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The high end Chinese Shoe Thread

j ingevaldsson

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when you say video, you mean that one on bilibili (showing a captoe on gold museum if my memory recalls)?

they didn't tell you the spec (like you can't tell how many shoes per hide, SPI etc.), but you can see it's leather toe stiffener, hand last, hand stitch sole etc.

Yes that’s the video. Very informative, IMO.

TBF the “shoes per hide” spec doesn’t really say anything, bespoke makers laugh at how RTW brands use that in marketing. If you have an excellent hide and can get four pairs out from that with excellent quality pieces, you do that. If you have less good hide and can’t get a single decent pair out of that hide, you do that. Leather selection is of course very important, but you can’t translate it into “only one pair per hide” or things like that.
Upper leather and closing of the uppers are things that the real high-end RTW brands have similar specs too as bespoke, there’s the same high standards.

SPI you can quite easily estimate by pictures.

right, but I was under the impression that F&S is suppose to be all bespoke spec except
1. on standard last
2. GYW...

at least that was what was circulating around, not sure how true

though I suppose you can MTO F&S to HW which I assume would still be quite a bit cheaper than their bespoke

Nah that’s not correct. The RTW doesn’t really have anything to do with their bespoke in terms of construction and many aspects of material (insoles, toe stiffeners, heels etc). And you can’t MTO hand welted shoes. Not from those who have their own factories like Fosters or G&G, not from ones who use other factories for their RTW, like Cleverley. In England it’s always very distinct, bespoke is one thing, factory made RTW / MTO another thing (guess exception would be Tricker’s, who does a simple bespoke with factory made shoes).
 
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saurabh

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Well then exactly ? Plenty of MTO options with “same as actual bespoke” specs, but not RTW. That’s the “big news”.
This explains double the price from Oct Tenth, Yeossal etc. Do they provide any instructions on how to measure your feet so the shoes can be made as MTM like perhaps Wayman bespoke. I haven’t done anything like this before and not sure whether this remote measurement process works practically to provide a good fit.
@BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes -
If it’s same level as AM Aurum and similar priced like RTW G&G/Edward Green then I was right in spotting the big news lol :)
 

darknight55

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Here's some interesting pairs I have found in common. Maybe you can spot any difference, or they are all from the same factory.

TGC loafer vs CJ loafer
TGC L.jpg
(TGC)
CJ L.jpg
(CJ)

CJ SpTD vs YBS (Yanming) SpTD
CJ D.jpg
(CJ)
YM D.jpg
(Yanming)
 

j ingevaldsson

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I just remembered that the range by Yim that Medallion carries also is fully handmade with specs as “proper bespoke”. So there would be another RTW one (was only a couple of models they had in stock I believe, and not sure if they will carry both Yim and Acme going forward, or pan Yim out, but still).
 
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ijustknow

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I hope people don't talk GYW for those high end Chinese shoemakers, Handwelt is the minimum!
 

clee1982

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well, I think Xibao has a GYW line too (if you talk to her on wechat you can probably order their cheapest spec shoe for real cheap), but don't think we're talking about those here?
 

aj2603

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well, I think Xibao has a GYW line too (if you talk to her on wechat you can probably order their cheapest spec shoe for real cheap), but don't think we're talking about those here?

I don’t know .. their GYW line is priced around 300 USD .. that that price it can give a lot of European and American makers a serious competition
 

BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes

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right, but I was under the impression that F&S is suppose to be all bespoke spec except
1. on standard last
2. GYW...

at least that was what was circulating around, not sure how true

though I suppose you can MTO F&S to HW which I assume would still be quite a bit cheaper than their bespoke

Well I figured the best way to address this rumor is to contact the company themselves. Had a conversation with the lead sales guy over at FS.

They did indeed confirm usage of the same stiffener, toe puffs, and upper leathers for their Bespoke shoes as they do with their higher end RTW models. The "Jermyn" and limited edition models will use higher end components, but used differently due to the construction method (ie better formed and made to true Bespoke standard). The lower end RTW still use good leather, but just slightly below standard (think EG level).

As for the video of the ACME shoes, I finally got around to watching it. They look very very impressive. For about $1300, all things considered, they are a very good value based on what is done with the shoes. ??

Based on what I saw and going on what has been said about the components, look a better option that any RTW shoe out there at this price.
 

aj2603

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Well I figured the best way to address this rumor is to contact the company themselves. Had a conversation with the lead sales guy over at FS.

They did indeed confirm usage of the same stiffener, toe puffs, and upper leathers for their Bespoke shoes as they do with their higher end RTW models. The "Jermyn" and limited edition models will use higher end components, but used differently due to the construction method (ie better formed and made to true Bespoke standard). The lower end RTW still use good leather, but just slightly below standard (think EG level).

As for the video of the ACME shoes, I finally got around to watching it. They look very very impressive. For about $1300, all things considered, they are a very good value based on what is done with the shoes. ??

Based on what I saw and going on what has been said about the components, look a better option that any RTW shoe out there at this price.

do I hear the start of a @BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes GMTO with ACME :stirpot:
 

clee1982

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I don’t know .. their GYW line is priced around 300 USD .. that that price it can give a lot of European and American makers a serious competition

i remember they had a dirt cheap spec of like <200 USD, maybe it's back then?
 

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