Suede shoes: which RTW brand?

[TVD]

My comment was made somewhat flippantly. Yes, one can reverse quite a few things and sometimes the resulting patterns look rather interesting, for example peccary.

While my normal suede shoes are not very water resistant, they dry more quickly and without those dreaded white stains from which even the best natural grain leather can suffer.

If I had more need for non-business Oxfords, I would definitely experiment with suede. I can understand why it was a bit of a rakish vogue in the 20s and 30s. But as resources are limited and business calls for black calf, priorities differ, alas.

[manton]

Over here, nobody -- or almost nobody -- cares if you wear suede to the office. I get a comment here and there, roughly once a year at most. I can live with that.

[TVD]

It is no problem in Europe (except the UK). There, brown is a no no in the City, unless you want to appear foreign, and suede is often frowned upon in academic circles as a "lazy" option (because it does not need polishing). Remember the somewhat sarcasrtic tone with which P G Wodehouse described the young rakes' love of suede shoes, and you get the picture.

Weekends or evenings are a completely different matter, however, and the brown suede loafer is an absolutely essential part of the wardrobe. Because it is "leisure", one see more loafers and Chelsea Boots than laced shoes, more Bluchers/derbies than Oxfords. They are even popular in the evenings where a traditional Continental European would always chose black polished calf.

It is interesting to observe these geographic and cultural differences. The question is whether to assimilate or not.

[Guest]

Ah, my favorite topic, the rain shoe! What role does suede play?

[bengal-stripe]

I think, you can virtually sand down any leather, flesh- and grain side, to come up with suede. Cheap suede can be the bottom layer of a split hide, the top layer makes fine leather, the flesh layer gets sanded for (inferior) suede.

Traditionally suede came from game: deer, stag, chamois or antelope (cape buck).

Charles F Stead is a UK tannery, specializing in suede and offering many options:
http://www.cfstead.com/home.htm

Here is a German tannery, specializing in stag leather:
http://www.gerberei-sperr.de/index.html

Roggwiller, the top supplier of exotic leathers, even offers alligator and crocodile in a suede (Nubuck) version:
http://www.roggwiller.com/english/site/ ... p?IdNav=27

What can be more decadent than alligator suede?

Rolf

[Guest]

I was right about its being "Cape Butt:" http://www.cfstead.com/products/capebutt.htm

Now the question arrises, which is better, Cape Butt or Repello, for shoes to go into the rain with? And why does this company in its own description declare Cape Butt the ultimate suede for welted shoes, and the most quintessentially English?

[manton]

I was right about its being "Cape Butt:" http://www.cfstead.com/products/capebutt.htm

Whatever this is, it is not the "Real Cape Buck" that Will, bengal and I are talking about. Beyond that, I don't know.

[tattersall007]

And why does this company in its own description declare Cape Butt the ultimate suede for welted shoes, and the most quintessentially English?

Because they are selling it.

[bengal-stripe]

INow the question arrises, which is better, Cape Butt or Repello, for shoes to go into the rain with? And why does this company in its own description declare Cape Butt the ultimate suede for welted shoes, and the most quintessentially English?

Why don’t you just ask?
Maybe they’re very nice people and send you lots of samples and explanations.

Some leathers, like the ‘Janus’ range have a “full grain reverse side“, which means they are sanded on the flesh side, but other leathers are sanded on the grain side. I do not know the advantages and disadvantages of the different techniques.

I’ll stick to sueded alligator. At least there is only one side that can be treated.

Rolf

[Will]

I have not spoken to them recently but Cleverley had a stock of brown buck a while ago.

EG was unable to find any white buck for me, on the other hand, and we settled on reversed kid. As I've probably written too many times, I don't like it as well. It lacks discernable nap and the look is too close to calf.