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Made in Spain Footwear, including TLB Mallorca, Cobbler Union, Yanko, Norman Vilalta, etc

LThomsen

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Does any one know when tlb will be releasing their shell cordovan collection?
 

Meyboom

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Below a few pics, first two of my pairs, the special adelaide on Picasso and adelaide on Goya, last pic is of a friend's faux full brogues on Picasso:

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Beautiful shoes. Your friend clearly has a higher instep than you.That's what keeps me from buying a pair of TLB Artista, I'm afraid they won't be a comfortable fit for my high instep. As a matter of fact, that is almost always the case with the lasts of Spanish shoemakers in my experience.
 

j ingevaldsson

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Does any one know when tlb will be releasing their shell cordovan collection?

The coronavirus has hit Spain pretty hard, which means some things might be a bit delayed compared to plans.


Beautiful shoes. Your friend clearly has a higher instep than you.That's what keeps me from buying a pair of TLB Artista, I'm afraid they won't be a comfortable fit for my high instep. As a matter of fact, that is almost always the case with the lasts of Spanish shoemakers in my experience.

For most with high insteps Artista and TLB in general works quite well, it’s relatively normal, but slightly more towards high then the opposite, plus with a slightly lower vamp point then average which means that they match high insteps a bit better pattern-wise. My friend has a very high instep and he can’t wear that many oxfords comfortably, while these work fine.
 

Patrick1053

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Does any one know when tlb will be releasing their shell cordovan collection?
I just contacted TLB about this yesterday. Here is the answer I received.

Thank you for contacting us at TLB Mallorca.

Yes, that is correct! We are still doing some modifications and making the last finishing in our collection.

Ill let you know when we will launch the collection.
 

Shetterd

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Only started paying TLB close attention recently and really thankful for all you guys sharing opinions and comparisons here, especially with Carmina, which was my other consideration for my next purchase. No photo as yet, but thought I would add something about leather quality. Toni has just responded to an email of mine saying their suedes are all C.F. Stead Janus Calf (i.e. true reverse calf), which is on par with Carmina's suede offering, and so is incredible value.
 

Andrew0409

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I was going to buy my first pair of quality dress shoes from Carmina, but I think I will go with TLB now.

I also realized that the VAT is Europe is just crazy, it's about 75 euros cheaper for me to ship to Taiwan. I'm currently living in Europe, was planning to go back to Taiwan for the summer but no flights available from the Virus. So I will just wait.
 

Andrew0409

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Can anyone explain what the differences are from the mainline and artista line is? I can't seem to find it on their site. I see that the waist on the shoe is much slimmer and really beautiful on the Artista line, but what else? The leather quality? The inside lining? The heel stiffener is lined with leather on the artista but is it with the mainline?
 

j ingevaldsson

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Can anyone explain what the differences are from the mainline and artista line is? I can't seem to find it on their site. I see that the waist on the shoe is much slimmer and really beautiful on the Artista line, but what else? The leather quality? The inside lining? The heel stiffener is lined with leather on the artista but is it with the mainline?

I paste the spec comparison I did before between the two TLB ranges and Carmina:


Heel stiffener material:
Carmina - Plastic
TLB - Leather board
TLB Artista - Real leather

Waist:
Carmina - Relatively narrow, slightly bevelled
TLB - Relatively narrow, slightly bevelled
TLB Artista - Very narrow, bevelled

Waist edges:
Carmina - Rounded inside, square outside, rubber soles not rounded
TLB - Rounded inside and outside, rubber soles rounded inside and outside
TLB Artista - Rounded inside and outside, rubber soles rounded inside and outside

Sanding sole and heel edges:
Carmina - Normal moderate, by machine
TLB - Normal moderate, by machine
TLB Artista - Fine, by machine and finished by hand

Heel cut towards upper:
Carmina - Normal
TLB - Normal
TLB Artista - Tight

Sole stitching:
Carmina - 6 spi (stitches per inch)
TLB - 6 spi
TLB Artista - 8 spi (6 spi for rubber)

RRP price (incl. VAT):
Carmina - €395
TLB - €365
TLB Artista - €425

For the upper leather, it’s speced slightly higher on Artista than TLB main range, only first grade hides are used for Artista.

All of them are fully leather lined, it’s the stiffener, the hard part between the lining and upper leather that holds the shape of the heel that is in real leather on Artista (very unusual in this price range) and leather board (leather dust mixed with glue pressed to plates) on TLB main line (and then cheaper plastic on Carmina, in the comparison above).

If you read this article you get a good view of what makes Artista special.
 

Patrick1053

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I like the chili shell cordovan that Allen Edmonds offers it is a little redder than color 4 and maybe a little browner than color 2. Does anyone know what colors TLB will offer in Shell, and if they have or can make a shoe in this color?
 

LThomsen

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Thanks for posting, fam!
I watched your YouTube video about a pair of Carlos santos hand grade shoes that you compared to these tlb shoes. Can you share more insights into how these compare to each other in terms of construction, materials and finishing?
 

nevaeh

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I paste the spec comparison I did before between the two TLB ranges and Carmina:


Heel stiffener material:
Carmina - Plastic
TLB - Leather board
TLB Artista - Real leather

Waist:
Carmina - Relatively narrow, slightly bevelled
TLB - Relatively narrow, slightly bevelled
TLB Artista - Very narrow, bevelled

Waist edges:
Carmina - Rounded inside, square outside, rubber soles not rounded
TLB - Rounded inside and outside, rubber soles rounded inside and outside
TLB Artista - Rounded inside and outside, rubber soles rounded inside and outside

Sanding sole and heel edges:
Carmina - Normal moderate, by machine
TLB - Normal moderate, by machine
TLB Artista - Fine, by machine and finished by hand

Heel cut towards upper:
Carmina - Normal
TLB - Normal
TLB Artista - Tight

Sole stitching:
Carmina - 6 spi (stitches per inch)
TLB - 6 spi
TLB Artista - 8 spi (6 spi for rubber)

RRP price (incl. VAT):
Carmina - €395
TLB - €365
TLB Artista - €425

For the upper leather, it’s speced slightly higher on Artista than TLB main range, only first grade hides are used for Artista.

All of them are fully leather lined, it’s the stiffener, the hard part between the lining and upper leather that holds the shape of the heel that is in real leather on Artista (very unusual in this price range) and leather board (leather dust mixed with glue pressed to plates) on TLB main line (and then cheaper plastic on Carmina, in the comparison above).

If you read this article you get a good view of what makes Artista special.

Thank you, @j ingevaldsson. Out of curiosity, what is typically the sole SPI on your bespoke shoes? (This is not to compare Artista's fantastic 8 spi to bespoke, as those are two extremely different processes. Instead, this is mostly for my edification.)
 

j ingevaldsson

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Thank you, @j ingevaldsson. Out of curiosity, what is typically the sole SPI on your bespoke shoes? (This is not to compare Artista's fantastic 8 spi to bespoke, as those are two extremely different processes. Instead, this is mostly for my edification.)

On my bespoke it usually varies between 10-12 spi, then I have some which have 8 and some that have 14. It depends a bit on which school of shoemaking the bespoke shoemaker comes from, but in general around 10 spi is some sort of standard for bespoke shoes.
 

vriche

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I watched your YouTube video about a pair of Carlos santos hand grade shoes that you compared to these tlb shoes. Can you share more insights into how these compare to each other in terms of construction, materials and finishing?
What’s up, bro? From what I can see, the construction would have to go to TLB just for the slim beveled waist alone. Not to mention features like more SPI and the sole stitching going all the way back to the heel, the close-cut heel, etc. Materials also better on TLB like using real leather board for example. Finishes will also go to TLB by a slim margin, I notice it in the sole and heel edges being a bit smoother.

I’m just a guy that loves shoes but not a shoe expert like some others. I hope that helps.
 
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