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Cross post from the Yeossal thread - High end Chinese MTO/RTW vs High end Japanese RTW?
I'd been meaning to write this up for a while - I picked up a pair of oxfords from the Y sale they had on old stock/GMTO returns to try and dial in my sizing and when they got here I felt like it was a more fair comparison than my Thompsons and I was curious how they would stack up against the best pair of shoes in my collection. My photography sucks but hopefully you'll get the point. The short version is that if you're looking for a way to break into good handwelted shoes - Y is a great place to look. Comparison in the spoiler and this really shouldn't be a fair fight so don't go read it expecting me to say Y is better than YF.
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These shoes truly belong in different categories but I did want to compare because the value for what you get from Yeossal is really exceptional and I'll admit to being shocked how well they held up against the YFs. The biggest differences come when you put them side by side and start to pull out a tape measure or hold them a foot from your face. If you're on the fence about whether or not a handwelted shoe from China is worth $700 I'm confident in saying that you have nothing to worry about.Price point - I got the Y's on sale for something like $500 USD - Normal pricing gets closer to $700 with trees, toe plates, shipping etc. Fukuda is $2,300 plus shipping for about the same.
People talk about specs a lot - Things like stitches per inch on the upper, stitches per inch on the sole, handwelted, hand lasted, etc. These two shoes are an example that the numbers alone tell you some but not a lot on how they're actually executed.
On to stitches per inch on the sole - Yeossal boasts 12 SPI, Yohei is 10. Both are machine stitched.
The Yeossals are mostly very good but there are a couple stitches here and there that aren't the most tidy and miss.
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The YFs have deeper fudging and the stitching is more deliberate - Not a single stitch is missed and they fall perfectly in the fudging.
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The uppers and broguing detail
The Yeossals are again pretty good - There are a couple places where the broguing floats a little bit and gets closer to the edge one way or another View attachment 1565761
The YFs - There is less broguing but every single one is placed the exact same distance perfectly.
The heels - Both have a slightly pitched heel - The Y tapers a bit more than I would prefer but it's slightly more subtle on this pair than on my Thompsons which are almost Cuban. View attachment 1565762
You can also see the stitching on the uppers, the skiving and clicking is just a little bit cleaner and more precise on the YFs here at the heel closure.
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Sole work - Both have a tight waist with Y actually being just slightly slimmer. YF has the smaller heel but both are very good.
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Leather quality - YF wins here. The leather is just better quality but the Yeossals are not bad by any sense of the word, YF just has the edge and for more than 3x the price it should.
Last definition and shape - Obviously this is a lot of personal preference but the Yeossal holds up surprisingly very well. The shape is refined, there is good definition and nothing looks out of place. The YF last is slightly more refined but they're also different shapes.
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As for the goodies that come with your shoes - They both come with two shoe bags with the Yeossal being velvet and the YFs being wool
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YF comes with a polishing cloth as well and his wooden box which is a nice to have but not a game changer.
The trees are similar with the YFs being a little more finished and a little lighter even though the core isn't drilled out like on the Yeossal trees. View attachment 1565770
The more I see a fiddleback v beveled, I more and more favor the beveled sole. Both are fantastic.
