Tim Little Shoes?

[amphius]

Does anyone have any experince of these shoes? I understand it is a fairly young company, and the prices seem to be comparible or just slightly less than Churches. They are made in Northamptonshire and the company website says that the quality is second to none and they also do bespoke....their sale starts tomorrow and I'm going to have a look, as they are just round the corner from me in Fulham.......

[TVD]

When I last looked at one ofd these in one of the Gieves shops a few years back, they were acceptable, but noticeably inferior to Cleverley RTW, Edward Green, John Lobb Paris and Crockett & Jones.

Little is a designer and retailer, not a manufacturer. He designs (but does not make) his lasts. All the manufacture is done by somebody else in Northampton. bengal-Stripe will probably know who.

Unless you really like his designs, I would think you are far better off with C&J which are a similar price range (especially their handgrade stuff). Have a look into the shops of the people listed above as they should have their sale on now (or maybe another week or so to wait).

[amphius]

Thanks, I may go to check them all out tomorrow. I am looking for a pair of brown polished chelsea boots.....I don't suppose you have any ideas whether any of the manufacturers you mention do these particularly well?
PS I do like the design of the 'Whiskey and Women" loafers on Tim Little's website, and his chelsea boots do look good, so I'll probably also have a look there......but then again I also want quality!

[bengal-stripe]

Tim Little (the man) has recently become the MD for Grenson, one of the grand old ladies of Northampton shoe manufacturers. As TVD has pointed out, Little himself comes from an advertising and marketing background. Maybe that is just the thing Grenson needs. Grenson, just like Tricker’s, can turn out really good workmanship if they put their mind to it; but both firms are rather fuddy-duddy and stale and could do with a bit of additional oompf. (As someone once said about Tricker’s: “Some of the best made shoes, on some of the ugliest lasts.”) Maybe Little is the man to drag Grenson into the 21st century.

Tim Little (the brand) has, until now, been produced by Alfred Sargent. That may or may not change in the future, with Grenson making the Tim Little range as well. Alfred Sargent is a perfectly respectable manufacturer, producing a number of ranges at various price points. Tim Little shoes are not produced to the highest AS specification. TL shoes retail at about 50% above comparable AS shoes. They probably have nicer designs and certainly slicker marketing than Alfred Sargent.

If you are looking for a Chelsea boot, have a look at J.M. Weston (Burlington Gardens). They are one of the very few manufacturers who makes a wholecut Chelsea boot (just one piece of leather and no seam below the elastic).

[bengal-stripe]

P.S. The origin for Little’s “Whiskey and Women” is J.M.Westons’ signature shoe Moccasin 180 “La Reférénce”.
http://www.jmweston.com/

This design (I believe dating back to the 1930s or 40s) gets produced it in a huge variety of different leathers as well as different fittings, and retails at about the same price Tim Little charges for his version.

[TVD]

John Lobb Paris has just brought out a Chelsea boot on the 7000 last with bevelled waist (their Prestige Line). The price appears ridiculous unless you buy them after a boozy lunch.

I love Chelsea boots, but must admit that they are such a minimalist design, their line and shape are everything. Nobody achieves that perfectly. Unless you go bespoke. I have a pair of Cleverley ones that are beyond belief gorgeous.

[pchong]

I have a pair of John Lobb in regular last (forget the last number...will go look it up this eening, but not Prestige series, or those with the year annotated in the model), and they are extremely beautiful, and lovely to wear. I'll try and post aa picture sometime this week. I think they were GBP500 or something like that 3 years ago in London.

[amphius]

Tim Little are discontinuing their 'Whisky and Women' loafers so it looks like JM Weston, I'll go and check out all the other makers mentioned here as well, but £500 for a pair of chelsea boots seems excessive.....will they last a lifetime for that price...in that case perhaps not so expensive?

[Mr Hillier]

For what it is worth, in the past year I have bought a pair of Church's Consul in tabacco (around 250 pounds), a pair of Grenson Salisbury in black (135 pounds in a sale) and a pair of Tim Little Sweet Thing in tan (200 pounds in a sale).

I would rate the shoes as 1) Tim Little 2) Grenson 3) Church's.

The Tim Little shoes win because they just feel so solid. The upper is thick, and the soles are very hard. It just feels like a solid, long-lasting shoe. Complaints about them are firstly that the leather insole doesn't seem to be as good as the Church's or the Grensons, and secondly that the leather lining has a coating on it which prevents moisture soaking in, so there can be condensation in the toe in cold weather.

In terms of value for money, the Grensons are also great. The quality of the leather of the sole doesn't seem so good, and doesn't seem like it will last too long before needing re-soling. As I live a four-hour flight from the nearest person I would even trust to put a heel on, that is an issue. But all in all, I like them.

The only ones I'm disappointed with are the Church's: they have aged very quickly, the shoes are not symetrical, and the finish quality is not as good as the other two pairs.

I'll happily buy Tim Little again, and the Grenson Kent seems like a shoe that I should have in all four colours.

I think it is over between me and Church's, though.

[Mr Hillier]

Just a quick follow-up to this post on Tim Little.

My Tim Little shoes did last really well, and it was over three years of fairly heavy use before they needed taking back to Tim Little for a re-sole.

There my pleasures ended, and my troubles all began.

To cut a very long story short, after three trips to the Tim Little shop, one trip to a shoe repairer elsewhere, sending them back yet again to Tim Little, and countless emails and phone calls, almost one year later, I finally had my shoes returned to me in wearable condition. However, they now have a deep gouge on the side of one of the shoes, and they have mysteriously changed colour. They came back with a Barker-branded insole in them. And no discount or refund.

Such a shame, when the shoes themselves were good value.

[radicaldog]

I have the 'Whisky & Women' loafers in black. They are nothing special -- C&J bench grade or Church's level, I'd say. They don't even have channelled soles, though I like the fact that the soles are painted blue.

[andreyb]

Mr Hillier, just to let you know that I do appreciate your sharing of experience with Tim Little shoes.

Andrey