Australian Members

Bad news for those on a budget, Herring now makes the following shoes in Graphite (i.e. medium grey) Herring Gladstone Herring Churchill

Originally Posted by Lowly Public Servant

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G'day all

I've got a bit of a problem and am hoping you guys might be able to help me out with some info.

I recently bought a pair of Church's Balmorals off of Ebay and they arrived today.

I got them for a great price (less than $200 inc. shipping from the US). They are a beautiful pair of shoes but when I pulled them out of the box and had a good look at them I noticed that the lower sole is coming away from the upper sole in the instep of the right shoe.

While this has given me a better understanding of goodyear welting and how everything all fits together (I had a 'so that's what goodyear welting is' moment), I would rather get the shoes fixed than send them back to the original seller. The damage isn't too extensive and there is a lot of life left in the soles.

What I am after is the name of a cobbler or shoe store where I can get these fixed for a reasonable price. I know that I could send them back to Church's for a refurb but I would rather get them fixed locally if possible.

I have done a bit of searching on this thread and come up with McClouds as a company that could help but that is it.

So, does anyone have any alternative cobblers / shoe stores that are worthwhile checking out and contacting? As I live in Canberra I would prefer somewhere close by. I am not expecting to find anywhere in Canberra that might be able to provide this service but Sydney might be good.

LPS

I am also going to have to get some more shoe trees as Ebay has been good to me lately.

I have been told of a cobbler out at Woden who is supposed to be good. THere is one in the Civic Centre near DJ's who I have been told is ok. But what ever you do don't go to the guy in Dickson,

If you need an excuse to visit Sydney Rogers Shoe Repairs in Redfern is my preferred option and the Stand Arcade has a good one I'm told.

Originally Posted by kickstart

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Hi there,

Have you had any experience with the 'custom shirts'?

I'm tentative to risk $399 on a suit, but would be willing to gamble $149 on three custom shirts...

Look forward to your thoughts.

I myself haven't bought anything of him as yet. I was about to buy one of the $599 hand stitched suits but I found out that he's about to launch a new handmade suit line with top grade wool and Savile Row trained tailors and seeing it will be my first ever fully custom made suit I thought if I'm already in for $600 why not go for $1,200 and get a really good one?

One of my colleagues is friends with the owner and he came in to our office one afternoon and gave a showing to all the staff. Quite a few bought suits. The cheaper suits look OK for the money but they look like a $250 suit. The younger staff may get away with them (and do look good) but I'm in a more senior position and need to look a bit more professional.

I haven't seen the $147 shirts but my colleague buys the Egyptian cotton ones and they look very good especially for under $100 each.

Someone said that you can't buy a fully canvassed suit in Australia for $399 yet this guy sells them from $299 and apparently they come from the same tailors as the indochino suits which sell for almost twice the price.

I'm not going to tell you to buy off the guy. All I can say that he's now apparently our office tailor of choice and all the guys speak well of him. One guy received a jacket that must have been at least 4 sizes to small and he replaced it immediately at no cost. He also does a lot of Ebay selling and has a fair amount of positive feedback there

The cheaper suits are OK but certainly nothing extra special (except one guy bought the $149 suit and it looks a little cheap and nasty) but when you consider they are 100% wool and MTM for $240 it's hard to argue with the value.

Once you get to the $399 mark the suits look as good as anything I've seen in DJ's for under a grand plus they have a full canvas which is more than I can say about the Guy Laroche suit I bought in Paris for about 600 euros a few years back.

He said that his goal is to sell the best suit on the market at every pricepoint and with what I've seen so far it would be hard to argue against

If you want to know anything send him an email. I've sent him about 30 so far asking ever increasing dumb questions about suits and he's happily responded to every one and I haven't given him a cent of my money as yet but from what I've seen I am going to spend a not inconsiderable amount soon

Same tailors as Indochino? No thanks.

Originally Posted by TheWraith

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Same tailors as Indochino? No thanks.

That's funny

When he told as that he didn't seem that impressed with them either and basically told us that they're the ones who do the job the cheapest and can turn out a full canvas suit he can sell for $299 but there are other tailors who can do a better job for $20 or $30 more.

At the time I had no idea who indochino even were and I thought he was just trying to squeeze the guys for more money. After what I've read on styleforum I'm now more inclined to believe he was trying to steer them on the right path.

I think it depends on what you're looking for. One of the bosses has a tailor in the city and won't consider anyone else. He wants that full suit buying experience and I can understand that. But if all you want is a good suit at a good price I know many places where you can do far worse

No disrespect for those who want to/do use Indochino, but not for me. I've seen their tailors do too many botch jobs for me to even think about using them. Plenty of other options for me to utilise. But all the best to those who do use them.

Originally Posted by __PG__

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Bad news for those on a budget, Herring now makes the following shoes in Graphite (i.e. medium grey)

Herring Gladstone

Herring Churchill

Grey?


Brings to mind those grey Velcro shoes.......

Hey guys, another update, this time from London. Did a fair bit of walking around shopping, mainly around Jerymn St, Regent St and Oxford St. Visited the new Drakes store - to be honest it was a little disappointing. Apparently it was their first day, so the joint was packed and most of their stock was packed away 'upstairs'. The store is also quite small - basically a room with a large table in the middle. I asked if they had a navy granadine tie, and waited around for 15mins while they looked. In the end I walked out and said I'll might swing back later. I really liked their knitted silk ties, they are rather thick and firm, much different to anything I have felt before. I picked up a few items from Uniqlo for an absolute song. But the prize of today was the visit to the C&J Burlington Arcade store where I picked up two pairs of Hallam's in black and brown for GBP 305 a piece, less GBP 35 for the VAT when I get back to Heathrow. Also got to try on a few different lasts and the sales assistant jotted down my sizing in the various lasts in their catalogue. I also picked up their shoe polish, as it was only GBP3 a pop, but am thinking I should probably get some Sapphire polish, if I can bring myself to do any more shopping. Oh yeah, here is a pick I took of the Drakes store.

How does your sizing vary from the 348 to the other lasts your tried?

FYI A small selection of the Gant Rugger and Gant by Michael Bastian ranges are now being sold at DJs. Not sure how long this has been going on but this was the first time I noticed. The prices are almost exactly double that of the US RRPs.

Originally Posted by lachyzee

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FYI A small selection of the Gant Rugger and Gant by Michael Bastian ranges are now being sold at DJs. Not sure how long this has been going on but this was the first time I noticed. The prices are almost exactly double that of the US RRPs.

Gant is absurdly over priced the only time I ever bought it was from a defunct menswear store in Albury, which used would sell it at a third of the price in DJ's. Your better off buying it online while the dollar is strong.

..

Originally Posted by Geoffrey Firmin

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I have been told of a cobbler out at Woden who is supposed to be good. THere is one in the Civic Centre near DJ's who I have been told is ok. But what ever you do don't go to the guy in Dickson,

If you need an excuse to visit Sydney Rogers Shoe Repairs in Redfern is my preferred option and the Stand Arcade has a good one I'm told.
Thanks guys

Geoffry Firman - I will give your suggestions a shot and see what is what. I'll stay away from Dickson for sure, I have been past there and did not like the look of his store (bit of a cat in the hat day today)

If I can't find anyone in Canberra who can do it and for a reasonable price then it will be off to Sydney for me.....in a thrice (does that even work as a rhyme?)

LPS

Originally Posted by __PG__

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How does your sizing vary from the 348 to the other lasts your tried?
Hard to describe, but I prety much had to size up by half a size for everything with a normal width fitting. There was a bit of tossing up between the 348 last and the 337, in the end 348 felt more right and snug (and because it wasnt Handgrade, about GBP100 cheaper). I also tried on a few wide fittings and they felt a little too roomy.

this is pretty much my last hope.

Does anyone know the Melbourne cobbler's Frank & Joespi and how I can contact them?