What's the story w/ Florsheim? ...

[AnGeLiCbOrIs]

Here's more:

The story of the collaboration line between Florsheim and Duckie Brown begins with a prom. See, 18-year-old Robert Asch, short on funds and tall in taste, wrote Duckie Brown founders Steven Cox and Daniel Silver, desperate for a decent suit for his senior prom. The designers were happy to oblige and suggested that he pick up a pair of Florsheims to complement his new duds. The century-old shoe company heard of the story and reached out to the pair. The result is a collection of tastefully retro saddle shoes, loafers, and wingtips that mines Florsheim's history without being stogy and ranging from a reasonable $195 to $595. The crowning jewel in the collaboration is, without a doubt, the star-spangled "Patriot Boot""”a recasting of the model originally crafted to commemorate America's victory in WWII. As if to underline the historical connections and to honor the year of its founding, Florsheim is only making 1945 pairs of the beautiful boot. Get ready to grab your little bit of nostalgia when the line hits stores in fall"”they'll soon be past tense too.

 

[Jthaeler]

Originally Posted by ferguscan

Florsheim sucks for the same reasons that USA manufacturing in general sucks. The biggest of these reasons is the US dollar. Since WWII, the world accepted US dollars as if they were gold. But since 1971, the US dollar has had no gold backing. And yet the world continue to accept it as a gold-equivalent, while the US government inflates like crazy.

So, Americans are faced with a choice: either work hard and manufacture high-quality goods to earn money, or simply print more dollars and pay Asian peasants to make the goods instead. Which one do you think they chose?

That said, the world will soon (next few years I think) reject the dollar, and Americans will become poor. If their government is forced to maintain a sound currency once more, and to keep their hands off in general, Americans will go back to work and we'll see a resurgence in USA manufacturing. It will be a very, very painful transition.

Stuart

+ inifinty

Austrian economics 101

 

[Steve Smith]

I have never seen a pair of blue ones in a thrift store.

 

[Nananine]

Originally Posted by Journeyman

I have no idea who Duckie Brown is. Having said that, however, I think that the shell cordovan shoes look very nice indeed, from the small photos on the stylelist website. The wingtip bals would look great if they had laces. The idea of laceless wingtip bals is, however, a stupid one and ruins the look completely. I wonder if you can add laces if you choose...
Duckie Brown is a menswear label founded two designers. They had a show at New York Fahion Week Fall/Winter '09. They're kind of weird. I mean, the suits and jackets are pretty nice, but... weird. The show was also particularly infamous because the models in that show were paid with Florsheim shoes and... $10 gift certificates to McDonald's. NY Times had a quote from one of the models saying sarcastically "I can't wait to get my Happy Meal."

 

[ferguscan]

Originally Posted by Jthaeler

+ inifinty

Austrian economics 101

** I always enjoyed the following quote:

"Talking about Austrian economics is like talking about Chinese physics. There's no such thing as Chinese physics. There's just physics."

 

[Trapp]

I like that quote too.

Still, I'm in total agreement with the sentiment that, as a whole, the Austrian view of economics has proven to be the most solid school of thought on the topic.

 

[Astan]

I'm thinking of getting florsheim imperials as my first major sartorial purchase with my own money. Thoughts? Keep in mind I do not have the means of yet to dish out 400 bucks on new shoes.

 

[TC11201]

Originally Posted by Jthaeler

+ inifinty

Austrian economics 101

Originally Posted by ferguscan

Florsheim sucks for the same reasons that USA manufacturing in general sucks. The biggest of these reasons is the US dollar. Since WWII, the world accepted US dollars as if they were gold. But since 1971, the US dollar has had no gold backing. And yet the world continue to accept it as a gold-equivalent, while the US government inflates like crazy.

So, Americans are faced with a choice: either work hard and manufacture high-quality goods to earn money, or simply print more dollars and pay Asian peasants to make the goods instead. Which one do you think they chose?

That said, the world will soon (next few years I think) reject the dollar, and Americans will become poor. If their government is forced to maintain a sound currency once more, and to keep their hands off in general, Americans will go back to work and we'll see a resurgence in USA manufacturing. It will be a very, very painful transition.

Stuart

I don't want to derail the Florsheim discussion, but I didn't see this comment the first time around and feel compelled to respond. Dear god, the above is utter nonsense. The "decline" of US manufacturing is a fallacy - US consumer-oriented manufacturing has certainly declined, in some instances to the point of disappearing (textiles are a great example), but it has been replaced with much higher value added forms of manufacturing that simply aren't consumer-oriented (things like jet engines, heavy machinery for precision manufacturing, etc.). This "decline" has everything thing to do with basic comparative advantage (remember Ricardo?)and virtually nothing to do with some half-baked theory involving the gold standard.

In the economy of 2009, making consumer goods, even high-end consumer goods is among the simplest and lowest margin forms of modern industrial production. It makes all the sense in the world that doing so would involve moving production from high cost locations (like the US, the UK and Italy) to low cost locations where labor is cheap - that decision isn't in most cases about selling out, it is about simply surviving (take a look at what is happening to the UK shoe making industry right now - it's the same dynamic). The US still makes plenty of things - manufacturing as a percentage of US gdp has remained essentially stable since the late 1940s (that period obviously includes both the eras before and after the gold standard - check the National Association of Manufacturers website if you don't believe me - www.nam.org), it's just that what we make has changed dramatically - where we have a comparative advantage (high IP products requiring tremendous technical know-how, a labor force skilled enough to make those products, etc.), US companies tend to be unmatched or at least among the world leaders, where we don't (relatively low value added products that can be made much much more cheaply even at some cost (but not debiliatating) to quality, US companies have folded or moved production off shore.

As an admirer and consumer of beautiful sartorial products and one who understands and has an accompanying love for classic products and the brands long associated with them, I would love to have a US footwear / menswear industry populated with many high-quality manufacturers. As a citizen who cares deeply about our future, I'd much rather have an economy that produces companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple, United Technologies, Boeing, Intel, Cisco, all the big pharmas, biotech, and yes, the financial services innovators, etc., etc., etc., even if that means that personally beloved makers of things like shoes, clothes, etc. become shells of their former selves and begin producing in other parts of the world. We are far better off for it. That, after all, is the ultimate essence of creative destruction...

Now back to your regular programming...

 

[DoubleDomer]

I find the mall-shop florsheims to be, ummm, bad. Simple as that. I do like the royal imperials though. In fact, I have some RI's I believe made by Magnanni that, although unspectacular by SF standards, have serviced me well. Nice buys at deep discount. I rate the royal imperial line on line with J and M (of course, lots of variability based on the model).

 

[NHorween]

Originally Posted by AnGeLiCbOrIs

A sample of these came through the plant the other day so we could match colors and finishes for the leather, the darker brown shoe on the left. It looked great.

 

[StopPolloition]

Some of their basic dress shoes can be purchased for less than $70 at somewhere like K&G and represent a pretty good value on new shoes for a student. I wore Florsheim when I was a student, and while they aren't premium shoes, there are certainly much uglier shoes out there. Most people I know wear real dress shoes less than twice a year, so for them, a conservative pattern shoe from Florsheim or Bostonian makes more sense even if it is corrected grain.

 

[Cas Ruffin]

Florsheims are the new Hush Puppies.

 

[Nexus6]

Originally Posted by NHorween

A sample of these came through the plant the other day so we could match colors and finishes for the leather, the darker brown shoe on the left. It looked great.
Welcome to SF Nick. Your company is legendary, and it is a priviledge to have you here

 

[Tarmac]

Originally Posted by Nexus6

Welcome to SF Nick.
Your company is legendary, and it is a priviledge to have to here

Yes, and these new shoes look awesome

 

[Johnathan]

I really like those blue ones.