smfdoc
Stylish Dinosaur
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- May 25, 2015
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Okay, I'll bite - TOP 5:
#5 Indy Boot in Snuff Suede by Alden of Carmel (and others): This was my first Alden make-up and it's been a good one. I wear my 403s a lot, so when you slip these on they fell like they're half the weight. Combine that with the soft and supple suede and it's like someone mashed a boot and a slipper together and these are the result. They feel so good.
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#4 The 207 Boot by David Wood: It's hard not to make this my #1 because from a design perspective it's probably my most favorite. It's a true original, which doesn't always make a design great, but I think this one works really well. It's a fantastic reinterpretation of the Michigan Boot (typically seen on Van last - which is not my favorite), but on Barrie it completely changes the look. The idea of this came from David wanting to make a 2-tone Indy boot, which Alden is loathe to do, so we flipped the idea onto Michigan, changed TruBalance to Barrie, and changed machine stitch to handsewing. The 2-tone look of Dark Brown and Black Regina is not as contrasting as you see in this photo - it's much more subtle in real life.
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#3 Color 8 Plain Toe Boot by The Shoe Mart, aka The Faded Boot: I grabbed these FD's as my first pair of Alden shell cordovan. I don't generally wear dark colors on my feet, but I figured they're boots so I'll probably get some wear out of them. Then I put them in my closet where they sat untouched for a few weeks, because, well, I don't wear dark colors... so I figured I'd create a little project to see if I could fade them down to a lighter shade I'd want to wear. I was a little nervous beforehand about what might happen so I did some googling and realized the masters themselves (Horween) had blogged 10 years ago about fading some shell, so I actively faded them in mostly full sun for a good 6 months and they got quite light. In bright sunlight they can look a lot like Color 4. In indoor light folks have mistaken them for both Cigar and Ravello. In addition to just fading I added a little faux cap toe line, and a companion line just below the collar of the shoe. On Instagram I created the hashtag #TheFadedBoot (now filling up with other like minded folks) where you can see their evolution.
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#2 The 979 Longwing Tan Calfskin: This was my first pair from Alden and it remains probably the 2nd most worn shoe in my collection. In fact, having been in the shoe biz most of my life, I've always had a lot of shoes so I've never needed a resole on anything. Until about 6 months after I got these. I wore these so much and pounded so much pavement that they went in for a restoration. The resole was great. The finishing job during the restoration not so much. So the factory refinished the leather a second time and they've been weirdly bullet proof ever since - like almost not needing a polish for a year. I've always been a fan of the long wingtip and these have proven to the best of any I've owned. Makes me want to fade a pair of 975's.
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#1 The 403 Indy Boot: Easily my favorite pair of Alden as it's just so, well... Alden. And I wear it more than anything else - all the time outside of working hours, and sometime during working hours. I wear it everywhere - hiking in the woods, letting waves crash on it on the beach, construction around the house, out to dinner. It just does everything for me. I remember when these were brand new and I put them on to go to the beach and my wife said "You're not going to wear those to the beach are you? You'll ruin them!" And I was like "I think they'll be okay."
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Cheers!
Great group, but the patina on the 403s is so sweet!
