Clouseau
Inspector
- Joined
- May 18, 2013
- Messages
- 6,259
- Reaction score
- 11,039
Well the Loake Birkdales arrived today (thankfully !)
They are very nice but probably too 'pointy' for most on here,Loake describe the toe as 'Almond shaped' imo its not that pointy but more 'snipey' (as we described dogs heads) than my Alfred Sargent Stepneys .
The leather seems a step up from the 1880 range and streets ahead of the Royal but that's reflected in the price.
I think that Loake have been wise in their approach of offering various ranges in different qualities,a bit like Ford used to do with their cars L,XL,GXL,Ghia.
The Loake Birkdale isnt as good quality as the C&J Pembroke for instance but it is £200 cheaper,its a bit like comparing a Ford Escort Ghia to a Porsche ?
When JS made his comment to MrK about the seam on the Loake being due to cost cutting the interesting question to him would have been 'yes I see,so can you suggest a better quality shoe at the same price as the Royal'?
We really to get what we pay for comparitively,with the 30% reduction I am happy with the Birkdales,I really like the colour too.
Yes we should get what we pay for, and the Loake Royals fall in this category IMO, i've got them for nearly 10 years now, i think i paid £120 IIRC (they are a bit more expensive now), and as they seem to be pretty indestructible i think it was a good purchase. The corrected grain leather ages...correctly !