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RJman

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He has done lots of things (studied at cordwainers college back in -83, so he's been in the business for a while..), but was a lastmaker at Cleverley for 10 years. Left 2016.
And before that he was at Lobb St James IIRC
 

Manuel

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Do you really believe that someone who has been working with Lobb, Vass, Cleverly, G&G assures you a perfects pair of shoes? Why?
I'm so sorry but you make me smile.....
Making a pair of shoes with a perfect fit is very very difficult, you don't learn that in a year, or two, or three, or four.......
You need to be working 24 hours a day for years, working with all types of foots and master the trade no just one part.
 

j ingevaldsson

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And before that he was at Lobb St James IIRC

Don’t think so. He’s been at James & Taylor, freelanced as maker for Fosters and Cleverley (before starting there as lastmaker), set up Georgina Goodman production, teached at Royal college of art, and running lastmaker house with Steven Lowe (previous Lobb lastmaker), but never worked for Lobbs.
 

ixk

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Apparently Bestetti's company might have gone under. Many bespoke orders not going to be fulfilled. How sad.
 

j ingevaldsson

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He did, relatively briefly in the very very early days. Back in like the 20s or something, during or straight after cordwainers

Alright, didn’t know, he didn’t bother to mention it when I interviewed him for the blog a while back ?
 

dieworkwear

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Curious what are people's thoughts on bespoke suede shoes? I feel like "regular" leather ages better because you get a patina. And while I like suede shoes in RTW, bespoke shoes are expensive, so I'm a little more careful about how my choices will look in the long run.

For kicks, a photo of some old Henry Maxwell bespoke shoes once owned by Douglas Fairbanks Jr., which was sold to the writer David Coggins during the big Fairbanks auction many years ago


1288600
 

gte872h

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Curious what are people's thoughts on bespoke suede shoes? I feel like "regular" leather ages better because you get a patina. And while I like suede shoes in RTW, bespoke shoes are expensive, so I'm a little more careful about how my choices will look in the long run.

For kicks, a photo of some old Henry Maxwell bespoke shoes once owned by Douglas Fairbanks Jr., which was sold to the writer David Coggins during the big Fairbanks auction many years ago


View attachment 1288600

I’ve been wondering about this as well. This pair below was what sparked my curiosity.

13335A97-8487-4235-8F3F-8632AD440410.jpeg
 

Texasmade

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I've never been a fan of bespoke suede shoes. At that price, I'd prefer to get regular leather shoes or something exotic. I could probably get on board with the suede gatorskin but that's about it.
 

dieworkwear

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I've never been a fan of bespoke suede shoes. At that price, I'd prefer to get regular leather shoes or something exotic. I could probably get on board with the suede gatorskin but that's about it.

I've also thought about getting gator loafers, but it's hard for me to tell whether I'd wear them terribly often. I'm a little worried about them being too flashy. And it's hard to judge gator shoes online cause most ready to wear models look .... not great.

I know three well-dressed guys who own gator loafers (maomao, vox, and Will at ASW). One said that he finds he doesn't wear them very often because they're so flashy. Another said he's just embraced being an old clotheshorse. I can see gator loafers working in that context, but not sure I have the panache necessary to pull off that vibe.
 

ixk

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I've also thought about getting gator loafers, but it's hard for me to tell whether I'd wear them terribly often. I'm a little worried about them being too flashy. And it's hard to judge gator shoes online cause most ready to wear models look .... not great.

I know three well-dressed guys who own gator loafers (maomao, vox, and Will at ASW). One said that he finds he doesn't wear them very often because they're so flashy. Another said he's just embraced being an old clotheshorse. I can see gator loafers working in that context, but not sure I have the panache necessary to pull off that vibe.

Channel your inner Russian oligarch, get yourself a Zilli jacket and you're good to go.
 

Texasmade

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I remember years ago someone had gatorskin bespoke Corthay Arca's here. I think that person ended up selling them because they never got worn. If I had the money, I'd get a pair of gatorskin loafers made but I can't afford to drop nearly $10k on RtW Corthay or John Lobb shoes. I'd probably get them in a brown or a black.
 

dieworkwear

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Channel your inner Russian oligarch, get yourself a Zilli jacket and you're good to go.

Exactly the vibe I want to avoid. A younger guy in gator shoes sound like it borders on "punchable dickhead" rather than "punchable, but somewhat intriguing, old guy"
 

ixk

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Exactly the vibe I want to avoid. A younger guy in gator shoes sound like it borders on "punchable dickhead" rather than "punchable, but somewhat intriguing, old guy"

You get yourself an exotic skin on the apron of the loafer, like elephant. Can be very tasteful. Full-on gator can be risky yeah.
 

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