• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

aristoi bcn

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
1,485
Reaction score
2,381
Thanks. I went and checked the shoes again this morning -- to give it a day before replying and see how they fit again. I realized that the oxfords felt strange near the heel because they use more padding under the heel than I've seen in any other shoe, so the drop off from padding under the heel to the rest of the foot is noticeable. Maybe that will go away with time? I compared it to the other GC shoes and other shoes in my closet and didn't see anything like it. Has anybody else experienced something like this? I was wondering whether it might have been their attempt to resolve the issue I had with the loafer heels, but making the heel feel odd.

I also am including photos of the loafer heels to show how differently they fit. On the heel of the right shoe, there is a little space between the top of the shoe and my ankle, but that seems to be within a margin. I used a sharpie to show the relative space. At that point, the sharpie is poking my foot, so it wouldn't go down further. By comparison, on the other heel, the sharpie goes all the way down to the shoe - there's more space, still, between the heel of the shoe and my foot.

I'd say the fitting on the loose pair is unnaceptable for a bespoke shoe. Could you please post pictures of the shoes? The look nice though.
 

shackletonian

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2010
Messages
114
Reaction score
140
I'd say the fitting on the loose pair is unnaceptable for a bespoke shoe. Could you please post pictures of the shoes? The look nice though.

GC did respond fairly quickly and offered to re-make the shoe because the spacing is too great. I'm going to include all the photos of the loafers to highlight again where they need fixing. They also confirmed that the higher padding in the heel of the oxfords was to compensate for the heel. It's not a fix that makes me terribly happy because the extra padding is noticeable as I step in it.

In general, as I took photos in better light, I was more disappointed with the oxfords for a lot of finishing/leather issues. This is my first pair of alligator shoes, but as you can see in a few places, the leather arrived torn or in poor condition. Is this acceptable? I know that it's hard to get a good, wholecut alligator skin, so I don't want to have unreasonable expectations.

For the loafers, I used pins to highlight the real fit issue. The left shoe (in the heel) is simply too large. The right shoe better in the heel, but far too tight. The pin closer to the toe of the shoe is where the shoe has been short (and feels as though my toe is being compressed. The space between the two pins is where the shoe needs to be let out; it's too tight there.

Edited to include GC's response - and to note that I will be sending them back to be remade.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0801.jpg
    IMG_0801.jpg
    144.1 KB · Views: 176
  • IMG_0802.jpg
    IMG_0802.jpg
    137.4 KB · Views: 177
  • IMG_0804.jpg
    IMG_0804.jpg
    144.7 KB · Views: 167
  • IMG_0806.jpg
    IMG_0806.jpg
    119.2 KB · Views: 167
  • IMG_0807.jpg
    IMG_0807.jpg
    135.1 KB · Views: 165
  • IMG_0808.jpg
    IMG_0808.jpg
    108.9 KB · Views: 165
  • IMG_0810.jpg
    IMG_0810.jpg
    86.2 KB · Views: 168
  • IMG_0811.jpg
    IMG_0811.jpg
    205.7 KB · Views: 167

Texasmade

Stylish Dinosaur
Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2008
Messages
28,341
Reaction score
37,197
GC did respond fairly quickly and offered to re-make the shoe because the spacing is too great. I'm going to include all the photos of the loafers to highlight again where they need fixing. They also confirmed that the higher padding in the heel of the oxfords was to compensate for the heel. It's not a fix that makes me terribly happy because the extra padding is noticeable as I step in it.

In general, as I took photos in better light, I was more disappointed with the oxfords for a lot of finishing/leather issues. This is my first pair of alligator shoes, but as you can see in a few places, the leather arrived torn or in poor condition. Is this acceptable? I know that it's hard to get a good, wholecut alligator skin, so I don't want to have unreasonable expectations.

For the loafers, I used pins to highlight the real fit issue. The left shoe (in the heel) is simply too large. The right shoe better in the heel, but far too tight. The pin closer to the toe of the shoe is where the shoe has been short (and feels as though my toe is being compressed. The space between the two pins is where the shoe needs to be let out; it's too tight there.

Edited to include GC's response - and to note that I will be sending them back to be remade.
The oxfords aren't good at all. The first picture is pretty noticeable that they just tried to short cut it. The fact that they just padded the heel instead of remaking hoping you would be satisfied is terrible. Both pairs need to be remade.

I spoke of my experience of my first pair of John Lobb Paris bespoke. When I first got the shoes they were too big and they told me to wear them until Paul came back to Houston. He would look at it then. When he saw the shoes, it was no questions asked. He marked them up and the shoes were remade. They didn't just add padding to make it fit more snug.
 

shackletonian

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2010
Messages
114
Reaction score
140
The oxfords aren't good at all. The first picture is pretty noticeable that they just tried to short cut it. The fact that they just padded the heel instead of remaking hoping you would be satisfied is terrible. Both pairs need to be remade.

I spoke of my experience of my first pair of John Lobb Paris bespoke. When I first got the shoes they were too big and they told me to wear them until Paul came back to Houston. He would look at it then. When he saw the shoes, it was no questions asked. He marked them up and the shoes were remade. They didn't just add padding to make it fit more snug.

Thanks. I don't know that I am going to send the oxfords back - in a sense, the bar is very low with the loafers. I'll walk the oxfords out and live with it, but, even making it right, I don't see myself going back. I waited to post about the shoes until now. I didn't want to write a critical post if they were willing to make it right and fix them. They still are willing to make it right, but this will be the second time that they're going back.
 

clee1982

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
28,808
Reaction score
24,609
at least they own it now, hopefully the next turn would be much better.

edit: though I would be super annoyed too, given how long bespoke take to start with...
 

Texasmade

Stylish Dinosaur
Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2008
Messages
28,341
Reaction score
37,197
Also the fact that he went gator skin...

Ngl, the finishing on both pairs looks subpar. At least with my first pair of ill fitting JLP's, the finishing was still top notch.
at least they own it now, hopefully the next turn would be much better.

edit: though I would be super annoyed too, given how long bespoke take to start with...
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 36.4%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 59 39.1%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 16 10.6%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 26 17.2%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 26 17.2%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,150
Messages
10,578,779
Members
223,878
Latest member
anaforli
Top