St. Crispin's Appreciation Thread

[Michael Jondral]

Fantastic! They are quite stunning, indeed.

To answer your question: yes and no.

The whole story is an epic, so I'll sum it up.

I waited an insane amount of time for my shoes and along the way Philip blamed everything besides STC and everyone who isn't him. During his rants I'd catch some. . . inconsistencies, shall we say, and when I'd ask him about them he'd change the subject or stop responding.

The punctuation mark, though, was that they made the entirely wrong shoe and he wouldn't even admit that they screwed up.

**** happens, I get it. I rolled with it for as long as I could, but this went well beyond simple mishaps.

What it comes down to is that when I contacted him about all of this I expected him to be a professional and he proved himself to be a petulant child.

It's a shame too. They make some beautiful shoes.

Such a shame to hear - we never had any problems and we are working for years together with Phillip!

 

[Michael Jondral]

Ahem, I don't like pull tabs, particular these, which are so prominent and look cheap at the same time. nvm.

Not sure, why you need an online-configurator for two pairs of black shoes with no visible extras, anyway. But then, I'm not familiar with the StC ordering system.

I like black shoes a lot. enjoy them, well done.

Pulltabs are a very comfortable thing with boots And the configurator I guess you need if you would like to have some initials and adjustments to the fit No matter what color the shoe.

 

[Coldfire3k3]

I'm curious to know opinions on how best to remove built up polish and wax from my Saint Crispin's crust calf shoes. Does anyone clean their shoes with saddle soap / naphtha / turpentine as recommended by Saint Crispin's?

Here they say on Saint Crispin's webpage:

Washing
Wash your shoes four times a year with water and saddle soap and every time they have
become wet or abnormally dirty. In order to do this, insert the shoe trees into the shoe, use
the moistened household sponge to take some saddle soap from the tin, squeeze the sponge
a number of times until a lather appears and then rub the shoe vigorously. Neither the edge
of the sole nor the sole itself should escape this treatment. Now, without removing the lather,
let the shoe dry for about 15 minutes and brush away the remains of the lather.
www.saintcrispins.com

Cleaning
Saddle soap alone is often not enough in order to remove the old, thick layers of wax. For this
purpose use naphtha (lighter fuel) or better still pure spirits of turpentine. Both of these are
available in art supply shops. Put a few drops of naphtha or spirits on a ball of cotton wool and
rub the shoes vigorously. Do not starve the cotton ball! Oil and grease stains can usually be
removed using this method. Please do not ever use acetone or paint remover to clean your
shoes.

 

[schmallo15]

Has anyone ordered from the St. Crispin webstore for delivery to the U.S.? Wondering what sort of import taxes and fees to expect on the DHL shipment

 

[beargonefishing]

I enjoy these types of videos, which probably says something about me.

 

[mammothnguyen]

I'm curious to know opinions on how best to remove built up polish and wax from my Saint Crispin's crust calf shoes. Does anyone clean their shoes with saddle soap / naphtha / turpentine as recommended by Saint Crispin's?

I've done it myself, using turpentine first to strip the polish, then use saddle soap. The turpentine works well (although do remember to use plant-based turpentine, not the mineral one - which is derived from petroleum from memory). You do need to rub quite vigorously to remove all of the polish.

They've worked well so far on mine, so that's the good bit.

 

[supern0va]

Cross post of my mod 566 in bronze goat and 180 degrees norvegese welt. From skoaktiebolaget.

 

[JayBreezy99]

Does anyone have a pair of saint Cristina with a calf leather and suede croc combination?

 

[SoGent]

Does anyone have a pair of saint Cristina with a calf leather and suede croc combination?

Not exactly what you're asking for but let your imagination do the rest . . . .

 

[mammothnguyen]

I'm on my third pair of St. C now, and even though the initial mess up is my fault, the next steps taken were not great, given that St. C doesn't really have a substantial trunk shows presence in Australia, and my work schedule precludes me from going overseas around trunk show time anyways...

I've had some fit problems in my left shoe (left foot has more volume than right foot). Even with a personal last, they have all been very constrictive in the ball area, which could kill my feet at the end of the day, and the third pair is yet to fix the problem for good. The retailer has helped all they can, but the fact that St.C themselves has been unresponsive is disappointing.

I was wondering whether to utilise another retailer (St. C has 2 in Australia) to identify fit issues, or to just stop and look elsewhere. It's a shame, since even with the fitting issues, they are some of the best shoes that I've ever worn (and it's extremely hard to get RTW dress shoes given my narrow heels and wide forefoot).

 

[UNOAIMX]

@mammothnguyen Schedule a vacation to Japan - close enough to Australia, and get yourself a pair of bespoke Japanese shoes, see the Japanese Bespoke thread for ideas and some places with lowest prices ~2k USD, close enough for St Crispin prices.
Read this thread
https://www.styleforum.net/threads/japanese-shoes-bespoke-rtw-super-thread.343005/
Its probably one of the greatest threads on SF.
Now back to saint crispins, they are not obligated to fit every customer to maximum satisfaction, even with the customized lasts... they are not a bespoke service.

If from your username you are Vietnamese by any chance, Vietnam has Fugashin Saigon
https://www.theshoesnobblog.com/tag/fugashin-saigon

Other Asian options include:
https://www.theshoesnobblog.com/2018/07/new-chinese-bespoke-shoemaker-yim-shoemaker.html

 

[Mr. Pink]

Does anyone have pictures of model 215 (plain stitched adelaide captoe) in the wild? Thinking about ordering a pair and not completely sure how I feel about the style.

 

[Alan Bee]

“Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who’s the fairest of them all”.

1. EG Chelsea 202C (Black) - Strictly Business Suits (Navy/Gray)
2. EG Cadogan 202C (Burgundy) - Business & Casual Suits
3. St. Crispin 114 (Black) - Dinner Suit & Formal Wear
4. G&G Rothschild DG70 (Vintage Oak) - Strictly Casual Suits (Brown/Tan/Country)
3. Anthony Cleverley Bodie (Black) Dressy but slightly less Formal Occasion

I think this is it. A “battle ready” Oxford Shoe set up. Took a while to assemble (including MTO’s and Semi-Bespoke)

Alan Bee

 

[Encore]

Seeking for advice from you: I saw photos of a couple SC calf leather shoes with some creasing in the vamp (which seems to be a general character of St. C leather)

Personally I am not a fan of this - do you know if SC offers leather that doesn't come with this kind of character?

 

[Shawl Lapel]

I think you'll be hard-pressed to find shoes that don't crease on the vamp. It's where the foot flexes. My guess is that the aniline calf would crease less than crust, but maybe others here that have both can compare.