

 

[PCK1]

Mine are riva last - no last modifications at all - fit is fantastic.

And they look great too

 

[chogall]

Eh, why compare SC to other lower prices bespoke makers that's not readily available or accessible???

Even Vass does last modification personal lasts at half of SC's price. But what's the point? SC charges those prices because they can and they need to.

p.s., SC was a bespoke only operation initially before RTW and later on added MTO.

 

[tchoy]

Maftei is underrated they can do something sleek if you choose to. I feel the company have good potential to grow if it's market properly. Saint Crispins was also virtually unknown until the igents discovered it few years ago.

 

[AlexG33]

just to reply to the question on why pay $1700 for SCs rather than bespoke, firts of all going bespoke requires you to have the bespoke maker either in your back yard or in a city where you travel often as to get the fittings and second bespoke doesn't always mean better....

 

[RogerP]



just to reply to the question on why pay $1700 for SCs rather than bespoke, firts of all going bespoke requires you to have the bespoke maker either in your back yard or in a city where you travel often as to get the fittings and second bespoke doesn't always mean better....

Agree completely.

And as between an in-store fit for St. Crispin's and sending a bespoke maker various measurements that I have taken myself (yes, I am given to understand that some bespoke makers actually work this way) I will place my bet for best fit on the former.

And to your final point - you are quite correct - not all bespoke shoes are better than all RTW shoes - despite the seeming widespread acceptance of that generalization.

 

[JubeiSpiegel]

...

 

[laufer]

Guys,

I was never insinuating that anyone should cash in his 401K and fly across the pond to order bespoke shoes. What I said in my original post is that if you are in NY and willing to shell out $1700 for a pair of shoes you might want to consider going bespoke for the price or less. E Vogel makes bespoke shoes.

I have nothing against St. Crispin but I learned a long time ago that a fit ca be a very tricky. Some ten years ago I would testified under the oath that Aleen Edmonds last no 5 is a best fit for me. It was not. I have tried everything in that last, balmorals, open style derby shoes, boots, whoelcut shoes, in the end I cam to the realization that last just does not fit me.

I had a same experience with EG lasts 82 and 888 respectively. When I tried them for the first time they seemed OK, I wore them for couple of hours and they seemed OK, only when I wore them for the full day I realized that they do not fit, it fact they hurt my feet so bad they are practical unwearable without some padding below my forefoot. Edward Green even sent me those full length insoles but they did not help either.


Anyways this is St. Crispin appreciation thread and I am going to keep it that way. Next time I visit NY, I will drop by the Leffot and check out St. Crispin shoes. I will give them a fair try. The only poroblem is that I have more than enough of all kinds of shoes I find it hard to justify spending that much money but who knows a something might catch my eye.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



To each his own...

Let's get this thread back on track.

Anyone going to the trunk show at Leffot?

I'll be there. Not sure what day yet. If it is raining (or snowing) I will go on the day that isn't.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

You can't even compare E Vogel to Saint Crispins. The construction, fit and finish are eons apart. E Vogel shoes are largely machine made shoes and bland in style. I think the real question is why would anybody who is already buying RTW, or MTO shoes at $1k+ NOT buy Saint Crispins? Better quality shoes made by craftsman by hand? Seems like a no brainer. Plus, you can get so much more customization in terms of fit and style than any of the other makers.

 

[RogerP]

Laufer, few would argue the importance of fit. But just because AE 5 last doesn't fit you well doesn't mean that you need to go bespoke. There is a whole world of RTW lasts from various manufacturers that will provide a better fit option than that one last from that one manufacturer.

As for St. C., my impressions from reading this thread and from getting fitted myself is that fit is very much a strength of the brand, not a weakness.

So to answer your question, the reason someone might choose this brand over a similarly priced local bespoke option is that they will be getting a better quality shoe overall (I doubt very much that bespoke at that price point is going to be nicer than St. C.) and one that fits exceptionally well.

I share pB's view that these shoes represent compelling value for the money.

 

[stupendous]

Marketing, hype and snob value.

fit,finish and quality for me, personally. in that order.

 

[stupendous]

You can't even compare E Vogel to Saint Crispins. The construction, fit and finish are eons apart. E Vogel shoes are largely machine made shoes and bland in style. I think the real question is why would anybody who is already buying RTW, or MTO shoes at $1k+ NOT buy Saint Crispins? Better quality shoes made by craftsman by hand? Seems like a no brainer. Plus, you can get so much more customization in terms of fit and style than any of the other makers.

what he said